Cocking Hill

After a week's break from "group" training Carl, John, Paul, Tony and pacemaker Bev set off to tackle stage 2 of the TrailWalker UK route - checkpoint 1 (South Harting) to checkpoint 2 (Cocking).

With the previous training walks taking place in very cold and icy conditions it was nice to set off in bright sunshine, enjoying the views over South Harting as we descended from check point 1 to the base of Beacon Hill.

At this point we surveyed the map and found that rather than following the South Downs Way around Beacon Hill the TrailWalker UK route decided to take us right over the top - hmm, cheers.

After a sit down at the top + some energy drinks, jelly babies and gentle heart massage we trekked on down a fairly steep incline, followed by a welcome level section, followed by another fairly steep walk up Treyford Hill past "Devil's Jumps" - a collection of Bronze Age burial grounds we were knowledgeably informed by John.

The track then meandered up and down through forests and arable land sparking some very intellectual conversation between Paul & Carl regarding crop rotation and the enclosure act.

Finally the track straightened for a gentle downhill, 4km stretch, that took us to the A286 and check point 2 - where we stopped for lunch before turning round and heading back.

The trek back was a struggle, Beacon and Treyford Hill on the way there along with the other undulations had been hard work - so doing it on the way back tired was even more effort, starting with the 4km stretch gently up hill - even Bev was spotted slightly out of breath at one point.  We decided to follow the SDW way round Beacon Hill, rather than going over the summit, on the way back adding a fair distance to the trek but saving our knees!

All in all a hard walk that but it was good to get a feel for some of the more challenging terrain on the route - shows us what level of fitness and stamina we're going to need to do this.  We were out for 6 hours , covering 14 miles (about 1/5th of the whole thing), and kept an average of 2.3 mph which isn't too bad.  Good news is Tony's knee is still holding up too.

We're gonna head somewhere else next week, then attempt this walk again in two weeks as it's a good fitness builder + a chance to measure if we are actually getting fitter!

Date:		26 Feb 2012 10:38 am
Map:		View on Map
Distance:		13.9 miles
Elapsed Time:		5:59:12
Avg Speed:		2.3 mph
Max Speed:		8.0 mph
Avg Pace:		25' 52" per mile
Min Altitude:		337 ft
Max Altitude:		850 ft

Was gonna be QE CP to Check Point 2 ....

The plan this week was to go from Queen Elizabeth Country Park to Check Point 2 but, due to let's say "logistical issues" (Paul was late and Carl hadn't bothered checking where Check Point 2 actually was) it turned into a walk from QE CP to Check Point 1 and back.

Not as cold and icy as last week and also at least gave Tony the chance to check his knee out on the first part of what will be the TrailWalker UK route ... and also a chance for pace-setter Bev to show that she can out walk the lot of us.  Good news again that Tony's knee is holding up and we're all walking at a pretty comfortable pace that should see us doing the whole walk in around 24 hours.

Paul does look way too comfortable as a rambler in the photo though - he'll have his trousers tucked into his socks next time.  John's been relegated to reserve navigator, if only he'd have not used the paper map and went for the iPhone option too ....

Stats:

Date: 12 Feb 2012 10:39am
Distance: 11.46 miles
Elapsed Time: 4:16:03
Avg. Speed: 2.7mph

Next up in a couple of weeks we'll attempt Check Point 1 to Check Point 2 and back - pretty much the same distance - just to check out the route and also build up fitness.  Next week is a free for all due to socialising and resurrecting football careers.

First Team Walk & First Check Point

First Team Walk

Sunday 5th February saw the four of us do our first walk as a team.  We met at a snowy Queen Elizabeth County Park and walked the 9km loop starting and ending at the car park.  This gave us a chance to see the pace we all walked at and, more importantly, see how Tony and his knee got on - rehabilitating his knee after two nasty injuries was the spark for us to enter the trailwalker.


QE Park to South Harting (Check Point 1)


After lunch out of the car boot Tony decided to give his knee a rest while Paul, John and Carl walked the first stage of the Trailwalker to get a feel for the route and see where the first check point was situated.

Walk stats:

Date: 5 Feb 2012 1:21pm
Distance: 5.82 miles
Elapsed Time: 2:09:01
Avg. Speed: 2.7 mph
Max. Speed: 4.6 mph
Avg. Pace: 22' 09" per mile

GPS Motion X Map