Monday, April 30, 2007
Valleys 'N' Views Event Report
Yesterday was the 'Valleys & Views' walk organised by the Waendel Walking Club. I'd done this one for the past two years, and it's quite an easy one; good paths, gentler rolling hills etc, so decided to go for it! No piccies I'm afraid... I got my camera out and it was deader than a dead thing. I suspect flat batteries but it was very nice of it to let me know they were on the way out... not...
Anyway, it was a rolling start, with walkers starting anywhere from 7:30am until 9am. There were 3 distances; 6 miles, 17 miles and my route 26 miles... I got to the start point at the Village Hall in the village of Wilbaston, and had a cuppa before setting off at 8:09am. The weather had been glorious Saturday, but typically enough it was grey, cloudy and bloody freezing!
The route is in a quite lovely part of the Welland valley, and very colourful with the yellow rapeseed fields providing quite a stunning backdrop. The beginning of the walk took me up and over a series of hills, through various fields, before dropping down to the first checkpoint in Ashley for a cold drink and lump of cake.
there was then a bit of road walking before turning onto a bridleway, I must say, there are a lot of good bridleways in this area. Saw quite a lot of mountain bikers taking advantage. A couple of faster walkers overtook me, and I had to have an unscheduled pee stop! My Achilles was making itself felt, but not actually hurting, but I wondered if I was being a bit silly.
The next check point (and more cake!) was at the point where our bridleway exited onto the road, then our route climbed through Cranoe and onto the Midshires Way. One of the chaps who'd overtaken me was just ahead, and as we crossed over a rough road to rejoin the track, another chap passed me and assured me the route went straight ahead until Tugby.
Only I studied my route description and wasn't sure. The first year I did it we went straight ahead, but last year we turned left off the track, and the route description seemed to me to point this way. The two chaps had strode off into the distance by this point, but another group of four came up and saw me dithering. "It's straight on" the leader said, a guy wearing a burgundy Waendel Walking Club top covered in cloth badges depicting various walks/ events. I voiced my doubts, and he said "You see that chap who went ahead... that's Roger. He helps organise this so he would have picked up on it if we needed to turn off".
It would have just been easier to have gone along with it... but it didn't feel right, so I explained why I thought we should turn left. The guys looked thoughtful, then looked at the route I was indicating, down the edge of a field. "People have been down there today" one noted. So they all followed me down the field and thankfully it became apparent that I was right, so they all thanked/ congratulated me before striding off into the distance!
I caught up with the guy with the badges- he did introduce himself but I can't remember his name! He said he had been out the night before and had a skinful, and so was finding it a little hard going. I left him chatting at the checkpoint in Tugby and left along with another chap who had driven up from down South to complete the walk.
The sun had started to come out, and it was getting quite warm. The route went along more fields and tracks- it was very good underfoot, it may be a good one to run next year! Me and the other chap got a little lost near Hallaton and ended up taking a slight short cut. The check point was lovely... cheese and pickle sarnies, and coffee... and loos...
There were others here who were doing the long route, the guy from down south left, and the guy with the badges came in. I left him drinking tea and fully expected him to pass me later on as he was a fast walker, but he didn't. I also saw Roger, who was entreating people not to tell anybody he went the wrong way! As I left the checkpoint, I passed a guy who seemed to be suffering with his feet, and slowly ascended to Blaston. I could feel my Achilles quite a bit, although it still wasn't painful... I was cursing myself a bit though and kept imagining it snapping suddenly!
There was a water point by the church in Drayton- the smallesr consecrated church in Leicestershire apparently. Some of the folk from the Tugby checkpoint were there with spare cake, which was very welcome! After this, the route went down a track, where I overtook a group of three walkers. We entered Middleton, and turned onto the Jurassic Way back towards Wilbaston. This has been revamped since last year, and is now a wide gravel track. I overtook another group of three, one of which kept bending over as though in pain.
I felt in suprisingly good shape though, apart from the Achilles sensation. I was wearing my old running shoes, and only ended up with a tiny heel blister! The last bit of the route was more fileds and tracks back to Wilbaston- I finished in 7 hours 47 minutes, not sure of last year's time but I'm sure it was quite a lot slower. The guy from down south had finished just ahead of me; I had a very welcome cuppa before driving home.
I had tea at mum's as it's little sis's 20th birthday today. My heel was quite sore and 'creaky', which was really frustrating. I put a bag of frozen peas on it before mum needed to cook them. When I got home, I iced it again, took a long hot bath, did my exercises and massaged it with Deep Heat. (dunno what they put in that but Lucky finds it strangely addictive).
It feels surprisingly good today! Back to normal, no grinding! Even my legs aren't aching that much! I really feel as though I could go out again and walk, which is encouraging, as of course in the MdS I will have to! I'm not, though- today needs to be a rest day to let my heel heal (sorry!!)
Plan of action... once I have got rid of this Achilles problem, I will keep on pushing myself to complete these walks faster, then gradually increase the weight of my pack. Next year I will introduce running/ walking, and try to build more emphasis on running. The MOB (Marathon of Britain) looks to be a possible warm up for the MdS- as well as being a hell of a challenge in it's own right. Plus it ends in Nottingham- and I work in Nottingham.
So far, my thoughts are; 2007... build up running mileage, build up speed on challenge walks. Complete the Bullock Smithy Hike in September (56 miles over 24 hours)
2008; build up pack weight, run or run/ walk challenge events. Complete the LDWA 100 (100 miles over 48 hours!!) Plus, of course, the MOB...
Oooh noo, 2009 feels closer already!!
Anyway, it was a rolling start, with walkers starting anywhere from 7:30am until 9am. There were 3 distances; 6 miles, 17 miles and my route 26 miles... I got to the start point at the Village Hall in the village of Wilbaston, and had a cuppa before setting off at 8:09am. The weather had been glorious Saturday, but typically enough it was grey, cloudy and bloody freezing!
The route is in a quite lovely part of the Welland valley, and very colourful with the yellow rapeseed fields providing quite a stunning backdrop. The beginning of the walk took me up and over a series of hills, through various fields, before dropping down to the first checkpoint in Ashley for a cold drink and lump of cake.
there was then a bit of road walking before turning onto a bridleway, I must say, there are a lot of good bridleways in this area. Saw quite a lot of mountain bikers taking advantage. A couple of faster walkers overtook me, and I had to have an unscheduled pee stop! My Achilles was making itself felt, but not actually hurting, but I wondered if I was being a bit silly.
The next check point (and more cake!) was at the point where our bridleway exited onto the road, then our route climbed through Cranoe and onto the Midshires Way. One of the chaps who'd overtaken me was just ahead, and as we crossed over a rough road to rejoin the track, another chap passed me and assured me the route went straight ahead until Tugby.
Only I studied my route description and wasn't sure. The first year I did it we went straight ahead, but last year we turned left off the track, and the route description seemed to me to point this way. The two chaps had strode off into the distance by this point, but another group of four came up and saw me dithering. "It's straight on" the leader said, a guy wearing a burgundy Waendel Walking Club top covered in cloth badges depicting various walks/ events. I voiced my doubts, and he said "You see that chap who went ahead... that's Roger. He helps organise this so he would have picked up on it if we needed to turn off".
It would have just been easier to have gone along with it... but it didn't feel right, so I explained why I thought we should turn left. The guys looked thoughtful, then looked at the route I was indicating, down the edge of a field. "People have been down there today" one noted. So they all followed me down the field and thankfully it became apparent that I was right, so they all thanked/ congratulated me before striding off into the distance!
I caught up with the guy with the badges- he did introduce himself but I can't remember his name! He said he had been out the night before and had a skinful, and so was finding it a little hard going. I left him chatting at the checkpoint in Tugby and left along with another chap who had driven up from down South to complete the walk.
The sun had started to come out, and it was getting quite warm. The route went along more fields and tracks- it was very good underfoot, it may be a good one to run next year! Me and the other chap got a little lost near Hallaton and ended up taking a slight short cut. The check point was lovely... cheese and pickle sarnies, and coffee... and loos...
There were others here who were doing the long route, the guy from down south left, and the guy with the badges came in. I left him drinking tea and fully expected him to pass me later on as he was a fast walker, but he didn't. I also saw Roger, who was entreating people not to tell anybody he went the wrong way! As I left the checkpoint, I passed a guy who seemed to be suffering with his feet, and slowly ascended to Blaston. I could feel my Achilles quite a bit, although it still wasn't painful... I was cursing myself a bit though and kept imagining it snapping suddenly!
There was a water point by the church in Drayton- the smallesr consecrated church in Leicestershire apparently. Some of the folk from the Tugby checkpoint were there with spare cake, which was very welcome! After this, the route went down a track, where I overtook a group of three walkers. We entered Middleton, and turned onto the Jurassic Way back towards Wilbaston. This has been revamped since last year, and is now a wide gravel track. I overtook another group of three, one of which kept bending over as though in pain.
I felt in suprisingly good shape though, apart from the Achilles sensation. I was wearing my old running shoes, and only ended up with a tiny heel blister! The last bit of the route was more fileds and tracks back to Wilbaston- I finished in 7 hours 47 minutes, not sure of last year's time but I'm sure it was quite a lot slower. The guy from down south had finished just ahead of me; I had a very welcome cuppa before driving home.
I had tea at mum's as it's little sis's 20th birthday today. My heel was quite sore and 'creaky', which was really frustrating. I put a bag of frozen peas on it before mum needed to cook them. When I got home, I iced it again, took a long hot bath, did my exercises and massaged it with Deep Heat. (dunno what they put in that but Lucky finds it strangely addictive).
It feels surprisingly good today! Back to normal, no grinding! Even my legs aren't aching that much! I really feel as though I could go out again and walk, which is encouraging, as of course in the MdS I will have to! I'm not, though- today needs to be a rest day to let my heel heal (sorry!!)
Plan of action... once I have got rid of this Achilles problem, I will keep on pushing myself to complete these walks faster, then gradually increase the weight of my pack. Next year I will introduce running/ walking, and try to build more emphasis on running. The MOB (Marathon of Britain) looks to be a possible warm up for the MdS- as well as being a hell of a challenge in it's own right. Plus it ends in Nottingham- and I work in Nottingham.
So far, my thoughts are; 2007... build up running mileage, build up speed on challenge walks. Complete the Bullock Smithy Hike in September (56 miles over 24 hours)
2008; build up pack weight, run or run/ walk challenge events. Complete the LDWA 100 (100 miles over 48 hours!!) Plus, of course, the MOB...
Oooh noo, 2009 feels closer already!!
Labels: Bullock Smithy Hike, Challenge walks, LDWA, Marathon des Sables, Marathon of Britain, Valleys and Views
