100k challenge - not just laps around the neighbourhood

Inspired by older posts on this sub and others, I decided to go for the Olympian Sandal (100k) badge. Ignoring all advice to stay close to home and take a flat route, I instead opted for a giant loop including one of the highest points in London. The loop was great as it didn't allow me the option to stop, and meant that the walk was decidedly not boring. I didn't train specifically for this, but my 2020 step average was ~14,000 and included a couple of 50k days and I've hit 10k every day I've been allowed to leave the house in 2021.

Also, I broke Fitbit's calorie tracking - those calories after 22:00 never did show up...

Proof 1

Proof 2

I'd initially decided to link together the Thames Path with a couple of sections of the Capital Ring to form a great big circle with a length of about 43 miles. Most days, 10,000 steps takes me to 4.5-4.7 miles, so multiplied by 10 it should have left a little wiggle room for diversions. I neglected to account for the fact that my stride length would drastically decrease going up and down hills and as I got tired, so I ended up doing a much smaller route (not pictured: walk from my house to the Thames, brief warmup at the start, 10 mins of faff at the end to finish up steps) that still consisted largely of Thames Path, Capital Ring/ Green Chain, but with some city (my old neighbourhood) as well.

Fortunately, I'd looked at something pretty similar to the shorter route in my planning and the Green Chain is well-signed, so changing routes on the fly was not a huge deal. This is the sign where I solidified the route change. As a happy accident, I ended up in Horniman Gardens at sunset and walking by a local landmark that's been on my to-do list for a while.

All in all it was a good experience. I brought a second pair of shoes which I wore from ~30k-68k, then switched back; I think this was the right choice, but it did preclude me wearing my hiking boots for any portion. I packed some ham and cheese and butter sandwiches, and my (very supportive) flatmate gave me a pork floss roll (so good!). I ended up buying some chocolate and a Guinness to drink with the Dinosaurs in Crystal Palace.

I got up at 5:50, had some yogurt and coffee, then went for a walk around my neighbourhood while my breakfast burrito heated up. I came back to finish packing my bag and eat the burrito, then set off along the Thames Path a little after 7. I didn't take any long breaks but I sat down briefly about every 10k steps and took some longer (~20 minute) breaks around 33k (Shooters Hill), 66k, and 78k (dinos!). I returned home and hit the 100k mark at 23:15. (I had a blister pop at 96.5k steps/ 22:30pm which took me about 15 minutes to sort out and was by far the worst part of the whole thing.)

I had a fitting celebratory beer.