It's All Down To Feet!

We learnt an important lesson the hard (painful) way yesterday - avoiding blisters is going to be of vital importance to making it through Trailwalker.

After weeks of seemingly constant rainfall, yesterday dawned a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies. Early in the morning, Lawrence & I set off on a trial run of part of the course with the intention of covering the trail from the start to Checkpoint 4, a distance of about 25 miles (40km) - the whole course is 63miles (100km)!

Lawrence & Neil on Beacon Hill

So armed with maps, suncream & plenty of snacks & water, we started from Queen Elizabeth Country Park and headed off towards the horizon expecting pretty muddy conditions after all the recent rain. However, the horizon was always the next hill!
We soon realised that the statistic of climbing the equivalent of both Ben Nevis & Snowdon along the trail is not an exaggeration. Beacon Hill, for example, entailed a straight ascent of 82m in a distance of about 300m. Pretty tough on the legs! There are some long steady climbs up hills which, just as you think you're at the top, a slightly higher bit of ground looms up ahead. And then, when you do finally get there, going down isn't necessarily any easier as your knees start to take a real pounding.
Anyway, all the exertion was more than compensated for by the stunning views across the beautiful Hampshire & Sussex countryside. We couldn't have asked for a better day.

Views from The South Downs Way

Unfortunately, despite changing his footwear early on, Lawrence started to suffer with blisters, so despite applying some blister plasters, he ended up in quite a bit of pain for the last section of the walk. The climbs had also taken their toll on our legs, as they began to ache pretty badly at times, and even the shortest of rests would cause them to stiffen up.

Neil in a field

So after covering countless hills & admiring great views in the sunshine, we finally completed our 24.57mile walk at Amberley Station (by Checkpoint 4) in a time of 8hours 10minutes at an average pace of 19:58min/mile (this pace includes rest breaks).

Perhaps a spray tan would be better!

Yesterday’s walk has shown just how debilitating damage to your feet can be in an event like Trailwalker. Avoiding blisters, or treating them as soon as they start to appear, is an absolute must. Apparently blisters are by far the most common reason for people failing to complete the challenge. If anyone has any suggestions on the subject of blister prevention or treatment, please let us know.

I also ended up with a blister the size of a pound coin (1 Euro coin) on the side of my heal, which is pretty painful today. Clearly, my new shoes aren’t worn in yet as much as I thought. Plus, as a result of spending all day walking eastwards with the sun to the south, I’ve got a fantastic tan line on my right arm.

As a fact finding mission the day was very worthwhile and we learnt a lot which will help us prepare over the next couple of months. Some of the things we learnt are:
1. The course is hillier than we expected.
2. The right shoes & socks are vital, plus we should change them regularly.
3. Setting the right pace for the terrain & taking rest breaks is important.

4. We’re not yet fit enough to complete the 63 miles/100km (2 months to go though).

5. Doing the event in a golf buggy could be a good idea!




Our Route - The Start to Checkpoint 4



Neil
P.S. Despite all the recent rain, we were thankfully surprised to find the track wasn't really muddy at all.