Photos from Avebury walk

As you might expect, I'm keen to try and take some photos on my C2C walk to remind me of the scenery we will have walked through. And much as I'd love to take my digital SLR with me, it's just not practical. So instead, I'll be taking my Fuji Finepix which is small enough and light enough to carry with me and have it easily available.

I've mentioned Cirencester Park a lot recently when writing about my training walks. And I also drove to Avebury one weekend for a walk on the Marlborough Downs. I promised to post some of the photos I've been taking so here they are ..

Avebury & Marlborough Downs

The walk near Avebury included part of the Ridgeway Path which I walked last year. Here's a nice shot of the path ..

.. and a bit further along, here's another one showing Barbury Castle ahead and Liddington Hill in the far distance (which is where the Ridgeway path continues on to as it heads East) ..

 

 

Once I had made my way onto the Marlborough Downs I was in 'horse country' and found a nice spot on the gallops for my lunch ..

 

 

Later on, as I was making my way through Fyfield Down, heading back towards Avebury I walked through an area where there are lots of sarsen stones left over from the ice age ..

 

Eventually I arrived back at The Ridgeway and saw this sign pointing the way back ..

 

And a bit further on, Avebury itself came back into view ..

 



 



C2C - three days to go

Just three full days left now to get organised. But one more thing got ticked off the checklist tonight.

I am hoping by doing this walk I can raise some money for a great little charity called "Arts Together" whose work with older people I admire so I have set up a fund-raising page ..

https://localgiving.com/coasttocoast2014

My company have a "match funding" policy and will match donations pound for pound up to £200. In 2012 (Thames Path) and 2013 (Ridgeway Path) they were kind enough to match the money I raised so I'm hoping my application will be successful again this year. 

I'm finding things connected to the walk are popping into my head in a random manner. Knowing full well I'll never manage to remember them all, I've taken to jotting them down on a "don't forget" list. Or if I'm at home I'll grab whatever it is and pile it up with the rest of the stuff on top of my chest of draws.

Last night one of those random thoughts was when my credit card bill would be due? When I checked I discovered it is the day after I get back. To make life simpler I decided to pay it there and then so that I had one less thing to remember on my return. So I went online, checked the latest statement, switched over to my bank's website and transferred the money - all within a few minutes. Ahh, the joys of internet banking :-)

I had originally thought when packing I would need to fit everything into my large rucksack (a la Thames Path walk). But on reading the info from the walking company again, I found a holdall or soft-sided suitcase are the other alternatives suggested. The only proviso is a maximum weight of 20Kg. I would hope I won't be taking that much gear. But I'm the first to admit I'm not the world's best at packing and 'travelling light' is a concept I sometimes struggle with. Anyway, I am travelling up to St. Bees on the train and as Margaret rightly pointed out, a suitcase will be a lot easier to manoeuvre on and off the carriages (even if it is a bit heavier than it ought to be!)

Can I post a blog entry by email?

If this appears in my blog okay then the answer is yes. Which means I will be able to post an update about the C2C walk if I have a phone signal but no wifi.

C2C - 5 days to go

The Coast To Coast (C2C) is approaching fast - just 5 days left now until I head north.

I forgot to mention a couple of things about my walk on Sun 15th Jul. After around 4 miles (as I was passing Cirencester Park Polo Club) I had to stop to check my left foot. It had started getting sore and removing my boot and socks I found the blister I hadn't wanted to find. I think it had probably started forming on the previous day when I did a 15ml walk on the Marlborough Downs. Obviously when you're out walking there's only so much can be done - I put on a compeed plaster and used a spare pair of socks to give my foot a bit more cushioning. That did the trick and I was able to do the rest of the walk.

And having mentioned the Polo Club, I'm used to having that part of the park to myself along with a handful of other walkers and runners. But the park was very busy with lots of cars arriving (and probably grumbling about a lone walker on the side of the road and getting in their way!). I found out later there was an important polo match taking place (sponsored by Maserati amongst others) and Princes William and Harry were playing, while Kate was there with Prince George. None of them were there when I walked by - they must have arrived a bit later!

Over the weekend of 21st/22nd July I managed another 28 miles over the two days (and no blisters this time). I was on call on Sat 21st so wasn't able to leave the house until 2:30pm. So I did a 'quick' 9ml walk, mostly in Cirencester Park. I say mostly because I would usually do a loop into and around the park. But the gates close at 5pm so Saturday's walk was into the park, then out via a track that leads down to Stratton on the outskirts of Cirencester, and I made my way home via the town centre.

On Sun 22nd I attempted my longest walk yet .. 19.5 miles. There was even more looping around the park than usual - partly to make up the mileage but also because there was another polo match on and this one seemed to be even more popular than the week before. No princes in evidence this time - but I can't help thinking the crowds had been attracted by the possibility of spotting some 'royals'. My feet were a bit tired by the time I had finished as I was out for 7-8 hours. But I was pleased as I had managed the maximum distance we will be expected to cover on the C2C without any problem (days 6 and 11 of the C2C are both 20 mile days)

This weekend I didn't walk on Saturday and yesterday I 'only' walked 15.5 mls. I set off at 8:30am to avoid the worst of the heat and followed my usual route of loops in and around Cirencester Park. No polo match this weekend so I had the place pretty much to myself again. Apart from a few runners I saw very few other people. One lady I stopped to chat to was from Australia and was heading for Sapperton and Daneway (to see the old canal tunnel) and then eventually to Stroud. She had a map and I pointed her in the right direction but to be honest, she was pretty blasé about getting lost. "This isn't the outback like back home" she said "I'll just stand and wait and someone is bound to come along and show me where to go".

So .. that's my last training walk done .. just the packing to do now.

I have a collection of scribbled reminders and notes on what I think I will need and a few "don't forget" items. I have also started to put to one side some of the kit and clothing I'll be using. It's time to put those notes and reminders into practise and decide on exactly what I'll take and get it packed. I'm trying to be organised and am starting on the packing now rather than leaving it to the last minute. The last thing I will need is a late night on Friday, frantically shoving things into a suitcase.

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.

Slightly broken again

I've still not decided for definite whether to keep the Brasher Hillmaster boots I mentioned last time. I've gone past the 14-day refund period now but still have another couple of weeks to decide whether to keep them or go back and exchange them for a different pair. So for now, I've still limited myself to wearing them around the house and will use them on my treadmill to simulate walking outside (including walking uphill).

However, at the weekend I hurt my back and for the last day or so have been a lot less mobile than usual. Walking and running have ground to a halt again :-(

At the moment, standing up after a spell of sitting down can be a s-l-o-w process, as is getting in and out of the car after the drive to and from the office. But I'm doing plenty of stretching in the meantime and hoping it will just be a short-term problem. And the back problem was probably caused by that most extreme of activities - weeding.

I've hunted down a couple of books about stretching and keeping yourself supple. The books I bought with the best of intentions and never quite managed to put into practise! :-)

The only good news is that prior to hurting my back with my 'extreme weeding' I managed a 10ml walk on Saturday morning. It was a fairly flat 10mls with a few uphill and downhill slopes but its made me more confident I am giving myself a good base to build from ready for the C2C walk in July.

Mended .. a long walk .. and the saga of the new boots

It's been a long while coming but I finally seem to be mended ..

Last Wednesday I had my last physio appointment. This was just to give Jayne my physio a chance to make sure I was still recovering okay and to give me a final check. When I last wrote in early Feb I had almost regained full flexibility of my left leg. A couple of weeks after that I was able to manage 15 degrees on both legs (the target I had been given) and since then I've been continuing to do the stretching and strengthening exercises Jayne gave me. In the last couple of weeks she had also introduced easy 10-15 min interval sessions for me to do on my treadmill (1 min brisk walk followed by 1 min slow jog). Last Wednesday Jayne got me to jog continuously for ten minutes and there were no after-effects. So she has given me the okay to start slowly building up the treadmill interval sessions and sent me on my way. The final message was that when I'm ready, I can do more running and less walking. And then when I am ready and have built up the time and distance, I can think of venturing outside and start pounding the pavements again. I have to say - it's been very frustrating to not be able to run for these last three months and I've seen other people out running as I've been driving around and have wished I could be there with them.

With my left calf feeling much better recently, I have been out walking with the local Rambler's groups. Just a flattish 6 mile walk with the Swindon Ramblers to begin with and that went okay. So a couple of weekends ago I went along to the Cirencester Ramblers and tried a longer 9 mile walk which had a few more hills. I'm happy to say that seemed to go well too though I did give myself a minor scare later on. After I had showered I was massaging my slightly achey feet (not used to the exercise!) and thought I could feel some swelling underneath the left foot. I thought it might be some knock-on effect from restarting running. But I got Jayne to check it over at last Wed's session and she reassured me it wasn't connected to the calf problem - it was just a minor issue with one of the tendons and she sorted it out there and then.

Boots! :-)

I knew it wouldn't be a five-minute job finding some new walking boots to (eventually) replace the current ones. I visited my local Cotswold Outdoor and after they measured my feet and I had tried on a number of different pairs, I plumped for these Meindl Toronto boots ..

I wore those around the house but after a week or so decided they weren't quite right for me. So I went back to Cotswold Outdoor. The guy helping me measured my feet again and scratched his head about the ones I had chosen (he couldn't work out why they had been suggested). So after another bout of trying on various boots we thought we had found an alternative in the shape of these Meindl Bhutan boots ..

However, after a couple of weeks of wearing these around the house I still wasn't 100% sure about them. And bearing in mind I am planning to use them for the 200 mile C2C walk in a few months time I took them back to Cotswold Outdoor and got my money refunded. 

My current boots are made by Brasher and I decided to try a new pair of that make. Yesterday I visited my nearest Blacks Outdoor but they didn't have the model/size in stock that I wanted. But I went to the nearby Millets and came away with these Brasher Hillmaster II boots ..

So another week or two of wearing boots at home is on the cards and I have my fingers crossed it will be third time lucky. These ones certainly seem to 'feel' like they suit my feet but time will tell.