Weight & Fittness

Weighty Issues
After Lots of thought I think I've come up with What is possibly a better kit load than the one I took to Hebdon Bridge.

Shelter - Rab Ridge Raider Hooped Bivi.
It will be a bit cramped, but at just over 800g its the lightest shelter I can find without taking Basha's and putting them up from trees.

Sleeping Bag
RAB Neutrino 400
After talking to Mark at Ultra Light Outdoor Gear he recomended the Neutrino as its light, yet with a rating of down to -4 Deg C.

Clothes
Cragg Hoppers Kiwi Trousers
2 Pairs
Lycra Cycle Shorts. None padded to help prevent chafing
Paramo Gambia Sport Zip
Paramo Mountain Pull On
Paramo Taiga Fleece
Paramo Alta 2
Seal Skin Beany Hat
Seal Skin All weather Gloves
Seal Skin Liner Gloves
Bridgedale Endurance Trecker Socks
Bridgedale Coolmaz Liner Socks
Magnum Classic Boots

Food
Jetboil PCS
Optimus Fuel 100g X2
SIS Gel 1
SIS Hydration Sachets
Fuzion foods
Flap Jacks
Cadbury Hot Choc Sachets
Nescafe 3-in-1 sachets
Milbank bag

FA Kit
Blister Plasters
Plasters
2X Medium Dressings
Triangular Sling
Safety Pins

Wash Kit
Soap
Toothpaste
Tooth Brush
150cm x 150cm Travel Towel

Nav Kit
OS Explorer/ Outdoor Lesure Laminated Maps
Silva type 4 compass
Chinograph Pencils
Ortlieb Map Case

Misc
L/W Dry Bags
Casio G Shock.
3" Locking/Folding penknife
Whistle

On the Fittness front I've just bought 20kgs(aprox 50lb) in weight lifting weights, I'll be putting them in an old rucksack and walking about 9 miles (chesterfield to mill green & back on the chesterfield canal.) every day. Although the route is pretty flat, it will get me used to carrying weight, as this was one of the things I struggled with in July.

I've also been going to the gym almost daily, I'm hoping to keep this up at the same time as walking with the weight, then by the time I've got enough sponsorship I'll be fit as the butchers dog.

TTFN

Post Event

Well, that was a complete wet fart. The guys I "Invited" along were sucsessfull in making it a living hell for me, and then went on and on about I needed to "dig deep".


Lessons Learned

Weight
I need to cutt down on the weigt I carry on my back. I can see two ways I can Do This
1)Use one of the "Sherpa" services that operate along the Pennine Way.
2)Stop only in B&B's and Youth Hostels. If I'm only carrying a change of cloths, lunch and thermos I'm sure I wont haveany problems.


Food & Water
I need to be disiplined and stop and eat, normally not a problem, but the person I was with didnt seem to want to stop anywhere long enough.

Setting Off

I'm almost ready to get the train to start the first real practice, and I've noticed how heavy my pack is. Not a small part of this weight is food, so I've decided that my next attempts will be with "Dry" meal pouches.

That then leaves the problem of clothing, well this time I'm using my older stuff and throwing it away once It's dirty, but for the main event I'll be only taking once change of tecnical clothes, and washing them every few days. The plan is to stop at a YHA, who normally have washing and drying facilities.

I also need to look into my first aid/ Medical kit, as although its a full HSE kit, I think some items are missing, and some are supefluece.

Anyway, I'll get back intouch on friday.

TTFN
Syd

Count Down

Well, this is it, I'm about to go out and get the last few bits I need for monday, mostly food, but a few medical supplies for the 1st aid kit.

You know, I'm really excited now, and I'm not sure why. I've done other multiple day walks from edale, but I've not done a "Treck" carrying everything with me before.

So there we are, just need a few wayfarer meals and some plasters, and I'm all set.

Practise

I'll be going on my first multiple day practise walk in a few weeks(Jul 19th) I'll be walking as far as Hebdon Bridge near Halifax.

For this I'll be taking
Osprey Atmos 50L Rucksack
Therm-a-Rest Roll Matt
Gelert Twyfan 300 Sleeping Bag
Gelert Solo Tent
Regatta Fleece
Paramo Alta 2 Jacket
Tesco F&F T Shirts (X4)
Army Surplus Long Johns (X2)
Shorts (1 Pair)
Karrimore L/W Walking Trousers (2Pair)
Tesco Cap
Jet Boil Personel Cooking System
Wayfarer Food Pouchs
SIS 1Shot Gel
Home Made Flap Jacks
Coffee & Hot Chocolate Sachets
SIGG 1 Litre Water Bottle
Tesco 2 Litre Hydration Bladder
First Aid Kit
Mora Clipper knife
Survival Kit with Survival Bag, Space Blanket, Wire saw, snare wire, fishing kit, Flint & Striker, Cotton wool.
Army Surplus Boots
Acrylic "Commando" socks
Kodak Easy Share Digital Camera

The idea of using cheep clothing is that it can go into the bin once it's dirty.

Baslow to chesterfield Via Chatsworth House

Another walk with the full pack, this one started at the car park/ public toilets at baslow, and went via beeley moor and stanedge to chesterfield. Here are the photo's.

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w184/Gliderrider/Baslow%20to%20Chesterfield/

One of the things I need to get are a decent camera, so in the time being I'm using the built in camera on my phone, so thay are slightly low quality.

It was quite a mixed day, we experianced hail, rain, and cleer sunny skies, though the almost constant breeze meant that over all this was rather comfortable. as the rain cooled us of from the heat, and the sun dried the cloths.

Hopefully I'll be going to the gym tomorow, then another walk on sunday.

I'll also be putting links up for the walks once I've published them on OS Explore.

TTFN
Syd

Ladybower To Baslow

I followed the River Derwent between Ladybowe Resevroir and Baslow, aproximatly 14 miles.

The walk was quite nice, and the pack weight about right, BUT I need to get used to walking with the weight because today my knees, ankles & back are stiff as old boots.

I only took two photos, both of Bamford mill that has now been turned into flats. and here they are
http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w184/Gliderrider/Bamford%20Mil/

Derwent Valley Heritage Way

I'm out again today. This time its a 16 mile section of the Derwent Valley heritage way. I'll be doing it will the full weight I'll be taking on the challenges(Which weights in at about 17kg/37lb) but instead of the Tent/Sleeping bag and camping mat I'll be taking 4KG of extra water, so It'll actually be slightly lighter come october.

I'll try and take some pictures and add a link when I get back.

Kit

Firstly I'm not going to go on and on about what state of the art kit is a must to use, what I am going to do is explain why I've chosen certain items.

Rucksack
I've Chosen to use a 50 Litre Osprey Atmos. Several of the guys I go walking with regularly have smaller Osprey rucksacks, and I have been very impressed with the quality.

When I was inspecting my current rucksacks I found that all of them had some form of problem, frayed straps, loose stitching etc. Most of these are repareable, but I wanted a bag that I could rely on. I'll be walking hundreds of miles, and I'll be far from any chance of a replacement, so A repair wich may break is not ideal.

OK, so the £105 price tag is'nt cheep, but its roughly the going rate for bags of that size anyway.

Jacket
After Christmas I bought myself a Paramo Alta2 Jacket, mainly as they were on offer. Several Years ago I bought a Fuera jacket, and I was very impressed with it. Unfortunatly it went missing on a train a few years ago.

Layers
As I all ready have a relatively new jacket I have decided to go with Paramo for the majority of my clothing, reasoning that my Paramo jacket would work best with Paramo base layers, fleeces etc. The stuff I have in mind are the Paramo Taiga Fleece, Paramo Mountain Pull On, and Paramo Torres Smock.

I'm not sure yet wether I'm going to go with the Paramo trousers or Cragghoppers Bear Gryls Survivor Trousers, along with a set of Long Johns and Over trousers so I can customise the warmth/waterproof as and when the weather changes.

Tent
I've been unable to decide for certain whether to go for a small 1 man tent(The Gelert Solo) or a 2 man tent(Coleman Cobra 2) I'v run a list of pros & Cons for both, and they are about even, so I'll take the each on a different practice weekend and decide once I've spent 3 days living in and carrying each. At the Moment I favour the coleman as It will allow me to get dressed inside, and considering it will be towards the begining of winter that will be a very major benefit, however, I pay for that by almost doubling the weight of the tent.

Sleeping Mat
I'll be using A Therm-A-Rest sleeping Mat I picked up on the continent a few years ago. Once inflated it is pretty comfy, and blocks the cold from the ground quite well.

Socks
I've gone for Bridgedale Endurance Trekkers, they feel like a nice mix of wool, and for ome reason are reletivly thin compared to more tradidional walking socks. Another major advantage these socks have is that they are currently available as 2nds for £6. I've tried them on a few walks allready, and they are very comfortable over the sorts of distance I'll be covering on the main walks.

Undies.
This is another area wear I've not made up my mind. I've been told that cycling shorts are best for endurance events, but at the same time, a pair of briefs with vasaline on the inside of your thighs have alsoo been recomended. As I've not done any multiple day walks before I'll be trying each out on the practise walks.

Fitness

Fitness is obviously very important to this type of activity. Even though it isn't a long sprint, the distance involved in walking all of our national trails is demanding.

Not to mention the possibility of injury whilst out walking. Just putting your foot on a stone that moves can cause a sprained or twisted Ankle, and since I'll have approximately 40kg of weight on my back(That's 40% of my body weight), this can complicate the simple strained ankle to a back injury or twisted knee.

Because of this a high degree of fitness is required. I'm not talking about being the next Geoff Capes or Limford Christie, but it is still an important part of my preparation.

Every other day I complete approximately 60 minutes of cardio vascular exercises and 30 minutes working on my strength. I know going to a gym is not every ones idea of a good time, but it is a necessary evil if I'm going to be fit enough to complete all the challenges I have set for myself in the near future.

It's all well and good spending hours in the gym every week, but it still wont help unless you go out on a few "Practice" walks. For me these will be walking the first 40 odd miles of the pennine way with the full weight I will be taking with me, as well as single day walks in the Chesterfield area(My home town) again carrying the full bag I will be using.

Having done all this, I might just be able to Finnish my challenge UN supported.

Introduction

Hello and thanks for taking the time to read my Blog.

A first a little about I am.  I am an avid walker and outdoors man, and full time student.  After leaving the corporate ladder in 2009 I decided to re-train in order to work outdoors full time, this has involved taking on  a higher education degree through the Open university, as I do not have any relevant qualifications to get onto a full time degree course, but because this is part time, it leaves time to undertake vocational training through local colleges and

In October 2011 I started training to walk the 268 mile Pennine way, from Edale in the Derbyshire peak district to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders in aid of Combat Stress.

But That isnt all I am doing. After I finnish the pennine way I plan on completing all the Long Distance national Trails within the UK by either foot, cycle or paddle!

Many of my friends are ex forces, and a fair few of these came back with mental ill health associated with their time in the British forces.  But while these are all proud men, they still need our help and support through charities such as the Royal British Legion, SAFFA and Combat Stress.

Combat Stress are a Charity that specialize in supporting service men & women past and present overcome mental ill health.

If you haven't already, please visit my Just Giving page to help me raise money on behalf of Combat Stress. www.justgiving.com/Sydney-Barwick