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Pete
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Subject: Charity Walk
Posted: 30 Apr 2012 10:12 pm
Hi Mark, At the end of September this year I am aiming to complete a walk raising money for Tedworth House Rehabilitation Centre (Through Race2Recovery & Help for Heros). I have never undertaken anything like this and I am looking for any advice that I can get to help me on my way, esp in the way of equipment, training and route planning. I am going to be walking from Plymouth Devon to Tedworth House, Tidworth Wiltshire a distance of around 140ish miles. I hope to do this over 7 days therefore 20 miles a day. Any advice and help you can offer would be really really appreiciated. At the moment I have started to walk between 5-7 miles a couple of evenings a week without not too much problems apart from the balls of my feet feeling constantly bruised, something I'm guessing will disappear with time and use.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this
Pete
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Mark Moxon
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Subject: Long-distance planning
Posted: 2 May 2012 12:31 pm
Hi Pete.
Well, the best thing I can suggest is that you hve a look at the Walking Tips section of my long-distance walks site:
www.longdistancewalks.com/walking_tips/
as well as the Doing the Walk Yourself section of my Land's End to John o'Groats site:
www.landsendjohnogroats.info/walking_tips/
The latter contains a lot of information that is relevant to any long walk, whether it's 140 miles or 1400 miles, though of course there will be bits that you don't need to worry about. However, the FAQs and equipment lists might prove useful, as there's not a lot of difference between a 1-week walk and a 3-month one - one's just a lot longer, that's all!
My top tip, though, irrespective of the length of your planned walk, is to get fit beforehand, and to make sure your equipment is worn in, fits you and is suitable. The biggest mistake people make when tackling long-distance walking is to bite off more than they can chew, and the only way to know how far you can confortably walk in a day is to try it. Starting by walking 5-7 miles a day is an excellent idea, but it's a long leap from 5 miles to 20, so you might want to try the odd super-long day walk to see how things go. For me, I find my optimum daily distance is around 15 miles; I can do 20 miles in a day, but not for more than a couple of days in a row, and then only if I'm already fit (which, right now, I'm not, particularly!). Many people manage 20 miles a day, so your aim is perfectly achievable, but only you can find out your optimum daily distance, and it's probably best to do that before you do your long walk, as otherwise you might come a cropper and injure yourself.
Anyway, I hope this helps, and if you've got any specific questions after you've read through my walking tips above, feel free to drop me a line, and I'll see if I can help. Good luck!
Best wishes,
Mark
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