Registration is done, tags firmly fixed on the wrist. There is no escape.
If you have little else to do for 30 hours from 8am Saturday morning (30th) why not follow our progress (or lack of).
I think you can click the link and search for the team or individuals in the team.
http://siera.sportident.co.uk/trailtrekker/results.php?course=Long
This time in two days it'll all be over :-)
Friday, 29 May 2009
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Nuun
Tried some of the Nuun that james bought today. Tasted quite nice! Like flat weak coke. Just under 36hrs to go!
Monday, 25 May 2009
Topping up the miles
To help provide some feedback to my 'physio', Alastair (shameless plug 'cos he's very very good - http://www.bowentherapyclinic.net/) I went for a walk round my usual 'Embsay Crag circular' to give a good test of ascent and descent. Last time I did this I was on the phone to my GP as I came past work on the way home - I'd been suffering since 3/4 of the way up the crag. This time around I hoped to get round pain free although I expected some reaction. The success of the treatment was summed up when I managed to land a triple salko off the last stile on the route with no pain. Okay so maybe I exaggerate the triple salko bit but I felt fine all the way without a hint of trouble.
To boot I also found what I believe to be a rabbit skull (I have a fascination with animal skulls although I contest this fascination is not to a weird extent i.e. I leave the skull where I found it!),
and I think I witnessed a couple of butterflies mating (I confess I tried to (gently) separate them naively thinking they’d ‘got tangled up’ but they weren’t prepared to dis-entangle!). I’ll let you make up your own mind which section of the Karma Sutra this is from.
To boot I also found what I believe to be a rabbit skull (I have a fascination with animal skulls although I contest this fascination is not to a weird extent i.e. I leave the skull where I found it!),
and I think I witnessed a couple of butterflies mating (I confess I tried to (gently) separate them naively thinking they’d ‘got tangled up’ but they weren’t prepared to dis-entangle!). I’ll let you make up your own mind which section of the Karma Sutra this is from.
Friday, 22 May 2009
The final countdown
Well, here we are. Only one week to go. We've been on something of a journey but one which is far removed from the one we expected. Setbacks have prevented us walking as a team very often which is a little disappointing so walking on the day is going to be a bit of a learning experience.
Have a look at the little animation sent to us by Oxfam. Quite funny.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/fundraise/trailtrekker/trailway_code.html?ito=3058&itc=0
Also, massive thanks to all those that have sponsored us so far or supported us in other ways. We really are grateful and thanks to you were are going to cruise past our target. For those that haven't sponsored us yet don't let that put you off. Dig deep so we can break the £2,500 barrier.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
No Sleep 'til Skipton (almost!)
Friday evening saw the Q-Team (or at least half of it) embark on the final big training walk - the intention was to walk 36 miles from Horton to Skipton.
The team comprised just Ady and me, since Rich was in Birmingham and Joel was in Suffolk. Nick Cave accompanied us in his capacity as the support crew for the evening.
We set off in high spirits from Horton-in-Ribblesdale at 7:45pm
The team reach Beckermonds in reasonably good time and spent five minutes refueling and enjoying the full moon.
Support Crew were freezing...
Shortly afterwards we met another Trailtrekker team, doing the same route but going much faster!
We moved on down Langstrothdale to Buckden and then Kettlewell at about 4am. The route out of Kettlewell proved quite tricky to find and Ady and I went wrong several times trying to stay on the Dales Way!
During the slow ascent up onto the Crags, it became apparent that my knee, which had been troubling me since the Lake District walk the previous weekend, was going to start getting very uncomfortable. I had naively thought that I'd just bashed it whilst going over Striding Edge. The unthinkable soon became openly discussed as we talked about abandoning the walk at Conistone (after only 20 miles). We were attacked by some rather angry looking birds as we crossed over the tops of the Crags by Conistone which caused some light-heartedness, but it also became apparent that I had got quite bad blisters once again.
I probably could have made Skipton (it would have been touch-and-go!) but we agreed that it would be folly so close to the big day.
We finally abandoned the walk at Kilnsey 6:30am
I have since bought a very cheap knee-strap from e-bay (this one) which seems to be helping quite a bit. This, my lighter rucksack and appropriate painkillers should give me a fighting chance...
Just to be on the safe side, I'll be leaving the final training preparataions to the rest of the team :-)
The team comprised just Ady and me, since Rich was in Birmingham and Joel was in Suffolk. Nick Cave accompanied us in his capacity as the support crew for the evening.
We set off in high spirits from Horton-in-Ribblesdale at 7:45pm
The team reach Beckermonds in reasonably good time and spent five minutes refueling and enjoying the full moon.
Support Crew were freezing...
Shortly afterwards we met another Trailtrekker team, doing the same route but going much faster!
We moved on down Langstrothdale to Buckden and then Kettlewell at about 4am. The route out of Kettlewell proved quite tricky to find and Ady and I went wrong several times trying to stay on the Dales Way!
During the slow ascent up onto the Crags, it became apparent that my knee, which had been troubling me since the Lake District walk the previous weekend, was going to start getting very uncomfortable. I had naively thought that I'd just bashed it whilst going over Striding Edge. The unthinkable soon became openly discussed as we talked about abandoning the walk at Conistone (after only 20 miles). We were attacked by some rather angry looking birds as we crossed over the tops of the Crags by Conistone which caused some light-heartedness, but it also became apparent that I had got quite bad blisters once again.
I probably could have made Skipton (it would have been touch-and-go!) but we agreed that it would be folly so close to the big day.
We finally abandoned the walk at Kilnsey 6:30am
I have since bought a very cheap knee-strap from e-bay (this one) which seems to be helping quite a bit. This, my lighter rucksack and appropriate painkillers should give me a fighting chance...
Just to be on the safe side, I'll be leaving the final training preparataions to the rest of the team :-)
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Has anyone seen the hill?
Whilst away on a family holiday in Suffolk I was never going to get much hill walking done so instead I opted to travel a short distance to East Bergholt and walk along the Essex Way before moving Northwards to join the Stour Valley Path back to East Bergholt. The total distance travelled was about 15 miles but as the post suggests there wasn't much climbing involved.
East Bergholt (for those that don't know - and as of Monday night I was one of that number) was birthplace to artist John Constable - the area around East Bergholt and the Dedham Vale is now known as Constable Country. I added a loop at the start so I could see the location of one of Constable's paintings, The Haywain (below).
East Bergholt (for those that don't know - and as of Monday night I was one of that number) was birthplace to artist John Constable - the area around East Bergholt and the Dedham Vale is now known as Constable Country. I added a loop at the start so I could see the location of one of Constable's paintings, The Haywain (below).
Lake District Adventure
With Joel unavailable for selection (understandably not wanting to push his knee too hard), Rich, Ady and James headed off to the Lake District over the Bank Holiday Weekend to test their new-found fitness.
The team chose Helvellyn as their objective (England's third highest peak) and set off from their campsite in Glenridding
The first couple of kilometres are tough and relentless, but great for building up those quads, and (as it turns out) aggravating James' knee injury!
Ady reaches the aptly named Hole-in-the-Wall.
James and Rich on Striding Edge, with Helvellyn's summit in the background.
Helvellyn's Striding Edge - Not on the Trailtrekker route (yet!)
Nearly there...
Rich, James and Ady finally make the summit of Helvellyn (950m above sea-level) .
The Q-Team, still feeling pretty energetic, spent half an hour strolling across to Lower Man and then headed down Swirral Edge and across to another Wainwright peak Catstye Cam
Ady atop Catstye Cam with Helvellyn, Swirral Edge and Red Tarn in the background.
After a brief but rewarding downhill walking-pole-javelin competition (which Ady won with by some considerable distance), the team began the long descent back to Glenridding, finishing the nine-mile walk in around 6 hours.
The team chose Helvellyn as their objective (England's third highest peak) and set off from their campsite in Glenridding
The first couple of kilometres are tough and relentless, but great for building up those quads, and (as it turns out) aggravating James' knee injury!
Ady reaches the aptly named Hole-in-the-Wall.
James and Rich on Striding Edge, with Helvellyn's summit in the background.
Helvellyn's Striding Edge - Not on the Trailtrekker route (yet!)
Nearly there...
Rich, James and Ady finally make the summit of Helvellyn (950m above sea-level) .
The Q-Team, still feeling pretty energetic, spent half an hour strolling across to Lower Man and then headed down Swirral Edge and across to another Wainwright peak Catstye Cam
Ady atop Catstye Cam with Helvellyn, Swirral Edge and Red Tarn in the background.
After a brief but rewarding downhill walking-pole-javelin competition (which Ady won with by some considerable distance), the team began the long descent back to Glenridding, finishing the nine-mile walk in around 6 hours.
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Proving fitness
Whilst the rest of the team were gallivanting in the Lake district (blog entry with incredible scenery to follow I'm sure) I was taking the next step back to fitness.
Initially I intended to repeat last week's walk but decided on arrival at Gargrave that I would proceed onto Malham. Despite hearing a few horror stories of lost travellers I actually managed to get to Malham without any problem at all. Timewise I was fairly happy. Setting off from my house at 11:00 and from Aireville park at 11:10 I got to Malham at 14:15.
Initially I intended to repeat last week's walk but decided on arrival at Gargrave that I would proceed onto Malham. Despite hearing a few horror stories of lost travellers I actually managed to get to Malham without any problem at all. Timewise I was fairly happy. Setting off from my house at 11:00 and from Aireville park at 11:10 I got to Malham at 14:15.
Looking across to Newfield Hall
Approaching Airton
First sight of Malham Cove
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