A Hampshire Stroll

This weekend I went for a walk in Queen Elizabeth Country Park in Hampshire - you may have passed it when travelling on the A3, as you go passed Waterlooville.

To mix it up, I walked with some friends, Ryan, Fay, Frank and their dog Mollie.  Fay did better than the rest of us, as being pregnant, she was carrying a whole extra person!

More sock testing - this time a pretty pair of pink bridgedales - and I have to say it was a great success.  No blisters, no sores and no hot feet!  Whoop!  So feeling like I might have the shoe options sorted for the trek.

The walk was lovely, the rain stayed away, the country park was very pretty in the sunshine and Mollie kept us all entertained with her sticky up ears.  It was a bit of hill training, as there was a  bit of an incline compared to the walks I've managed in Dorset, but still not a Helvellyn!

Stats:

Time: 1Hr 57 mins
Distance: 6.43 miles
Climb: 1,443.6ft 

Savills LeJog relay -Proper training

Date: 5 & 6/06/2013

Now that I am back within the Savills fold, an opportunity came up to be part of a sponsored walk/ride/cycle/kayak relay that the Rural division within Savills are undertaking from Lands End to John O’Groats (or LeJog if you will).  Urs and I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to do two days of long distance walking in a row, so we merrily signed up to walk the sections from Lyme Regis to Lulworth Cove; a stunning part of the south west costal path.

It was a fabulous two days of amazing sunshine (I hope that wasn’t the entire sunshine for the summer) with some great camaraderie,  stunning countryside and the highest point on the Dorset coastline – the Golden Cap.

The first day started off hard, with a necessary requirement to stop in a pub in every valley we came to.  Followed by a long hard slog along part of Chesil Beach to finish.

The second day started from Hardy’s Monument (not the famous Dorset writer, but that of “Kiss Me Hardy” fame) with a stroll over the gently rolling West Dorset countryside progressively getting harder as we headed towards Lulworth Cove.  We saw some amazing sites that day - the skeleton spines of a ship wreak; Durdle Door; Tim in 4x4 mode with his walking poles.  We had a well-deserved pint at the end of that walk, in a pub that played an excellent choice of 90s grunge hits into the garden.  I must go back to that pub – my idea of “old man pub” heaven.

5/06/2013 Stats:

Distance: 17 miles

Climb: 666ft (oooh scary!)

Time: 8 and a bit hours - there were several pub breaks!

6/06.2013 Stats:

Distance: We think 18 miles (my phone died!)

Climb: 575ft - before phone died.

Time: About 9 hours - a hard slog!

Power walking on the flat

Date: 25/05/2013

After the first amble, we knew that we needed to get up our miles per hour on the flat.  One part of the coast to coast will require us to walk 21 miles across some flat ground from Shap to Kirkby Stephen. 

I have recently moved to Poole, so after a night of sampling the nightlife of Westbourne – where Urs and I had a half of Wainwright in the Porterhouse (it seemed apt) – we hit the Poole and Bournemouth beach promenade for some fast paced walking.  It was also a good time to trial some new kit.  I had bought some new “warm climate” socks from Rohan, so was very keen to see how they performed.  The winter this year has seemed to go on for months, so it was lovely to have a warm breeze and beautiful sunshine as we headed off.  Once down on the beachfront, it was a flat slog along concrete from Branksome Chine to Boscombe Pier.  We had a short break to munch on some biscuits and watch the young surfers navigate between the stanchions of the pier, before heading back. 

And how did the socks fair???  Very poorly I’m afraid.  I have never had such hot feet!  Before we left the beach I had to take my shoes and socks off so I could dip my poor tootsies in the bitterly cold sea.  I swear my feet actually hissed with steam as I stepped into the water.  Luckily, Urs always the Girl Guide, had a spare pair of socks I could use for the short trip home.

We both noticed that our calves were feeling a little sore from a prolonged flat march in our walking boots.   It was a relief to walk the slight incline from Branksome Chine back to my flat.

Stats:

Distance: 7.29 miles

Climb: 147.6 ft gain

Time: 1 hour 52 minutes

First training walk – if you can call it that!

Date: 11/05/2013

Urs has been plagued with a bad back, but luckily her physio has told her that there is no reason she cannot walk the Coast to Coast in August if she keeps up with the exercises.  I have therefore tried to be very encouraging.  So we decided to have a first trial walk on 11^th May.  We did a circular walk around Charlton Down.  It was a 6 ½ mile trip of rolling Dorset countryside, so a very pleasant way to start.  We started a tradition that we hope to keep up on most of our training walks and will also be a necessity during the actual trek – the pub pit stop.  We’d set out with £7 for emergencies so luckily the very generous landlord at The Sun Inn allowed us 30p of our bar bill so we could both enjoy a pint.

Stats:

Distance: 6.51 miles

Climb: 226.4 ft gain

Time: 2 hours 1 minute (may not have included time to drink the pint!)

Details of the Charities

Hello Readers

Thought you might like to know the charities I am raising money for:

The League of Friends of Hurstwood Park is a group of people who have had close associations with Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre.  They help to raise money for the centre to buy expensive equipment and training for the neuro-surgeons.  My experiences of the Centre were only ever positive.  All the staff were so friendly, compassionate and knowledgeable.  Any small amount helps the surgeons, nurses and patients at this very unique centre of excellence.

http://www.justgiving.com/bbbtrek

The other is The Brain Tumour Society is now the largest Brain Tumour Charity.  They fund ground-breaking research and offer support and information to those affected. Their aim is to improve understanding, diagnosis and treatment, which I think is vital and am so keen to support.

http://www.justgiving.com/bbbtrek1

Any amount you can donate would be greatly received.  Come on, surely it is worth sponsoring me to undertake such a great feat - or at least to post photos of blisters on this blog!

Thank you!