Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Eating cakes for Oxfam
Eating cakes is something we all like to do, and even better it was raising money for Oxfam on this occasion. Several of us rolled up our sleeves and got making and baking lots of sweet treats and a few savoury ones. Our TrekAmerica and Exodus colleagues gave us lots of support, and we raised a tremendous £112.53!
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Team Trek hit the South Downs & North Downs!
10 weeks to go until the Trailwalker challenge, and from here on in we will really have to start racking up the training miles. We felt buoyed up and motivated from Oxfam's Preparation session on Saturday, and hit the trail afterwards for Stage 1 (9.6km from Petersfield to Harting Down). The weather was perfect, nice and dry after heavy showers early morning. It was a fairly sheltered stretch of trail alongside woodland and farmland rather than being open and exposed like later stretches of the South Downs Way.
We completed Stage 1 in about 1h55m, if we do the whole route at that speed then we would have Trailwalker wrapped up in 20hrs... Don't think we could sustain that for another 90km while coping with the more difficult terrains and the steeper ascents and the night walking that will await us further along the trail though! We think our target will be about 24hrs, and will be pretty chuffed to achieve that. Yesterday we learned that about 80% of people who enter will successfully complete the walk, so that is our main goal!
We would have loved to have walked Stage 2 too... but we would have missed the last public bus of the day that passes through the small town nearest to Checkpoint 2!
On Sunday, all 4 Team TrekAmerica walkers headed to Box Hill. The rain held off and our circular walk took in some tremendous views of the North Downs and allowed us to experience quite a few steep climbs! Another 9km or so under our belts. Here we are in training....
Stage 1 QECP to Harting Down:
We completed Stage 1 in about 1h55m, if we do the whole route at that speed then we would have Trailwalker wrapped up in 20hrs... Don't think we could sustain that for another 90km while coping with the more difficult terrains and the steeper ascents and the night walking that will await us further along the trail though! We think our target will be about 24hrs, and will be pretty chuffed to achieve that. Yesterday we learned that about 80% of people who enter will successfully complete the walk, so that is our main goal!
We would have loved to have walked Stage 2 too... but we would have missed the last public bus of the day that passes through the small town nearest to Checkpoint 2!
On Sunday, all 4 Team TrekAmerica walkers headed to Box Hill. The rain held off and our circular walk took in some tremendous views of the North Downs and allowed us to experience quite a few steep climbs! Another 9km or so under our belts. Here we are in training....
Stage 1 QECP to Harting Down:
Team walk on North Downs - Box Hill:
Sunday, 1 May 2011
First footsteps on the trail... Stages 6 & 7
Next week we will take our first team footsteps on the hallowed Trailwalker trail... but today I took a small bite myself, walking 19.4 km from Washington to Devil's Dyke (stages 6 & 7). Depending on the start time we get, we could be somewhere in this area when dusk falls on Saturday 16th July.
There were a couple of pretty challenging ascents...especially the never-ending climb of 'The Bostal' track in stage 7. I'm glad I've done this in daylight, rather than approaching it for the first time after dark. It's especially cruel having been lulled into a false sense of ease by the flat walking that follows Checkpoint 6 (even a few minutes of walking through a residential area on pavements... pah, easy...!)
It was pretty cold today, I really got to experience how exposed to the wind we will be up on top of those downs! (Note to self: be a bit sensible and bring more than just a t-shirt next time).
My timings were almost identical to the timings that Oxfam list for a 24-hour finish...about 2h30m for stage 6 and 2h15m for stage 7. But surely on the day I will be slower with 50km of tiredness already in my limbs before doing that stretch...? Hopefully I will be making fewer photo stops than today though (couldn't help myself today, and stopped over 100 times!) Here's the edited photo album... enjoy the view.
Jennifer x
There were a couple of pretty challenging ascents...especially the never-ending climb of 'The Bostal' track in stage 7. I'm glad I've done this in daylight, rather than approaching it for the first time after dark. It's especially cruel having been lulled into a false sense of ease by the flat walking that follows Checkpoint 6 (even a few minutes of walking through a residential area on pavements... pah, easy...!)
It was pretty cold today, I really got to experience how exposed to the wind we will be up on top of those downs! (Note to self: be a bit sensible and bring more than just a t-shirt next time).
My timings were almost identical to the timings that Oxfam list for a 24-hour finish...about 2h30m for stage 6 and 2h15m for stage 7. But surely on the day I will be slower with 50km of tiredness already in my limbs before doing that stretch...? Hopefully I will be making fewer photo stops than today though (couldn't help myself today, and stopped over 100 times!) Here's the edited photo album... enjoy the view.
Jennifer x
 |
| incredible views at Fulking Escarpment |
 | |
| trees demonstrating the exposure to high winds! |
 |
| Devil's Dyke |
Monday, 14 March 2011
WARNING! The secret dangers of Trailwalker & weight loss!
Had to share this amusing blog from another Trailwalker team, musing on the number of calories that will be burned during the Trailwalker (let's hope it's true), and reaching a rather disturbing conclusion...
Over the hills and far away....: WARNING! The secret dangers of Trailwalker & weightloss
They say it's "more of a psychological than a physical challenge"...
Well that's not much comfort when lifting your leg to do something as un-athletic as climbing a step / climbing out of your trousers / climbing into bed makes you want to be sick from the pain!
That was how I felt for the first 24 hrs after my weekend training walk on [a tiny 12-mile section of] the Isle of Wight coastal path. Fortunately it is now 48 hrs after the walk, the body is rapidly forgetting the aches and pains, and I am looking forward to the next walk!
My aching muscles after just 6hrs walking are proof of the HUGE challenge that the full 100km is going to be... Which is ideal really because friends, family, colleagues and strangers wouldn't be so generous with their donations if it was just a proverbial walk in the park. I promise you we are pushing ourselves beyond our abilities to earn your donations! My aching legs are the evidence!
Here's a few pictures of the IoW coastal path (Yarmouth to Brook via The Needles), to inspire any walkers amongst you. It's a lovely corner of the world, especially the walk along the ridge of the Downs leading from The Needles towards Freshwater Bay. You may need to pack a sense of adventure if (like me) you lose the trail at Headon Hill and find yourself near a cliff edge having to scramble to safety (falling down a few times in the process)...
Jennifer x
 |
| Walking south from Yarmouth |
 |
| countryside between Fort Victoria/Fort Albert |
 |
| Totland Bay - old lifeboat house |
 |
| Climbing the steps at Widdick Chine |
 |
| towards Headon Hill... still following the right path |
 |
| views of The Needles from below Headon Hill/far side Alum Bay |
 |
| Approaching the Needles |
 |
| Looking back to Alum Bay as approaching the Needles |
 |
| The Needles |
 |
| The Needles |
 |
| Walking across West High Down |
 |
| Tennyson Monument on Tennyson Down |
 |
| 84 miles as the crow flies to London... 2722 miles to the North Pole! |
 |
| Freshwater Bay to Compton Bay |
 |
| View ahead from Compton Bay |
 |
| View back to the Needles from Compton Bay |
 |
| Brighstone village |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)