The Walker With Heart

Soggy Peaty Gloopy Quiet And I loved it... The original plan was to do the whole Edale Skyline - about 20 miles and 4500ft ascent, its a walk I've tried to complete 3 or 4 times. Once beaten by a lack of fitness, the rest by the weather. Its also a walk I've always attempted solo, just because I can get to the start by train, I know the hills (I have walked all of it, just not all at the same time) and its the view from the train as it hurtles through the Penines from Liverpool to York or Leeds taunting me as I sit in my suit reading papers... So if I didn't finish it why did I love it? Cos it wasn't easy... 16 miles and 2000ft isn't to be sneezed at, that the climb is an undulating one makes life a little easier, as does the nice paths along the Lose Hill -> Mam Tor Ridge... and then it gets fun... No nice mill slab footpaths, no friendly information signs, just walking as per the old days... Map, compass bearings and a little bit of luck... (I feel I should p

Pretty much every book written on exercise in the last 10 years will draw on sports psychology and say that there is a clear link between what you're thinking and/or feeling depending on your psychological bent... I'm no different. If I feel crap I run crap, Ron Hill (the man, the legend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Hill) says that if you start a run you think will be poor then often it'll become average and sometimes it'll good and occasionally it'll become great... And he's right... Apart from sometimes being a GUCH runner other things kick in... A comparison of the 2 runs last week shows this... a 5km PB in a time I've been hunting for a while a run where I knew I was running hard and working all of my body well, and it flowed. My running partner for the day even commented that it looked smooth. I hit the marks, 1km flat out, 250m recovery walk, another 1km flat out, 250m walk, 1km flat out, 300m (I skipped the the top of the hill;-)) and then r

... is apparently all that people ever see. Next week I've a 2 day training course on leadership, and have spent probablt half a day this week going over my previous reviews and management/leadership training so I remember what the books say about my personality and what previous teams have said about working with me, for me, or even managing me... It is very easy to focus on the bits you like or agree with, and not the honest if uncomfortable feedback you also get... But I've gritted my teeth and read it all. I can see the best of me and the worst of me in all of it, unlike many people I seem to quite enjoy the process of working out who I am and how I interact with others, I don't see it as a challenge to who I am (which is different from it being challenge). So what sort of person am I? Well, the detailed information from the 360degree reviews is between me, the anonymised authors and the poor trainer who has had to wade through the essays. However, that does give

Well decision made... Time to get off my sorry fat ass and start aiming for a target, the running will underpin it but what the marathon has taught me is having the big target, the ultimate goal, focuses me more than I thought possible. So, the target - 190 miles in 2 weeks, straight across England, from St Bee's to Robin Hood's Bay, crossing the Lake District, Pennines , Yorkshire dales and some of the best walking country the world has to offer. When, well that'll be May next year... A long time away, but long enough to get my road fitness (which is still about as good as its ever been) enhanced and hill fitness added in. It also gives me time to start saving for the replacement kit I'll need (new ultra-lightweight tent, lightweight sleepingbag and camping mat) and to book the time from work. So where to start doing things... getting my ass back into the running gear and stop being wishy washy about the Great North Run, start block booking some weekends for hard a