Catching Up

Oh we have so much to catch up on! It's only 3 days to go to The Big Walk and I haven't told you about the last 3 'small' walks. I bet you've really missed my updates!

Well, 2 weeks ago we had a practise run (practise walk?) of 18 miles. That's not a typo, we really did walk 18 miles, and I didn't even ask for sponsorship for that walk! We started at Andrea's house and when we found ourselves in Bath, the penny suddenly dropped. "We've just walked from your house into Bath! We could go shopping now...". But showing true dedication we continued through Bath and back towards Bradford along the canal. The decision not to stop and shop really had nothing to do with our stylish walking clothes. But 18 miles was a killer. My hip was so painful by the time we reached Avoncliff that we called a taxi to take us home, and both of us became quite anxious about the prospect of walking a further 8 miles for the actual event. However, we've started this and it wouldn't be a challenge if it wasn't... a challenge!

Our next foray was a short 2 mile evening walk from Freshford to Norton St Phillip, during gales so strong that the map was whipped from my hand leading me to gallop across a field to retrieve it. I really didn't want to be lost in the wilds of Wiltshire (or even Somerset!).

Then things got very exciting because the organisers of the Bath Beat sent out the final route instructions. There are so many abbreviations you need to be a coding genius to follow the route, but it does leave little room for error. So we tried out the last 4 miles from Combe Hay to Ralph Allen school. This is along a disused canal where the old locks are still visible. The combination of a sunny spring day and the beautiful landscape made this walk pure joy. This photo doesn't really demonstrate the charm of this section of the walk, but unfortunately it does demonstrate the dumpiness of me (pointing to a lock)!

Our final walk was last night when we revisited the section from Bathford through Sally in the Woods. Last time we walked this section it was muddy and slippery underfoot and we found ourselves scrambling down a long bank to the path, however this time, with the detailed instructions we found the correct route, and the lack of mud following a spell of good weather made a huge difference to the time it took us.

So, 3 days to go. It's too late to worry about it now. But I would like 3 dry days please, and on Saturday please can we have a dry but cool day? And just one last request. No lurgies. The world and his wife have had the flu over the last few months, and I haven't caught it yet....