Sunday was a rare day in the UK as the sun came out - and its true what they say "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun." My husband suggested we went for a walk as I need to start getting used to walking for hours at a time on rough terrain....and uphill! He was being kind and suggested a short 4k walk along the Thames to Sonning. An easy walk, passing George Clooney's house and ending in a quite little village pub that's great for Z list celebrity spotting. But where's the fun in that??
So out came the book of walks in Berkshire and instead I suggested a slightly more challenging 10k walk around the village or Wargrave. This walk was listed as 2 out of 3 difficulty and 2 out of 3 gradient, reaching 248ft. The walk was meant to take a minimum of 2 hours 15 minutes, so perfect in the midday sun!
Ten minutes in and already I was thinking "What am I doing? Why didn't I agree to Sonning?". But I kept quiet, smiled sweetly and secretly felt a little smug that I had thought to put my elephant trousers on whilst Grahams bare legs were getting attacked by thistles over every stile.
After a short break to play with some horses we crossed a bridleway that took us out of the fields and into a dense forest. I have to admit I got a bit spooked at this point, we really were out in the middle of nowhere, hot and running out of water. But then I started to look around, what a beautiful place. Dense tall trees with the sun beaming through onto the ground below that was covered in wild flowers. Perfect. All I needed was for Legolas to come galloping through on his white horse and look deep in to my eyes and I would be in heaven. It would have been wrong not to stop and get at one with nature so a less than elegant tree pose, on a slope, in chunky walking boots and we were on the home straight.
I survived with no cuts, no blisters, no sunburn....and still 18 months to go. I think I'm going to enjoy this training (still waiting for Legolas).
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