A short walk in the woods

I had a couple of conference calls this morning and with the long walk looming thought I'd get off my fat arse and have a lttle stroll. 2.5 miles just over half an hour. Beautiful countryside, walking in the Hughenden estate woods, hills just slightly challenging!!!

I think need to be walking as much as possible now or the Cotswold Way will be a mare.

Kingy

Training Around the World

I have always taken Geoff’s challenges seriously, unless he’s had a few too many... in which case it’s best to find a quick exit!! So when the chance arose to walk across part of England, I set about my training with passion and determination. Granted, I was already on a 6 month holiday travelling around the world, but that didn’t stop me.


Instead of starting off with a slow and gentle regime, I threw myself into the deep end and decided to climb to Annapurna Base Camp in the Himalayas. At only 4,100 metres, it is a stroll compared to Everest Base Camp (5,500 metres) so seemed a fitting first training session.
I endured hardships such as no hot water, no red meat (what do you mean cows are sacred?!) and no Fosters which only steeled my resolve.


Conditions were generally good underfoot with well maintained paths and pleasant weather. We did encounter snow and ice in the final few days of our ascent... good preparation for what may lie in wait in England come June!!


I conquered this climb in 7 days, even managing to get engaged to Natalie along the way... let’s just hope that doesn’t repeat itself in The Cotswolds... I can only deal with one fiancé!















Lately my travels have taken me to Nepal, India, Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. There has been plenty of walking between the planes, boats, tuk-tuks, buses, trucks and motorbikes so don’t think I’ve gone soft. I even walked from Thailand to Cambodia and then Cambodia to Laos... granted it was only to walk across the few hundred metres of no-mans land between the borders, but I could argue the toss over a beer!


Some of my more strenuous sessions have included the walks through city streets with my 18kg backpack looking for accommodation that suited my budget. Not to mention the stair climbs at these establishments to view the rooms which always seem to be on a high floor. Similar walks have been repeated late at night (without the pack) in a drunken haze trying to find my hotels... these sessions are slightly more fun than the former.


With the weather consistently above 20 degrees the shoes have been replaced by thongs (flip-flops to you English) for the majority of our travels. My thong work has improved considerably since we started our trip and I can now easily negotiate sand, sea, rivers and rocky climbs without removing them or causing a thong ‘blow-out’. I still need to work on my speed and agility over the coming weeks but I could be a chance to wear my thongs for a journey... do HiTec have trekking thongs??

My next training walk will be Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. At only 1,545 metres it can’t compare with Annapurna but it towers over the relatively small highest mountain in England (that being Ben Nevis at 1,344 metres). But we all know that England produces small things so I won’t go on about it...

Oh the chaffing!!

Finally got motivation to have a stamp at a decent walk. Walked from Stokenchurch to the cricket club, a shade under 8 miles done in 1hr 54mins, so averaged just over 4mph. I was using Sportypal to measure distance and speed, I turned the bloody thing off just past West Wycombe. I made a few fundamental mistakes on this walk:

1. Didn't have 2 layers of socks so got awful blisters
2. Didn't wear lycra shorts under trousers so chaffing inner thighs- blimmin agony
3. No hat or suncream so burnt my head

Really enjoyed the walk but really need to start getting the miles under my belt now.

A post from Mark 'Shearer' Edwards

I started my training yesterday with a 10 mile trek round Long Crendon. Armed with a stopwatch, walkman and a German Shepherd I set out at around 10.40 on a beautiful sunny morning. I had already driven the route and clocked the circular tour at 1.7 miles. Until the countryside gets better I felt that marching round the village would start me off in the right direction. However, I did stop to chat and Shola (the GSD) sniffed and stopped a lot, so the first lap took 40 minutes and I did wonder if I had made the right choice. The next two laps evened out at 26 minutes and I returned home at the half way mark to drop off the dog and take on board liquid refreshment.


Laps 4 and 5 I maintained at 26 minutes, or thereabouts, but I became tired and started to ache on lap 6. Perhaps on reflection I should have stopped at this point but no, I had set a target and I would complete the task. By the time I finished the last lap, 29 minutes, I was pleased to be home.

I believe that with the correct footwear I would have found it easier and more comfortable. I concluded that the route is convenient as at any point I would only be 15 minutes from home and I could easily ‘pop’ back at any time. My timings were near on 4 mph, which probably is to be expected on even paths, but I struggled on the last lap and wonder if I could maintain that rate in July for the whole day. But it’s early days and I remain upbeat.
 
Shearer

Snowy training walk

Thought I'd start my training yesterday and there was no chance of getting any work done. Started in Hazlemere down to Hughenden Manor through woods to Downley - Naphill -Walters Ash then down to Hughenden up to Gt Kingshill, past turkey farm and home. Hopefully conditions will be slightly different in July! Took 5 hours but stopped a lot to take pix. Legs really felt it afterwards - I'm putting it down to the extra work in the snow but think Christmas has taken its toll

Training has begun

Being the fattest of the squad I thought I better start training first so New Years day was my first walk. I walked about 3 1/2 miles from Studley Green back to Stokey. Quite easy but much slower than I would have like as Alfie was with me, that's my excuse anyway.

I'm using an App on my iPhone called Sportypal to record my training walks, pretty good as it records distance, time, speed and even how many pies I've burned off.

This is the link to my first walk  http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/116648?key=9efb907a9fc22a43f90e390d84c829f028d36d7a&ms=0

Like most of England it started snowing in Stokey late yesterday afternoon but that didn't deter me for going for a short march, just 1.5 miles but at much better pace despite the snow. At the rate I'm burning calories I'll be an athlete like Sketch by the end of the month!

My second walk http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/119454?key=9ed3a8b260f7f05a1e59b20676c9fbbbebaf3b8d&ms=0

Walker squad announced

After much deliberation the Cotswold Way Walker team has been selected. Up front and Captain, Geoff 'Geresy' Morgan, his wingmen Mark 'Bailey' Fowler and Andrew 'Kingy' King, the midfield marshalled by Keith 'KP' Patten with Colin 'Naglelator' Nagle and Matt 'Jelly' Eyles. The back four Mark 'Shearer' Edwards, Nick 'Barbs' Barber, Dan 'Oz' Senior and Robbie 'Jonesy' Jones and, in goal, Chris 'Sketch' Sketchley. We also have the hostess with the mostest, her with the soft hands and magic sponge, Emma 'Ems' Sawyer. The team is passionately coached and support by Steve 'Box' Boxall and his boss, Heather 'H' Boxall.

We asked captain Geresy what he thought about the team selection, he said "Well the team sort of picked itself, there's a few fat lads in that give me concern but what they'll lack in pace, they'll make up for in drinking ability. The brains of the team wasn't available so I had to agree the walking route with Kingy & Bailey! We're looking to walk about 3.5 miles per hour to reach Bath on the Thursday afternoon."

Leg 1 PM Monday 19th July- Chipping Campden to Cleeve Hill - 23.5 miles
Leg 2 Tuesday 20th July - Cleeve Hill to Kings Stanley - 32.3 miles
Leg 3 Wednesday 21st July - Kings Stanley to Tormarton - 29.5 miles
Leg 4 Thursday 22nd July - Tormarton to Bath - 16.8 miles