The Pentland Hills outside Bacchus Marsh, north west of Melbourne, loom as a formidable challenge for Treahna Herbertson in her rollerskates.
Ms Herbertson said at least she knew a little what to expect, unlike a couple of friends from Wodonga on the NSW-Victorian border, who were planning to strap on their skates and roll with her.
Why walk, or run, or ride when you could attempt something completely different was Ms Herbertson's theory while she prepared to rollerskate from Melbourne to Lexton, in western Victoria, later this year.
The original idea was to skate from Wodonga, where Ms Herbertson lives, to her hometown of Lexton but the prospect of at least 400 kilometres seemed a bit too big of a prospect.
And the mission has changed a little too.
Before the pandemic, the roll was to honour Ms Herbertson's mum who died of cancer 10 years ago. Now Ms Herbertson will also roll to raise awareness for auto-immune diseases after being diagnosed with Hashimoto Disease in August.
Insomnia, "brain fog", muscle fatigue, hair loss and dry skin are some of the symptoms Ms Herbertson experiences with Hasimoto, an under-active thyroid condition. Ms Herbertson wants to encourage people to keep persisting to find what medication and complementary treatments work best for them because there were different symptoms for different people.
She wants to document the good, the bad and the ugly in the months leading up to her November journey on her social media channel Herbie's Warriors. At the least, Ms Herbertson wants to try and get people talking and being more aware of their bodies.
There is the good, bad and somewhat ugly in her training too.
Ms Herbertson has not rollerskated since her childhood (her mum taught her how to skate) but she has been taken under the tutelage of Wodonga-based roller derby company Murray River Derby Dames. She is building on skills such as stopping and falling without badly injuring herself.
New skates were needed too.
"It's a real mind-game out there. I would be skating along and see on the road there's a stone but it would seem like a massive boulder and I would be figuring out how to roll around it," Ms Herbertson said.
"People can join me along the way as long as they're on human wheels - bikes, skateboards, scooters or roller blades.
"The Pentland Hills will be interesting. I know what they're like but a couple of my friends coming with me, I might wait a bit longer before I show them."
Ms Herbertson's final plans are awaiting Vic Roads approval but she has allowed seven days to complete the 220-odd kilometre rollathon in November but hoped to complete it within five days. She hoped to have a better gauge for time as training rolled on.
