A slightly different type of post today

So today I walked. I am thrilled with my walk today and I was going to give you lots of different bits and bobs to read but you know what? It's so much easier speaking it, so here's a link to the soundbites I recorded on my route and was going to use to write my blog from, but you're welcome to listen to me panting, imagine me sweating, and then panting a bit more! I think I might even sniff a lot and I apologise, it was just darn cold and very much nose-runny weather ;)

So, without further ado, here's the soundbites, and below, the pictures of my journey :).

Soundbites of my Walk


I started off, dressed for winter, and my ears were covered so that the wind didn't get in. I know, probably an old wives tale but I didn't want to take the risk and so I wrapped up like an old lady out of Coronation Street.



I hadn't worn my new trainers on a proper walk yet so decided, despite the forecast of rain, I'd give them a go with my new and hugely comfy socks (which, by the way, I managed to poke my toe through by the end of the walk). My socks are very hi tech as we know. The liners (which survived the toe pokes) are like toe gloves, which apparently help to prevent blisters (mission definitely accomplished today) and the outer socks for warmth. I'm not sure, once I get going on the day, whether I'll need those. I think they'll just make my feet sweat, and that won't be good.

I had, of course, typically forgotten to switch my chargers on last night so set off later than scheduled and nearer to the rain forecast, but hey ho, it was worth waiting for my watch and phone to charge, at least partly, before I headed out. I started my watch off and headed off down the road.  


This picture is totally irrelevant to anything in this blog, but I post it because if you ever find yourself up this way, you must pay a visit to Westlands Farm Shop, simply because they sell the absolute best meat and pies anywhere. Just saying.


So, this is the view from the top of the hill that I think, if I remember rightly, I mention in the soundbite. It's my favourite view but looks like nothing in this picture! Still, I couldn't not post it, since it got a mention.


My very cool waterproof cover for my very cool rucksack. I have to say, having fiddled with all the straps the rucksack was far more comfy today, thankfully. That was worrying me slightly. Worry over.


Ok, I realise this hill doesn't look much now that I've looked at the picture but trust me, it was daunting. I don't often do hills, and though this looks like a mild slope, in reality it was a very long incline and as you can tell, I was puffing a lot. (That is, if you're bothering to listen to the link ;) )



If only the picture could do this view justice! It really was lovely and if it had been sunny it would have been gorgeous. Next time maybe!

My wonderful chimneys :)

The obviously very famous windmill at North Leverton


Just to prove the point, there's pictures of the windmill on the village signpost ;)

My delicious snack because I needed a boost!



And there you have it. A fab walk, at a good pace that I'm thrilled to bits with. Obviously only just over 12 miles and not the full 63, I doubt I'd be able to get anywhere near that pace for even 20 miles but I'm very pleased. I mean, it was all tarmac and I was pushed along by my fabulous new trainers but all in all, considering the wind, I'm happy. (And rather knackered.)

This will all make far more sense if you listen, but if you don't, enjoy the pictures!

Ideally I'd be doing another walk tomorrow, and starting to practice two days in a row, but that's not going to happen because tomorrow I'm on dog duty. I'm running out of time and the next few weeks are really busy so I'm more than a little concerned that I won't walk as much as I should do, but every little helps right?  Let's hope so!

And for those who very kindly ask constantly about Amy's progress, thank you so much. She is doing ok, though progress has slowed somewhat but I'm thrilled to say she's coming up for a visit next weekend. She had hoped to go back to work for the Summer term but that isn't going to happen, so now we look to May and perhaps after the Whitsun break. We will see. Fingers crossed.

Comments

  1. Gordie14 April, 2023 00:48

    Who's that woman pictured on your SoundCloud page? 😜

    Thanks for providing us with such a beautiful soundscape of the wind. 😛 And stop putting your fingers over the microphone. 😁

    What hurricane were you talking about? The Great Storm of 1987? Or something else?

    Fair to say your heel's better now anyway. 😁 I'm still amazed by your pace on this walk. It sounded like it was down to your quick stride pattern - it sounded a lot quicker than mine, though obviously I don't know how different our respective stride lengths are.

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    Replies
    1. Rebecca - aka mum14 April, 2023 14:16

      haha, good question! May have to change that picture if I use SoundCloud again!
      You're welcome, it was very windy!! And I have no idea where the microphone is lol.
      Hurricane? Did I mention one?? No idea! I'll have to listen back!
      Yep, in my new shoes it's perfect, but in the shoes that gave me the problem in the first place, which are now relegated to dog walking shoes, the heel still hurts, which just goes to show, changing shoes was a good idea! Aw thanks :). I'm sure you're stride must be longer than mine, my legs are probably half the length of yours lol. But yes, when they're in the mood they can move quickly! I think I was just very on it yesterday. Still to test myself 2 days in a row though I did do two miles dog walking today, that was an effort! ;)

      Delete
    2. Rebecca - aka mum14 April, 2023 14:20

      Ah yes, the hurricane! That would have been about 10 and a half years ago, the October of 2013 I believe. Linda and I were doing our first Great South Run, 10 miles in Portsmouth, and although the hurricane had hit the day before, it was still incredibly windy and very hard work running into the wind. Suffice to say, the next time we did it was a whole lot easier because the weather was glorious!

      Delete
    3. Gordie14 April, 2023 14:54

      [*making a meal of the comment nesting*]

      I'm gonna doubt it was officially classified as a hurricane, otherwise I'd have remembered it. I know the autumn/winter of that year was very stormy in terms of regularity (my American ex, Maggie, got caught up in it all in January 2014), but not so much in terms of severity, I don't think. ​Probably exaggeration on your part. 😛

      As for your stride rate, maybe I misheard what I thought was your pounding of the tarmac, but my longer legs would be capable of travelling further distance per stride than yours, which would make them longer and probably slower strides. That's my theory anyway. 😉

      I think I'm gonna try your marathon walk next, probably mostly over tarmac if possible, and you can try my 2-day back-to-back pair of walks. 😀 We can swap our recent strategies. 😉

      Delete
    4. Rebecca - aka mum14 April, 2023 15:23

      Here's the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Jude_storm :). I think you'll find it was 'severe hurricane force' winds and across Europe 17 people died. Trust me, I've never known anything like it!
      You're probably right but my non-mathematical brain can't follow that logic lol.
      Ah, well that would be all well and good if I had two consecutive days free to walk! It's a massive problem!

      Delete
    5. Gordie14 April, 2023 16:06

      Okay - that was a pretty big storm, I'll give you that, especially if you were right on the coast for it.

      Delete
  2. Gordie14 April, 2023 14:50

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    1. Gordie14 April, 2023 14:51

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