Not wishing to be too outdone by Diana and Robyn (see below for their Christmas exploits) today I've been out walking on the South Downs Way itself, where the Trailwalker event will take place in July. It was partly a test for myself as well as a way of training, as we (my sister, Dad and I) had planned a 12 mile walk from Amberley to Steyning in West Sussex (some of the route and pics can be found here: http://www.southdownsway.co.uk/sdw_amberley_cocking.html) . Since I'm probably the least experienced walker on the team - though not a total novice - and definitely the least fit, then I'd said to myself that if I struggled to complete the day then I would stand aside and let someone else take my place on Team Aching, as I would patently be unable to keep up with team training walks (starting at upwards of 17 miles)!
Today was a perfect day for walking - really sunny, mild and clear, so the promise of a brilliant view was a great incentive to get up the first hill after being dropped off by our honorary support team (thanks Mum). Whilst I'm fairly happy and can keep a reasonable pace up on the flat, hills are where I really struggle at the moment (and why do they always seem to appear the second you leave the car behind?!) Watched by several dozen cows having lunch, we finally reached the top to see the expected stunning panorama of countryside laid out before us - thought I'd better take the time to appreciate it now, as I'm guessing there won't be time in July!
To my relief, the next 4 miles were along a ridge, which made walking very easy. It was after lunch when we decided to take a slight detour to avoid a field of yet more cows. I'm not very graceful at the best of times and the sight of me skidding over a cattle-grid to escape them would probably have fitted into a Buster Keaton film, if it had been intentional... This detour taught me a valuable lesson - don't, DON'T leave the trail! We were somewhat sheepish when the field we had chosen instead ran out, and having to scramble over barbed wire does not a happy Jenni make!
Still, it was downhill, so I couldn't be too grumpy. But downhill tends to lead to more uphill on long walks - and it took rather more willpower to scramble to the top of the next incline. I'm developing a distraction technique based around the 14 times table - I have to think so hard about maths that I can't concentrate on my legs hurting :) Again, the work we put in climbing the hill paid off, as we could see all the way to the North Downs on one side and the sea on the other - I think it'll be dark when we do that bit in the summer so I tried to memorise it now!
My aim for the second half of the walk was to try and keep a steady pace going and not slow down because I was tired, and I think I managed it, so I felt I'd achieved something. We turned on to a road to walk down to the finish in Steyning, but half way we heard a car behind us - our support team had arrived just in time to rescue us from the rain - huzzah.
Conclusion - the South Downs Way is really pretty (which will hopefully be at least some motivation to keep going in July - to see more views!), and I wasn't totally knackered after 12 miles - I still felt I could have comfortably kept going for a while longer. I think my training is definitely going to have to concentrate on improving my hill-climbing skills though - and maybe ameliorating my levels of gracefulness when encountering cattle grids!
P.S. The reason for cars being in the title was because I've finally been insured on Mum's Focus, so the first test of the day for me was driving to the start of the walk, and making sure I remembered where the biting point was :) If the car is still in one piece and so am I, I'm putting a tick in the 'success' box for the day!
Sunday 30 December 2007
Cars, cows and cattle grids
Saturday 29 December 2007
Christmas Training!
We started with a very relaxing 5 mile walk that followed a cycle route through the Wyre Forest on a beautiful sunny but slightly misty day- weather that provided some amazing photography opportunities- as demonstrated below:
The next day (Christmas Eve), we thought it would be a clever idea to go to the Malverns, not just to walk a short distance but to walk over all the peaks from Worcestershire Beacon to Herefordshire Beacon and back again (about 12 miles)…. The first challenge is just getting up onto the Malverns from the car park- no time for warming up- just straight up the steepest, longest hill! When we got to the top we weren’t about to start cutting corners so rather than heading for our start point at Worcestershire Beacon we walked up North Hill and then on to Worcestershire Beacon. Robyn decided it would be a great idea to have a photo of us at the top of every hill. This was fun for about the first three… but by the 8th we were fed up of us looking windswept and we’d kind of lost count of how many peaks we’d got to as well!!!! Somewhere close to Herefordshire Beacon we were feeling pretty tired and our walking boots had decided to start attacking our feet. We got to the top of Herefordshire Beacon and then decided that the return trip to the car park would be around the hills rather than over the top of them to try and save our feet! It was a wonderful walk and great exercise but we learnt a valuable lesson- blister plasters must be applied before walking and an investment in a truck load of them now wouldn’t be a bad idea!!!!!
Christmas Day- no walking today we were in too much pain and needed to recover!
Boxing Day- Another lovely sunny day! We decided to walk south along the canal from Tardebigge. We packed our incredibly amazing ‘Christmas Dinner Left-over Sandwiches’, made by Robyn (an expert in such sandwich making), complete with duck, roast potato, stuffing and sausages, and set off along the canal. We had every intention of going so far and then turning back to Tardebigge but…. we got a little carried away… Neither of us really felt like returning along the same route so instead (and without really thinking this through), we chose to walk ALL the way to Worcester (about 18-20 miles)! The idea being that we could then get a train back to Bromsgrove. We made it to Worcester, although the last couple of miles were done in the dark. Just as we were wandering around trying to find the station we got a phone call from one member of the support crew (our mum), who offered to drive to Worcester and pick us up. We were very grateful (since it was Boxing Day and we hadn’t really thought through the whole train thing and whether they would even be running)- but also thought that it’s good for the support crew to get some practice as well! This allowed us to have a much needed rest in a pub!!
What Can Your Sponsorship Do?
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Oxfam will use the money we raise from Trailwalker in its work to end poverty all over the world. See what your sponsorship can do:
Long-term development work:
£5 could pay for two school textbooks.
£50 could buy a donkey. A donkey can carry large loads over long distances, which really eases the burden of fetching and carrying supplies to and from market. Plus there’s the bonus of free fertiliser!
£100 could buy essential medicines for a whole community for six months.
£1,600 can buy a whole mango plantation – giving a farmer secure income for years.
Help in emergencies:
£23 could pay for 10 Oxfam buckets. Specially designed to keep water safe and clean, these buckets play a vital role in emergencies all over the world.
£36 could provide safe water for 50 people.
£1,440 can provide safe drinking water for 2,000 people.
And this is what the Gurkha Welfare Trust can do with the funds raised:
£14 can buy a blackboard for a school classroom.
£460 can repair the roof of a school.
£1,500 could build a whole toilet block for an eight-classroom school.
Please help us to reach our fundraising target!
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Our fundraising target is £1,500, but if we can make more than this then that’s even better, the money really is put to life-changing use.
Check out the sidebar to see how you can sponsor us! :-)
Tuesday 18 December 2007
Meet Our Team
Diana:
Info shortly :-)
As the only member of the team paying taxes I have a false sense of importance, fortunately the other members soon put that to rights! I graduated from Bristol University in the summer of 2007 with a degree in Maths and Philosophy. Ever since I have been an auditor whilst learning how to become a chartered accountant. It's well exciting. I have previously taken part in a very similar challenge to the Trailwalker, also I have a certificate for cycling around the Isle of Wight.
What Is This Blog For?
Expect to see details of training walks we do (along with plenty of pictures!) and updates on how (un)fit we are! We will also keep you informed of how our fundraising is going; our target is £1,500 and reaching this is a huge challenge in itself.
There will also inevitably be posts where we rant and raise issues such as 'Why on earth did we think this was a good idea?' and 'Oww, my feet (and the rest of me) hurt'. Encouragement is much appreciated! (Please feel free to comment on this blog!)
What Is Trailwalker 2008?
More information about Trailwalker can be found here. Take a look :-)
Basically: 4 People. 1 Goal. 100 Kilometres. 30 Hours.
