Muddy Good Show

This afternoon we went on another training walk, mainly to test out the 1000 mile socks. We went 13 miles and didn't get any blisters but I have no idea if that is because of the socks or not, so it probably wasn't a very good test.

We had quite a lot of rain this week and we expected a lot of mud. We considered wellies but they are much harder to walk in than walking boots so we went for the boots and gaiters option. This photo was taken on a footpath which goes from the northern end of West Wood across to Up Somborne and beyond. The mud is clear to see! Mud is difficult to walk in due to slippage so we think this is good training... it probably adds the equivalent of about 10% onto the actual mileage covered, compared with walking on good tracks in the dry.

We incorporated some hill training this time. Only a little bit. I am standing at the top of the hill below Farley Mount having just walked up an extremely steep (almost balance-losingly steep) hill from the road at the bottom. I really need to work on my calf muscles because they were screaming by the end of this climb!  The view is actually pretty good from the top but of course a photo doesn't really do it justice (nor does it adequately illustrate the steepness of the hill).


Finally, we'd both like to thank my Mum & Dad for kick-starting our online fundraising. That was a nice surprise to come back to after our exertions :-)

Click to see our route.

Blister Sisters

We are four! We have a full team! Becky Dowst, Sam Lane, Rachel Muse & Geraldine Spencer... Blister Sisters are GO!

1000 mile socks

We're gambling on having a full team and have started getting things organised.

We have ordered some 1000 mile socks. Apparently you can walk 1000 miles in them and are guaranteed not to get a blister. Given that we probably will be walking that far in the next 5 months we decided they would be a good investment. This weekend we will be trying them out... will they take us 15 miles without blisters?

D'you wanna be in my gang?

We have started putting the idea out there with a few more people, places are going fast and we want to be sure of getting a team. Obviously only asking people who we think can do it and who we would be happy spending lots of time with!

Minibus availability was confirmed today, so that's a major logistical issue resolved.

It's funny how all-consuming this thing has become, and we've not even registered yet!!

Filling Time

Still waiting for answers from the potential team members, trying to be patient but not succeeding too well! News on the website that the places are filling up quickly is not helping.

In the meantime, to keep us busy, we have been investigating some of the logistics and organisation aspects, from something as simple as buying the maps to something as major as sorting out the support crew vehicle. So far we haven't encountered any barriers to participation... all we need is a team!

Dangerous Game

The embryonic team went on a pre-training walk yesterday. We wanted to see how far we could go and what sort of pace we walk at naturally. However, we nearly didn’t make it after a vicious attack by a crazy pheasant! Yes, really.

It was just sort of there when we parked and we assumed it would run a mile when we opened the doors, like every other pheasant in the world would. But no, this scarily unpleasant pheasant started squawking and flying at us, beak and claws first. This was such bizarre behaviour for a pheasant that we were sufficiently perturbed to retire to the car and drive round the corner to a different parking spot.  Even that didn’t shake it off… it ran alongside us the whole length of the track, only stopping when we could pick up enough speed to pull clear… I could see it in the rearview mirror, watching us drive away. Freaky.

Anyway, back to the stats. We walked 12.5 miles in 3 hours and 52 minutes. This is 3.23 miles per hour. Good news, that's a perfect pace for the 24 hour target time... assuming of course we get a team together. Still playing the waiting game about that.


Click to see our route.

Waiting Game

Well, the idea is out there and people are thinking it over. Now we need to be patient for a little while... that won't be easy!

Embryonic Team

Now we are 2! Just need 2 more team members. Think it might be time for a recruitment drive... aka a trip to the pub with our friends (local ones first)!