As the proclaimers said…

I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door

And that’s just what I did today. Except it was divided by 100. And I didn’t fall down at anyone’s door, but I did have a basket of chips. Let me explain…

This plan to climb Snowdon has slowly been happening, and I thought before I agree to go… oh no, dammit, I already agreed to go; try again… before I let someone book the hotel and end up owing them money… on no, dammit again, I already did that too. Erm…

This plan to climb Snowdon has slowly been happening, and I thought that since I’d already agreed to go and had a hotel booked for which I will owe money, I’d better check that I actually have a fighting chance of managing the trip. So this morning, I woke up pottered around a bit with brekkie and suchlike, then made an emergency lunch just in case, and set off to a pub five miles down the river for the lunch that I could have if the pub was doing lunch (which it was) and didn’t have to rely on my emergency lunch which I had made in case the pub I went to for lunch wasn’t doing lunch.

Part-way there, I realised I’d probably want a hot bubbly bath on my return, so when I reached Barrow-upon-Soar, I took a detour up the steep slope onto the high street and into Somerfield for a bottle of bubbly radox. I also picked up some of the groceries I wouldn’t be able to buy since I was out on a ten mile walk instead of buying my groceries like I should have been doing. I realise that doing this on the outward journey is silly, but there we go.

Well, what a delightful walk. I’d forgotten what an underrated and pleasurable mode of transport walking is. You can cover distance surprisingly rapidly - ok, not as fast as a car or bike, but to reach a pub which I always considered was driving distance in a little under two hours on foot was most satisfying. Plus, sections of the river and navigations were absolutely gorgeous! Peaceful too. I saw a fascinating living arrangement whereby the liver lived on a boat, but had their living room under a large archway which was supporting houses above on the steep bank. There was a sofa, and table, and even a clock on the wall. Strange.

So, anyway, on reaching the pub, a basket of chips and pint of diet coke was munched on, and I set out on the return journey some 20 minutes after arriving. A few paces in, I realised the error of the diet coke. Not good for walking on. The chips probably didn’t help either. But after the first twenty minutes or so, I was back in the swing. The return journey took only 1 hour and 32 minutes.

On arriving home, I jumped in the hot bubbly bath and now feel tired, but not dead. So that’s nice. It seems that the “ten miles” part of Snowdon won’t be too bad. Now we just have to see if the 2378 feet of climb will affect that in any way. I’m sure it won’t be too significant *cough*.

Stats:

Distance: Just over 10 miles
Time Walking: 3h 25m
Calories Burned: 1999 (yes, that’s what the HRM said)

The trip has also made me realise that I would probably be more than capable of long-distance walking, which is one of the Favourite Things I’d like to try doing this year.