Anyone who knows me (or has read any of this blog) will be aware that I used to walk – a lot.
The walking started in earnest 2012 /2013 when I started walking to my new job which was only around three miles from home. Once my body had gotten used to regular exercise and the mileage was creeping up, I decided that I needed a target so ended up training for a one hundred kilometre (62 miles) walk along The Thames for charity.
During the buildup to that Thames Path, I had discovered the world of Long Distance Walking and the Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA). The LDWA organise many long challenge walks culminating in their annual hundred miler.
I finally managed the ton during COVID by doing a virtual hundred miles over a weekend comprising local walks and far too many miles on a treadmill.
Then, a couple of years ago, in one of my periodic returns to running, I damaged my right knee which made any extended walks rather painful. Unfortunately, I have used my dodgy knee (or knees nowadays) as an excuse for inactivity.
In my defence, I did swap two feet for two wheels clocking up the miles on a trainer in the virtual worlds of Zwift.
This year, I have decided to beat my walking embargo and have signed up for the Walk 1000 Miles challenge organised by Country Walking magazine.
Basically, I just need to walk a thousand miles in the next twelve months. That averages out to 2.4 miles per day (or about 4.4 km/day).
So far (only fourteen days in) I am on target (just). As I have also signed up for a forty mile walk in April, I am sort of training and my next long walk will be on Friday, possibly catching a train to Nuneaton then walking along the canals to Coventry from where I’ll catch a bus home.