Plan C

Julie and I had big plans for 2020 ..... like many other people.

The Pacific Crest Trail, hiked in 2017

Plan A was six months and 5,000km of hiking from Mexico to Canada along the Continental Divide Trail in the United States. We were supposed to leave today, but two weeks ago, we decided to cancel the trip, fearing that COVID-19 was making things too difficult for hikers in the US.  In the week that followed, it became apparent we would not have been able to go anyway.

Cycle touring in outback Australia in 2005

Plan B, hatched over the next few days, was to get touring bikes and spend six months circumnavigating Australia on backroads and trails. We even purchased the bikes then, gradually, different parts of Australia were closed to non-essential travel.  We are ready to go on a few days notice, but I fear it won't be feasible this year.

Now we are faced with six months, or more, tethered to home in Terrigal and I need a project to keep me occupied.  Of course, I have lots of photos that need to be scanned and cupboards that need to be sorted, but I find neither particularly motivating.

Blogging HQ

Plan C has now evolved.  When planning the other trips, I was vaguely conscious that I would miss the chance to run a marathon on the 50th anniversary of my first in 1970.  My new plan is to run a marathon on Saturday, 22 August 2020, to celebrate that marathon, exactly 50 years ago, and to blog about my preparation amidst these unreal and unpredictable times of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Who knows what will happen between now and then, and who knows whether anybody will be interested in reading this blog?  Regardless, it will motivate me to get fit, and writing about it in the context of Australia's attempts to manage the pandemic will give me something else to do each day.

Today, I jogged a very slow 6km around my regular "injured" course and my hip/groin injury wasn't quite so bad.  I have a long way to go to fitness.