It’s been a busy few months and December will be here before I know it.

I’ve had a dodgy right knee (ever since I did a round the bays 7km fun run slightly overweight and with my last run ever likely in high school 15 years prior!) and when I run it usually starts grinding and becomes stiff after I have done 8-10 km’s on it. Given I plan on walking anywhere from 30 – 60 km per day and in preparation for the hike, I had a MRI and arranged a visit to the orthopedic surgeon.

The result?

Well, as we all get older, our joints show more and more sign of wear. In some people it is not as bad as others. My knee is OK, but there is definitely less cartilage in there than I would perhaps like to have. The good news is – I don’t need surgery, and can carry on with my hiking plans. But I will be packing plenty of Nurofen and loads of Voltaren Emulgel.

So, I haven’t yet made the purchase of any gear or equipment. This will be the next big activity. I have been doing a bunch of research and there is loads of information on the Facebook Te Araroa page as well as other hikers blog posts and plenty of YouTube videos. It’s now just a matter of making the selection, pulling out the VISA and clicking the purchase button.

I have also been doing my regular workouts and ensuring I am increasing my daily steps. I am currently hitting 10,000 steps per day, and will run 3km+ every single day. It is difficult fitting this in with work and other commitments, but important to be fit if I want to complete the trek in 100 – 120 days. I’ll likely start to do some hikes during the weekends now, and there are plenty of trails around my area that I can be doing.

Visiting the Nalele Village in Fiji

Birthday beer before heading to the airport in Thailand

We recently had a family holiday for a week in Fiji staying at the fantastic Castaway Island. Following this trip, my wife joined me for business in Thailand where we celebrated my Birthday.

This was a fantastic couple of weeks, and despite adding to my waist line and increasing my resting heart rate (cocktails and beer!) it had me thinking about what I would be doing this time next year?

Up with Fiji and up with Thailand… back down to normality (and zero alcohol)

Will I be celebrating my 40th having completed Te Araroa?

It is interesting to think about. I truly hope I would have completed the trek and are celebrating this personal milestone with my family and friends back in Sydney (or some exotic location partying and resting!)