Five more training walks, then off to Land’s End. I’m still working on my fitness levels and learning to manage the Achilles tendinitis, trying to build my confidence to a point where I can actually believe that I stand a chance of being able to walk all 1,278 miles.
Yesterday, Saturday 11 May, brought superb walking weather, with blue skies, a few fluffy clouds and a cooling north-westerly breeze. This was to be my longest training walk – over 25 miles, with 2,500 feet of ascent. I call it my ‘Cerne Abbas Squarea’, because it’s not circular. Liz dropped me off just before 8.30 at Cerne, below the brazen Giant, on her way to a meeting in Poole. I set Viewranger going and headed for Minterne Parva and Up Cerne. Disconcertingly, the heel was decidedly uncomfortable so, when I stopped for a break just before 11, I popped a couple of Ibuprofen tabs. I’d always scoffed at people who insist on including painkillers in their packing list for walks, but now I have to do precisely that, solely for the anti-inflammatory effect. Almost immediately I was walking without pain, although it didn’t alter my pace – I was up around 3½mph all along this easier half of the walk. The serious ascents are all in the last few miles.
Conveniently, around the half-way point, on the Ridgeway just before Gaddy’s Lane, there are two small iron benches set beside the path, with a small tree between them and flowering plants on either side, overlooking Ridge Farm below and a fine view beyond. It’s as if it’s been provided as a memorial, but I’ve never found a plaque there. This time, though, the cold wind was blowing directly at me as I sat there, so I stepped back onto the path and sat on the verge, sheltered by the hedge, to eat lunch. A mile or so farther on, I was very tempted to take off my boots and join the cows:
As the day wore on, I was expecting the grey mist of fatigue to descend as it always has before on this marathon walk. It never did. I can only assume that the daily stretching and strengthening exercises are having a beneficial effect, demonstrating that it’s not all simply about thigh and calf strength. I also carried more water with me this time and drank around 2.6 litres, which may have helped. At any rate, I reached the Royal Oak just before 5.30, so it had taken me nine hours altogether, just under 8½ hours walking at a rate marginally over 3mph on average. I’d taken a third Ibuprofen at 3pm, and finished the walk pain-free and with some energy left in the tank. By the the time Liz joined me for a meal at the pub, I was on my third pint of Bass (such a rarity these day, a real nostalgia slurp!) and feeling quite pleased, both with my fitness level and with my management of the heel. My pleasure was unbounded the following morning, when I had little fatigue, no stiffness and no heel pain. This is starting to look do-able!
I definitely feel over the crest now in my training. I’ll do consecutive walks of 13 and 15 miles next weekend, followed by 15 and 18 miles on the final weekend. Having woken up pain-free this morning, those are starting to look much less daunting. I can think back to my experience of doing the Pennine Way, when I found that my level of fitness, not too shabby at the outset, actually improved markedly as I went along.
Meanwhile Liz has a new pair of boots and has gone with Alex to give them a test walk up White Hill from Abbotsbury, so they’re both starting their preparations in earnest. She’s opted for Oboz Sawtooth for its robust, grippy sole, hoping it’ll give her greater confidence on steep descents.
On Wednesday 29 May I’ll drive down to Cornwall with Liz and Calum, Alex being busy with his GCSEs. I’m loving the prospect of arriving at Land’s End and casually setting off for a short amble, carrying the lightest of day packs, to the youth hostel at Letcha Vean. A journey of 1,278 miles begins with a single 5-miler! Calum has yet to decide whether to join me for that first, brief stretch, while Liz drives down the narrow lanes to the hostel. The next day it’ll be fond farewells for three weeks, until I reach Monmouth, where they’ll join me for the weekend. The walk begins in earnest with me donning my 9Kg backpack, complete with one YHA packed lunch, and covering 11½ miles to Boswednack. Ok, 2,300 feet of ascent within that distance means there’ll be some good climbs, but that’s precisely what I’ve been training for. On Friday it’ll be 14 miles to Hayle with just 2,000 feet of uphill, so that’s a couple of quite moderate days to ease me into the swing of LEJOG. The weekend will bring the first real tests, with two 17-milers, each with around 3,000 feet of ascent, taking me to Newquay. By then I should have a pretty good idea of how my Achilles tendinitis is going to cope with the sheer day-after-dayness of the challenge.
Coping with separation will be another matter. After setting off, I won’t see Liz and Calum for three weeks, after which they’ll meet me near Monmouth. We’ll then be nearly two weeks apart before they join me for the weekend in Derbyshire/Sheffield, when we stay with my son Barnaby and his family. It’ll then be 23 days until they and Alex join me for the West Highland Way, after which they’ll hang around to take in the ‘Hogwarts Express’ to Mallaig – and another day for our wedding anniversary! Another 12 days and Liz will again bring Calum to meet me in Wick, before waiting for me at John o’Groats and, finally, flying south. With so much meticulous planning, all I need to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other. Simple!
White Acorns 