Holy crap just walked 40km and my feet havent melted

Well that was a interesting trip. Friday night our team went to Boxhill & Westhumble, then walked to a tiny old cottage in the middle of a wood which is a national trust property converted into a Youth Hostel (Tanners Hatch). Interesting place, tiny, full of unfortunately rude germans (sorry Jan but they were loud til very late, and woke up very early and didnt stop slamming the doors THEN nicked the tomatoes we'd brought!). Anyways I digress, we walked there, checked in then walked BACK to find a pub which was right by the station. Had a few pints and dinner at a lovely pub called `The Stepping Stones`. Will definitely pop in there again sometime. Great food and interesting locals :)

After it got a little dark we headed back into the woods, head torches on ;). We called it a night, but the germans (see above) decided it was fine to be in the room right beneath us and with a paper thin ceiling talk very loudly and slam the doors until very late. Altho i kept being woken by ANOTHER germans loud snoring (again sorry Jan). Once finally got to sleep was woken by a loo trip at 330am ;) then by another about 630, THEN by the now infamous loud germans who woke up and thought it was acceptable to assume we were awake and talked even LOUDER and slam the door constantly..

After a very comically improvised breakfast of scrambled egg, bacon and toast (sans tomatoes *grrrs towards germans again) and one fire alarm set off. WE set off. So to recap we'd walked to the hostel, back to the pub then back to the hostel, this equalled 11.5km before we'd even actually started and we had the walk to the bottom of Boxhill to come. Now this was supposed to be a simple direct line walk up the North Downs way to the base of the hill, but this required us to follow signs that just didnt exist.. So we ended up going a very strange route just to our starting point :) All good practise tho yeh?

So after walking thru some lovely vineyards (Dom on cloud 9) we got to the stepping stones themself, which are at the base of the Hill..

Hope the guys dont mind me posting this pic, showing off Rich's shorts ;)

I'd heard about Boxhill before, and its supposed to be a big deal to climb but nothing really prepared me for how tough this was. It was relentless STEEP, my GOD was it steep and never ending! Check out the altitude info on the walk details. That was probably not the best start you could do for a long walk! :) Anyways once we got to the top and got our breaths back we lost them again when we saw the view.

It just looked so amazing looking down and back on where we'd just walked from.

Anyways, long story short ;) we walked for another 22k and encountered a few more pretty evil ascents and descents before arriving in Caterham, altho the trek thru the cemetary was a little creepy especially the guy who just appeared walking up the steps we needed to go down to leave and he didnt look the sorta person you'd want to see in a graveyard!!!


We popped into Pizza Express, with `express` being the hope as we were going to get a train in 40 mins back to Home.. which needed yet another walk from the station.. So all in all my total walking in the 24 hour period was 42.35km!!! thats a lot, but actually only 42% of what we need to do in July!! in the same period!! OUCCCCCH

So am home, my feet are NOT killing me, altho am sure will be stiff/sore in the morning. I've had a lovely dinner and cuppas from my sweety (yay) and its time to relax so for now will say ta ta, and once again remind you of why am doing this :)

52 days, under 8 weeks.. training about to get real ;)

As my regular reader(s) will know the sponsored walk is now just under 8 weeks, and the money is still only trickling in, but at least its coming :)

I am not planning on walking home today, mostly due to fact we are doing a team, North Downs walk on Saturday morning, early. Walking from Dorking, to Boxhill then onto Caterham, all in all about 25k walk this weekend. Should give good indicator on our team speed/pace etc. Also as we're starting the team event on Friday night, is probably first time we've all been as a group outside the office, so again be good to see how we cope with each other over a longer period (including our overnight stay in the hostel in Dorking).

What else, oh yeh bought some more socks today from Millets, 2 for 1 offer always on look out for bargain me :) also our team tshirts are being designed as i speak, hopefully be able to get a picture of them up when they are made.

Will be tracking my walk this weekend on Runtastic so people can see how we did (as long as battery dont fail on me) :)

Anyways, time to end this with the obligatory link to the sponsor page :)

Laters

58 Days, thats like, less then 2 months, ARGH

As the title shows its now less then 2 months until the walk and things are still looking good :)
My feet altho unhappy with me have come to an understanding that they WILL be going through this and no amount of complaining or blistering is going to stop that.

Didnt do my walk home this week but will make up for it with our long walk next weekend (Dorking to Caterham) which should give a good indication of how good our team is at pacing things together etc. We've not walked as a team yet, but am sure we'll be fine.

Anyways am really looking forward to this weekend as its my nephew's first birthday and getting to see me dad for first time in ages too. Got to wrap a pressie and buy a gift bag etc (do 1 year olds actually care for wrapping/bags etc? or do we just do that regardless cos we love to wrap?)

Sorry this is such a short update but i am guessing the handful of people who actually read this probably dont mind ;) its not like they ever let me know if they bored or not with what i scribble :)

Dont forget to sponsor if you haven't already

66 days to go. Nervous? me? erm yes

Well the trail walk is now only 66 days away, and training has become more regular.

Walked home last week, and am walking home again tonight. 14km each time, all adds up. I will not go quite so fast tonight tho as the pace i did last week was averaging over 6kph and that hurt :)

Weather forecast not looking as nice as last week, but will see how it goes later..

We have a team walk booked for the weekend of the 27th, which will be on the north downs, going from Dorking to Caterham, nice 20km stroll heh, altho part of that `stroll` is Boxhill, which aint exactly flat :) also will bee an early start for that one so we're stopping in a Youth hostel friday night.

Sponsorship has been steady, and we've £120 (before giftaid) which aint bad, but could be better ;) *hint* surely the pic of us as Lara croft models hasnt been scaring you off has it?

In a months time we have a company `planned` walk which will be all day i think, and be 25-30km or something like that. Cant get away from it, this is becoming very real, and my feet/legs are gonna be very union-like and call a strike i can feel it.

May the 4th be with you, erm and definitely with me

73 days to go. erm.. eek. This trail walk is getting real!

Not panicking just yet, but definitely getting closer. Am walking home again tonight and will be tracking with `Runtastic` so can see how long and pace etc.. will be first walk with my new walking boots etc, so be a good test me thinks. The weather has been too nice for April, so am worried that the `April showers` will be the `downpours of May` which will truly bugger up my walking plans :(


Been a busy easter with my Brothers birthday and my girlfriend Laurie's birthday being in the last 10 days. So lots of food i've not eaten since xmas, and over indulgence.. Hopefully my walks will help keep that off :) *fingers crossed eh?*

Couldnt have a blog without mentioning the recent news could i? What a day eh? William and Catherine married, Pippa an `internet sensation` and Obama `dead`.. been said before but will say it again, what a Disney weekend :)

Anyways, thas me needing to get back to work now.. dont forget to sponsor ;)