The Challenges.

Why am I doing this?

Why oh why on Earth am I doing this very loooooooooooong walk? Is it because I want people to think of me as some sort of Superman if I complete the challenge? Am I trying to prove something to myself?..that I can still do today what I could do 36 years ago back in 1984 (nothing to do with George Orwell)… the year that on two occasions I did a walk of almost 56 miles in length. Would anyone be disappointed if I admit that the answer to these questions above has some element of ‘Yes’ to it? Despite laudable attempts on my behalf over many years to purge such ego-driven ideals and values out of my mindset it would not be 100% honest of me to admit that some vestiges of them do remain….it’s still a work in action, as they say. It’ll come as a relief then when I tell you that my two principal reasons for doing this arise from a much more wholesome and worthier source of motivations than anything that my ego, or what’s left of it today, could furnish.

Reason 1

To help my daughter. In part 1 of this blog I mentioned that my daughter did attempt this walk in 2018 and she did make it halfway. I knew how much it would have meant for her to have completed that walk in 2018. In May 2020 I did ask her if she would ever consider having another attempt at this walk . The response was positive and so the first step in our combined effort to get on board the 2021 Challenge Walk was taken.

Two weeks before my daughter’s first attempt at this walk in May 2018, I went over to the Island to walk the last section of it to the village of Chale to reconnoitre what this part of the track was like. It’s a section of the walk that I was unfamiliar with. It was a beautiful day. Chale village is very close to where the Challenge Walk starts and ends. Just before I left the village I went over to the church. The church has a magnificent view out to sea and across the bay to the great white chalk cliffs of Tennyson Down at the westernmost extremity of the Island. It’s a view that it has looked out upon for over 800 years. I laid both of my hands upon one of the stone pillars that flank the main entrance. I made a vow that the next time I would see this church I would be hand-in-hand with my daughter, as we came over the crest of the the hill that lies immediately before the village. It’s a vow that I very much intend to keep.

Reason 2

I am dedicating this walk to a certain person who I met on the Camino de Santiago back in October 2019. The full story will be told in future postings on the Camino de Santiago, so keep reading them! Talk of dedicating the walk conjures up in my mind visions of the days of old when the medieval knight would accept the favours of his lady who would then tie a veil to his lance after which he would then ride out to do defend her honour by engaging in battle with his adversary in the jousting tournaments. But what or whom exactly is the year 2021 real-life adversary I’m going into ‘battle’ against?

The 65-mile walk itself?… Well yes, partly. There is a considerable amount of up and down involved as you go around the island amounting to over 6,000 feet of ascent in total. Obviously a walk of 65 miles along level terrain would be physically easier. Going uphill is certainly going to feel very tough when you’re well into the walk and bodily fatigue is becoming evident. But the up and down nature of the relief is a part of the Island’s character, it’s what makes it picturesque. In fact this aspect of it adds a lot of interest to what otherwise could be a very tedious 66 miles. The walk has much scenic interest which we should be thankful for and not critical of. The section of the walk from mile 40 to mile 59 is very very familiar as I have walked it many times. In a normal year I would walk it once a month between the months of March and November. I am hoping that this familiarity will play a key role in lifting our morale and strengthening our collective resolve to continue, at a stage of the walk where we are going to need all the encouragement that is earthly possible.

The weather very possibly. The island is very exposed. Heavy rain and wind would be an extremely serious enemy and if such conditions were to be persistent over more than a few hours could prove to be a game changer sadly. A hot day with temperatures above 25C (77F) would be an equally serious enemy, though in my opinion it is easier to mitigate the heat than it is the incessant rain. So the weather is going to play a big part in whether or not we complete the walk.

Myself? Well yes very much so. To discuss further I separate out two different aspects:- (a) my Physical condition and (b) my Psychological/Mental condition.

Physical condition

Has evolution equipped us human beings to walk 65 miles? In other words is it natural for us to do such a thing? We are indeed marvellous and very versatile machines. But a walk of 65+ miles at a comfortable pace of about 3.2 miles per hour is going to take between 20 and 21 hours without a break. I’m sure that, as adapted to a much tougher life than we are, even our distant ancestors probably would have been ready to ‘call it a day’ after 8, 9, 10 hours hunting for food. Allowing three hours for stops for meal breaks, etc. and the fact that we will be commencing at about 09:00 means that there will be a considerable section of night-time walking. Walking at night is definitely unnatural. Particularly so when we will have been walking for 10 hours prior to sunset. Therefore this walk is obviously going to place great demands upon our physical state.

My previous experience of anything remotely similar to this Challenge Walk are two walks of approximate length 55 miles, both of which I did in 1984 and according to all the laws of arithmetic this was 37 years ago! At that time I was very pleasantly surprised at how ‘together’ I felt at the 40-mile stage in both of these walks. But then things began to go off the boil sadly, on both occasions. It became very much a struggle to remain positive mentally. Though the body did ache, most of my efforts were devoted to holding at bay the negative demons in my mind that were telling me to stop!stop!! stop!!!It wasn’t nice, but I did it, twice. This time the walk is 10 miles further!…and I am 37 years older!!. So speaking personally it’s going to be one helluva battle physically, again!

Fast forwarding to 2020/21 we find ourselves in the time of the Coronavirus. Because of this I did almost no walking whatsoever between the months of March and August 2020. Once I began the walk training programme at the end of August I was quite surprised how difficult it was to get back into the swing of things. By that I mean fairly short walks of no more than 3 or 4 miles were giving me unexpected and unwanted problems. It was as though my knees had literally gone ‘rusty’ during that earlier period of inactivity. Things have gradually improved whilst walking but at this time of writing (January 3) I am still left with an issue around the outside of my left knee. A localised ache in the ‘stringy’ tissues that connect the hamstrings to the calf muscle typically develops after around 3 miles, that does not go away if left to itself. Identifying the anatomical/medical term for the affected area has also been tricky, but I believe it to be the IT (Iliotibial) Band…the ITB. It does recover after several hours of rest.

Psychological/Mental condition

I am a strong believer in the power of positive mental attitude. In the context of this blog posting I wouldn’t have signed up for this Challenge walk if I didn’t believe that I could do it. Belief = having faith. For a walk of this magnitude a touch of arrogance isn’t a bad thing as long as that arrogance is rooted into the solid bedrock of a substantial programme of physical and mental training. I have mentioned in the previous section my experience of two walks of 55-miles length. These were back in 1984. The mental battle became very real after 40 miles of those two walks. As I am now older! it’s quite possible that the onset of this effect will come at an earlier stage. I consider the mental attitude to be the dominant factor in deciding the outcome of this walk. Once the mind shows the white flag the body will inevitably follow suit. Hence I intend to conjure up all manner of ‘tricks’ to help my mental state to remain positive. Whatever it takes to do the job. Visualisations, music in particular, meditation-type things, memories and ‘fear’! Fear?….yes!, it wasn’t a typo.

With belief I can visualise various scenarios that I expect to encounter on that walk, the most powerful of which are (a) watching with my daughter the sun rise on the Sunday morning (b) seeing the village church and the Finish line as we come over the crest of the last hill before it. I have belief, I have faith, I am motivated, I want to do this thing.