Breaking the 30-mile barrier

15 September 2012

If you can do 30 miles, then you can do 50. That's what we were told on Saturday and we certainly hope it's true having just completed our first 30-miler. 

The walk was almost a repeat of last week with an extra diversion up to the summit of Stiperstones. Got away at 6.20 and  departed Old Cardington Lane checkpoint at 6.45. The start was hampered by problems getting Sue's pack comfortable. The new pack, bought from our friendly local store www.theoutdoordepot.co.uk has an airflow back which seems to hold the weight a bit away from your back. However we found out subsequently that the main problem was too much weight in the pack so we need to minimise that as much as possible for the Hike. 

We got to Caradoc summit a little behind time at 7.28. A large flock of house martins were on the lower slopes, possibly gathering for their big flight. We still managed The Lawley in 1hr 45 and were at the foot in two hours. It's curious that however fast or slow we think we're going, we always seem to take two hours for this section. 

The climb through Gogbatch and up to HIgh Park was a bit easier than last week as it was cooler. After being passed by a runner who seemed oblivious to the incline, we reached the checkpoint in 3hrs 10, which is best yet. 

But we lost that time again on the walk up to Pole Bank as the pack problems became critical. Sue also realised that her worsening headache was probably down to a lack of tea! Having read that tea and coffee can be diuretic she was trying to avoid them on the walk but her body seemed to be complaining about the lack of tea, and after drinking a coffee, the caffeine kick started to work. The lesson is don't try and experiment with dietary intake just before going for a long walk. also remember to pack the paracetamol. 

Pony count of three brown and three white with one gorgeous grey foal asleep. So we now know that the brown stallion is not the only daddy, contrary to last week's post. 

After readjusting the loads between our packs we started to make progress and got to Pole Bank at 11.15. More ponies on the way up - three white, one brown and one grey. Not sure why I have started to count all the different pony colours but there is something special about these creatures who roam around at will on the Mynd. It always lifts our spirits when we see them. In fact I think they deserve a slot on a wildlife documentary one day to show how and where they live throughout the year. 

We passed lots of walkers on the Mynd who seemed to be on a mission and possibly training for the Hike as well.  Good progress down to Coates and then on to Bridges in an hour. No time to stop though and we ploughed straight on up the steep road to Stiperstones. We were a good deal quicker this week reaching the car park in 45 minutes, including a brief stop to chat to neighbour Tony who happened to be en route to help some Hikers to find the paths around Corndon. 

From the car park we hacked straight up the hill for the 20 minute climb. It's always tough on this section because of the rough terrain but the rock outcrops do at least provide good seats near the summit for a lunch stop. 

On the way back down we tried some running and on most downhill sections it was actually easier than walking as you have to hold yourself back when walking which can produce more strain than letting the momentum carry you downhill. 

It still took us 40 minutes to get back to bridges though. As we took advantage of the pub to have a loo break we thought we should buy a quick half, just to support a local business of course. 

We had taken about 7 and three quarter hours and aimed to get home in less than 4 hours from here. Good going all the way through Coates and Medlicott and we are now doing these uphill stretches without any breaks as a result of the training. It's still a tough climb on the final lane up to Medlicott Cottage and then we needed to find a path mentioned by another Hiker and blog-reader (thanks Rob), which leads off the lane marked by a small cairn. The start of the path was certainly easier to identify than the route we'd taken before. It is likely to be very damp if there's much rain though and further up the hill the path splinters into barely visible tracks just like the other one. We approached Pole Cottage a little bit further north but eventually we got onto the path alongside the ponds and reached the checkpoint at 1530. 

After draining the final coffee and last sandwich we set off for Minton. Much colder on the top but it kept us moving well and we did some more jogging down the Minton stretch reaching the checkpoint in just over an hour from Pole Cottage. 

More jogging on the road down to Little Stretton which we made in 25 minutes and then on to the final hill. It does seem a little sadistic of the Hike organisers to make you go up the steep route to Ragleth at this stage of the Hike. Having said that, we did manage it with very few breaks to catch breath and only took 30 minutes from the Green Dragon. Final section home took us to 6.15. Which meant 11 hours 30 min, same time as last week with an extra few miles added. Question now is whether to do another long walk or ease back. As we recovered a lot quicker each time we are minded to do one more long one.