#35 Watergrove and Clay Pots Hill

7.64 Miles
485 Metres Ascent

It was an early start on a cold day.  I was out before 8am into a cold dawn.  The thermometer said 2 degrees C and it certainly had a chill to it.  This was a quick walk with the limited time I had available, it was the Rugby World Cup final in the afternoon so I was off to Old Trafford for the first time in years.

The plan was to head to Watergrove then follow the Pennine Bridleway towards Clay hill, a quick stop at the shelter and then back to the Bridleway.  For once I followed the plan!

#34 Brampton Wood + Grafham Water

14 Miles
144 metres Ascent

I really wasn't in the walking mood.  4 hours sleep then into work for a 2 hour team meeting wasn't the ideal preparation.  I had taken the walking gear to work so the nagging in my head took control and off the Grafham we went.  I had a walk in mind, a variation of the usual Grafham loop, that had appeared in 'Country Walking'.  It was tagged as challenging, though this was just because of the distance (8-10 miles is CW's standard distance). 

Starting in Brampton Wood, Cambridgeshire's 2nd largest wood no less, the walk followed the 'main ride' through the ancient woodland.  Apparently the wood was completely felled during one of the world wars, so I'm not sure how it qualifies as ancient, I guess I'm missing something?  After 10 minutes I broke out of the wood into farmland, maybe being Cambridgeshire's 2nd largest wood isn't the highest bar...

The wonders of the Fitbit One

I had been carrying a pedometer for a few years but to be honest I didn't really bother to much with the readings.  I tried to do my 5000 steps a day but didn't really put that much effort into it.  It was good however, to see on a day hike how many steps I had taken compared to a 'normal' day.  It had a major flaw in that it had a habit of resetting it self to zero, usually on a long walk.

The Fitbit One

I stumbled upon the Fitbit One back in February and it looked like something I could use.  I'm overweight and frankly needed a shove to move my arse.  For the first month and a half I didn't do anything different to normal, this was a conscious decision to give a baseline of what I normally did.

#33 Rooley Moor and Cowpe

14.29 Miles
761 Metres Ascent.

I have previously walked most of this route before, but todays plan was to see if I could make a nice extension (of about 2 miles) so I could use this route in winter when the conditions are a lot rougher.  Basically I need a route I can use in all weathers, to take that excuse away from me!

The Pennine bridleway is such a route, it might get a bit slutchy in places, but in the main it's useable all year round in all weathers.  The Rossendale Way round Cowpe Lowe could meet those needs.  Today was a good excuse to have a look.

#32 Watergrove Wander

8.14 Miles

467 Metres ascent 

Back up north for a short visit so it would be rude not to go for a wander.    I had planned to get here in time to do a decent walk (3rs ish), so with sunset at 1630, I needed to get to Whitworth for about 1300.  In the end I set off on the walk at 1530, with only 1hr of daylight to use.  Fear not, I took a torch!

 

Watergrove

Heading up the Rake it was satisfying to do it with any breaks or stops to catch my breath!  I am getting fitter and am still losing weight, even though I don’t think I look much different.  (The scales, the change in clothes size and general fitness say otherwise).  I decided to head towards Watergrove reservoir and then up the hills, to come back round to the Rake.

Challenge Update - Work to live? or...

Work to live? or... live to work?

It's come up in my mind a few times this month!  Due to staff shortages there is plenty of overtime available and I have grabbed quite a few extra shifts.  This has the obvious knock on that I have little time to go for a walk.  Doing 8 twelve hour shifts in a row is probably too much, especially as it was 4 days then 4 nights. 

In the end I did 3 walks, which is rubbish.  The plan for next year is the JMT in America, 3 walks will not cut it on the training front.  I could of done more, I should of done more.

October - 27.97 miles and 643metres ascent.

September - 71.40 miles and 4129 metres ascent.
August - 62.63 miles and 913 metres ascent.
July - 16.24 miles and 258 metres ascent.
June -  82.05 miles and 1063 metres ascent.