Unfortunately my dedication to walking has not been as successful this week as I would have hoped it to be due to the amount of work I have had on and twisting my ankle at rugby training on Tuesday. This was not an ideal situation but after having it checked out by the physio and convinced it was just a twist and nothing more serious I proceeded to rest it and wait until today to try another walk. Now sitting here writing this, having just completed walk number two I am feeling good about the prospect of continuing and hopefully remaining injury free.
Today I managed to talk Joe in to joining me even if he was reluctant at first. Where I want to get out and practice to make sure I am in the best place to complete the whole 26 miles, he sees this as an event he will just rock up to and smash. His exact words this morning being “I don’t need to practice, I have been walking for 23 years”. However after a bit of persuasion he was convinced to join me.
Armed with our headphones and trainers we set off. It would appear that talking while walking will be kept to a minimum, not through having nothing to discuss but rather to aid concentration. We agreed that each would use one earpiece so that he could listen to his music and I could listen to my audio book but would still allow us to chat should the need arise.
I decided that rather than changing the route completely we would go the same way as I did last week. I wanted to see if I could a)beat my time and b) if the calmer wind would make a difference.
We quickly discovered that the wind was not actually any calmer than it had been on my first attempt only that this time it was behind us rather than against us. The first mile was completed in 18 minute and 6 seconds which wasn’t bad. The second and third miles were completed in front of the wind taking 18 minutes and 1 second and 7 minutes and 48 seconds respectively. The total time for the walk being 54 minutes and 41 seconds over 3.04 miles. Meaning if we keep to this pace we should be able to complete all 26 miles in around 7.5 hours, however we will need to do some walking on hillier terrain first.
This coming week we head north to spend some time with Joe’s family and not too far away from where they live is a nice wooded area where we can do some “off road” walking, weather dependant obviously. I won’t be able to pre plan a route for this walk and if we take the dog with us it may not be as fast as our road walks but it will give us an idea of what we are working to. Although we won’t be doing the actual walk in wellies, which we more than likely will be with this one given the recent rain and snow, it will still be a good practice.
One thing I think will really help with my walk, aside from a good pair of walking boots will be my audio books. I am big fan of reading but I just haven’t been able to find the time what with work, rugby training, playing and watching, seeing friends and family. In fact these days I hardly have time to sit down and watch telly let alone pick up a book. So I started 2018 with the decision that this year I was going to make more of an effort to get more into books and so far with the aid of audio books (and one actual book) I am on my 5th book for the year. I have completed:
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Sarah Millican's Autobiography - How to be Champion
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- A History of Britain in 21 Women
And now I am onto Hidden Figures, the story of the black women who worked at NASA not only during WW2 but also helped with the space race. The themes so far seem to be a mixture of the magical and inspirational which can only help me to complete this challenge.
I may only be into week two of training for this walk but I have to say the excitement of knowing I am going to be taking part in the event is certainly building and seeing my sponsorship increase with the kind donations from friends and family makes it all more worthwhile. I have currently raised £85 which is fantastic and encouraging to know that people believe in my ability to complete the course. Joe however still feels that the practice is not necessary but has assured me he will continue to practice if only to keep me company, what would I do without him! :)
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