A Day Out

Something of a belated blog post this one, but it's time I talked about going for a walk.

So earlier this month, a group of us went to tackle the Yorkshire 3 peaks, these are 3 mountains in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Now, it should be noted that in the UK we've been experiencing particularly hot weather this last month, and the challenge is to tackle all 3 peaks, taking in 24 miles of walking, in 12 hours.

My intention was to take about 3 and a half litres of water with me, which should have been enough for the full trek. Fortunately, however, we had a relief van that met us after each peak, because even after completing just one peak I was down to my last litre of water due to the heat.

So in summary - I didn't manage all three.

I did do the first 2 peaks - Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside - but coming down Whernside was so tough, with a steep path covered in effectively slippery dust, that by the bottom I couldn't face taking on the third. Of the 20 or so of us that did it, there was 4 of us that didn't do the third, so at least I wasn't on my own.  Nevertheless, I'm happy that I managed the first two, and will go back to do the third sometime perhaps later this year.

Bags packed

Setting off at 4am to avoid the sun

Up a hill somewhere

Practice Walk

Next week a group of us are tackling the Yorkshire 3 Peaks.  This challenge involves about 24 miles of walking - and three mountains.  Where I live we have next to nothing in the way of mountains, but I wanted to least have a go at the distance to see if it was achievable, so ahead of then I took Friday off to have a practice walk.

All prepared with genuine sunglasses and some kind of sports top, I think it possibly has isotonic qualities.  Most sporty things are advertised as having ISO something or other.

I started off around 6.30am in Beverley, with the intention of making it to Driffield for around lunch, and then depending on how I got on hopefully walking back in the afternoon.

Accompanying for the walk was a backpack filled with water, power bank for my phone, snacks, sun cream, blister plasters and other ephemera.  I always struggle when packing a bag, I have to try to not spend too much time on it because the longer I have to pack the bag the more things I'll take "just in case".

In preparation for the day I loaded up my phone with podcasts, mostly episodes of the hilarious "My Dad Wrote A Porno" which if you haven't heard is an absolute must.

About 2 seconds after I took this photo I held my hand out towards the cows and they collectively lost their minds.

The morning walk went very well, with only a few aches from my feet the last mile or so into Driffield.  After getting a bite to eat I was contemplating getting the train back to Beverley, and decided that I would check the train station on the way back.

First, though, I got a hat.

Not a stylish one

Hats don't suit me, I would love to be the sort of man who looks good wearing a hat, but inevitably they end up lop-sided, too big, the wrong colour, or just weird. But with the day being clear and sunny, and high temperatures expected in the afternoon, I got one anyway.

As a result, I missed the train back to Beverley by about 30 seconds, and wasn't going to be seeing another one for an hour. So, I decided to head back on foot, with the possible option of getting a train part of the way back from the village of Hutton Cranswick.

While most of the walk was along the main road, between Hutton Cranswick and Driffield I was taking a diversion down country lanes and through the picturesque hamlet of Skerne, and typically it was around Skerne that I started having some foot trouble.  I took a couple of breaks, changing my socks, but they still didn't feel right.

Now, at this point (or ideally back in Driffield) if I had put blister plasters on, all would probably have been well.

I didn't.

So it was when I was a couple of miles away from Hutton Cranswick, and its train station, that my foot exploded.

Of course it didn't explode, it was merely a blister popping, but that's what I convinced myself it felt like.  I began toying with the idea of ordering a taxi, but getting a taxi for the remainder of the walk seemed excessive.  I continued to hobble on towards the train station (not at any point stopping to put blister plasters on, somehow in my mind I was of the thought that it would be worse to get my feet out of my boots, remove socks, install the plasters, and then dress again, as opposed to pushing on for the rest of the walk).

Part of the way along, and making slow progress, I checked the train times and found, about a mile and a half out, that there was a train in half an hour, and another in an hour, and then no more trains for at least another hour after that. There was no way I could make the first one, and I would have to speed up to make the second.

In short - I did make the second by with 4 minutes to spare.

Once back to Beverley I got to my car and drove home.  My son decided to take on the role of doctor and assess my feet.

Here they are being x-rayed, with the aid of an iPad with no x-ray capability.

It's now 2 days after the walk, and although I'm still limping a little, I'm walking a lot better than I have been since Friday.  Fingers crossed my blisters should all be healed by next Saturday and adding all of the walking up I did on the Friday it was comparable to the distance I'll be tackling next week (just without the ascents and descents!) so I'm hoping that I'll be able to get on reasonably well. Wish me luck!

More Walking

So, I'm continuing to take regular walks, aiming to do every day, but am averaging out at roughly one every other day as excuses reasons crop up why I can't manage certain days. I'm trying to vary my routes to bring some variety into it.

I've been very pleased to find the Adam Buxton Podcast - Adam Buxton is an English comedian, writer, and actor, and his podcast involves him having chats with various guests.  So far I've listened to his interviews with Romesh Ranganathan and Bob Mortimer, both comedians that I'm a fan of. Next one up is Charlie Brooker, I've just started it but was nearly at the end of my last walk when it started so not really got into it yet, apparently he has a MAME set up in his house (big arcade machine that emulates tons of different games) which sounds awesome so I'm looking forward to it.

I've been using the Huawei Health app to track my walks, which is a very good app, but I discovered yesterday in the settings that you need to set the height and weight for yourself so that the app correctly tracks calorie usage and the like. Apparently the default height is 1.7m (which isn't too far from me at about 1.8m) but the weight was set at 60kg (whilst I'm somewhere near double that!) so suddenly my calorie burn figure has increased massively as the app has recalculated based on just how much weight I'm lugging around.

As before, I'd love to hear from you about any podcasts you listen to and enjoy!

Roseberry Topping

It doesn't feel it was so recent, yet this time just a week ago I was just packing a backpack ready to go up a hill.

Roseberry Topping, a hill in the Tees Valley, formed by a combination of geological fault and a mining collapse in 1912, is locally popular with walkers as well as climbers, and had been chosen as a practice ahead of a bunch of us tackling the Yorkshire 3 peaks in July (I state now for the record that I only plan to take on one of the peaks!)

Roseberry Topping. Doesn't look that tough...

Something that's quite good about Roseberry Topping is that it's actually very quick to get to the top of it, half an hour and you're at the summit feeling as though you've accomplished something.

Obligatory summit photo

The walk we went on took in a good mixture of flats and slopes, with some bits that I was starting to struggle a little to climb, but with every top of a slope came a fantastic view which seemed totally different to other views already seen despite obviously being in the same area.

Taking a break from walking to do some push ups

As opposed to the entirely sensible clothing worn by everyone else, I had a challenge in that I needed something soft that covered my left arm, having had a tattoo the day before. So a pyjama top (complete with large chocolate stain) came into use for the day.

There was a photo frame, so we stood in it.

Taking a little breather.

Captain Cook's monument.

What is that white speck....

Of course, it's a nest for the lesser spotted Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The KFC box we found (picture above) was particularly confusing. We found it a good mile or two away from the nearest road, and we puzzled over who it was that wanted both to go for at least a small hike, and to eat a box of fast food after a reasonable distance.

Ice cream van that also replaces windscreens, an impressive multi-tasking ability

A well-deserved pint of cider!

The downside I discovered of a pyjama top is that it doesn't give the same protection to the neck as a collared shirt, and as I didn't put sun cream on... I suffered.

The day after - should have used sun cream, kids!

Anyway - I'm now looking forward to taking on 1 of the Yorkshire 3 peaks next month :)

Walking

News - I've been exercising.

I've noted a slow but undeniable increase in my waist size, particularly over the past few months, which I've been thinking about tackling for some time.  My argument to myself for not doing so is that I'm really at my best in a morning for exercising, and I don't have time in a morning. However, it's got to a point where I need to do something - one, because I really don't want to go up yet another clothing size, and two, I'm supposed to be taking part in some walking challenges this summer and I'm concerned that I won't manage it.

I've been discussing with my wife going back to the gym a couple of times a week on an evening, but I'm reluctant to because my past experience of taking out a gym membership consist of signing up, going three or four times, and then paying the membership for a year for no benefit whatsoever.

Then it occurred to me that perhaps the best training for walking would be to... go for a walk.

My trusty hiking boots, that cost all of £15. So far they've worked.

So my plan is, after my son goes to bed, to go for a walk for an hour or so round the streets near me. The trick is making sure that I ensure to do this repeatedly for enough weeks into it becomes a habit and it feels weird not to go for an evening stroll.

Starting off I seem to be able to do about 5 kilometres (a smidge over 3 miles in real money) in an hour, which seems a reasonable starting benchmark.  I've been pleased to discover that my phone (a Huawei P10 Lite) has a Huawei Health app which is actually pretty good at tracking your exercise.

Typical evening view on the mean streets near my house.

It's also giving me a chance to fire up the podcast app on my phone - podcasts are really something that I've not experienced sufficiently in the past, and I'm at a bit unsure what podcasts to try. So far I've sampled Adam Ruins Everything with Adam Conover.  I first saw Adam on the College Humor YouTube channel and really enjoyed his stuff, and I'm pleased to say that his podcast is well worth a listen. The other one I've tried is ID10T with Chris Hardwick and again I've really enjoyed it, although it's very different to the other podcast. If you've got any suggestions for podcasts let me know in the comments.