I'm Walking from Toronto to Niagara Falls!

What?

Really?

Yes. Really, terrifyingly, the title of this post is true. What was I thinking when I signed on for this? Well, I think it was something like this: I have time, as a PhD candidate, to walk for four days, and it's a fundraiser for children's charities through the Desantos Foundation, and I've never done anything like it before, so... I guess I thought, 'why not?'

Now that the walk is two weeks away, I'm really questioning my judgment. I'm a lazy and unwise person who doesn't properly train for things; thus, I haven't been practice-walking properly. I always think that I will properly train for things (a 10k run a few years ago comes to mind), but then I don't. I'm going to do 25 km on Friday of this week, but according to the walk-training schedule it should be more like 33 or 35 km, so I'm a bit behind.

The walk starts on April 19th, at six o'clock in the morning. We walk 40-ish kilometres that day, and then the same distance the next day (so walking back-to-back marathons), then about 30 km the third day, and finally 25 km on the last day. I'm worried, to say the least.

But that's OK! I'm going to walk over 145 km to Niagara Falls over four days! That's pretty cool and pretty hard, but it's not the hardest thing ever. In fact, here's a list of all the really hard things I'm not doing:

- I'm not crawling through the woods for 3 months with a broken femur, Hugh Glass style
- I'm not climbing Mount Everest in the 1950s, Edmund Hilary style
- I'm not fleeing a war zone with my belongings and children in tow
- I'm not braving the winter waters of the Mediterranean Sea in a dingy
- I'm not attempting to cross Death Valley with a covered wagon
- I'm not crossing the North Pole on a dogsled
- I'm not traversing the Chilkoot Pass in the 1890s
- I'm not trying to circle the globe in a hot air balloon...

The list goes on. I'm not really doing anything difficult at all. It'll be an enjoyable lakeside walk.... right? I hope so.

And, because friendly, caring, and generous people have started to sponsor me, it's way too late to back out. Backing out would be so lame, and I don't think my pride could handle it anyway, but those donations definitely help me to screw my courage to the sticking-post, as it were.

In any case, it's going to be a new adventure, with good and dedicated people, and all for a very excellent cause. If you, dear reader, are interested in supporting me and the children's charities that benefit from the Desantos Foundation, you may donate here. I'll be thinking of you as I walk, and your support will keep me going!