I would walk 500 miles… and I would walk 500 more

When I tell people I’m going to spend two months walking a trail this summer one of the first things they ask me is how far and how much a day.

Well, going by the guide book, it’s some 750 kilometres in total, but when you add the individual days, including the ‘ring of three countries’ loop, I get a total, from the same guide book, of 757 km, or about 473 miles.

Of course in reality, allowing for walking to and from where I’ll be staying, the twists and turns, ups and downs of the trail, and no doubt a few false turns, I reckon I’ll be walking at least 500 miles.

So when I picked up a walking magazine promoting the idea of walking a 1000 miles in 2020, I thought, why not? I need to get in shape for the trek, and during the year I do several hundred miles in day hikes. Plus I’ve taken to doing circuits of the local park on days when I’d otherwise do no exercise, and I walk at least a miles to and from the office each day. So I think it should be manageable and it’ll be a way of making sure I get in shape for the summer.

Of course, the distance is only the half of it. According to the guidebook, I’ll be walking around 30,000 metres in ascent, and 33,000 metres down, equivalent to more than three ascents and descents of Everest. Or a lot of flights of stairs…

Per day, it’s between 10 and 28 km, or 7 to 17 miles in distance, but there are two days up of 1500 metres climbing each. Now I’ve climbed 2,000 metres in a day before- as it turned out in a great deal of pain, due to ill fitting boots – but I was lot younger then….