Let the Training Begin!

In preparation for my big trip to Peru in August I need to put in lots of walking. Not least because I only have 10 weeks until I go to Snowdon for a very heavy weekend of training. I've had feedback from a guy that did the Snowdon training weekend in November. He said that day one was so tough that one person went home halfway through and cancelled their Kilimanjaro trip and three more people didn't make it through day two!

The aim of the training is to gradually increase the time of each walk until you are able to walk for eight hours a day, two days running.

Chris has very kindly said he will walk with me and we have drafted Alex in as my coach (mainly to try to encourage him to enjoy the walks). Alex will be making sure I stick to my schedule and logging details of each walk.

The first walk was on Friday and we had planned a two hour walk along the canal beginning at Campbell Park. It was a beautiful frosty, sunny day so we all donned our walking boots and warm clothes and set off. I have to carry my rucksack while training to get used to the weight I will be carrying on Snowdon and in Peru.It weighs about 5.5kg with 3 litres of water, my camera, spare clothes and waterproofs and felt quite comfortable as we set off.

We set off towards the brick kilns at Great Linford at a steady pace. The canal was still frozen in places from the cold spell over Christmas and there were big chunks of ice floating along where boats have broken it up to get through. Its a lovely walk past the kilns and the Marina.


We hadn't reached Linford Abbey when Alex was lagging so far behind moaning that he was hungry and his legs hurt. As we had only been walking for 45 minutes, this doesn't bode well for the longer walks to come. We instructed him and Shannon to wait at the Linford bridge and we would walk on and pick them up on the way back. Meanwhile, Neo was having a great time - he loves a good long walk along the canal.

Man and dog in harmony!

As we arrived at the Black Horse, we had nearly walked for an hour so decided to cross over and return along the opposite towpath, picking up the children along the way. When we reached them, Alex had miraculously recovered all his energy and proceeded to chase Shannon along towards Giffard Park where we stopped to buy some potatoes for tea. This proved to be 2.5kg too far! My pack was so heavy that by the time we got back to the car I didn't even have the energy to take it off myself - note to self; don't combine walking with shopping.


Walk 1

Time walked: 2 hours
Distance Walked: 5.86 miles
Blisters: 0


Walk 2 will start at the Black Horse and head along the canal in the direction of Cosgrove. For now it's back to the gym on a regular basis throughout the week and short walks every other day.