Lately we’ve been thinking about what we’d like to eat during Trailwalker. So here’s my top five list of walking snacks. What’s yours and do you have any savoury recommendations?
(1) Chocolate Brazil nuts. There’s nothing like a bit of luxury while you’re walking, so my absolute favourites are the Belgian chocolate ones.
(2) Peanut butter and jam bagels. Nearly the perfect walking sandwich - but not quite as I’ve been told that wholemeal bread stuffs are better. I still love them though.
(3) Bananas - ’nuff said.
(4) M&S mini jelly babies - no artificial flavours or colours and you can taste the difference.
(5) Ginger cake - it’s cake (yum) and the ginger helps if you’re feeling a bit sick.
Half the team (myself and Nick) had a lovely walk this weekend. We covered about 33km in 7 hours 45 mins (including stops). Our average moving speed was 5km - so not too shabby.
We took in some beautiful scenery around Stonor, Pishill and Watlington. Probably some of the nicest yet. Here are a few snaps.
Saturday saw a mini-team walk through Harefield and Ruislip nature reserves. Starting in Denham with high hopes of a light-entertainment celebrity star spot (our route took us through the golf course) we walked a modest yet speedy 13 or 14kms.
No celebrity spots but plenty of bridges - including this rickety beauty.
At the recent TW event in Hammersmith, one of the presenters mentioned the phenomenon of ‘chubby hands’, a side effect of walking for any distance with your hands dangling fairly purposelessly by your side. The use of walking poles has been identified as one preventative measure. However, I have a pair of fingerless sailing gloves that seem to do a pretty good job. I bought them sometime ago for kayaking (never got on with pogies), but I’ve often worn them for running too. They have an elasticated strip around the wrists with velcro to secure them. Mit gloven, nein chubby hands.
Hooray! Normal team walk service has resumed with 25km route taking in Medmenham, Hambleden and a bit of the Thames Path. Highlights include:
Several fowl sightings: a posh duck, a lost chick and flocks of mysterious birds (have a look at the video). If you know what these are - please enlighten us!
A game of guess the last famous person I’ve seen by asking yes/no questions. This ended with a heated discussion about Dermot O’Leary’s hair colour (it’s definitely not dark).
Accidentally annoying a slightly scary lock keeper’s missus.
Learning the hard way in Hurley that it’s either bin feast or famine.
I read on another Trailwalker blog that running is a quick way to improve your general level of fitness. With Trailwalker being a mere two months away, I thought I’d give it a go.
So far I’ve been for two (very short) runs. It’s a bit hard on the old joints and I’ve yet to break the “I feel like I might vomit” barrier, but I’m going to persevere. The thought of some of those nasty South Downs ascents is keeping me going.
As our fearless leader mentioned in her previous post, some team members have been walking their legs off in a solo capacity. I myself have been trying to do at least 3 walks to and from work in a week. That’s 6 hours walking, which does seem pretty paltry when compared with a fast approaching weekend in July that I’m looking forward to with excitement and rising dread. Those of you who live in London may be aware of the ark-building weather that we’ve been having lately - not pleasant, but it didn’t deter me from my planned Tuesday morning walk. I find that walking in a wet weather puts me in an introspective mood. I think it’s a combination of the moody greyness and that sense of being cocooned from the outside world that you get from a close fitting hood. So, I’d like to share with you some walking induced meditations on the big issues of the day:
Can a mother remain blissfully unaware for 24 years that her daughter is being held captive in her ever expanding basement?Seems unlikely to me.
Is Boris fit to be Mayor of London?This is not a political forum and I wouldn’t want my opinions to be misconstrued as the opinions of my team mates or our sponsors.
Custard tarts – why?Inexplicable.
Various musings on the nature of gravity that are too lengthy and mind-blowing to elucidate here.
By doing Trailwalker, are we saving the world?No.But we are demonstrating COMPASSION and HUMANITY – these are not cheesy or embarrassing words.WE ARE ALL SUPER HEROES – now that is cheesy and embarrassing.
Is this a one way or two way street?I’m still undecided, but feel that I should reach a conclusion on this before I fall foul of my own confusion.
Should I be annoyed that this child has nearly bundled me off of the pavement, or pleased that she was so polite about it?Good manners go a long way, and she was sprinting in the hope of catching a bus against all the odds. On a side note, are you the kind of person who derives pleasure from seeing someone running for public transport, but not quite making it? Or do you cheer in unbridled glee when you see someone sprint through the doors of the 8.11 to London Bridge in the nick of time? I fall into the latter camp, but there’s no right answer.
Do I really have to wade through this puddle?Not when a flying leap will see me sailing across unscathed – I am woman hear me ROAR!
What can I do to ensure that Mansun are preserved for posterity?This is a public plea to you all to spare a few meg on your mp3 player for one of the cruelly ignored bands of the 90s.
Are those my legs?In all probability, yes.They seem to be occupying the appropriate space in time, but I can’t actually feel them so it’s hard to tell.
If you’re thinking that things have gone a bit quiet on the no sleep ’til Brighton Trailwalker preparation front, you’d be both right and wrong.
On one hand, we’re having a bit of team walk mini-break, but these will resume with a vengeance in mid-May. Rumour has it that some team members have been walking their socks off during this period though.
On the other hand, all of us have been working hard at fundraising and our target is in sight. A big thank you to our sponsors so far. If you’ve been holding back, don’t be shy, now is a good time to visit our fundraising website: www.justgiving.com/nosleeptilbrighton
Look what I found. My Trailwalker finish photo from 2003.
The photo shows Dawn, Fi and myself crossing the finish line (and cutting it fine) in about 29 hours and 12 mintues. Unfortunately, we lost a team member (Jean) along the way.
Yes - I am using the walking poles as crutches. The sunglasses are hiding tears of pain and joy of course.
