That's not a walk!

After a delightful trip to my sister's I headed up country to see my parents. I had great plans for a 14 mile round walk but that was overtaken by something I love even more than walking... Gardening! It was mentioned that a dead (and very spiky) bush needed to be cut down and made in to managable peices to be recycled. Well, I started that at around 8am and was in the zone so passed up on the walk to spend the entire day pruning, hacking back, weeding, repotting and generally having fun round the garden.

Walking with my Sister

I've been down to Sheffield this week to visit my sister and brother in law. In amongst the gardening and sorting boxes we decided to go for a little wander so we walked to the local pub. It was 2.8 miles (3.6 miles an hour) and we made good time given that my sister isn't in training for a marathon and a lot of the route was up hill. After a nice big lunch, the thought of walking back (which is again, half up hill) was a bit much so we opted for the easier option of a 1.6 mile downhill walk to their other local to await a lift home.

Total distance: 4.4 miles

Afternoon in the rain

I had a nice 6 mile round trip to town today. It lightly drizzled on the way in and then began to pour down during the three hours I needed to be stood outside for the Beltane fundraising busk. By the time I came to walk home I was soaked to the skin! I only saw about three other people the whole way along the canal, it was fantastic!

Morning in the mist

I decided to head out for a stroll this morning. The air was thick with haar (sea fog) and the canal was peaceful and still. I had planned on walking 6 miles but as I reached 2 miles it started to rain so I turned round and strolled back again. It's not the end of the world though as I can walk in to town to do my errands later.

I've decided I really enjoy an early morning walk, I was even lucky enough to see a heron in the reeds at the edge of the canal.

Total distance: 4.2 miles
Weather: misty and drizzly
Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Average speed: 3.85 mile/hour
Average moving speed: 4.24 mile/hour

12.2 miles!

Met up with Ny and Justine again this evening for another walk. It works out quite nicely, I walk to Ny's work and then home from her house to give me a slightly longer walk and Justine does the lap of Arthur's seat with us to give her a shorter walk. It was sunnier than Monday but a little cooler. On Arthur's Seat we saw the cutest little baby bunnies, they didn't seem phased by people passing them at all!

By the time I reached the top of my street I'd done around 11.75 miles. I was so close to home but instead I took a right and did a lap of the park behind the flats to bump me up over 12 miles

Total distance: 12.23 miles
Time taken: 3 hours 19 minutes
Average speed: 3.7 miles/hour
Average moving speed: 4.26 miles/hour

Walk club

My friend Ny is attempting to get fit so she's been trying to get people from her office to go for walks after work a couple of nights a week. As she knows I'm training for the marathon she invited me along. We had a really nice walk, it's so much easier to walk with company. We headed out to Holyrood Park and did a lap of the hill before heading back acorss town. It was a really nice evening for it, it threatened to drizzle but held off and was pleasantly warm.

Total distance: 10.2 miles
Average speed: 3.7 miles
Average moving speed: 4.3 miles

We're planning on heading out again on Wednesday or Thursday but I might do a couple of extra miles before hand, we'll see.

Sunny Days

Today has been fantastic. I took a nice 3.4 mile stroll up to Calton hill and then spent the next 3 hours wandering round watching the Beltane Walkthrough and snapping photos. It was great to catch up with friends and get a sneak preview of what will be happening on the night. I then wandered down to meet The Boy and we strolled home.

Official distance: 7 miles
Real distance: who knows!

Oooh look, I can upload photos to this.

Today the door buzzer went and I was told there was a delivery for me. How exciting, I'm not expecting anything. On recieving the box I remembered that oh yes, I was actually expecting something, my new walking shoes. What do you think?

The best sort of walk

I've realised, that the best sort of walk (though least productive in terms of marathon training)is the one where you stroll in the sunshine with a good friend, punctuating the walk with a cocktail here and there.

Had a lovely walk across town today to my old flatmate's house. We walked 4.25 miles, it was slow, it was leisurely but it was lovely!

Nice sunny walk to the pool today. Remembered to turn on my tracker today so was able to chart my speed.

1.8 miles (average speed 2.7 miles, moving speed 5.1 miles)
50 lengths in the pool
1.8 miles (average speed 3.7 miles, moving speed 5.3 miles)

Total distance: 3.6 miles

These boots were made for walking.

Only had time for a short stroll today as I had friends to see and a parcel to wait for. My stroll however did take me past the running shop. Got measured up for walking shoes. They checked my feet, got me on a treadmill, videoed my ankles and worked out the best type of shoe for me. Tried on a number of them (most of which were pink) and I think I've found some good ones. I know in the long run the shoes will help me and reduce any pain I might get but I was shocked how much they were.

Total distance: 3.3 miles

Getting back in to the swing of it

Now that my knee is improving I'm trying to get back in to training. Short walks to begin with but will be building up slowly.

Today's walks were broken down in to short bursts.

1.8 miles
50 lengths in the pool
1.8 miles
0.6 miles
stroll round the supermarket
0.6 miles

Total: 4.8 miles