Closing Movember in style!

It’s amazing when you track a month in days and keep a wee note of whats going on. It can be incredible to think of how much even goes through your head in the 45-60 minutes you allocate to walking most days and the plus and minuses of the day

Day 23 – Snow!!!!

I’m game for many things but having officially met the distance on day 22 and with no real desire to get the mountain boots on and walk this circuit, plus the remnants of last weeks cold, I choose to stay in and chill. The tree is up (early) anyway so feels like an early starter for Christmas.

Day 24 – Unwell, again. Had felt with getting the final distance in on the Friday and a full day rest I’d be ok, but seems like a setback. Choose to avoid walking but something is off.

Day 25 – No doubt about it, I have gout. Gout was new to me at the age of 49 and seems like 50 isn’t improving it. My big toe looks like a Callaway driver. This is happening despite the ‘good stuff’ I have cut out my diet over the year. I know from experience you can’t leave it and that a treatment is available so I call the Doctors and get an appointment for later the same day and get medication. I can’t fault the NHS on that turnaround

Day 26, 27 – Resting up, from a walking perspective and focus on the day job.

I also choose to call the hospital to ask for an ETA on my biopsy results which were taken mid-September. As this is a dermatology biopsy I know there is still a backlog post COVID in some work. Again, I can’t fault the speed of the turnaround on the actual procedure and the care I was given by the NHS. It’s not fun having someone sticking a needle into your head then having what I can only describe as a Rugby style head bleed (apparently the scalp with all its nerve ends is one of the most likely places to bleed heavily), but I was reassured, looked after and genuinely felt cared for. I think it’s important to talk to the need for checking yourself and the need for medical follow up when you talk about raising awareness through Movember, it’s kinda the point, but equally I understand how in a vacuum of information can cause uncertainty and worry.

Unfortunately my results are not in and even as I write this I am still waiting, but I know that the most likely outcome is everything will be ok, it’s precautionary due to previous basel-cell carcinoma’s and likely it will be a minor procedure once diagnosed.? I take a note to call again W/C16th December.

Day 28 – Toe has improved dramatically. The medication is not ideal and makes you feel awful, however it is working and allows me to attend the Scottish Chamber Annual Address in Glasgow. Being involved in the Scottish Business community directly in various roles over the year it does strike me how optimistic, resilient and innovative it is. The speakers were great, we hosted some fantastic customers and partners and I managed to sign off my night by catching up with my good friend Tommy Nevin, who still remains a real source of inspiration, more than 25 years since I first plugged in a headset to hear him on a call.

I’m really glad I went.

Day 29 – ‘Boom diggy diggy diggy boom diggy bang, Unity a bond an you know dat strong’

An unlikely catch on the deezer flow with ICE MC and Think about the way kicking off the start of the walk. The toe is a little sore but about 1 million times better from Monday and I know myself well enough to know I can get a small walk in. In fact there a multitude of 90’s club hits firing in as I get a respectable 3.5Km walk in and feel generally a little bit better about the world. It also blew off the cobwebs of a late night (11.45pm is late for me mid-week these days) and set me up for a great day at work.

Day 30 – ‘They sat together in the park, As the evening sky grew dark, She looked at him and felt a spark, Tingle to his bones’

Starting any walk with Dylan can often mean I naturally get a bit introspective. For me he is the definitive songwriter of all time, the musicality and creativity of prose is extraordinary and as someone who simply enjoys reading and hearing words for their beauty and impact I can get drawn into it. Sometimes though, when you’re trying to get a move on in a walk it doesn’t help with pace!

I decide though to just go with it, take my time and ultimately I end up splitting the walk due to an unexpected message around a parcel arriving early.? The Proclaimers kick in and even though I haven’t walked 500 miles it makes me think about the walk and what it meant. I finish the month 10% over the goal, which could have been more but ultimately satisfied with the outcome.

And that marks the end, for Movember anyway, of diligent walking.

This year marks over my 10th year supporting Movember directly or as part of a team in one shape or another. I was introduced to it by the SME sales team way back in EE and kind of stayed with it since. The last few years I’ve flown solo, either a walking challenge or getting the tache on and you always hope, in some small way it helps push the awareness more.

This will be my last year directly getting involved as increasingly I am uncomfortable asking people to donate and I recognise people are bombarded with asks of them.? I will continue to support raising awareness through the channels are available to me and I recognise I have, even if a little limited, platform to share the message.

I will though be continuing my return to more dedicated walking time, monthly, and a special mention to Geraldine Gibson for calling me out at Bristol Airport when we bumped into each other for my perceived lack of activity before Movember. It didn't miss ????

To close, summary of takeaways for the whole month,?

What went well –

The walking challenge in general, delivered around 67KM, with a couple weeks impacted by illness. Having a (reasonable) plan worked and hitting the challenge aggressively at the outset allowed me to compensate for unplanned events.

Having good shoewear, or equipment is a must, ASICS continue to be my trainer of choice and a good pair will help your feet!

What could be better -

Can’t avoid issues arising and having time helped in the month helped, but my commitment to the blog drifted a week which was avoidable. Pre-walk warmups should have been more of a focus earlier on also.

What would I do different –

Tighten the plan, the plan was good but it almost certainly could have been better. Allow better recovery moments which took me to end of week 2 really and look more at expected outcomes and what success looks like going into it.

My thanks to everyone who has supported the month in general, for the sponsorship where it was given and the general supports.

Wishing everyone all the best over the festive season!

David