Training Walk 20.04.12

Had to cut my training walk short today as I had problems with my knee coming down from Old John in Bradgate Park.  I did just over 5 miles today in 2 hours 15 minutes, heading north out of Cropston, across to Swithland Wood, and through Bradgate Park.  I felt my knee go coming downhill, and decided it would be better to head for home and rest it until my next training walk, when I intend to walk at least 16 miles.  Also, because my phone has had to go in for repair I don't have any photos to show either! 

Great tunes on the MP3 player today included Radio 4's The News Quiz, 'National Express' by The Divine Comedy and 'Hot Tamales' by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.  And when I got home the tune I played on the Ukulele was 'Hot Tamales' by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain!

Check out the link - it's  a great song!

Cheers

Latest Route

Here's a copy of my latest route information to give you an idea of where and how far I'm walking.

Managed to book a B&B using a great site run by an old school friend of mine, Mark Harrington.  Check out his site http://www.bedandbreakfasts.co.uk if you need to find some accommodation.


Cheers!

Training Walk # 6 06.04.12

Wow!  Completed my own Three Peaks Challenge Leicestershire style!

The three highest points in Leicestershire - The War Memorial in Bradgate Park, Beacon Hill and Bardon Hill all bagged and over 16 miles walked.  What a big day!

Was begging the rain to hold off all day and it did.  Started at Bradgate Park Newtown Linford entrance, and walked up to Woodhouse Eaves, across Broombriggs Farm, Beacon Hill, under the M1, through Charley Valley to Bardon Hill, over to Markfield, and back to Newtown Linford.

Took some pics: -

View from the top of Beacon Hill - the shadow is the trig point

The 'Old Man of the Beacon' - see the face?

Had to cross the field full of cows - they were giving me evils!

Phew! Made it!

Came across the skeleton of a sheep - the farmer told me it had been killed by another animal . . . Could the Leicestershire Big Cat have struck again?  Don't worry - I reported it immediately to www.bigcats.org.uk!

Nice arty shot of a pylon near Markfield

Crossing the M1 - practising for crossing the M6 on the Coast to Coast

Check out today's route here:

Training Walk 06.04.12

Feet started hurting at about 10 miles but pushed on through.  I was thinking that it was amazing how, when you think you haven't got any more inside you, you can keep going when you have to.  It also made me think again about the reason why I'm putting myself through this - our babies.  It's coming up to the anniversary and even though life goes on I always think of the babies we lost, particularly at this time of year.

Doing these longer distances is really paying off as it's giving me a really good idea of how I'm going to feel when I do the walk for real.

MP3s that kept me going included 'Clocks' by Coldplay, various tracks by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and 'Interesting Drug' by Morrissey.

When I do the walk in August I will be taking my Ukulele with me, so if anyone would like to sponsor me per song, I'm putting a playlist for the walk together as we speak.  I'll publish the list on here as soon as it is finished.  Tune played on Ukulele today when I got home - 'Happiness Pie'.

Training Walk 25.03.12

The sun was on my side today!  Walked over 13 miles today in 4 hrs and 45mins, keeping a steady pace of 2.76 mph and managing to walk a mile in under 22minutes, beating my previous best time. Check out the route and stats at the link below:

Training Walk 25.03.12

Was chuffed with today, made good time and went further than I've ever walked before.  My route took me through Swithland Wood, round the top of Swithland Reservoir, followed the route of the Leicester Round and skirted the edge of the quarry.  I walked through Mountsorrel, across the busy A6 (which I did cross carefully on foot), across the Mountsorrel Marshes, through Cossington before turning back towards home passing through Rothley and back home to Cropston.

A broken, old bridge in the marshes behind Cropston

The longest, straightest path across a field! Leading up to the bridge to Swithland Reservoir.

Busy and beautiful today.

The sun dappled avenue down the side of Swithland Reservoir

Just catching my breath having legged it across the busy A6.

Chanced upon two noisy horses grazing by the lock on the Soar in between Mountsorrel and Sileby

Sileby Lock Boatyard

Cossington Marshes - so much wildlife!

Cossington Marshes is massive!  Seemed like it took ages for me to walk through here!

Just missed the train as it went over the footpath! Damn!

It was a great walk today, although my feet and legs started to feel the burn at about 10-11 miles. It was good route with plenty of great views and a few ups and downs to give my knees a workout. Sat and had my lunch just past Swithland Reservoir and took in a lovely view.  It's really given me an idea of how I'm going to feel walking this far, and made me think about some of the days which are even longer on the walk.  But even though the going got tough, I'm not put off, and I'm still looking forward to the challenge.

The new boots were amazing, and felt really comfortable and by the end of walking over 13 miles I've only got a small hot spot on my big toe.

Musical highlights on the MP3 player this week included various tracks by Kate Rusby, 'Mr Blue Sky' by E.L.O., 10 out of 10 by Paolo Nutini and a podcast of satirical Radio 4 Extra comedy show 'Newsjack' (which is very funny - check it out if you get the chance).

Thanks to everyone who is supporting me, particularly big thanks and much love goes to Helen, who is becoming a bit of a 'walking widow' because of the increasing demands of my training schedule.

Keep checking back for more updates on my progress, and don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think. 

And . . .oooh, just remembered, must make sure there's a bottle of beer in the fridge . . .

Training Walk 11.03.12

What a beautiful day for a walk out.  Did just shy of 10 miles today, heading out of Cropston towards Bradgate Park, but striking out north through Swithland Woods, walking along the roads to Woodhouse Eaves, cutting back south west across Lingdale Golf Course, and back into Bradgate Park.  Over the top by Old John, past the Abbey ruins, and then  back to Cropston round the south side of the reservoir.  Pics below:

Cropston Reservoir looked amazing in the morning light

Just past Swithland, invisible from the road, is a hidden tower and ruin by a small lake.  Didn't expect that!

Entered Bradgate Park from Hunts Hill side, but no time to stop and dawdle - I'm making good time

Having stopped by Old John for a quick early lunch, this is the view from the other side.

The views from up by Old John are amazing, and as usual, the pic doesn't do it justice.

Those houses in the distance are Cropston.

Had a lovely chat with one of the very 'well-to-do' ladies on the golf course who, mid-round stopped and asked me where I was headed.  Found a couple of old golf balls in the rough just off the footpath on the edge of the golf course which I took home as a present for Lachlan.  "Wow Daddy, these are the best golf balls ever, and I can hit them with my golf stick!".

Great tunes on the MP3 player today included 'Never Buy The Sun' and 'Accident Waiting to Happen' by Billy Bragg, and 'And She Was' by Talking Heads.

Made fantastic time today and had loads of fun and managed to complete the route in exactly 3.5 hours.  Check out the route here:

Training Walk 11.03.12

Please put some comments on this post and let me know what you think.

Support from a famous Coast to Coaster

Recieved some correspondence today from a famous Coast to Coaster, in support of my charity walk.  I've scanned it in so you can see it below.

Thanks very much Julia, and thanks to Gina, Julia's PA, for helping to get Ms Bradbury's support for the walk.

The road out of Grosmont, N.Yorks - 1:3!

 

I've now watched her Coast to Coast series all the way through and it is so useful to be able to see where I'm going to be walking, specifically how long and steep those paths are going to be in some places!







Everyone has been so supportive and I am already a third of the way to my fundraising target. Dad and I have planned the route, stops and accommodation, and are almost ready to go.  Got a training walk tomorrow - 10+ miles.  I'll keep you posted . . .

New Boots?

Finally, sorted a new pair of boots for my epic cross country traverse of our great kingdom.


The old ones have given up the ghost, so I've got myself a new pair to break in. 

Got a training walk planned for Sunday, another 10 miler.  Check out the blog for the route and update after Sunday!

Thanks to everyone who is still donating to the JustGiving page and keep checking back as I might have a surprise pic to post on the blog - watch this space . . .

THANK YOU!

A big thank you to the person who donated £20 today on my JustGiving page but chose to remain anonymous.

Going to try on some new boots this weekend, and get together with my Dad and start to finalise our plans for our expedition!
Keep checking back to see how things are going . . .

Training Walk #3 17.02.12

Wow - made good time today.  Had changed the route for today to include a bit more road walking (it was a bit wet, the fields a bit muddy, and I still need to get a new pair of boots as my old ones are coming apart) and that helped to make it quicker.  Road walking is good practise too, as there are a couple of sections of the Coast to Coast with quite a bit of road walking in.  It is tougher on your feet too, as the road is not as bouncy as a nice unpaved footpath!

The weather started out with plenty of that 'fine rain, that soaks you through', but that soon stopped.  Walked round Cropston Reservoir, up through Bradgate Park, through Swithland Wood and up towards Woodhouse, then cut across country to Swithland Reservoir, round and back past Rothley GCR Station and home.

I pushed hard and the pace paid off - I managed to average a mile in just over 22 minutes.  You can check out the route on Runkeeper here at  Training Walk # 3 17.02.12

Looking back towards Woodhouse as I cut across country

Crossing the Great Central Railway - no trains today tho!

Swithland Reservoir was lovely - had no idea you could drive all the way round it!

Back through Rothley - on home straight!

The more I get out walking round here the more I think how lucky I am to have such great walking on my doorstep. It's coming in handy now though as the training for my Coast to Coast challenge really starts to kick in. Next training walk in 2 weeks time. Better plan the route . . .

Planning ahead

Been doing some more planning ahead:

• Planned my next training walk for Friday 17th February.  Ten and a half miles up to Swithland Reservoir, across towards Woodhouse, down through Swithland Woods, across Bradgate Park, round Cropston Reservoir and home. Last time I did just short of eight miles in 3 hours exactly, so I'm aiming for around 4 1/2 hours, with a reasonable pace.

• Booked most of the accommodation for the trip.  It has amazed me how many places will take a booking but do not want any payment until you arrive.  Perhaps it's a northern thing?  Anyway, only got a couple of stops left to book for.  It feels like it's all starting to come together.

• Need some new boots.  Found a hole in my current pair the other day after my last training walk.  They are quite old now though and have seen me through several walks, so it's about time I suppose.

Anyway, keep checking back and see how I'm doing.  I'll post again after my training walk on Friday and I'll include some pics.  Thanks again to everyone supporting me.

Training Walk 29.01.2012

Completed second training walk today and got a bit wet.  Great walk though, and even though at times I was asking myself why am I doing this, I would turn a corner past a copse of trees and look out over fields laid out before me, and think 'Outdoors is beautiful'.  I know that doesn't really convey the magnificence of some of those moments you have when walking, but it turned out to be a damp but worthwhile day.  Here's some pics:

 Looking out towards the misty hills at Bradgate Park from Cropston.  The picture doesn't do the view justice!

Yes, there actually was an ice cream van in the car park at Bradgate Park!!

Walked past Old John and the memorial - the mist silhouetted these beautifully against the skyline.

Didn't quite walk as far as I wanted but I had to change my route as the fields north of Swithland were like the Somme! Did just shy of 8 miles in exactly 3 hours.  Check out the route on Runkeeper here:

Training Walk 29.01.2012

Keep checking back for more updates, and finally, thanks to everyone who has recently donated to the website.

Julia Bradbury

Just watching my xmas present, the Coast to Coast DVD with Julia Bradbury.  What's great about it is I can actually see where I'm going to be walking.  Up until now most of the route is only familiar to me through hand drawn maps, OS maps and the odd picture.

Also planning my next training walk next weekend.  Need to do about 8 miles this time I think.  Will keep you posted.