November 15th....

Well, it's been a week and a half since my last post. The week before last, my walking-related activities were as follows:

Well there was a 2-mile lunchtime walk on the 3rd and a 2.3 mile lunchtime walk on the 5th for starters.

Then on Saturday the 8th, exciting news! I brought 'the trainers'. I want to make a special mention here to Oswald Bailey Ltd in Taunton. The staff there were so helpful. I had gone in on the off chance to have a look, it was early in the morning and I didn't have 'my socks' with me, but a pair caught my eye..... Just as I was looking at the display item of my trainer of choice, the assistant said that she should tell me they only had one pair of those left and they were size 3 and half..... well, it turns out this is perfect for me! I tried them on and they felt good, but all the guidance tells you to buy shoes in the evening when your feet are biggest, and, of course, with the socks you are going to wear on the day. I said to the staff that I would come back into town later in the day and with my socks, but they kindly said I could take them home, wear them around the house for the day with my socks and if they were no good I could take them back the next day. What service! Well, after 6 hours of wearing them around the house I decided to keep them. The following day was the first road test! The route I took was 4.34 miles according to 'map my run', but I did the walk in an hour - So either 'map my run' is not very accurate or my pace was 13.9!! .... Mind you, it did absolutely throw it down with rain half way around, which quickened my pace somewhat as I was just in a tee-shirt & yoga pants! Other non-walk training that week included body pump, body balance, badminton and yoga.....

Then onto this week. Well, it's been a hell of a week at work.... but less of that... I did 2 miles on Monday, and that was it walk-wise. I also had a game of badminton and 2 yoga sessions.....so not the best of weeks for training. I am, however, planning a 5-miler tomorrow morning..... I'll report on progress!

Remember, remember the 4th November...

2.3 miles at lunchtime yesterday! This time I headed away from the dual carriageway and headed towards Blackbrook. The walk / cycle routes we excellent for the whole route, wide and adjacent to the road with grassed area between. Far away enough from the traffic to be safe, but visible enough to the traffic to be....well, safe! I also saw two wheelchair users on the routes in the space of 35 minutes, proving that they must be fairly accessible for all users.

I spotted a couple of things that warrant further investigation on my walk too! - Things which I wouldn't have noticed in the car. Firstly I noticed a grassy park-like area which I have never noticed before which will be perfect for my lunchtime book reading in the summer (much better than the place I went this year, which is way too close to the motorway for a relaxing lunchtime sunbathe and read!) I also noticed some footpaths which I didn't know were there, but which I will investigate further as my walks get longer. They do not show up on 'Map My Run' - but I noticed on Gillian's bog that she mentioned 'Walk Jog Run' so I have given that a little look and it looks fab! - Might be just what I'm looking for.

Yesterday evening I kept up my fitness regime with a game of badminton and tonight I was at yoga. Planning my weekend walk route now!

Yesterday....

..... I had planned a three-miler at lunchtime, but yesterday was 'taxi-into-town-day'. (Since our office has moved to the outskirts of town we are offered the opportunity of a taxi into town once a week, paid for by the company, to save everyone going into town in their individual cars). So I decided I'd take the taxi into town and do all my banking etc.... but then walk back to the office, rather than getting the taxi back with my colleagues.

I didn't measure the route, but it took about half an hour, so I guess it was around 2 miles. The pedometer reading was 2.77, but I didn't look at how far I'd gone before I started! The walk back was quite pleasant actually. I noticed a lot of shops and businesses on the outskirts of town which I never knew were there, as I usually whizz past them in the car.

Other news, - my copy of 'Walking for Fitness' by Nina Barough has arrived! A review will follow once I've read it!

Tonight was body pump and body balance again. - Hopefully I don't suffer as much as I did last week!

Magic socks....

Thursday my quads were letting me know I had been back to body pump after an extended absence! My walking over the last couple of days has been limited to a 1.5 mile walk back from the garage on Thursday when I dropped the car off for its MOT (It passed!)

However, other non-walking events have been happening relating to my Moonwalk experience... Firstly, I brought some 1,000 miles socks which lots of ladies on the forums have been recommending AND I got my first sponsor on my 'justgiving' page! Thanks Tel! I've also got the justgiving widget working on the blog! It was actually very easy once I figured out where to put the code... I think that this Moonwalk will teach me as much about the internet as it will about my walking routes!

This morning I gave the new socks a test run on a 3.4 mile circular (and very hilly!) route around the village where I live. It's cold out! I did the walk in 48 minutes. Not bad! The route is entirely on country lanes with high verges, 12-15 feet and I only saw one car and one van during the entire time. Granted, it was quite early; I left home at 8:15, but whilst I quite enjoy the solitude, I can see how some people could potentially be put off of walking around here. Perhaps it's the townie in me, but I was aware of potential security concerns, especially for ladies or children walking alone. Definitely a route for daytime only for me, as there are no street lights out here in the sticks and that route would literally be pitch black at night!

First set back....

Today (well last night) I was struck down with some horrible allergic reaction (I presume from something I ate, rather than an allergic reaction to my body pump class yesterday!) and I am covered in a hideous, itchy rash!

Needless to say I've been working from home today is case people think I'm contagious, but took a break to go around the village for a 2.3 mile walk (according to Map My Run, although the pedometer says a bit less.... Perhaps I have not got my stride set right in the pedometer?). It took half an hour anyway and it's bloody cold out, which was good, as the coolness soothed the itching for a bit! However, I've had to cancel my badminton court tonight.... Not good for the training!

Tuesday 28th October

Not much walking today, - just 0.6 miles to meet my friend Eva and her beautiful daughter Abigail for lunch and 0.6 miles back to the office. There is a footpath bridge over the A258 and no steps, so pedestrian friendly, but bizarrely the 'business park' end of the bridge leads through an office car park at Sedgemoor House, so not an obvious, (or well signed) route to the uninitiated.

I was back at my body pump and body balance classes tonight to keep up the new training regime. I haven't been for a couple of months..... my fitness level has definitely dropped since the last time I did them classes! I suspect I will suffer a bit tomorrow...!

First official walk!

Yesterday lunchtime, saw me on a 2-mile power walk around the outskirts of Taunton!

I had consulted www.mapmyrun.co.uk to get route distances and I was off! My 2 miles took me around 25 minutes, so a good starting pace, though not quite sure I could keep it up for 26 miles..... not yet anyway!

As I completed my circuit a text dropped in from Rich in the office saying they were in the pub for a quick drink and chips if I wanted to join them.... So I walked there too (another 0.4 of a mile according to my pedometer...it all counts!) and had a pint of Guinness (I only ordered a half, honest!). I expect that's not strictly part of the training regime, but still.

Anyway. The walk. 'Mapmyrun' is a great webpage for sorting your routes and I will definitely be using it a lot in the coming months, but unfortunately it only follows roads, rather than footways/footpaths. Half of my route was along grass verges as there wasn't any footpath, so I got wet feet and the HGV's whistling past wasn't much fun either. When I did get to a footpath I couldn't get on it, as I was the wrong side of the guard railing! As a transport engineer, (well, someone's got to be!) it was an 'interesting/enlightening' experience for me! I spend a large proportion of my working day looking at improving sustainable modes of transport, walking, cycling, etc and here is the perfect opportunity to genuinely check out the accessibility of some pedestrian routes!

I will look for some similar web pages to 'mapmyrun' to see if there are any which include footpaths and I'll get some revised circular walks for future lunchtime soirées!

Sunday 26th October

I've spent WAY too long trying to get the 'Just-giving widget onto my blog today....and failed miserably! Could have gone for a walk instead......! At least I've set up the Just giving sponsorship page though, though think it might be a bit early to start hassling people for sponsorship already...

Saturday 25th October

Day one of my blog! - My entry for the Playtex Moonwalk 2009 for breast cancer research was accepted on 19th October..... 26.2 miles here I come! I am now wondering what I've let myself in for.... - but I thought keeping a blog might be a good way of recording and sticking to my training programme!

Such a good cause, I have been part of the Breakthrough Generation research project for a few years now and doing this walk is the next, um, step.... if you pardon the pun!

Have been looking at the Moonwalk pages on Facebook and other people's blogs to get some Moonwalk tips and will start the '3-mile-training-walks' very soon.....

Today, my 'walking' has consisted of walking around Sainsburys....... Well, it's early days yet!