Skye Trail 2012 – Planning #2

This weekend will see my countdown calendar to Skye reading 8 weeks. I’ve been training like mad and although I missed one weekend walk this month, I’ve still managed 101 miles – only 5 less than January, with fewer walks. So the average mileage is increasing slightly and the speed at which I’m walking is also increasing. My 4.8 mile lunch time circuit was done at an average speed of 4.2 mph yesterday. Now I know speed isn’t everything, but it certainly helps me build up the stamina level, which is what I need for the hills.

I watched an interesting program on exercise and weight loss on Horizon the other night – it was quite revealing and has given me some food for thought in terms of how sedentary my lifestyle is and some small things I can do to help the daily calorie burn. I think it’s on BBC iPlayer for a while yet: The Truth about Exercise

My weight loss continues apace – I’m only 7 lbs from my pre-walk target weight now. I went from 20st 1lb on January 1st down to 18st 9lbs on January 31st and I’m now down to 17st 7lbs on February 29th. This is a significant milestone for me as it means my BMI is below 30 (albeit only just), but that drops me from being Obese to Overweight.

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My kit list is pretty much complete and I found I didn’t need to buy anything at all for this year’s long walk, apart from the new boots, which didn’t actually cost me anything at all as they were offset by the refund from Salomon for the failed Missions.

In a week or two I’ll reproof all my Paramo kit, ready for the walk. The Alta II coat and the Velez smock are getting a bit wiffy after a winter of sweaty abuse and the Cascada trousers are caked with mud from ankle to knee after being worn almost constantly throughout the winter. Washing them is an absolute must, but then they’ll need to be reproofed.

The Trotternish Ridge – Day 2 of the Skye Trail
The Trotternish Ridge – Day 2 of the Skye Trail

 

More to follow as the training continues….

2 thoughts on “Skye Trail 2012 – Planning #2”

    1. I picked up some Nikwax cleaner and reproofer from Go Outdoors a while ago. Gonna rinse out the washing machine powder tray thingy and let the machine do the hard work 🙂

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