23 weeks to go ......

Hello and welcome to our blog to records the trials and tribulations of 5 mad beagle owners who have been persuaded to put on their walking boots and raise money for a charity which is very dear to our hearts, Beagle Welfare! www.beaglewelfare.org.uk

A few months ago, Claire Buckels decided that after her three peaks challenge for charity last year that she needed to set herself a new goal, but rather than do it alone, she conned 4 of us into joining her. The challenge we have chosen is the walk the West Highland Way, 96 miles of Scottish countryside in 5 days!If you would like to donate to our challenge there are links to our Virgin Money Giving and just Giving Fundraising pages on this blog.

So who are we?
Claire Buckels, Clare Clark, Suzanne Carr, Kenny Watt and me Jeanine Wilkinson are all volunteers and representatives of The Beagle Welfare Scheme and help out in various ways to look after the numerous beagles that our charity helps to rehome, care and provide advice for. More about us later.....

Time to Train
Beagle Welfare had their annual committee meeting last Saturday  and we all picked up our newly branded hoodies and t-shirts - thanks Claire Parker - so have now decided to share the next  23 weeks of training with whoever is interested as we start to pick up the pace and start really training for our adventure.

Fitbit Wars
Now I like a challenge as well as the next person, so when Clare C started telling me how she was loving her new fitbit - after initially thinking this was one of these new text speak for a hot young bit on the side - I realised she was talking about the gadget which records your every waking and sleeping movement. (actually its an all singing, all dancing pedometer really). So of course I had to have one to help me work out how far I was walking every day.
I would say that my beagles Alfie & Freddie and I,do a fair amount of walking each day, but currently only around 6-7 miles on average per day according to my little fitbit, so getting up to 20 miles per day is going to take a reasonable amount of effort. That's where the challenges come in.
So on the fitbit app, you can challenge your friends to walk as many steps as possible, so have challenged Clare C on a number of occasions and have so far lost each time. Despite wandering round and round the kitchen island in a vain attempt to catch her step count and have so far failed miserably, I am even finding myself walking on the spot whilst brushing my teeth or drying my hair in the morning!
Now Claire B has joined the fitbit revolution and we are both now equally frustrated with the fact that Clare C is just invincible so it seems. Wisely, Kenny is staying out of it, but Suzanne is about to dive in with us, so we now need to come up with a strategy to beat Clare C.
So this week we are just about finished day four of our 5 day" Workweek Hustle" and Clare C is miles ahead of both of us literally! With 93,928 steps (about 43 miles),  I am 24,048 steps behind and Claire B is 30,697 steps behind mainly due to minimal training on Monday with a poorly child to look after!
Surely Clare C is cheating somehow, maybe she has strapped her fitbit to one of those gorgeous beagles that she cares for and sent it off hunting.......
oh well, there is always next week!