A Blustery Day

Trailwalker Training Walk 13 - South Downs Way 24/05/08 with Colin and Katie - 22.9 miles from Cocking to Steyning. Av speed 2.54 mph. Total vertical ascent 3000ft

It was a very windy day! But seeing as we had a choice of walking on Saturday and bank holiday Monday, I'm glad we chose the day we did as Monday was utterly miserable! We started off pretty well, walking from CP2 of the actual Trailwalker course to CP3 in a very good time, which would have put us in 18 hour finishing time, despite a good hill to get us warmed up on at the beginning. Up on the top the wind was beginning to pick up, but given the sun we really didn't mind. Katie was feeling comfortable, which was a good sign as it was the first walk she'd done since the 18 miler that really caused her some hip discomfort. She'd been to the physio who gave her some exercises and stretching tips to strengthen the key hip and groin muscles, and we stopped from time to time for a breather while she stretched off. Its fair to say that the walking got slower as the day progressed, but none of the hills we encountered were too bad and a couple of them we hardly noticed as we chatted as we walked. the views once again were lovely, but as we reached the end we were glad to get off the ridge as the evening started to approach and the temperature was beginning to drop. Towards the end we were now walking quite slowly, and Katie's hips were a little ginger I think. We stopped for more stretches as the day went on, but overall it was a good workout and the important thing was that it gave Katie confidence that come the day her body should hold up (we hope!!)