It was Stephen’s idea … I would have been just as happy staying home for the day. Stephen, Bronwen and I walked the Bridle Path this afternoon – to the top of the Summit Rd from the Gondola carpark and back again.

When I was a kid, and when my kids were young, the Bridle Path was like a rite of passage – most Cantabrian kids have walked from the Christchurch to the Lyttleton side at some point in their life. I managed to avoid it until now.

To be honest, I thought it would be harder. It’s steep, but not to the point that it slows you down too much, and it wasn’t nearly as far as I thought either. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the top (going at the pace of the slowest Frayle).

The ease at which I was able to wander to the top is a testament to the hard work I have put in at the gym in the past year. I really love that I have a pretty good level of functional fitness that allows me to do these kinds of things easily.

Sometimes it boggles my mind – I’ve come a long way from the person I was. It’s hard to me (and others) to imagine a time that any vigorous activity was beyond me, but that’s who I was. It hasn’t been easy – getting fit and staying fit takes a lot of time, energy, perseverance.

But when I’m standing at the top of the Summit Road, looking down at the 1.5km uphill track I just climbed, it feels very much worth the effort.