Due to the ridiculous panic-buying of fuel during the week meaning that neither of us had more than half a tank, we decided not to drive out to the trailwalker route but to do a long training walk locally, starting and finishing at home.
We are lucky to live in a small town deep in the Hampshire countryside, on the edge of both the New Forest National Park and the western end of the South Downs... what a shame not to make the most of it. We trekked out towards the east, trying out a lot of new footpaths along the way, and made our way in a wide anti-clockwise circle staying off road as much as possible, and finishing off along the towpath of the Romsey canal to within half a mile of home.
Along the way we saw a few deer. A couple were obliging enough to pose for a photo!
The walk ended up just over 24 miles, our longest yet and also the most difficult. Both of us were suffering a bit with various minor problems and found it quite hard going. However, it was encouraging that despite the difficulties and the proximity of home (meaning we could easily have cut it short), we kept at it and walked the whole planned route, still at a good pace. This was the first real mental challenge we've faced in training and we passed!
On the plus side... the hydration kits worked very well and this time we did take enough food.
The route is here, although it hasn't quite recorded the start properly as it took a while to lock on to satellites. Yes, we did go slightly wrong again!
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