The Walker With Heart

The weather forecast was that a Nordic blast was heading in, snow in the north and icy cold in my neck of the woods... A quick check of where there were beds in the Peak District and I was booked in for the Friday night... The new Losehill Youth Hostel is fab - all new and sparkly, plug sockets and chesterfield chairs throughout - comfy beds, and early breakfasts... My sort of place (and dirt cheap)! The where and bed came before the where and what I was walking... I know that part of the Peak District very well, and love it dearly the Iron age fort on Mam Tor, the rock sculptures wind blown on the Kinder Plateau, the sweeping lines up to Win Hill. I've walked them in the rain, the fog, the snow, the wind and very occasionally the sun.  This was one of those occasional days... The route was one of those one that I've tried more than once, I've come off the hills with an arm covered in ice, because I couldn't see further than my outstretched hand and even beca...

The long range forecast has spoken... There's snow heading to the hills... Temperatures are going to drop by about 7degrees between Thursday and Friday... Time to start getting the kit together... Bulk insulation - yup & works, it was a bit breezy on the tops in the Lake District yesterday... Thermos - still keeps soup warm:-) Spiky things for the feet - all covered, checked for rust, and ready for the variable uses... Which just leaves me... Post-event blues isn't quite right... My body has needed a break, and has reacted to the flu jab, and the absence of the miles I've put in.  The various aches and pains are fading, only reemerging when I walk up a medium sized hill... My hip on the way up, and the knee on the way down... Oh well, it'll come back, it always has in the past it will in the future. All that said, nothing used yesterday aches today:-) So slowly I'll start edging back into it... I'll try and get the work group out for a jo...

I should be revising (I've an OU exam on Wednesday)... I should be ironing a shirt (don't faint people I'm interviewing tomorrow)... I should be washing up... And I'm not... I'm distracted... I've found my next challenge - 9 months of training begins soon... 100 miles in 3 and a half days - along the Cotswold Way... Combining the my loves of running, long distance walking and camping - for the organisers will carry my tent and non-running gear between "Runner's Villages". And like all of my best insane challenges it scares even me - basically a trail half marathon, followed by 2 trail marathons and then a 33 mile Ultra... Might not be the fastest runs I've ever done <wibble>, And hence my distraction... I know there's no point thinking of the training I will do until after the exam, until there's running back in my legs... But still I'm on the hunt for stuff to do... The Derwent Heritage Trail - 55 miles in 2...

But it started, had a middle, and an end... My poor bright red shoes are a bit mucky... My left knee is reminding me it got kicked not that long ago... My thighs are agreeing with the OS map height gain for the distance (2700ft/840m)... My grin hasn't stopped since I finished:-) The run itself is blurring already, but what I remember is that at no stage did I have any wobbles.  I may have gone slow at times (even by my standards), but the old demons never raised their head. The training paid off, the New Forest for the forest trails, the Peak District for the mud, the Lakes for the hills and the mean streets of Merseyside for the sheer duration. There were bits where it hurt more than others, and parts where it smelt more than others (with perfect timing a farmer had manured his fields).  The terrain was a little tougher than I'd expected and the navigation, well its good that even tired I can use a map and compass - a couple of the markers had disappeared in the...

In the halls of where I work... Quietly whispered...  A question is asked... Passing from ear to ear...  And then reaches one of my friends....  And they laugh...  The question? "Should Paul be doing this? What about his heart?" And my friends laugh; not because they don't worry, not because they think I'm in anyway sane... But because they've seen the progress, watched the miles tick over, heard my tales of my running misadventures, seen the photos of me running in all of the parts of the UK. And my friends look the mutterers in the eye, and smile "Paul knows what he can do and when to stop". And I do...  And all being well that will be on the steps of Nottingham Castle, Sunday afternoon/evening. I'm not Superman, I'm not even Iron Man, I am me.   Me...  The confidence the runs this year have given me has to be remembered...  The PBs at every distance up to marathon...  The successful brutalisers - I didn...