Wilson Wray

Some Decent Descent (and Ascent)

I was planning on doing a stair machine session in the gym on Thursday but I never got round to it. Fortunately I did manage to do a 6km run on Friday and a 4km treadmill session on Saturday.

On Sunday we left home pretty early and headed off to West Wycombe for a walk around the Chilterns. Callum in his infinite wisdom decided to add a lot more uphill to the route than I was expecting. Never the less it was good exercise – I didn’t die. Total ascent was about 435 metres, so a decent effort. The route turned out to be around 16km ( I say “around” because between 2 Gamins and Strava that was average).

We started off the walk at a brisk pace and then headed up the hill to Hellfire Caves – google them, you won’t be disappointed (shocked maybe, but not disappointed).  After cresting the hill we went back down the other side and after 4km were on the next uphill. This was quite a decent uphill and I found myself a bit out of breathe. Fortunately we were able to stop at the top and have some hot chocolate that prepared for the walk.

It was quite windy on the back of Strom Isha and no matter which way we walked we seemed to be walking into a headwind.  The ground was also incredibly muddy. This made the walking difficult for a few reasons 1) We were slipping up and down the hills we were walking on 2) it made my boots feel like I was carrying weight around my ankles.

We stopped in the woods about 3 kilometres from the end to have some more hot chocolate. I must admit, the more tired I am the more sweet and sugary beverages and sweets taste like nectar of the gods. What was interesting to see on the walk was how many trees and foliage have been stripped away. Apparently some of the Beech trees are diseased so they had to get rid of them. The good news is that new trees have been planted in their place.

Once we got back to the Wray-Walker house it was time for some tea and a few slices of stone baked pizza – winner.  Altogether I was happy with the walk.  It once again points out that I need to do more hills (obviously), but due to the weather I need to get in to the gym and use the stair machine.

Next week is busy at work so I am not sure how much training I can do in the week, but I will try and get out for Saturday and Sunday morning and see if I can get in about 22km for the 2 days.

First Training Session for Yomp 2024

So Callum and I decided that we were going to give the Cateran Yomp 2024 a go. Not only that, we have decided that we would go for gold.  I did the Siver last year and I think that 87km in 24 hours is doable for us both.

I did a few late 2023 walks as a warm up to check any niggles and see if the knees and hips were still ok.  That was all good so I have now kicked off the training for the Yomp in June 2024.

I did 2 hours of walking around the Lickey Hills on Saturday morning for a total of 11km.  I was happy with that as it that included some decent hills and the route was very muddy. It wasn’t too cold though. I had expected it to be around 0C. but it ranged between 3-6C. A mid-layer with a long sleeve inner wick shirt was sufficient. I did have to wear a beanie and gloves at certain stages because the wind up the hills did bring the wind chill factor into play and it got a bit chilly.

I had to stop because I had to fetch Jeanette from the hairdresser; but I think that those two hours were sufficient. With the up and downhills done I was a bit worried about the knees the next day. Fortunately I felt finer later on so I think the stopping at 2 hours wasn’t a bad call.

This week should see me do a stair machine session at the gym on Thursday morning and a hill session on Friday night.  I have also arranged to meet with Callum on Sunday to do a jaunt through the Chiltern hills.  I’m hoping to do closer to 20km but I feel that may be weather dependant as it looks like it may get a bit wet and muddy by lunchtime.