Training Walk
Last September I signed up to the The Better Challenge to ride 500k, this year, to walk 90k. Yes it raises finds for research into Children's Cancers, but it also locks me into way too high goals for the month. It's wonderful how motivating it is going for greater mileages thinking about sick kids coping with much worse.
Today, wanting to test my cheap shoes, walking pack & 61 years old legs, I settled on 14k over 3 + hours. I suspect my pace was too fast & my shoes too narrow. But, I did it & when things settle I'll be stronger & wiser.
A bee on jonquils.
After leaving the car by the Vacy pub I grabbed my daypack & headed north towards the bridge. It wad quickly evident that the ground was sodden & to avoid soggy feel & blisters, I'd need to hog the road.
After exiting the village i donned me hat & grabbed out my hiking pole. I thought it was odd having one pole, it was, & felt lop-sided for the rest of the walk. Eventually my right knew began aching.
But early on i felt great & set a pace of over 4kph without much effort. The cars were few & all were courteous. I counted things, bird types, pieces of rubbish & horses. I nearly always count when I'm exercising. After getting close to a hundred pieces of rubbish i foind myself getting pissed off so i stopped counting before i got cranky. the birdy count was fun tho& i kept that up surprised at the numbers. The oddest birds were mountain lowries or king parrots, plovers & some brown ducks, ooh & double bars from the park near the pub.
I counted horse too because they're great athletic beasties, gentle & inspiring. well they are for me.
when i came to some bridgework the lollipop guy was surprised & thought my walk was "a pretty long way" which i felt chuffed about. The rivers were in flood a bit, so no good for fish spotting.
at The 5.8k point i stopped for water & some licorice. i put my headphones on & listened to the Camino podcast. walking down a little gravel road surrounded by fields of cattle & green hills it could have been Spain. well possibly.
altho a few dogs got stirred up the worst one never gave a peep. the hiking pole was poised as the ready anyway.
Yeh so back on the tar & few rolly hills & toes were starting to complain. more water, licorice & a slower pace for the last 2 k. was in order. we hobbled the last bit & or was hard to tell whether the legs would bounce back after a lunch break sized rest or a whole day. they hadn't gone so far in years, so may be years. a tap replenished the water bottle & the self- congratulatory coffee from the cafe was not required.
hats off to the cheery lollipop men, sleeping dogs & the Camino podcast. I'll be back hey Arnie?
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