Start: Coomera Station
Finish: Woodridge Station
Distance: 23
Total: 1196
Today was a long day, partly by design, partly because I messed up. I’ll explain.
The day started as planned by taking the train from Central Station in Brisbane back out to Coomera Station where I stopped walking yesterday. The train ride was just over an hour and I started walking at 9:15 in a slight drizzle. I started the day still about 40 miles south of downtown Brisbane so most of my walking today was in the country, but along bike trails.
One thing that’s been happening for the last couple of days has been my feet have suddenly decided I haven’t been paying enough attention to them, or I’ve been ignoring them. But for whatever reason, recently by mid-day they have started to ache really bad. It’s like they’re saying hey, don’t forget us down here. We’re getting tired you know. So today about noon, my feet were really hurting, especially my toes, and I wanted to take the Motrin I had in my pocket, but I had not eaten anything since 7:00 and I knew not to take the Motrin on an empty stomach. Just about that time, as I was beginning to noticeably limp a little, a Subway shop appeared. So I stopped and ate lunch, put on dry socks, and took the Motrin. I sat there for about an hour, which is much longer than I normally take for lunch, hoping my feet would start to feel better. And they did; but while I was focusing on my feet, I lost focus on the time. I needed to catch a train at 4:19 at the Loganlea train station or I would be waiting an hour for the next train.
With a new sense of motivation and urgency, but not very much spring in my step, I hustled down the road to catch my train. I’ve gotten pretty good at doing a running calculation every mile or two on whether I’m ahead or behind schedule, and in this case, I was behind and didn’t think I was going to make it to the station on time. I picked up the pace, though I wasn’t getting full support from my still somewhat aching feet. With two miles to go, I was confident I was going to miss the train by 3-4 minutes if it was on time, and the trains usually leave right on time. As I got to the station, there was no train, and no people waiting around for the train, so I just missed it. So I went with Plan B.
The next train would be along in one hour. Three miles down the tracks, along my route tomorrow, lies Woodridge Station. I can walk three miles in an hour without a problem. So instead of just sitting idle for the next hour waiting on the train, I walked three more miles to Woodridge Station, got there before the next train, and knocked three miles off tomorrow’s distance. Now I’m glad I missed the first train.
Speaking of tomorrow, it’s my last walking day. Tomorrow morning I’ll take the train 15 miles out to Woodridge Station and walk back here to Brisbane’s Central Station. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that. JB.
