I've laboured over the title of this post. A multiday walk for some may be just like a walk in the park and for others, an inconceivable concept. I fall somewhere in the middle - late middle age; a few problems with knees; hereditary awful feet; hyper mobility; constantly battling staying in healthy weight range; enjoys walking, and being out in the natural environment. I have no chance of carrying a heavy backpack for days on end without permanently damaging my spine (or so I feel!), my co-ordination and core stability have always been sub par. Walking and exercise has to be enjoyable in my opinion, so if I find a physical activity too challenging, the temptation is to give up. My physiotherapy background dictates however that exercise is an essential lifestyle choice for me if I am to continue to be independently mobile into my senior years. I have been, dare I say, a reluctant gym attender, mainly because my long term exercise goals are vague (ie. to be independently mobile in my old age is vague). I really need a focus and a more immediate goal to make sense of 'working out' (if you can call it that).
Given that walking (better said, strolling), has always been an activity I enjoy, I began to contemplate attempting a multiday walk back in early 2012. Would it be something I was capable of? I therefore started to do some research into walks that I might find "manageable". I was looking for something that would not involve carrying a heavy backpack and/or pitching a tent after a long day; no cliffs (as I am scared of heights and drops); no bush bashing (I was hoping for a defined path to follow); and reasonable loo facilities (no trowels, please!!!). That cut out the majority of multiday walks in Australia and most other parts of the world. After browsing the internet further, I discovered that some of the British walking companies offered self guided walks with luggage transport between Inn and/or B&B accommodation. The beauty of a British walk moreover, meant that there was no worry about encountering poisonous creatures in the countryside - a definite positive if you have ever walked in Australian bush.
Step 1 in my exploration:
Aim: Find a walk that would be suitable for a beginner.......
There are actually many companies advertising walks with luggage carrying and accommodation on the internet. The challenge was to find one that offered just the right level of walking for me! Most British based companies will grade their walks - easy; easy to moderate; moderate; moderate to strenuous; strenuous. The Australian Walking Track Grading System goes from Grade 1 to 5. (With Grade 5 being for experienced bushwalkers. Add "very" to that). Novice distance walkers beware!!! Do as much research as you can with respect to the terrain and daily distances along with the track surface.
Checking the UK walks, none were graded "easy", so I decided to start with "easy to moderate". This is partly how I discovered St Cuthbert's Way. I had seen a waymark for St Cuthbert's Way some years previously on a road trip (2006) and thought it looked interesting. Six years later, it caught my eye again and I began to seriously wonder if I could walk the Way.
Step 2:
Aim: Establishing whether I would be physically capable of completing a distance walk.
Up until early 2012, my exercise consisted of two gym sessions and two (or maybe three) 5km walks along our breakwater (below) and beach per week (if I was keen). No hills, all paved. I also worked three full days at the time. (3 days of work + gym sessions on Monday & Friday = 3 days left for walking training, although Sunday was a no exercise day generally).
Path along Nobby's breakwater
Was I capable?
Challenge One: Could I manage to walk up a rather steep hill having only ever walked along the breakwater and around to Ocean Baths? (5kms). With this in mind, I added a hill to my usual walking route by tackling the Shepherds Hill stairway below. (70 metre climb. additional 2kms = 7kms).
This was a fairly hefty climb for someone who had never bothered to add a hill into exercise walks (hey, walking is supposed to be fun!). The first day I attempted the hill was quite hot as I recall, and I had not put on sunscreen which was stupid, given our strong sun. I needed one rest half way up (to admire the view .... and it is sensational), and felt rather proud of myself after I had finished. The only ill effect I had was pinched toe pads i.e. the dynamics of my foot posture with hallux valgus meant that the second, third and fourth toes were pinched and tender. I think that walk was one and a half hours to two hours (with rests). If my toes were sore after that amount of time (in joggers, not stiff walking boots), how were they going to cope after a full day? I will add here that keeping my feet free of rubs and blisters with Grade 3+ hallux valgus throughout my five distance walks to date has been possibly my biggest challenge to walking and I'm still looking for answers. I will dedicate a post to this, but will cover briefly here. If you have ever tried to 'google' sore/pinched toe pads after walking, you may possibly encounter similar problems to me - humans apparently don't have 'toe pads' (Really? What are the fleshy parts under the distal phalanges called if they are not 'toe pads'?). I learned a lot about the problems dogs have with bleeding and sore paws, but not humans. Was I the only human with this problem?
Enter my fabulous gym instructor/personal trainer, Adam Clarke (UpnAdam Performance Training Shameless plug for Adam :)). Adam had just bought the personal training studio we had been attending for many years. I told him of my (then) pipe dream of tackling the St Cuthbert's Way and asked him if he thought I was capable of achieving it. Adam with his typical "can do (with work)" attitude was very positive and I guess it's always good to train people, (even older women like me). who have an exercise goal. How many times in my own career had I battled with school aged children who couldn't be bothered doing their home program of exercises? How successful had I been in reinforcing exercise once I had found an activity they truly enjoyed? Yep, I was about to get a dose of my own medicine, by starting a goal oriented training program myself. One of Adam's athletic pursuits is trail running and after my hill climbing effort, I brought up the vexed question of painfully squashed toes and did that ever happen to runners? He immediately produced one of his trail running magazines and showed me a picture of specialist performance toe socks called Injinjis. These have without doubt been one of the best walking products I have discovered for my problem feet. The toe sock design means that I have a protective layer between my toes, and my feet and the shoe. More about those in another post. Suffice it to say that I never walk without wearing these socks.
Challenge Two: Could I manage to walk for approximately 15 kilometres, or for several hours (four to five) in a day? St Cuthbert's Way (Grade Easy to Moderate) had approximate walking distances each day (taking the longest itinerary of seven walking days) as follows:
Day One: 13kms (with one climb)
Day Two: 13kms
Day Three: 19.3kms
Day Four: 11kms (Climb to highest point of the Way)
Day Five: 23kms (Two climbs)
Day Six: 21kms
Day Seven: 10kms
NB: You can walk the distance in less time - some really fast walkers combine Days One & Two and Six & Seven. Being a novice slow walker, if I had to complete over 30kms in a day, I would most likely arrive at my accommodation well into the evening, stressed and tired only to find I had missed dinner because the Pubs' kitchens close before 9pm (This almost happened on one of our longer walks on the Ridgeway).
I felt that if I could achieve a distance of 15kms in a day walk with "some" training (i.e. one two hour walk and two one hour walks plus two gym sessions per week), I had a chance of managing the Cuthbert Way.
In April 2012, we visited Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park for three days. No, we had no intention of climbing Uluru (I'm terrified of heights at the best of time, but it is such a deeply spiritual place that it would have just been wrong to climb it - my feelings, anyway). Apart from doing some fabulous tours conducted by the aboriginal owners, one of our goals was to walk around the base of the rock. Distance = 15kms. I can't remember how long it took us - we certainly needed to take food and lots of water, as it was hot, but we were never too far from people and help. This time I was in Injinjis and walking boots (Keens) and there was a sense of accomplishment once we completed the distance.
SEE NEXT POST
15km goal attained. Confidence boost. Now think seriously about booking to walk the St Cuthbert Way (Which we did through Macs Adventures in the following May (2013).