A few months ago, a friend of mine suggested we do something we've never done before: go for a walk. A long walk. I'm talking six or seven days' worth of walking. "Let's do it", I exclaimed, resting my pint back down on our two seat table at the pub.
I don't think either of us quite realised what we'd let ourselves in for but, since it was our first attempt at anything like this, we were excited and spent hundreds of pounds buying essential walking gear (which I'll cover shortly).
Months later and the big day was approaching. We managed to get about twenty odd miles of training walks under our belts. This isn't enough, I was thinking. In hindsight, it was absolutely nowhere near enough. My friend's father told us that, in
preparation for a hike he undertook, he racked up nearly a hundred miles of training. By the end of his training, his feet were calloused and solid enough to cope with the punishment they were about to take. Anyway, by the time we'd fully realised, it was too late, we had to just go with it and see how we did.
We didn't do well. Out of the entire 110 miles of the Icknield Way Path, we managed half 0f it. For three days we set a decent pace of three miles an hour, so an average day included five hours of walking, with occasional breaks. The first day was good (except the weather); the scenery was beautiful and the company was certainly what kept us both going. Countless games going through the alphabet naming different bands, games, and people kept our spirits high as we trudged through driving rain.
However, day three fell upon us and, by the end of it, our feet looked like those flying saucer sweets you can buy; inflated patches of blistered flesh filled with fluid covered the soles of our feet making each step agonising. The pain of that coupled with exhaustion and general fatigue saw us shuffling like zombies by the end of day three; day four and beyond hung in the balance.
Unfortunately, after seven miles of the fourth day (which took us five hours to cover) we threw in the towel. It was useless. We were useless. The trip, which was supposed to be fun and adventurous, was now a grueling, torturous slog. Wilfred Owen's opening words from 'Dulce Et...' played out through my mind, "Bent double, knock-kneed like beggars..." We were two dead weights plodding on autopilot and walking on bloodied, searingly painful feet.
"Let's go home, mate," my friend suggested as we took shelter in the porch of a lonely flint-walled church. "OK," I concurred, solemnly. It was a disappointing moment. The acceptance of unexpected defeat was hard to swallow. We thought we'd been so ready for it. Fifteen miles a day? No sweat, I kept thinking. Anyway, we made our way, awkwardly and imbalanced for a further three miles to the sanctuary of a pub, where we waited for our ride back home. To top things off, the car journey back took less than an hour. We were so close.
We'll finish it one day, though. Starting from home and walking out to that pub to join the dots will be the plan for next time and, as an added bonus, we will be a hundred percent prepared.
Here's what I think is worth remembering when undertaking a long distance walk:
- Bring plasters. Lots of them. As many as you can afford. It's most likely that, after a day's walking, your feet will have sweated so much they'll look like they've been submerged in water for hours on end. They will also rub, no matter how well-fitting your boots/shoes are, your feet will rub and the friction, heat and constant pressure will cause blisters to raise their ugly heads. Do not pop them. No matter how tempting the blisters look, the pain will only increase if they're damaged. I made the fatal mistake of popping a blister and I could barely walk afterwards.
- Essential walking gear includes, obviously, a large bag. One big enough to carry several pairs of clothes, such as t-shirts, trousers/shorts, numerous pairs of socks and underwear and one outfit for evening wear. That's all the clothing you'll need for, say, a week-long trek. Oh, and a raincoat, of course.
- Put all your clothes in bin liners. Any sort of plastic bag will do, in fact. What you don't want to do is pack everything loose in your bag. If anything gets wet and it's packed loose with everything else, it'll make it all stink. Plastic bags make dividing the clothing up more easy, and packing it all into your rucksack becomes a lot less hassle also.
- Savlon, Sudocrem, and insect bite cream are vital. For anyone who suffers from chafed skin after walking a long way, Sudocrem will be indispensable for you. Savlon helps disinfect any rashes or blistered skin, while insect bite cream just saves you irritating itchy skin any further. It may seem obvious, but all three are undeniably important.
- If you have wet clothes and there's no time to let them dry before setting off for the next day's leg, strap them onto the back of your pack. It's guaranteed that your pack will have straps that clip into place, one forked piece clipping into an open-ended piece. Put any wet clothes so that the straps clip around them, thus holding them securely and, as you walk, providing it doesn't rain, your clothes will be dry by the end of the day.
- Make sure your bag is not top-heavy. Putting lighter things towards the top of your pack will take less weight from around your shoulders. You want as much weight as you can to be around your hips, otherwise your bag will pull on your back as you walk, causing the most uncomfortable experience and pain in your back.
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