Walk to Work week!
14 May 2012
Is anybody going to walk to work this week? Or take part in national "Walk to School" week next week? We'd like to hear from you!
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The initiatives, organised by one of our partner organisations "Living Streets", always take place in May when (you'd hope!) the weather is dry. Anybody looking for inspiration for a record-breaking distance could try reading about Roy Deane's and George Hepburn's feat from 2009. They even received a gold medal! Can you beat their distance?
Roy was also the footpath officer for Gateshead Council, so he was able to do some site visits and inspections along the way, as well as raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. A win-win situation!
Why not add a comment below with your walking to work stories to share!
- Roy and George's walk in 2009 and also this link
- Living Streets - follow links from their home page to more information
- Roy's Woodland Walk and photos
comments
Part 3:
The next day I was rather stiff, but not as bad as I’d anticipated. Likewise Friday. I have walked about 10 miles Saturday and a similar distance on Sunday, and my legs are starting to get back to normal.
If you would like to support my efforts by way of a donation to the charity Whizz-Kidz, please do so via my JustGiving page at:
www.is.gd/RLq5m5
Find out more about Whizz-Kidz here:
www.is.gd/sN6fxg
You can see my route here:
www.is.gd/TqxUW0
Thanks for your support.
Part 2:
The walk home was a lot tougher. Just past half-way on the return journey, at around 25 miles for the day, I was really struggling with very tight calves & hamstrings, and I was having a real mental battle fighting the urge to give up. I started spotting significant landmarks to use as "targets", each eating around a third into the remaining distance. And as I got closer to home the terrain became more familiar, which spurred me on a bit more.
When I finally got back to the house I struggled up the stairs and into a freezing cold bath to soothe my weary leg muscles. Then, after a lukewarm shower, I rubbed chilli-oil heat rub over my hamstrings and calves, and Germolene over the severe chafing on my lower back (caused by my rucksack). I then had a bite to eat and an early night. And boy, did I sleep well!
Well... I completed my mammoth Walk To School (work) challenge. I have split this review into several posts, as there is a character limit per post. Here goes with the first part:
The route I finally took was actually a smidgen over 16 miles in each direction, so I did in fact do just over 32 miles on the day, as well as doing a day's work! Bear in mind also that with the temperature in the mid 20's Celsius, I completed my challenge on what was the hottest day of the year to date!
I managed OK in the morning, though I was a bit tired when I arrived at work, although I felt a bit better after a refreshing shower. But every time I got up from my desk after sitting for a while my muscles were very reluctant to get going again.
That is great, sounds like you will beat Roy's distance! Good luck with your marathon walk, let's hope the weather is kind that day! Well done for inspiring so many other people.
I'll be participating in Walk to School Week with a walk to my work at a secondary school in Bradford. It is just under 15½ miles each way, so I will be doing almost 31 miles there and back... and doing a full* working day in between!
I will set off from home at around 4.30am, before the sun has risen, and I expect to arrive at work by 10am. I will leave work at 4.30pm and should get back home again by about 10pm... after the sun has set again. I hope to see plenty of the sun during the two halves of my marathon walk!
* Note: It isn't quite a FULL working day, as I have permission to arrive a little bit late and leave a little earlier than usual. Lucky me!
Hopefully my efforts will persuade a few of the pupils in the school that they too can walk to school, at least now and again. Less than 50% of our pupils walk to school, in spite of the fact that our pupils live, on average, barely over a mile away.