The first wave of blisters

Before my last 13 mile walk I decided to get myself down to Boots and stock up on foot care products. The protection and prevention of many ailments that will surely occur with my feet is the biggest challenge that is about to face me. If my feet are not 100% then the mega trek is over.

Thus, as if by some twist of fate, my first blister appeared. Nice, tiny, round little sack of pain on the ball of my left foot.

I don’t seem to get blisters or pain on my heels, most likely because of the way I walk which is probably a good thing judging by the horror stories I’ve heard and seen. Good also that my right foot is evidently less prone to blisters than my left. You see, you find out all these little things about yourself when you really start to push yourself.

I really believe that it is only in breaking through personal barriers that you really and truthfully get to know your own body and in knowing that, you get to truly know yourself. Anyway – back to the balls of pain.

The balls of my feet need protecting, I know that now. It started with a small round lump and I immediately placed a special sole plaster over that section. The next day, a bigger blister appeared, this time I know it was caused by friction and this is something I need to work on to prevent and fix ‘in the field.’

When the blister has fluid in, it is not too hard to walk on but the problem occurs when it bursts and splits – just like mine had the opportunity to do. I was walking back slowly from town when I felt a sharp pain on the sole of my foot right in the middle. At first I thought the other plaster had come off, curled up, and I was walking on the sharp edge. Then it felt like I was walking on drawing pins so I limped to the next bench and stripped off my trainer and sock.

Low and behold, the blister had popped, but not only popped, it had split and every movement I made was dragging the loose outer skin across the newly exposed area causing it to bleed. Not good.

I dried it off, put on a plaster and carried on, pretty well after that. Although now, six hours later, just standing is hurting, so I need to take care of it again asap. But in getting a bad blister like that – I’m quite happy.

Why am I happy getting a painful blister that could become infected?

Because it is a lesson, a training exercise, it allows me to become wiser and more knowledgeable in how my body (my feet) deals with extreme use. It enable me to understand my weak points and how to better protect them next time.

I need to experience this pain to know what it feels like before it happens. I was sure I could feel a blister growing as I was walking. In using this foresight, I can use it to prevent the blisters from ever occurring or at least minimise the risk in getting one in the first place.

So as I stand here in pain (yes, I’m standing as I type on the kitchen work top) I’m happy that my first bad blister has appeared. Now, I can practice dressings and curing techniques. I can understand how my body reacts and how I can better equip it to be prepared the next time.

Yet, I also know that I will have many more during my training and many more during the actual walk itself. I know they are friction blisters and I know how these can be prevented, it’s just putting it into action on a trial and error basis at the moment.

And this after the shin splints! I’ll go into that pain in another post.

The Training Has Begun

…and the blisters have risen! I’m veering towards using trailrunners as opposed to boots. My Garmonts were perfect for Everest Base Camp but after walking 7 miles on tarmac the other day, my feet were ready to flame up and burn away. They make my feet too hot and obviously heavier than the trail running trainers.

I’m trying to get out and about when I can. The difficulty lies in having to ‘live life’. A training trek of 30 miles is an all day job and I just don’t have a full day off every week to get that done but I’m doing what I can.

A 90 minute. 6 mile trek, with elevation of 220 metres can be pulled off quite easily. An eight mile trek down a country road was good going to set the pace for the longer walk.

These are specific training treks. I don’t include a 1.5 mile walk to the shops, a training trek. Nor the 1.3 mile walk when cutting the grass – seriously, GPS clocked me at 1.3 miles cutting the grass! I’m talking here about specific treks with light gear (currently) as training walks.

I did a 12 mile walk last week on tarmac with a little off piste. I literally used my Garmin eTrek 30 GPS to take me away for 6 miles where I had a 5 minute break before returning on the same track. It felt good if a little lightheaded for want of water on the return leg!!

Did a 13 mile walk yesterday evening in 3hrs 10m, I think that is the pace I need to be on.

The pace is no problem it is the foot care that has suddenly become the issue – and the obvious impairment to be overcome before the grand walk itself. I was expecting to get blisters and foot damage but it is more than I expected. See the next post for my first blister challenge.

The Confirmed JOGLE Route

Finally the route is in place. There are some pretty big days on here but some slightly less big days to soften the blow.

CONFIRMED ROUTE –

LEG 1 – Nov 15th – JOHN O’ GROATS to LYBSTER – 30 miles.

LEG 2 – Nov 16th – LYBSTER to BRORA – 33 miles

LEG 3 – Nov 17th – BRORA to INVERGORDON – 35 miles

LEG 4 – Nov 18th – INVERGORDON to INVERNESS – 24 miles

LEG 5 – Nov 19th – INVERNESS to AVIEMORE – 30 miles

LEG 6 – Nov 20th – AVIEMORE to DALWHINNIE – 31 miles

LEG 7 – Nov 21st – DALWHINNIE to PITLOCHRY – 30 miles

LEG 8 – Nov 22nd – PITLOCHRY to PERTH – 28 miles

LEG 9 – Nov 23rd – PERTH to QUEENSFERRY – 35 miles

LEG 10 – Nov 24th – QUEENSFERRY to CARNWATH – 29 miles

LEG 11 – Nov 25th – CARNWATH to ABINGTON – 20 miles

LEG 12 – Nov 26th – ABINGTON to LOCKERBIE – 33 miles

LEG 13 – Nov 27th – LOCKERBIE to CARLISLE – 26 miles

LEG 14 – Nov 28th – CARLISLE to SHAP – 34 miles

LEG 15 – Nov 29th – SHAP to BURTON-IN-KENDAL – 29 miles

LEG 16 – Nov 30th – BURTON-IN-KENDAL to BARTON – 31 miles

LEG 17 – Dec 1st – BARTON to UPHOLLAND – 26 miles

LEG 18 – Dec 2nd – UPHOLLAND to WINSFORD – 34 miles

LEG 19 – Dec 3rd – WINSFORD to MARKET DRAYTON – 27 miles

LEG 20 – Dec 4th – MARKET DRAYTON to BRIDGNORTH – 32 miles

LEG 21 – Dec 5th – BRIDGNORTH to WORCESTER – 30 miles

LEG 22 – Dec 6th – WORCESTER to GLOUCESTER – 29 miles

LEG 23 – Dec 7th – GLOUCESTER to ALVESTON – 25 miles

LEG 24 – Dec 8th – ALVESTON to WORLE – 27 miles

LEG 25 – Dec 9th – WORLE to TAUNTON – 30 miles

LEG 26 – Dec 10th – TAUNTON to CREDITON – 33 miles

LEG 27 – Dec 11th – CREDITON to TINHAY – 35 miles

LEG 28 – Dec 12th – TINHAY to BODMIN – 26 miles

LEG 29 – Dec 13th – BODMIN to REDRUTH – 30 miles

LEG 30 – Dec 14th – REDRUTH to LAND’S END – 30 miles

Excited and incredibly apprehensive at the same time!

UNICEF Registration Complete!

Well, good news in the middle of this chilly week in August. My UNICEF registration was accepted and went through without a hitch. That mean my JOGLE Trek is a UNICEF event and my official fundraising page is HERE.

Please head over there and bookmark that page for future reference, you can also click on the UNICEF ‘in aid of’ logo on the sidebar, over there >

Strangely, apart from group events back in the school days, this is the first time I have raised money for charity. You can read why I picked UNICEF HERE.

They’re also sending me a t-shirt through – feels real now!

Had my first 12mile training hike last night, lots of questions came up and certain issues need to be addressed. Read more about that shortly…

JOGLE TREK for UNICEF

I had thought about doing things like this for charity before but never had enough time left to start planning it. This time – there is time!

I’ve sent my registration application off to UNICEF and hope to hear back from them pretty soon. I’ve chosen UNICEF as my charity of choice because I’ve seen first hand the work they do in countries like Nepal and Peru. Also, over 90% of donations are actually put to where it needs to go!

I also saw a Ewan McGregor documentary a few years back, where Ewan and a team trekked to a remote location to deliver medicine to hard to reach places. It was an eye opener and an inspiration.

Doing this insane challenge for charity will give me that added impetus in those low moments to ‘dig in and get on with it.’

As soon as I’m allowed to – I’ll link to a special fundraising page on UNICEF’s site for my JOGLE Trek. I’ll even hopefully get use of their ‘in aid of’ logo and a UNICEF t-shirt to really feel like it’s a challenge!

My UNICEF fundraising page – coming soon!

JOGLE route first draft

Okay, this draft has already gone through some initial changes but here’s what I’ve got first off…

 

1. NOV 15^th John O’ Groats to Lybster 30 miles pretty much on the A99
   
2. 16^th Lybster to Brora 33 miles A99 then A9
   
3. 17^th Brora to Invergordon 35 miles A9 all the way
4. 18^th Invergordon to Inverness 24 miles A9 all the way
   
5. 19^th Inverness to Aviemore 30 miles A9 all the way
   
6. 20^th Aviemore to Dalwhinnie 31 miles A9 all the way
   
7. 21^st Dalwhinnie to Pitlochry 30 miles A9 all the way
   
8. 22^nd Pitlochry to Perth 28 miles A9 all the way
9. 23^rd Perth to Queensferry 35 miles A912 then B996, B917, B981
10. 24^th Queensferry to Carnwath 29 miles push on to the A70, straight down
11. 25^th Carnwath to Elvanfoot 27 miles B7016 then A702
12. 26^th Elvanfoot to Lockerbie 29 miles B7076 all the way
13. 27^th Lockerbie to Carlisle 25 miles – SCOTLAND DONE – B7076 all the way until Gretna then trail
14. 28^th Carlisle to Hackthorpe 25 miles A6 all the way, maybe path
15. 29^th Hackthorpe to Heversham 33 miles A6 all the way
16. 30^th Heversham to Garstang 25 miles A6 all the way
17. DEC 1^st Garstang to Wigan 30 miles A6 then A49 all the way into the centre
18. 2^nd Wigan to Northwich 28 miles Different minor roads all the way
19. 3^rd Northwich to Market Drayton 32 miles A533, B5074 to A529 all the way
20. 4^th Market Drayton to Church Stretton 34 miles A53 to Shrewsbury then A49
    
21. 5^th Church Stretton to Leominster 28 miles A49 all the way
22. 6^th Leominster to Ross on Wye 31 miles A49 to B224 all the way
23. 7^th Ross on Wye to Chepstow 27 miles Succession of smaller roads
24. 8^th Chepstow to Worle 32 miles Over the bridge then small roads
25. 9^th Worle to Taunton 30 miles A370 to A38 all the way
26. 10^th Taunton to Crediton 33 miles A38 to Tiverton, A3072 all the way
27. 11^th Crediton to Lewdown 30 miles A30 then small roads
28. 12^th Lewdown to Bodmin 32 miles A30 all the way
29. 13^th Bodmin to Redruth 33 miles A30 all the way
30. 14^th Redruth to Land’s End 29 miles A30 then coastal path

 

That’s the initial thoughts and even that took a few days to get kind of right.

On the front page of this blog you’ll see 925 miles in 30 days, the above tallies up to just below that. But until I upload the GPS data at the end of the trip I won’t know exactly for sure. 925 pre-trek seems to be about right but may be 900 miles or slightly over 925. I can only find out when it’s done!

Some place I’ve chosen, like Worle because I have family there and it’ll be a nice bed down before the final week. Elvanfoot… well, who wouldn’t want to stay in a place named Elvanfoot. Of course, this route will go through many drafts before it’s final but I’m liking this one so far.

 

No West Highland Way or Great Glen Way?

That is the obvious choice when arriving at Inverness but to be honest, I’ve already done them and I live in Fort William. Thus, If I walk by my house or get close to it in the first week of trekking then chances are I may throw in the towel, so I’m completely bypassing the great ways and going the Cairngorm A9 route.

Only hindsight will prove me right or wrong.

 

Mostly tarmac walking it seems?

That could be the major factor in all of this. I’ll be following mainly smaller roads where possible or paved routes hopefully with some trails to mix it up a bit. Shoe/boot choice is going to a major decision in all of this depending on what the final route is. Now I need to go through each day with a fine toothpick and work out accommodation potential and actual routes.

There’s a few big days on there so I’m sure we’ll see some changes yet!

 

Walking John O’ Groats to Land’s End in Winter 2014

The first question that came about was LEJOG or JOGLE? Starting at Land’s End or finishing in Land’s End? For me it was a no-brainer.

I live in Fort William (not born and bred) and so it makes sense for me to start at John O’ Groats and poetically finish… at the ‘End’.

Most who do LEJOG seem to want to build up fitness before facing the rugged terrain of the Highlands, but that’s just a good training ground for me. Fitness in the hills is never going to be the problem, it’s the 3o days of 30 plus miles a day that will be the challenge amongst others.

The issue I’m already having is the route, especially a route designed to maximise speed, mileage, and safety. Not even the mighty Google is coming up trumps for me on this occasion. I will keep plotting and planning regardless.

Let me just clarify that this is walking from John O’ Groats to Land’s End in 30 days, not cycling.

Why Winter 2014 – isn’t that going to be a bit, well – shit?

I work in the tourist industry in the summer and the Winter is the only time of year when I can take extended leave and get out there to explore. I wouldn’t say I’m used to Winter weather. I certainly don’t enjoy it, but it is bearable and with the right clothing/equipment – enjoyable to an extent.

Why Solo and why unsupported?

The two kind of go hand in hand, if you’re travelling with someone then you can kind of support each other. I would have liked to trekked with my brother but he is off to Australia a few weeks before I begin, I’m sure I’ll wish I was there every morning before the next day’s hike! We did Everest base camp last Winter and his company will be sorely missed. Yet, nothing like being in your own world for something like this.

As of 16th August 2014, what do you have planned?

A rough idea of a route and a list of what I need to take – trust me, there’s lots to do. I thought I was good at planning an itinerary but this is is something else! Yet, I know I will begin on the 15th November 2014 and it is in my head so whatever happens between now and then – I will be doing this!

What in the world does Yolo mean?

You Only Live Once!

August 2014 – 3 months before the start date