Coast To Coast - just over two weeks and counting

Last time I blogged (yes I know, it was a-g-e-s ago!!) I see I'd managed to hurt my back and the walking and running had ground to a halt. I was also still wearing in the new Hillmaster boots ..I'd been wearing them around the house and was thinking of trying them out on the treadmill. I'm pleased to say the back problem was short-term, the walking and running have resumed and I did decide to keep the Hillmaster boots after all.

During April and May I have managed to gradually build up my walking distance in preparation for the Coast To Coast (C2C) which is now just over two weeks away. In April I was managing 11 and 12 mile walks - by the end of May I was able to walk up to 14 miles. The reason for doing these long walks is that on the C2C there are a couple of 20 mile days to contend with. However, there are also lots of hills too :)

I'm lucky to have Cirencester Park close by but although it has some slopes, it is mostly flat. I needed to set myself a challenge so in May we had a weekend in Malvern. I decided to try walking the complete range of the Malvern Hills and back again - a round trip of 12 miles. I parked at the north end of the Malverns (below North Hill) and once I had managed to find the correct path up to the top of North Hill (1303ft), I set off towards Herefordshire Beacon (1109ft) which is at the southern end and is surrounded by British Camp, an iron-age hill fort. And on the way, if I saw a hill I headed up and over it. The highest point is Worcestershire Beacon (1394ft). I won't say it was easy - I was tired by the end of the day - but I was still walking and apart from tired legs and feet I was otherwise okay. You get some wonderful views on the hills - here are a couple of photos I took in 2012 to give you a flavour - the first from British Camp looking north towards Worcestershire Beacon - the second looking south back towards British Camp ..

Since the weekend in Malvern I have mainly walked in Cirencester Park and have built up my longest distance to 16 miles. Then last weekend I did what I christened the "double-whammy" weekend and walked on both days .. 15 miles on a route over the Marlborough Downs on Saturday, then a 14 mile walk in Cirencester Park on Sunday. I decided walking both days was the best way to simulate the daily walking I will be doing on the C2C. I took some more photos while I was out walking and will post another blog with the results.