A New Year Begins

Hi everyone,

It's a little hard to believe that my last update was over four months ago and I'm so sorry I didn't get another post out after announcing the postponement of the Battling Back 2014 Challenge!

Very, very sadly one of the men, the heroes, who had inspired me to Battle Back, passed away just days after my last post. Dr. William Lee Graham, my best friend's father and the man I know and love as Dad, lost his courageous year-long battle with cancer on August 9, 2014.

Dr. Graham had joined the US Navy on Pearl Harbor day, the day the US joined WWII. A great American Patriot, a great American Hero; faithful servant of his country and his Lord and Savior, at whose side he rests; an inspiration to his family and all those who's lives he touched, including mine.

After rightly taking some time out to focus on him and his beloved family, I returned to my workout regimen. However, the injury that had caused the postponement was proving as stubborn as I was in recognizing it's existence and I soon realized that only total rest would allow it to heal. If I hadn't taken a complete break I risked needing surgery to fix the muscle.

Complete immobilization of the arm was out of the question, but I rested it as much as possible. I moved house the first week in November and I was pleasantly surprised how the arm held up, despite all the lifting I had to do.

In the weeks since then I've continued to rest the arm as much as possible and will now slowly, very carefully begin what will be a long rehab. To that end, on this, the first Monday of 2015, I've this evening completed my first workout in around 3 months. I'm understandably a bit tired, but the arm seems fine as of this moment :)

I'm not yet ready to reveal any of the details of the rescheduled challenge, but what I will say is that due to the injury it won't now be water based. That decision was one that took some time and indeed a lot of prayer to make, but I know that it's one that had to be made, just as the postponement did. Even if the arm heals completely, a single long distance swim would be too risky.

So, as a new year begins, I reaffirm my commitment to you, to my Lord and Savior, to my heavenly inspiration and indeed to me too, that I WILL continue Battling Back. At this very moment I'm unsure how often I'll update this blog, but I'm aiming to do so at least weekly.

Thank you so much for your continued love and support. It truly means so much to me!

God bless,
Em

Step by step 2009 ~ part 7

Hi everyone,

We continue our look back to the 2009 challenge today, focusing on just a single day, December 27, the day before the hike began.

December 27 - Walk minus 1 day!
After spending last night in my own bed, the last time for more than a week, I was up and about around 8:00 am GMT this morning. After showering and getting dressed I did a final check of the packing. If there's something that I've forgotten now, it may well remain forgotten! Seriously though, I've got everything that I'll need.

I'm now sitting here, having written the last email that I had to reply to, listening to some music and drinking coffee. Sunday morning wouldn't be Sunday morning without coffee and music and today is no different.

I learned last night that Grace has had to withdraw from the hike, I'm unsure at this time why she has withdrawn, but I do know she's still fundraising for us. This means there are now 11 of us doing it. We will be meeting at Dani's house in a matter of hours. These are the train times for the journey to the start location, both for today and tomorrow morning.

Sunday morning (12/27)
Overpool: Leave at 9:22 am CST
Liverpool Lime Street: Arrive at 9:58 am CST
Liverpool Lime Street: Leave at 10:31 am CST
Preston: Arrive at 10:37 am CST
Monday morning (12/28)Preston: Leave at 1:14 am CST
Carlisle: Arrive at 2:25 am CST

We're then getting a taxi from Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway, where we're starting. The hike itself should start no later than 2:00 am CST, I think.

As for the return journey, I'll be coming back from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I've not booked any travel though as although the hike is scheduled for 6 days, we may be delayed.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your love and support, it really does mean so much to me. Have a great New Year. See you in 2010!

The second entry of the day was written that evening and posted to the site the day after returning from the hike...

December 27, 2009 - Hike minus 1 day (cont)
After waking at 8:00 am GMT and making final preparations I relaxed for a few hours. As noon approached, I called and spoke to my son who told me all about Christmas.

As everyone in the US woke up, I called and spoke to a friend for a few minutes. Then, just before 2:00 pm, another sent me a text saying that he and his wife were awake and asking me to call them. I planned to leave around or just after 2:30 pm. As he and I chatted, I took a deep breath, the time was almost upon me. Before passing the phone to his wife, my friend wished me luck.

Nervous excitement was really kicking in as the conversation continued. Just before the call ended, she said "It's time you were going, lady. We are all with you, we love you." Her last words to me were "we're so proud of you, Em!"

Having put the phone down, I put my coat on and swung my rucksack onto my back. I picked up the holdall and second bag then left the house for the 10 minute walk to Overpool railway station. As I waited for the train, I struck up a conversation with a stranger about the adventure that lay ahead of me. During the conversation, he gave me a donation for the charity and we continued talking until he got off the train.

Arriving at Liverpool Lime Street station, I discovered I'd need to change trains at Wigan North Western, instead of being able to get straight through to Preston. The transition wasn't long, and in fact I arrived at Dani's house just before 6:00 pm as planned.

I was the first to arrive and as we started getting to know each other we both checked our bags. I swapped a few things into the rucksack that I'd need for Monday, as Seb's Dad, Terry, would be arriving soon to take the rest of the kit.

Emily arrived at the house next, just before Terry. Having chatted for a short time and loaded the car, Terry left and we went to fetch Grace. Even though she's not coming with us, she was coming to meet us all tonight. We also dropped Dani off, as she was meeting the others at the bus station and walking back with them.

Grace, Emily and I got back to the house shortly before Dani, Seb, Bea, Zach, Graham, Pip, CJ, Alex and Jake. It was wonderful to finally meet everyone. Having ordered out for a late supper of fried chicken, we began settling for the night around midnight. It was late, VERY late, well after 2:00 am GMT before many of us got any sleep at all...

In the next retrospective entry, I'll share with you some of the highlights from each day of the hike. That post was written the day I got back and gave me some time to type up all the other entries. I'll be back later this week with another post with my training notes from this year, so I hope you'll join me then.

God bless,
Em

Step by Step 2009 ~ part 3

Hi everyone,

Thanks for stopping by, it's so good to have you here. Today we continue our retrospective look back at the Step by Step journal I wrote while training for the first charity challenge in late 2009. If you missed the first couple of posts about it, you can catch up with Part 1 and Part 2. Both links open in a new tab to make it easier for you.

We begin part 3 with December 8, 2009...

December 8, 2009 - Walk minus 20 days!
WOW this really is going quick now! I was in a business meeting all morning, so did just 4 miles today; back to 12 tomorrow.
It's with a very heavy heart that I have today learned of the passing of the 100th British soldier to lose his life in Afghanistan this year. It's HEROES such as L/Cpl Adam Drane who inspire me to give all *I* have on the hike.

Rest In Peace soldier, I salute you! Another heroic angel.

December 9, 2009 - Walk minus 19 days! Wow it's gonna be here before we know it! I'll be doing 12 miles this morning. Thanks to Seb for sending my t-shirt I really look the part now.

I've now set up the ""HELP for HEROES" Hadrian's Wall Christmas Hike" album on Facebook and added the first 3 photos. More will be added before the hike and of course, many, many, afterwards.

December 10, 2009 - Walk minus 18 days! Training today was good, another 12 miles complete. Thanks to everyone for your support. It really does keep me going when it's hard out there.
It's about time I mentioned some of the other brave, albeit younger, people who will be doing the hike with me. They are:
Seb F.- It's all Seb's fault. He's the organizer of this feat of endurance.
Terry F.- Seb's Dad. He will be our support driver.
Bea S.
Emily B.
Danielle C.
Zach S., Bea’s younger brother.
Jacob S.
Claudia M., the youngest of the group, CJ is just fourteen years old!
Pip W.
Alex M.
Graham F. 

December 11 - Walk minus 17 days! Did a shorter than intended 6 mile training hike, due to fog. I had hoped to do another 12 but the fog meant visibility wasn't good. I'm feeling great. Thanks again to everyone for all your support. It really means so much to me. Wow! I've just counted the miles completed in training so far. 85 miles completed in training already. That's the full distance of the hike! I intend to at least do the same again before the hike begins.

The 12 mile route I have been taking during my training is really in two parts. The first half of which is along a well lit road, with a sidewalk. The second part of the route takes me down an unlit road, with no sidewalk. Hence why in bad weather, such as today with the fog, or if I'm out later than usual, when it's dark, the route changes for safety reasons.

The route is in no way flat, there are two or three steep gradients so the thigh muscles and lungs get a workout!

The mid-range 10 mile route, follows the 12, except it cuts off a couple of miles at the midway point. The second part of it is still unlit, so I'll do this one if the light is beginning to fade.

As for wildlife, I do pass by fields with horses in, on both routes.

The shorter four and six mile routes are along fully lit roads, with sidewalks. They are both completely safe. I do the six mile route if I go out in the dark and it's a loop around the neighborhood. The four mile route is the one I do if I have to go to any business meetings, as it's the venue for the meetings is two miles across town.

Everyone I've encountered, so far at least, has been really friendly. Everyone acknowledges me, at least with a nod or a wave, including the drivers along the more rural part of the longer routes.

It's my intention to take the camera out with me on one of the remaining 12 mile training hikes, so you will be able to see what I can see along the route. This will include at least some of the eight bars I encounter! Yes, there has been occasions when I've been tempted to stop for a drink LOL.

I'll add the pics to the album ""HELP for HEROES" Christmas Hike 2009" on Facebook, which I've already started and mentioned a few days ago.

I'm doing all bar the four mile routes in one go, without needing to stop for a meal break. As I'm doing all routes, I ensure I keep well hydrated by drinking an isotonic sports drink, that I make up from powder before going out.

During the hike itself, we'll be doing an average of 14 miles a day. This won't, of course, be all in one go, we'll stop for lunch on the route. All meals; breakfast, lunch and supper; are being provided for us, by a corporate sponsor.

The main bulk of our kit; tents, sleeping bags, camping equipment; is being transported in a support vehicle. We'll only be carrying our daysacks with us, with waterproofs and anything needed during the day, drinks bottles and lunch, for example.

I hope you're enjoying looking back at the entries as much as I am. In my next post, on Wednesday afternoon/ evening, I'll be sharing my latest training notes from this year, as well as some more of my thoughts, so I hope you'll join me again then. 

God bless,

Em 

Challenge announcement and training

Hi everyone,

Thanks for stopping by today and if this is your first visit, WELCOME, it's great to have you here! This post is likely to be another long one, but as with everything else, it's very important, so please do stay with me to the end. Thank you!

BATTLING BACK CHALLENGE
In the first post of note to the blog, Why "Battling Back"? and in most posts since, I've hinted at the nature of this year's charity challenge, which follows on from one I did in late 2009, but I've not revealed the nature of the challenge. Well folks, the wait is very nearly over, at least for the announcement!

You've waited nearly a WEEK for it, but I've waited over FOUR YEARS to make it, having decided on the nature of the challenge even as I traveled back from the last one! So, without further delay I can FINALLY announce...

"The "Battling Back Military Charity Challenge" will be a multi-session endurance swim, undertaken by myself, Rev. Em L. Fairley, with a total distance at this point to be determined, but I can confirm that it will be NOT LESS than TWENTY THREE MILES. The total distance to be covered will be split into individual swim sessions of around TWO MILES. While the exact start date is still to be determined, it will be around MID OCTOBER 2014, the exact date will be announced nearer the time. The exact end date IS known and because this is a challenge in aid of two military charities, a fitting end date can be announced at this time; November 11, 2014, Veteran's/ Armistice Day. This end date is all the more poignant this year, the one hundredth anniversary of the start of First World War, being as a trip to the Battlefields of the Somme when I was a teenager helped shape who I am and my love and support for the military."

MY BATTLE
Before I go into detail about my initial training, I want to go into a little more detail about why this challenge has been titled "Battling Back". In the Why "Battling Back"? post I mentioned that I'm now mentally and indeed spiritually stronger than I've ever been and you can find more details about that in a previously written, but ever evolving article, that I've written for our Ministry page on Facebook. Please do take a look at that.

Each of us faces our own battles, and I've never been one to make the exact nature of my own known, not even to some of my closest friends. Instead I've always put others first and will continue to do so. But having said that, and having titled both the blog and the challenge itself Battling Back, it is right and proper that I say what I'm about to...

I've always battled depression, for years without the need for medication. At times of extreme stress, I'd hit the pool and swimming became my therapy as I swam more than a mile at a time. In the months before the 2009 challenge, I added the gym to my routine and so when the offer came up, I was able to go out on twelve mile training sessions, having done nowhere near that previously.

I vowed at the end of the challenge to maintain my fitness level and as I've stated numerous times now, work towards the new challenge. However, in the year that followed, my mental health took a nosedive and for the first time in my life I knew that I now needed medication to help me, which I began immediately and so did the long route to recovery.

I have been off the medication now for eight months or so, having needed them for over three years. At my lowest, I became severely agoraphobic, only leaving the house when I absolutely had to and returning as soon as I could.

As a result, having been at my slimmest before starting the meds, I'd gained over forty pounds by late spring last year. In the time since then, I've dropped around twenty, but if I'm to have any chance of completing the Battling Back challenge, I need to lose the rest, though with the needed strength and stamina for the challenge and with muscle weighing more than fat, I'll be happy with around another fifteen off.

TRAINING 
I've not done any sort of training for years, other than prescribed exercises to overcome a shoulder injury that I briefly mentioned in the post A few notes of thanks. So, I really am starting over, right from the beginning and as such, I'm starting slowly, but with a long term plan which will get me to the start date ready and able to complete it. I'll be training three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I started training last Friday, March 28, the day before the blog was started. My first priority is to work on some cardio and I found a relatively short, 16 minute long dance workout on YouTube. It might be short, but I gave it my all and by the end of it, I felt it.

By this Monday's session, 3/31/14, the niggly cough I'd started with over the weekend was getting worse, but having only just started, I was determined to keep going. For this reason, I did a double session, repeating the video. At the end I felt I'd gotten somewhere and rewarded myself with a long soak to help both my breathing and aching muscles.

On Wednesday, 4/2/14, I wasn't so fortunate. Still battling the cough, I only managed 20 minutes, but I paced myself and was so glad to have done more than the basic.

Today, Friday, 4/4/14, I'm finally feeling better, though the cough is still persisting a little. I knew that I wanted to push myself and I did so. Today I started the third rep and did my longest workout yet, getting to forty minutes before stopping.

Looking to next week, I'll continue with the home cardio workouts on Monday and Wednesday, but hope to hit the pool for the first time next Friday. From there I'll be aiming to do one pool session between two cardio.

I'm still having to be careful with my shoulder, though as of now, it's holding up great. In about a month, I'll take my cardio sessions into the gym and add in some strength training and weights, perhaps switching up to two pool sessions when I make the change.

I've got more than six months before the start of the challenge and I know that given my determination, as well as the support and inspiration I'm getting from everyone, that I will succeed in Battling Back to physical fitness personally and that the challenge will also succeed.

Thank YOU for being a part of my journey, it truly does mean so much!

God bless,
Em

Why "Battling Back"?

Hi everyone,

In this post I want to explain why I’ve given both the blog and more importantly the charity challenge coming up in October/ November the title of “Battling Back”. There are multiple reasons and so the post will be a long one, but it is by it’s very nature so important.

We begin by going back to my early childhood, to a conversation I heard between two adult relatives. The older relative was talking to the younger about his experiences of serving with the British Army in Africa during the Second World War. Despite being so young, I was transfixed by the conversation and so began my interest in the military.

A few years passed by and then, during my 10th grade, I went to France on a school trip, to the Battlefields of the Somme. During that three day February vacation, the fog, which made visibility almost nil, never lifted. This made what I was already expecting to be an emotional experience, into a life changing event for me.

During those three days, we didn't just visit many of the cemeteries where the thousands upon thousands of heroes where laid to rest. We also walked in the very trenches and across the crater scarred battlefields where they fell, including those at Passchendaele.

On our last evening, we visited the Menin Gate at Ypres, for the sounding of the Last Post. The ceremony takes place every evening to commemorate all those who gave their lives.

Though I was born almost 60 years after the end of the war, those three days brought everything totally to life for me. I was there, amongst the brave boys, for that's all many of them were. I saw what they saw, I felt what they were feeling, the nerves, the dread of what was around the corner or overhead. Those three days have helped shape the person I am today. A PROUD supporter of the military, PROUD of the men and women who risk, and all to often pay, with their lives. Men and women doing a job they love, for their country, fighting for the freedom of others.

In 2007, a British couple started a charity with the aim of “doing their bit” for wounded service personnel. I’ve been a supporter of “Help for Heroes”, (H4H), since the charity was just days old, proudly wearing my turquoise, blue and red wristband constantly, to the point where you can even see it in pics taken moments after my daughter’s birth.

In 2009, a group of friends, who I’d met through Facebook, hiked Hadrian’s Wall in northern England for H4H, a distance of 84 miles in 5 days. I was inspired to join them the following year, but me being me (I’m not the most patient of people), I decided to do something else just as challenging before then, but unfortunately that event had to be postponed for business reasons. I was very disappointed at having to postpone, but as a friend said to me at the time “Sometimes you have to focus on YOU. There are certain things that are important to all of us; things outside of ourselves; good things and worthy things; worthy of attention from ourselves and others; but sometimes we have to focus on ourselves, HAVE to.”

Then that November, indeed the day after Thanksgiving, I received an email from a complete stranger. He’d seen the postponed event for the charity and rather generously invited me to join him on his own and I read the email in a state of disbelief. The offer was to join with him and a group of others in hiking Hadrian’s Wall, the starting date being December 28, 2009, just 31 days later. After thinking about it and talking to my closest friends, I decided to take him up on the offer.

During each of the days that followed and indeed during the event itself, I kept a detailed journal, which I’ll share with you in a number of future posts here on the blog. It was another life changing event for me. When it ended, though weakened in body, I was strengthened in spirit and determination.

In the days that followed even as I recovered, I resolved to work towards another challenge, which would this time not only raise funds for H4H, but because by that point I’d adopted America as my home, also for a US based military charity.

The resolve to share the funds was strengthened when, in May 2010, the son of a childhood friend of one of my best friends was critically injured and lost his leg while serving with the US Marines in Afghanistan. I didn’t know either of them then, but in the weeks that followed, I got to know Margaret and learned that not only had her youngest son, Eli, been recently injured, but her eldest, Alex, had also been less severely so while also serving with the Marines in Iraq. I knew then that I wanted Margaret to be the one to nominate the US charity.

Unfortunately, as the months passed and I watched with so much admiration as Eli got stronger, my own health, both mental and physical, deteriorated to the point where the challenge had to be postponed indefinitely.

Now though, having recovered my mental strength to the point where I feel stronger than I truly have ever felt, I’m as determined as ever, if not more so, that the charity challenge will DEFINITELY be going ahead this year. However I won’t, for now, reveal the exact nature of the challenge, instead you’ll have to wait for another post for that. SORRY, but I will say this...

I’ve today written to Margaret asking her to nominate the US charity, as I always promised I would.

The challenge will conclude on November 11, 2014, Veteran’s Day, by way of a tribute to all who have served in the military and who are themselves BATTLING BACK.

In training for the challenge, having regained my mental strength, I’ll be BATTLING BACK to peak physical health.

Before concluding this very long post, I’d like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has served and continues to serve and protect. Each one of you, together with others, are my inspiration.

God bless
Em

Sat. March 29, 2014

Hi everyone, 

At the time of writing this first post on the new blog, I've only just created it and it's still a work in progress, but I wanted to mark the creation with a quick post. I'll explain more about my reasons for creating the blog and the charity challenge that's mentioned in the description, in the next post, so please do stop back then to find out more. 

God bless,

Em