How do people talk you into doing things that you never dreamed of doing?

My sister decided that this morning we would walk the lake, which is a nice idea. It is a beautiful area of the country. It is great to spend the day outdoors. And as far as hikes go, not only is the lake gorgeous, but many of the mansions were built at the turn of the century by Chicago tycoons. (Wrigley, Armour, Schwinn, Harris...)

Paula on the start of the hike

With no training we start out at 8am for a 21 mile (34km) hike. Our initial pace was a slow, but respectable 20 min/mile. Then it got really hilly. Then it got really rugged. Then we got really tired. We slowed to almost a 30 min/mile at some points that were terrain challenging. After a short potty and lunch break we still had 11 miles to go. We pulled on our big girl knickers and kicked it.

The Polar tells the story - 9hrs, 58 min, 2178 calories burned

Time to complete - 9 hours, 58 min, 37 seconds
Calories burned - 2178
Blisters - too many to count

VICTORY is ours!