I haven’t made any more significant plans for the path walk over the last week or two, so nothing major to report there.
I’ve got a few comments on training, a new sleeping bag and I’ve just finished a book that got me thinking lots… more below
Training
Most of my history of exercise has been with running, but I’m not approaching the SWCP Plod as a run – I keep describing it as a walk with some running thrown in.
I’ve heard many good runners say that during their training build up to an event, they start farthest out with the least specific sort of training – for example, for a 100 mile event, they would do more speed training early on (a few months from the even), and as you get closer, you do more longer distance time-on-feet work and less speed.
That’s the way I’m approaching this too. It’s 19 weeks until my planned start date, and I’ve built up to around 60 miles per week running, aiming to keep it between 60-70 miles for the next 4 weeks or so. Most of the running I’ve been doing has been fairly flat, so I need to start getting some hills in, and as they get more severe I’ll probably cut the distance back. And then there’s walking – I need to really start upping the amount of time walking with a pack over the coming months. It’s all part of the plan… I just need to formalise it a bit as 19 weeks isn’t too long so it would be good to make sure I get into the hills/walking at appropriate times and don’t leave it too late!
Sleeping Bag
After the cold night last week in the sleeping bag I borrowed from my sister, I wanted to get something a little warmer. It didn’t need to be super warm – September should be warmer than April (warmer than -2C anyway!), but it would be good to be covered just in case.
There are so many to choose from, and they’re so bloody expensive! I’ve spent a few weeks nosing around websites for information, but kept shying away from the price. In the end I asked my wife to have a look, 20 minutes later she’d found one, bish-bash-bosh and it turned up the next day.
So I have myself a shiny (literally) new Rab Mythic 200. Good for 1°C (which I hope will be enough for September), weighing 475g (!) and filled with enough electricity to generate lighting while you sleep (literally…!), it’s a steal at just a tad over £300 (blimey!)
I gave it a bash on this Saturday just passed in the garden – the temperature only dropped to around 4°C, but in appropriate clothes (running tights, a merino base layer and light fleece top) I was pretty warm and comfortable.
My AlpKit mat didn’t seem so comfortable this time round – I found myself more on my side and it was pretty hard against the ground, so I need to look into that.
And about the lighting – every time I moved in the bag I could hear the static, so in the middle of the night, in the dark, I was watching my hands as they crackled across the inside of the bag, and you can just see little blue flashes as the static discharges. Fun times at 2am!
“One Man and His Bike”
Lastly, I’ve just finished this wonderful book by Mike Carter. It’s a tale of a fairly spontaneous decision to cycle round the coast of the UK in an attempt to regain some love for the country. Mike’s writing style is descriptive, funny and thoughtful. I’ve learnt loads about places to visit, and lots about the mindset for a journey like this too.
One thing that I noticed is how in the latter stages, he becomes more agitated, less happy with the trip, worrying about the return to normality, and it is something I’ve wondered about myself. I know I’m only going for 3 weeks rather than months, but I worry a little that being mostly outdoors, on my own clock with little human company and just the sun/rain/wind/birds/trees/hills etc might just awaken something in me that won’t ever let me be happy with the monotony of desk life again. Probably not, but assuming I get to the end I reckon there’ll be some gloomy times in the weeks following. I have a few friends who’ve done long adventures, I should make a note to have a chat with them about how they dealt with the return to normality…
The final thought is this – here’s a photo of one of the last pages of the book:
Round the whole coast of England, Scotland and Wales: 4,625 miles. 232,000 feet. 8 times up Everest…
… The South West Coast Path: 630 miles: 115,000 feet. 4 times up Everest.
So the SWCP contains half the total coastal elevation of the UK.
Eeeek!