100km walked, lots more talked, and ï¿¡435 raised for @Mind....

In January, I set myself a challenge - to walk at least 1km each day, accompanied by someone different each time. The idea was to not only improve my physical fitness, but to break to January blues and loneliness I anticipated being an issue for me this year. January is a month full of birthdays an anniversaries, so this being the first time round as a 'singleton' again (enter #BridgetJones), I also wanted to put to test the theory that physical exercise can improve mental health and wellbeing. To make sure I fulfilled my challenge, I pledged to raise ï¿¡310 for @Mind - the equivalent to ï¿¡10 for each day in January. Once you've pledged to a charity, you've got to do it, right...?

It was all going so well! I kicked off New Years Day with @Liz McPhee. I could feel my fitness improve every day and I had some great conversations with a variety of friends and family I just wouldn't have 'made' time for had I not been taking this challenge. I achieved 2 X 7.5km walks on the 9 and 10 January. I was feeling, strong, confident and mentally better than I had for a while.

But... on the morning of Monday 11 January, I fell down the stairs whilst carrying my four year old. My right leg crumpled under me and our combined weights crunched down four steps, on top of my leg. This inflicted the equivalent to a blunt force trauma to my foot, ankle and lower leg. Astonishingly, I didn't break a bone, tear a ligament or pull a tendon. But the muscles were (and still are) mashed up. The sonographer said my muscles look more like semolina than smooth sheets of pasta (excuse the lack of beauty care in this picture - it really was at the bottom of my list of priorities at this point)!

So, what to do? I'll admit, I was up against it, and I took 48 hours to lick my wounds, regroup and refocus. I considered stopping, but I had made a commitment and was determined to see it through. Plus, I had already started to raise money so did not want to let my donors down, and I WAS feeling the mental health benefits of regular exercise, fresh air and good conversation.

With this in mind I re-contracted that, even if it meant walking up and down my living room, which isn't very big BTW, whilst using my crutches and talking to someone on the phone, I would complete this challenge. I adjusted my expectations over completion date, and completed my 31 walks on 14 February with @Karen Brown.

It was very difficult to get back up on my feet but I am of a determined nature, and this propelled me to complete my challenge despite adverse conditions (we haven't mentioned lockdown and snow to boot, have we?).

I'm writing about this now because I have just been 'pinged' by Virgin Money Giving to say we raised ï¿¡435 (plus some additional funds from tax relief) for @Mind, taking the sum total to over ï¿¡500. After each walk with some tremendous people, I jotted down some key takeaways from my experiment, which I themed and want to share with you now:

• Self-care, kindness to self and others, and an overriding compassionate spirit, goes a long way to supporting positive mental health
• Getting out into the fresh air every single day was invigorating, especially during the days where it was freezing cold but lit by winter sunshine
• My friends and family ARE there for me to talk to, no matter what. When you're feeling low, the last thing you might want to do is pick up the phone to someone you love and talk it out - but I promise, this really helped (and I can vouch for there being some pretty glum days in January)
• Where there's a will there's a way - even when the chips are truly down - if you give yourself space, time, hope and faith, what seems impossible, can become possible
• It's incredible how easy it is, with just the basic principle of one walk per day, to clock up 100km... This is 100km I would not have walked had I not been on this challenge, and so despite my foot injury, I was able to improve my physical fitness
• I can also say in all honesty, my fitness - both physical and mental - has declined since I completed my challenge. So, although I won't do this as a fundraiser now, I will be setting myself a springtime challenge to resurrect my walk and talks and embed them as a part of my daily routine: no matter what, not matter how busy I am, it is really important that I make sure I do this for myself and the small people I have the pleasure of being called Mummy by.

Thank you to everyone who completed a walk with me, took an interest in what I was doing, and those who sponsored me. And the biggest thanks goes to anyone who kept track of what I was doing and why, and have used this as an opportunity to break down the stigma of mental health issues.