When I started this blog, the original aim was to cover my planned journey along the Alpe Adria trail in summer of 2020. In my initial posts I deliberately wrote in definitive terms: I would be walking the trail, not that I merely planned or hoped to do so.
Times have changed and all you can do is plan and hope these days. An Austrian travel ban for Uk citizens last summer put paid to my hopes of walking the trail in 2021, but I’m optimistic now about 2022: despite omicron.
But an alternative goal I set myself early in 2020 has proved possible. The ‘walk 1000 miles’ in a year idea. In fact I’ve done it twice now and am aiming for a third year.
Like the idea of walking 5000 or 10000 steps a day, a target like this incentivises you to get out every day, and to push yourself a bit harder. In fact, if you have the time, and are of reasonable fitness, a 1000 miles in a year is really very feasible. At 2.73 miles on average a day, to be honest you could do it just walking the dog.
Now I’m retired, my regime is to do at least a 2.5 mile walk round a local park every day, a weekly day walk of 10 miles or more, and at least one weeklong walking holiday. Even with lockdowns and enforced self isolation, that enabled me to reach the 1000 miles quite comfortably- by 24 November in 2020, and by 7 October in 2021. ( I got to 1086 in 2020 and 1309 in 2021). The key really is not to think of the quickest way from A to B as your default, but to think ‘can I walk it?’, and ‘where can I walk today?’
What and how you measure distance is another question. Up until now I have only measured whole miles walked outside and measured on a gps device, or drawn on the OS map app. If you’re just doing it a fitness target you might want to include distance indoors, but some of the pedometer apps are not necessarily that accurate and can overstate what you walk I’ve found. My purpose has been to spend time outside for mental well-being, enjoyment as well as physical health hence limiting to what I can map outside.
For 2022, with hopes of walking the Alpe Adria Trail at last, I am now setting my sights higher aiming to reach 1500 or even 2000 miles this year. I’ll also be using the OS app to measure distance using its useful ‘record a route’ function as you walk, measuring distance by gps not hypothetical steps. This makes it even easier to record distance walked (as well as measuring fractions of miles, which I have missed before and hence understated).
Anyway, if you are interested there is a website called walk 1000 miles, and this week’s Country walking magazine , which sponsors the idea, will include a fill in chart to record your progress in 2022. Happy walking!
Across the Alps to the Adriatic 