Nessie & the cankles...

With just 25 days to go, there is no news on training, although I think Clare C has hit the treadmill a few times recently.
The big news from the fab 4 is that Claire C is worried she will get Cankles!
For the uninitiated, this is where the calf meets the foot with no middleman!

Here are some helpful tips to help Claire with this dreadful affliction:

1. Walking, running, hiking
2. Avoid high-sodium, processed, and fast foods
3. Massage and elevation also help with circulation and fluid retention. 

Simple really! Surely Clare and the boys can help out with some massage and walking on your hands will help with elevation.

Oh yes and Claire B is going to be around 5 months pregnant when she starts the challenge, talk about bad planning!

Hopefully Baby Nessie will enjoy the ride as much as our fab 4 - (now the fab 4.5)

Panic is setting in...

With now 33 days to go, panic is definitely setting in. Clare C is back on the running machine having returned from her "training" exercise in France. Mainly this would be training for the evening's relaxation sessions!
Claire B is in real panic mode, firstly worrying about her hydration bladder which she has lost. Now not being au fait with the world of walking gadgetry, I can only assume that this is effectively some kind of water vessel - (a quick google has confirmed this). Then we had a moment where she thought that the WHW required climbing Ben Nevis!
Last year Claire complete the three peaks challenge ("the worst 24 hours of my life") so the thought of climbing Ben Nevis was not high on the list of must do activities after that for Claire.
Just to set the record straight for Claire, no, the West Highland Way does not involve climbing Ben Nevis and bottles of water would work perfectly fine, as they can be carried in your hand,
Lists of items to take have also been a talking point,
Hats
Gloves
Crash hats to protect against the cricket ball sized hail stones
Anti "Midgee" solutions
Ear Defenders
"A snake skin knotted at one end" questions to Neil Bancroft as I have no idea!
6 new pairs of socks
Flip Flops for the evening to totally relax your feet which need air, air and more air after 20 miles- according to Neil, although Clare C is worried about her feet "Splaying" too much so is opting for running trainers to relax in.
Finally not only is Clare C going to treat the others to her singing, she is also taking a whistle to really annoy them with! So sad I will miss that!

My training for my solo efforts in the south west have been progressing, last weekend I did a 13 mile walk, to the pub! I walked from Kingsteignton to the Cromwell Arms in Bovey Tracey sadly without the dogs, as it was hot and mainly on roads and as they like to zigzag from one side to the other, it seemed a little dangerous to take them along.
Walking alone and without beagles is a little dull, but I managed to do the 6.5 miles there in around 1 hour 40 mins. My arrival was met by a couple of friends and a lovely cool pint of Thatchers Cider, which went down a treat.

The return journey was a little more fraught as I probably should not have drunk a whole pint. No facilities on the way apart from bushes and I just couldn't bring myself to do that, the relief when I reached the facilities at the bottom of the village!
Will have to invest in one of the gadgets on the market to assist in that task, as I don't want to experience that again,
Overall last Saturday I walked around 18 miles in all, and Sunday apart from being a little stiff  first thing, I was fine, so am confident I can get through my five days unscathed especially as I will be able to recuperate in the hot tub in my garden!

This weekend was not so fruitful, I was planning with beagles to walk around 5 miles in Salcombe a circular walk suggested by my trusty South West Coast path book, however as usual parking was a nightmare in Salcombe and I ended up not doing the circular walk I had planned and parked by the North Sands, which I thought was the South Sands and the bridle path that I started to go up was not the path I thought I was on according to the book!
Anyway, at least it was not too hot, although the trek was pretty steep.
When we finally reached daylight, I could just about see the beach!

We eventually turned back due to only having paid two hours of parking time and hit the beautiful beach where the tide was out the beagles had a good scout around and a paddle in the rock pools,

 then we headed back home where devoured frozen chicken wings on the lawn then flaked out!

We are all looking forward to the challenge but now just want to be getting on with it!

just over a month to go......

The countdown has begun, with less than 6 weeks to go, here is a quick update on the training that has been going on.
Last weekend was the Marbury beagle walk which was attended by many many many mad beagle owners and their beagles. Organised by Dawn Briggs who managed to raise an incredible £2500+ for Beagle Welfare.
The fab 4 were at large for a bit of impromptu training, and fooling around by the looks of things

I think it must have been a bit chilly judging by Kenny's headgear! ...just in Kenny has just told me that this is the latest in "anti midgeeeeeee head gear and is a must!

Individually, the girls have been more "active" than the boys. Clare C has had a very busy time getting in lots of training over the last few days.

This must have been Clare working out her walking strategy and just planning her signing repertoire for the 5 days.

On the other hand this was Claire B on a walk of about 6 miles with all three of her beagles but I think Alfie must have found his own way home, as at this point Claire was lost having to use her phone to work out where she was in this picture.

It does not bode well for the WHW walk, as these were field where Claire grew up and played as a child. Thank heavens Kenny and Neil will be on hand to do the navigational work, lucky for claire that she had the Iphone map app, as she got stung and walked through rape fields enroute!

At least stinging nettles are good for the circulation if you do get stung!
Looks like you can have senior moments in your 30's now.

Training for me last week was lacking, we did get to the beach for Alfie and Freddie to do their bit for the environment eating everyone's rubbish

Then Alfie tried his best to get some paddling in, but since they were on a split lead and Freddie detests the water, he was having none of that!

On arrival home after this walk, I found the we had no power and then had to wait in for a power man to come round and check things out, so didn't get any really long walks in last weekend. 

With less than six weeks to go until the big event, if anyone is considering sponsoring please feel free to part with some readies - links to our Just Giving page and our Virgin Money Giving page can be found at the top of this blog.

Lost beagle and Turmeric

Training for me this week has been a little light. partly because I think that Alfie has been suffering with a bit of arthritis in his back legs. We have some steps down to our bottom garden where he likes to go and tease the chickens and poke his paws through to drag some of their poo towards him for his pudding! (yuk) Anyway, a couple of times, I have had to look for him after calling and he was just standing at the bottom of the steps with his back legs shaking a little and waiting for me to carry him up the steps, also he has been very reluctant to jump onto the bed at night. I did think it was maybe because Freddie was giving him the evils - (they did have a full on fight at 3am the other week when Freddie decided to assert his dominance one morning)
Anyway, I spoke to my dog sitter and she mentioned that she thought he was looking a little stiff with his walking and was also reluctant to get up and move about when she popped in to let them out.
So onto Facebook to my raw feeding rebels group I went as I had heard that lots of dog owners use turmeric paste to help with arthritis.Recipe found!
Turmeric and additional coconut oil purchased I quickly whipped up a jar of the paste and have been giving it to both the boys for a few meals now - they dont seem to keen on it, but have so far managed to hide the paste in minced up meat and offal. I think it is helping, as Alfie has been down to tease the chickens a few times and not needed me to carry him up the steps each time.I did also give him some Reiki so that too may have helped! Time will tell.

My weekend was not going to be one of long walks due to Alfie being a little under the weather, however, following a post on Lost Dog and Team Beagle Lost and Found about a missing beagle, we did end up heading down to Plymbridge Woods for a walk and a scout around to see if we could find the missing beagle.

We didn't find him, but happily, he has since turned up back at home after being found last night by a kind person who took him in and then contacted the owner today to re-unite him with his family. I remebered to take my purse this trip and I ended up with icecream and the ice cream van sold frozen yoghurt treats which Alfie and Freddie wolfed down!
Social Media is a truly amazing thing in some ways, as without it, poor Milo and his family might have been apart for a lot longer.
Milo is currently at home receiving lots and lots of extra cuddles, although he may be subject to lead walks for a while following his little adventure!

Have not had much in the way of training updates from the others, but Neil I think is obsessed with blisters, as he seems to share pictures of the most gruesome ones I have ever seen. Kenny is suffering with his feet, so I think they will all deserve a medal if they actually get through it in August especially if Clare does sing the whole way!
I thankfully have no injuries, although my walking boots have developed a hole and now let the water in - that's what happens when you live in them. Another pair have been purchased so now I will hopefully get them worn in just in time for my August challenge!

Exmouth and Jellyfish

Today Alfie, Freddie and I embarked on our first training session for our South West version of the West Highland Way. The great thing about doing this walk close to home is that the beagles can come too - well that's the plan, they will probably have other ideas!
This morning I got up and it was a beautiful sunny day so I got my map out and had a look at the route we would take. I made a sandwich and a smoothie and packed some water, carrots and snacks for the boys grabbed leads and headed up towards Exmouth.
I have never been to Exmouth, to my knowledge (maybe as a child - but that was a very long time ago!) I didn't really know where I was going to park or walk, although the idea was to follow the coastline.
About three quarters of the way to Exmouth, I realised I had left my purse at home, what a pain, did I go back? Thinking quickly I checked my change pot that I keep in the car for parking hmmm 35 pence, that was not going to help. Maybe I could find somewhere free to leave the car. Actually not such a great idea, since a few years ago I cycled the London to Brighton and got my friend to meet me and drive me back and they could not remember where they parked the car, so we ended up walking round Brighton for a good hour until we stumbled upon it (He's was not very bright and I was not very happy!)
Anyway I thought a car park would be my best bet, then it came to me, Mobile phone parking - it was bound to work, so I carried on to Exmouth.
I came up to the train station and there was a huge car park there so I drove in, only to find that there was not a text to park but you had to register with a website then load up credit card details. hmmmm could I remember the number and expiry date. Sadly, I do actually know the number of my credit card and took a punt at the expiry date - success! (just goes to show how much I must use online shopping!!)
So parked - legally - we all got out and wandered towards the sea.
It was truly a beautiful day, although a bit breezy right on the coast. Just a few puffy clouds in the sky.

Alfie, Freddie and I walked along the coastline taking in the sea air, that smell just a hint of seaweed, the kind as a child you used to get when just arriving at the seaside ready for a day on the beach with bucket & spade, I still love that smell to this day.
Wandering along the quayside I was amazed to see a huge Jellyfish in the shallow water, it must have been dead as it was not moving but it was huge.

I was glad I didn't have the urge to go for a paddle, since this would have put me off straight away.

We wandered at a leisurely pace along past the marina which looks an amazing place to live the apartments all smart and pristine very clean with no litter and so many boats.

Carrying on our walk took us along the esplanade where there is a dog friendly beach all year round and plenty of ice cream vendors. I am partial to an ice cream but having had my senior moment forgetting my purse, I had to just look today.
The beach at Exmouth stretches for seemingly miles and past the dog friendly section there were kite surfers taking advantage of the breeze and beach volley ball nets up ready for play to begin.

So much has changed since my childhood at the beach, I do recall donkey rides, but no organised games or surfers of any description.

We had travelled about 3 miles so I thought it was time for a snack stop, Alfie and Freddie - ever ready for food demolished their carrots pretty quickly and were ready to head off again. We headed back across the scrub land the other side of the road from the beach, a huge expanse where people were picnicking and playing and running around with dogs.
Our route took us towards the town, and before we knew it we were back near the car park where we first started.
The beags didn't look ready to head home, so we headed off in the opposite direction towards Lympstone along the coast path. It was pretty warm by now I had taken off my sweatshirt as the sun was burning down - even with the sea breeze.
As we headed further along, the tide had gone out and we saw probably around 10 to 15 huge dead jellyfish along the shore line. I thought the boys would be all over them but thankfully they steered clear of them. Very strange.

My beagles don't really like water but Alfie will have a paddle if the weather is warm. Freddie hates water so does his best to avoid it at all costs. Being on a split lead they often have a bit of a tug of war when Alfie wants to go in the water. Luckily I did bring a separate lead for Freddie so Alfie was able to splash about whilst Freddie stayed on dry land pretty much.

We headed back towards the car and completed around 7 miles all in all.

The beags slept all the way back home and pretty much all afternoon, although were quite happy to go out for a more local short stroll later on.

News from the WHW contingent, sadly, Suzanne has had to pull out, as she has a damaged ankle and has been advised not to walk much on it. That's not really that helpful when you have a 96 mile walk planned! She will be missed by all.
Claire and Clare have been planning what to take and getting lists together. No surprises that Clare's list contains tweezers and Claire's contains ear defenders - I wonder why?
No noise from either of the boys, I'm sure they are going to be fighting fit and ready to take on the girls!

Mud and Duck tape

Beagle Welfare's very own "GI Jane" aka Clare C has been up to some serious training for the walk. However, it was not walking she was doing.
Last weekend, Clare, daughter Annie and Beagle Nelly took part in the Ruff Dugger and completed the 5k course in an amazing time of 33 mins 33 seconds.
For the uninitiated among you, this is a very, very, very muddy trail and obstacle course that you do with a dog strapped to you.
Most people do it to raise money for good causes or to challenge themselves but not our Clare, she did it for fun!!??
This is the before photo

Not only did she have to wade through mud pits and streams she also had to drive for 6 hours (bank holiday traffic) to get to the venue.
Luckily help was at hand from seasoned professional Kenny Watt, who obviously having witnessed the carnage that is the ruff dugger many times, taped Clare's trainers to her feet to ensure that they stayed in place - genius idea!
Carefully negotiating a stream - Nelly is not looking impressed!

Oh yes she did do some running too!

The event is very popular with a broad spectrum of people getting down and dirty including kids "The Mucky Pups".
The after photo the girls look way too clean  - unlike poor Nelly!

Definitely not my idea of fun although even Clare was disappointed by the lack of mud!
My own training in the last couple of weeks is pretty dull in comparison, just walks around the same places currently. Have had exercise in the decorating department which has kept me otherwise engaged, however, nearly completed so back to the tracks in the next week or so.

The boys have been very quiet about their training, although I suspect they are getting the miles in more from them next time!

North vs South

It seems that the path of simple fundraising events does not run smoothly and so I have had to change my plans for our fundraising walk in August, its nothing to do with me not wanting to listen to Clare's singing for 5 straight days, or the fact that there is a haunted inn that we are booked into, but unfortunately, my domestic situation has altered and I am unable to leave my beagles for 5 days whilst I head up north to join the others for the walk.
My plan is still to actually walk 100 miles or so, but not in the midge ridden highlands of Scotland, but the beautiful Devon coast.
I have not quite planned my route as yet, but it will involve mostly coastal walks and will take in a lot of the South West Coast path. I have my Fitbit which can track my mileage so I wont be cheating and it might just get a little bit competitive, who knows! More about that next time.

The others will still be in Scotland and following on from earlier blogs, there journey on day three will take them from the hauntings at Drovers Inn at Inverarnan to Crianlarich, which is the official half way point of the walk and takes them past a "Sheep Creep" apparently a low tunnel! From here the journey continues to Tyndrum which is famous for St Fillan's chapel which Robert the Bruce raised to a priory in 1318 - why do so many men come with "the something or other" after their christian name, it was a bit like that in a pub I used to live near, where many of the locals were referred to in this way; Mick the sniff, Mark the book, Dave the plank, Mark the bathroom!
Sorry I digress, what is or was "the Bruce"???? (Answers on a postcard or failing that please tell me what that was all about in a comment if you feel the need)
I suspect Nicola Sturgeon would be happy to have him around now!

It's then onwards through glens and mountainous scenery to the Bridge of Orchy over the river Orchy, which according to wikipedia, is the finest white water river in the UK! On a further couple of miles to their overnight stop at Inveroran.

might need to change the cow picture from a Highland cattle to a Devon ruby red cow for my walk!

An olympic athlete..... and blisters

So its been a busy couple of weeks, well that's my excuse for the delay in this post.
I have however discovered that I am in fact an Olympic athlete.
What?
It's all down to GPS.
I don't often use the "track my exercise" on the Fitbit, but over the last couple of weekends I have started walks which I have not done before, just getting out and seeing a bit more of the Devon countryside.
So I packed the boys in the car drove out to the edge of Dartmoor parked up and just went wherever the dogs wanted to go, well nearly.
Occasionally I get the "I don't want to go that way" stand off usually from Alfie

however Freddie has now picked up this little way and if he wants to go a different way will just plant his feet and refuse to move

With a little coaxing and some tugging at the lead I usually win.

So we head off towards nowhere in particular with the track exercise on. I don't usually take much notice of the route on my phone as I am going along, however, I was quite astonished to find about 20 minutes into our walk we had actually covered around 3 miles, and better still after an hour we had walked around 10 miles! When I looked at the track it was a little off our route, poor GPS, although probably what the beagles had actually walked as it zig zagged along the path that I had walked. I console myself with a sandwich and the boys get a quick treat, before we head back.

I suspect on any walk we do, they always cover twice as much ground as me in their quest to sniff out the best rubbish dropped by people.

It does infuriate me somewhat that people moan about the amount of dog dirt that lazy owners leave, when others just think it acceptable to discard fast food half eaten and even a whole bag of pick and mix that I had to try and prise out of Fred's mouth the other day!

Just digressing even further, I had to chuckle at the news in London recently about the DNA testing of  dog poo and that the first place it was going to happen would be in Barking!How apt.

So I probably wouldn't get far in any Olympic try out, but we are enjoying the nice walks that we are discovering.

My now, not so new boots, are also getting a good "wearing in" and no blisters so far, unlike Neil's friend Mark when he tried to do the Great Glen Ways 2 years ago with new "un-broken in" boots and was rewarded with this little beauty!

A lesson to us all, make sure new boots are well broken in before heading off on a 100 mile trek!

Varying levels of training are being undertaken by the girls, Claire B did a 15k walk this week, Clare C won the weekly challenge when we did one two weeks ago and we have no idea what Suzanne is up to as she has lost her Fitbit! 

More Scotland next time

the least said about training......

Training has not been at the forefront of my thoughts this last week,  mainly due to work commitments, although I did spend most of Wednesday trundling around the streets of London in 3 inch heels and managed to clock up over 6 miles in all and very sore feet!

Fitbit has been a lonely place with the others having a break from it too. 

That said, we do still have around 15 weeks to get some miles under our belts before the challenge in bonnie Scotland!

Maybe this week? Suzanne has laid down the gauntlet for another week long challenge, so we shall see come Friday...

I was reading an article about dog walkers not giving their dogs a decent amount of "sniff time" - the canine equivalent to taking in one's surroundings - and rushing to get the exercise finished, so I have decided to make a concerted effort to let my two have more "sniff time". Unfortunately, depending on where we are walking, this may mean more calories consumed, as being hounds they tend to eat everything in their path or make a beeline for any tiny morsel within sniffing distance. I will just need to be a little more vigilant and try and spot any potential eating hazzards before they do!

My navigational skills need a little work, as this weekend I had planned to try out some different walks and did this, but seemed to take a long time to actually get on the right track. Must try harder!

Day 2 of our challenge
The 2nd day of our challenge takes us from Balmaha to Invernarnan and eventually to the Drovers Inn - (can't mention too much about this place, as Claire B really is terrified of ghosts!)

The first 7 miles of day 2 will take us from Balmaha to Rowardennan a small rural community and the start of the path up to Ben Lomond.
From Rowardennan, we trek another 7 miles to Inversnaid, which will take us past Rob Roy's prison where he was said to have held hostages. (for those who don't know, he was an 18th century outlaw/hero known as the Scottish Robin Hood)
After reaching Inversnaid, we start on our final 7 mile trek for the day which is reported to be the roughest part of the route to Inverarnan.
As we travel along  taking in the superb scenery we will come across Rob Roy's "Cave"  - not really a cave, more of a crevice under some fallen rocks, but some one has kindly painted the word "Cave" so that we are in no doubt what it is!

The end of the day will end at Drovers for a well earned rest and a good nights sleep, Claire B, by which time would have managed to work out the exact dose of night nurse to send her off into a deep sleep without waking her feeling too drowsy in the morning, whilst the rest of us, helped on our way by a few shandies with dinner will probably be too shattered to worry about ghost hunting and will no doubt also enjoy a good nights sleep without the need for medicinal intervention!

Where are we going?

Up till now, I have paid little attention to our schedule, thankfully Kenny knows his stuff about where we will be and when, and the lovely Clare has organised all our accommodation for us. 

My part has been little more than, tell me how much I owe and when I need to pay it and to whom!

So I thought it was about time I started checking out what this walk was all about.

We start our  97 mile trek from Milngavie and arrive in Fort William and hope to complete the journey in 5 days.
Milngavie.

According to wikipedia its a commuter town being only 6 miles from Glasgow and also a popular retirement location and is best known for the start of the West Highland Way footpath. 

The start is marked by a granite Obelisk in the town centre hopefully it will also be well signposted so that we will know which way to go.

I'm sort of assuming that Kenny will know where to go and how to get there and being a native, he can obviously speak the lingo so the rest of us won't have to shout or speak slowly to the locals in order to be understood should we need to ask the way! We also have Neil for the first couple of days, so surely between the two they can get us on the right road, as you know what they say about women and directions and whilst I know my left from right my navigational skills are not the sharpest.
Sadly we wont have any beagles actually walking with us, as that is a bit much to ask of our beloved hounds, but we are hoping that many mad beagle owners will catch up with us on our journey and at least give us the opportunity to get some beagle hugs as we will be missing our own like mad. I can't even remember when I last left Alfie and Freddie for more than 2 nights!
Much as I'm sure my female walking companions are lovely, I think they would be a poor substitute for my furbabies at the end of a hard days walking, however, with enough alcohol I expect they will snore like them!

Having made it past the start and out of Milngavie, our journey on the first day takes us to our first overnight stop, Balmaha, a village on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond.
By then we would have navigated our way through Carbeth, home to the Carbeth Inn a "wee pub in the middle of nowhere" according to its website and its claim to fame is that some of the Taggart episodes were filmed there!
Also passing through Drymen also having an Inn named after it , there seems to be a pattern emerging here.....
I'm hoping there are going to be a nice selection of hostelries en-route as all that walking will be thirsty work. I have heard that there is a floating restaurant on Loch Lomond so maybe if we get a move on we will have time to sample their wares.
Our accommodation in Balmaha (no Balmaha Inn sadly just the Oak Tree Inn) for the first night consists of bunk beds, which should be interesting, have not slept in one of those since childhood, a long long long long time ago.  I expect after 20 miles of walking and listening to Clare C's singing, a mattress on the floor will be welcome!
Training has fallen by the wayside recently Clare C has a bad leg I've been busy with BW accounts and have not heard any excuses from Claire B or Suzanne.
Am thinking I might have a week of increasing steps up to 25,000 per day then a week off and see how I get on. I don't want to over do do it now, do I? What do you think girls, anyone up for the challenge?

Haunted Rooms at the Inn!

As we stroll along the West Highland Way, our journey is broken with overnight stops at various places.
One such place is the apparently haunted Drovers Inn.
In a nutshell, a family in 1792 got caught in a snowstorm trying to find shelter as they headed down south to find a new life in the Scottish Lowlands. Sadly, they didn't make it and so rumour has it that they haunt the Drovers Inn, usually rooms 2,6 and 115. Therefore, if you believe this tale, and want to see them, those are the rooms you would choose.
Not being easily taken in by these reports, I would probably have a mild curiosity and would be quite happy to stay in one of those rooms. Lets face it after a whole day on my feet and with a hearty meal and couple of shandies for good measure, nothing is going to keep me awake, but I find myself having a strange urge to see what all the fuss is about. I wonder if you can request these specific rooms, or are they booked out months in advance?
I don't think Claire B would be too fussed about being my roomie for that particular night, as she has now admitted to being terrified of ghosts. Claire B is now trying to work out what is the right quantity of Night Nurse to take in order to knock her out but without waking up drowsy the following morning .Clare C did suggest a combination of Night Nurse, Wine and a smack on the end of the nose! The lengths that some people will go to. Just imagine the fun I could have....

 

On the training side, not much progress has been made by any of us this week. Clare C had a fitbit free week, Claire B, Suzanne and I had a challenge, which we all failed miserably.
Claire B fell at the first, with a chicken nugget standoff - she had the beagles with her who oddly enough were more interested in the chicken nuggets discarded at the side of the road, so her planned 15 mile walk didn't really materialise.
Suzanne, went on a nice long walk but actually forgot her fitbit, so a pretty pointless exercise.
Me and my boys had a pretty lazy week culminating in me having to spend too much time at home while electricians and plasterers were sorting out my lounge!

On a positive note, upon visiting my family this weekend, rather than the usual gifts of chocolate eggs, I was presented with blister plasters, scottish midge repellant and a tip about how surgical spirit will make the skin on your feet hard Thanks Andy!- have not worked out if that is a good or bad thing........

Will "Shewee" or won't She?

My 20,000 per day challenge
Last week I started my own challenge independently of what my other "Fitbit Friends" were going to do. I challenged myself to take at least 20,000 steps per day.
Well, I did achieve it and I won the challenge of the week by beating Clare C by around 4700 steps and quite a few more than Suzanne.
I'm not sure that I did actually achieve it though, since not all the steps were necessarily walking steps. Some, well actually quite a lot, were steps around the house shuffling along in order to make up the numbers - it did however keep Alfie and Freddie on their toes assuming that every time I shuffled into the kitchen that a tasty morsel would be forthcoming, sadly, they were often to be disappointed. I  reckon they probably did as many steps following me around the house as we did on a walk.
So not really a true representation of what we will be doing, albeit on a larger scale, although at least it got me moving more.
I did also spend a lot of time stomping up and down the office between the staff room and my desk to increase the step rate, although that was in 3 inch heels, again not indicative of the real thing!(Thankfully)
My 102,054 steps accounts for a total of 44.39 miles- significantly less than the total to be done in August, but a start none the less, hey Rome wasn't built in a day!
After a pretty lazy weekend, we are back in challenge mode, but after my triumph over Clare last week, I think I am going to concentrate on actually doing proper walking steps in proper walking boots - just need to drag myself out of bed a little earlier to fit it all in!

Equipment!
So, following on from last week's discussions about rucksacks and having still not got to the bottom of why tweezers are an essential part of someones kit, I got to thinking about what happens if we get "caught short" en route.
I'm guessing that we are likely to be consuming liquid along our merry way which, whilst some will simply be vapourised into the atmosphere, there will be the very likely situation of having to find somewhere "to go". Not being familiar with the route we are taking, I am guessing that public conveniences are not going to be two a penny, therefore what do we do?
Its OK for the boys, so to speak, but us girls, well, we are not really equipped for the impromptu outdoor bathroom break and my experience of being caught short out in  the open air - well lets just say  it has never ended particularly well or without incident!
Although I've never been the festival going type, I have been made aware of the aids that one can purchase to assist these functions. I therefore did what any other curious and ill-informed girl would do. I turned to my fellow WHW chums on facebook and posed the question.There ensued a seemingly endless facebook post regarding the virtues (or lack of ) of the device.
Sensibly Neil and Kenny kept well out of this conversation, although Claire Parker, our logo designer, joined in but I'm not sure she convinced me either way.
I am now left wondering should I invest and try it out at home or should I save my money and practise how to squat successfully - the jury's still out on that one!

Rucksacks and Tweezers

This last week has seen a flurry of emails about what we all need to take for our walk, blister plasters has featured many times in many posts as have tweezers!
Now being a girl, I can completely get that one would want to look her best at all times, but surely one could tweeze before leaving home for the trip could one not?
It seems that tweezers are featuring highly for one of the team who seems to mention them everytime the subject of what to take comes up. I am baffled, maybe that person is expecting to get splinters, as tweezers are clearly useful for that as well as keeping one's eyebrows at bay. Maybe there is some weird and wonderful use that I have not discovered for them, I therefore wait with baited breath to be enlightened Clare C???
There has also been much discussion about baggage particularly the rucksack. So much choice, but do we get them to carry all our gear or hope that we have a backup team who will be transporting our baggage between lodgings? If thats the case we need a day rucksack.
Having had no apparent reason to go out and invest in a new rucksack before now, I am amazed to find that one can now purchase a rucksack with an "airzone" apparently this is supposed to stop your back from getting all sweaty allowing the air circulate around - how cool (forgive the pun) is that.
But does it really work and how much extra does an airzone cost will definately have to look into that!
Anyway apart from water, snacks and blister plasters I am still none the wiser about what I should be carrying in my new rucksack when I do get around to working out which one I should buy. Definately won't need to take tweezers though, as someone else will obviously have a plentiful supply of those!

On the subject of training, after last week's break from challenges, it seems we are all fighting fit and up for the challenge, I am happy to say that I am hot on Clare C's heels this week, she is not going to get away from me that easily, am planning to try and get to 20,000 steps each day which is just under 9 miles per day. Day one, big tick. Day two, big tick. Mission accomplished thus far....

Can't believe it -I beat Clare C!

Feeling very smug this week as I finally won the weekly step total and beat Clare C!
We didn't have a challenge week last week, as Suzanne was poorly and Clare C was still thrashing the pants off the rest of us, so Claire B was not up for it.
Anyway after finishing work a little early on Friday and taking my boys for a reasonable walk before dinner, I just checked out what was going on with facebook and noted Clare C's "jog on" taunt to Claire B.

Jog on ClaireI wasn't playing until you asked me to sync!

With the fitbit app, you can monitor friends 7 day steps and Clare C just happened to post details of her latest win, however, she was only 4500 steps ahead of me - with Claire B retired for the week with her glass of wine, it was up to me to put things right, I was up for the challenge to beat Clare's weekly step total, the gauntlet was laid!
So from about 7pm until my last count at 11:46 pm I spent the evening shuffling around my lounge , my kitchen, my bedroom and bathroom just continually moving- the beagles just kept giving me strange looks, but they think I'm nuts anyway.
With encouraging posts from Claire B and the odd slurp of wine myself, I was winning at 8:22 then Clare C came back at me - she was off again winning again by 8:50.
Undeterred and with more facebook encouragement from Claire B I hit the floor again regaining the lead at 9:07pm only to lose it again at 9:32 and get it back again at 9:48, with Claire B's backing I couldnt lose!
But again Clare C sped into the lead at 10:31, this was getting silly now, Claire B had lost interest at this point, so I was on my own.
I think actually Clare C had given in and gone to bed, however, I was satisfied that I had the victory - albeit a very minor one, but a victory nonetheless!

My calf muscles knew about it Saturday morning, probably not the best way to train for this walk, but hey, I don't do normal!
On the good news front, we have a new "short term" team member who will be joining us for part of our trek (two days) Neil Bancroft has managed to wangle a couple of days off to come and give poor Kenny some male support. We are very happy about this, someone else to carry us or our things would be very useful - just kidding boys!
Sadly Neil does not want to join in the fitbit fun with us, neither does Kenny, I believe the phrase "It frightens me" was used when invited to join our fitbit challenge!
Lets all "jog on" then......