With this cricket thingy getting in the way, fortnightly walks are there merely to keep up a façade of fitness and I’m sure I had lost some of the edge when I walked today. It was a warm and muggy day, and this is more troubling than I ever found when I was a runner many years ago. Perhaps it was due to a run usually taking around 30 to 90 minutes (depending on the distance) whereas a normal long walk for me may be around 5 to 8 hours (6 hours 40 minutes today, minus half an hour coffee break) . That is a long time to be muggied.
An excellent first stage with 8.4 miles taken in 2 hours 15 minutes, a very good pace all things considered. I suffer a bit with secondary hyperhidrosis, which is over-sweating as a side effect of another medical condition or medication (as in my case). This can be irrespective of heat or weather but the warmth today did bring out plenty of sweat. I was keeping as hydrated as I could but as I was walking through Rowner (a part of Gosport) I experienced aches in my calves and slight light-headedness.
I had to walk for around another five minutes before finding a row of shops and a cashpoint. One local shop had heavy security shutters over the door and windows, as if they felt they might need to repel a raid by Rommel’s tank corps. Nothing gives an area a more crushing area of distrust than a shop battened down by metal. The cycle lane painted on the pavement appeared to be useful more for helping drunks walk in a straight line than anything else. I nipped into the convenience store, picked up some food and (another) water-based drink, and moved on quickly.
Fortunately, the mere act of having supplies instilled some energy, and I did feel a bit vulnerable – I wanted somewhere reasonable and safe to sit down (i.e. not a smashed up bus shelter) and replenish. I had too many things on me that I consider valuable – like my coffee shop loyalty card, my walking shoes, my arms, my legs – to stay still for too long round there. Forget Stockholm Syndrome, I’d become victim of the recently discovered psychological condition known as Gosport Syndrome, the crippling desire to leave somewhere you know only too well.
Even after eating, it was tough going but I did find it ok to have a few 5-minute speed walks between longer periods of trudging. I may have lost the edge off my fitness but I can still do the just-keep-going thing reasonably well. Getting on for 21 miles. Yes, it’s going to hurt in the morning, and it feels like the morning has come already. But it could be worse – I’m not in Gosport.
Spiceboy's Very Long Walk 