Follow the yellow brick road.....

Well, not quite bricks but it looked enough like a yellow path for me to (maybe) have a little sing along to myself whilst I was walking it......

I've been absent from the blog for the last couple of weeks, but not to worry I have been training. Unfortunately my ongoing internet problems have meant that I've not been recording my training but I did manage a 7 mile walk last weekend and 9 miles the previous one.

This weekend despite the wet weather (still drying off) I managed a ten mile walk which I'm pretty pleased with. I walked into the village of Trowse and from there decided to explore. First I went through the village and followed a signed cycle path. This led me alongside the A47, not exactly the peaceful countryside walk I was hoping for. Eventually I got to a junction where I could head either to Poringland or Kirby Beton but both these routes followed roads so I turned round and headed back to Trowse.

Once back in Trowse I took a different route and quickly came across the start of Boudicca Way, the path that leads from Norwich to Diss. This was more along the lines of what I was looking for, almost all off road, lovely and peaceful. I was pretty disappointed that I'd take the earlier detor as it meant I couldn't do much of this walk but fully intend to go back. Just over 4 miles in is Venta Icenorum, the site of a Roman Village so I think a trip there and back is next on my list.

I do feel now that I'm starting to get back into the walking. Recent training has let me really test out the waterproofness of my kit, although I may be getting a little too keen on walking through puddles.....

A flatulent horse made me jump...

Had a very peaceful walk today, except for the incident described in the title, I don't think any more detail is needed.....

I took myself off for a walk round Brundall today, the original plan had been to explore some country lanes and footpaths but as I set out the mist had really started to set in so I decide that pavements were the safer option, initially at least.

The freezing temperatures of the past week meant that much of last weekend's snow was still laying, although not nearly as crisp and satisfying as it was during last week's walk. It did make for some lovely winter scenes however, it also added a degree of jeopardy to the walk as I worked hard to avoid slipping on the ice. This gave me a chance to test out the grip provided by my boots at least!

Brundall

I set off from Brundall to Blofield and through the village until I crossed the A47 by footbridge. I've not been beyond this point before so I just followed a random selection of small country roads to walk along, walking effectively in a large circle to bring me back to Blofield. Other than the afore mentioned horse I didn't see anyone else along the route.

Once back in Blofield I was planning to walk along the route I came from, I however spotted a footpath sign and decided to explore. I was glad I did! The footpath took me along some little paths, over stiles, through very muddy fields etc, a 'proper' country walk. I did end up with mud up to my knees, but it was worth it!

surprise footpath

I still don't feel I've regained the level of fitness I need for the challenge, today's walk was only 7 miles so I still have some way to go. I am however starting to enjoy walking again and probably could have gone on for a few more miles today. I did however have a roast dinner and a hug from my amazing nearly 4 month old niece to get back to so I think I can be forgiven for calling it a day when I did! 

The Best Training Walk Ever!

I could have been forgiven for not going on a training walk this weekend. It’s my ‘pre-birthday’ weekend so I had a party last night, a late night on Saturday doesn’t usually lead to the most productive of Sundays walking-wise. Anyone who knows me, even the tiniest bit, however will know I love snow. Given that overnight we had at least 10cms fall in Norwich the real challenge was waiting until it was time to leave the house to get walking in it.

the cathedral

Today’s walk took me to the UEA, via Eaton Park, but I did start off with a slight detour through the Cathedral Close to take a few pictures. Once at UEA we walked although park of the new nature trail (opened this week) before doing a lap of the UEA lake. The total walk was just under 9 miles. The weather meant my pace was slow though, total walk time was just shy of 3hrs 40mins. Still, an impressive time to be out in such weather! Although I may encounter some snow at the top of the Three Peaks it’s highly unlikely I will be walking in anything like this. I do feel like I’ve had a good work out though and imagine the muscles used in keeping my balance on slippery ground may hav some similarities to the balance needs of walking up and down hill.

Eaton Park

The walk also gave me the opportunity to really try out some of my walking gear. My feet stayed toasty warm and dry despite me taking every opportunity to walk through the deepest parts of the snow, testament to the waterproofness of my boots. I also used my waterproof trousers, and those combined with some pretty impressive layering meant I stayed warm and dry the whole time, in fact I even considered de-layering at one point as it got too warm.

the lake

Unfortunately I did miss the funniest moment of the day, a (what I imagine to be) rather spectacular fall on the ice by Hetal – I was least on the other end of the phone when it happened so feel somewhat part of it! The second funniest moment however was on the way back watching a smart car trying to get up a very snowy hill! He managed it in the end, but not before attracting quite a large crowd!

UEA

I will be back out on the walks next weekend, having a feeling though that next week’s isn’t going to seem quite as exciting as this with no snowy scenes to photograph. 

Trying to get back into the swing of things

I'm sorry to say that my restarted training stalled last weekend and I failed to do a single walk. A busy Saturday followed by a very late night meant I was left with very little inclination to get out walking on the Sunday. To avoid the same trap this weekend I made myself get my weekly training walk in today instead.

As I'm still getting back into training I'm still not quite up to the longer walks I was doing late autumn. As a result I'm still quite reluctant to go to far from home, giving me the option to return home early if I want to. So for today I headed off to Whittlingham for a walk round the Great Broad. A lap of the broad is 2.5 miles, plus an approximately 2.5 mile walk each way meant I walked just over 7 miles, no where near what I was doing but certainly heading in the right direction.

Whittlingham Great Broad

I am finding it quite frustrating that I am effectively starting from scratch when it comes to my training, knowing how much work I put in before which, it feels like at least, was all for nothing. The one positive I am trying to take from it though is that I am now able to appreciate just how far I came before, and at the point I really didn't know what I was doing, so hopefully with that experience on board I can get back to that fitness again, and hopefully improve event more. 

I did take a few minutes halfway through the walk for a short break, during which I sat watching a group of swans. They were standing in pairs and kept standing in positions making a heart shape with their necks. I lost count of the number of times when I just missed pressing the button on my camera in time and missed what would have been a great shot. The below is unfortunately the closest I got.

Bridging the gap

So, today's walk was the first 'proper' one in my restarted training. Trying to ease myself in gently I set out to do a 3 or 4 mile walk just around my part of Norwich.

Started off in Tombland and walked through the Cathedral Close to the rive where I picked up the Riverside Walk along to Bishop Bridge. From there I found myself at Gas Hill ( Gas Hill blog). Although I'm taking it easy training wise at the moment I decided to give it a go, to see how much my hill fitness has dipped. Pleased to say I managed the hill, although did find it very hard work!

River Wensum

I then walked along the other side of the river to Foundry Bridge and followed the Riverside path back to the Cathedral Close. Then I walked along King Street up to the Lady Julian Bridge and followed the river along to Carrow Bridge. At this point it finally dawned on me that I seemed to be crossing a lot of bridges, so decided to see just how many times I could cross the river in one short walk. With this in mind I followed the river back to the Novi Sad bridge, then crossed the Lady Julian Bridge again before heading back to the Cathedral. I then walked down to the Fye Bridge on Wensum Street, down Quayside to Whitefriars Bridge before going back to Wensum Street and down Colgate. I followed this to again cross the river on Duke Street, then over to The Playhouse to cross the river via St Georges Bridge. By this point my 3 mile walk had turned into 5 miles so I headed home. I was hopeful that I had covered all the bridges in the City Centre (geeky yes but there you go...) but then stumbled on the poster below...

Turns out I missed a couple, that's a future challenge I guess......

Take 2...

New Year, and I'm back!

As you will know from my last posts back in September/October I was very disappointed that, despite months of training, I was unable to complete the Three Peaks Challenge last September due to coming down with glandular fever only a few days before. This was a huge disappointment but I am pleased to say that I have rebooked to complete the challenge in June and now that Christmas and the New Year are out the way I'm going to start picking up my training.

I still have some way to go to get my fitness back to where it was and I don't want to risk pushing myself too much and relapsing so I'm going with the slow and steady approach. The current plan is to just do small walks, without my backpack, during January and then in February start on a 4 month plan to get me to the level I need to be at by June. Over Christmas I started doing a bit of walking and today did my first 'training walk' (blog post to follow). It's not going to be a quick process but at least I've started and I hope you'll all continue to follow my progress on here......

Update

When I wrote my last post everything was very much up in the air regarding the challenge so I figured it's about time for a bit of an update. As I'm sure most of you know, or will have guessed, I didn't get to do the challenge as planned. I went to the doctors where I was given a blood test and first thing the following morning the results were phoned through to confirm that I had glandular fever. By that point I was feeling so ill that I already knew I wouldn't be able to do the challenge but that confirmed it for me.

As you can imagine I was extremely disappointed. I am however determined to complete the challenge in the future. Due to the impending winter weather and longer nights the next opportunity is June so I'm hoping to confirm my place on a June date ASAP. 

It's likely to be a few weeks or months before I'm up to restarting my training but I aim to revive this blog with details of my training when I do. Given the 'worst winter for 100 years' is currently being predicted training could get, erm, interesting.......