And now for something completely different.
Firstly, it's Monday and I don't post on Mondays. Secondly, this isn't about trains. But I asked on twitter and 2/3 of the respondents said they'd like to see this on my blog. So, here goes.
Welcome to Girl on a Hike.
This is a new series of posts, following my journey over the next year, as I train to take part in the London 2021 Marathon Walk (not the same as the running event). There will be a post most weeks, on Monday at 10am. I say most weeks, because there will likely be some weeks, particularly before I start fully training in the Spring, where I don't have anything interesting to say. Today's post will be explaining a bit about my challenge, why I am doing it, and what I've done so far to prepare.
Why are you doing this?
Yes, this is a very good question. I'm still not entirely sure myself. Whilst at uni, I have really lost the "love" I had for exercise, and I've really not eaten healthily, so I've put on a decent amount of weight. I say "love" for exercise because it's never been the highlight of my day, but I've become more and more sedentary over the last 3 years. So I'd like to lose the weight I've put on, and get back my fitness. I'm also raising money for a charity, in the hope that will help to motivate me even more.
Who are you raising money for?
I am raising money for Girlguiding. I am a volunteer with the charity, and know how badly, like other charities, it has been hit by the pandemic, at all levels. I'd like to help give something back to a charity that has done so much for me over the years.
What are you doing?
I have signed up to the 2021 London Marathon Walk event, organised by Discover Adventure. I don't know the exact route yet but the information I have suggests that it starts in central London, before heading east and south over the Millenium bridge, before using the Greenwich foot tunnel to cross back to the northern edge of the Thames. Heading back into Central London, we will head west towards Westminster, before ending up back where we started. We have a full training plan, which I'll be following from the spring. The plan is 18 weeks long, hence why I don't need to start for quite a while yet, however I will be doing some walks before I officially start training as there's a few things I'd like to test out.
What have you done so far?
I've had a kit list through and, whilst I have most of the items needed already, I've sourced a new rucksack and a couple of water bottles to use on the walk. It's been recommended that we have a rucksack in the region of 25-30L, with a waist strap to help carry it more comfortably. The water bottles are of the variety which have like a built in straw, to save me having to repeatedly unscrew them. The bag had side pickets for bottles and I'm planning on using one for water and one for electrolytes. I'll also carry a slightly larger screw top bottle, as we've been told to be able to carry 2L, and I can top my bottles up at the checkpoints/rest stations on the way. I can refill my drinking bottles as I need to using my larger bottle. I've also picked up some relatively cheap dumbbells to do some weight training with at home, to help me build up the strength to carry my bag. I have to carry water, any snacks I want to provide myself (they do provide some food but if there's something specifically we want we have to provide it ourselves) plus any of my layers (waterproof/fleece etc) that I take off during the day.
Nutrition is something which is key for something like this, as there's nothing worse than trying to walk a long way on an overly full stomach, but additionally there's no point at all in me not consuming enough and not making it to the end. There's a couple of strands to this: carbs/protein and electrolytes. I'll explain the carbs and protein strand of it first because it's less complicated.
As I walk, I'll be using a lot of carbohydrates to power my muscles, and there won't be enough stored in my body (even with carb-loading beforehand) to not eat during the day. You can basically snack on whatever you want, but it's important I try stuff to check it doesn't make me feel unwell. I've picked up some pretzels that come in individual serving bags, as well as some cheese flavoured savoury biscuits. I also have sweets! One other thing that I've picked up to try are some energy sweets, similar to the gels used by runners, which pack a punch of sugar to give you energy. I've used them once before on a long camp with Guides when I was exhausted, so a few of those may be useful, particularly on the really long training walks and the day itself when I don't want to eat constantly. Protein is useful to help repair my muscles after exercise, so I've picked up a protein flapjack to try, an I'm looking into other options.
Electrolytes are often found in sports drinks and are minerals, such as sodium, which can be found in the body. You often lose these when you sweat, so it's important to replace these if you're exercising heavily or for a long period of time. I've picked up two types of these to try: a sachet that you simply tip into water and shake, and effervescent tablets that you drop into the drink. Whilst a lot of these have flavours, they can taste salty, so having a separate water bottle just for these will be useful on the day, so I can switch between electrolytes and water without needing to rinse the bottle out. In a way, they are similar to the rehydration sachets that you can get if you are ill, and I know that the taste of those was greatly enhanced by some fruit squash, so I've also obtained some of the Robinsons squash'd squash on the go packs. You just squeeze these into the drink to add the squash, rather than having to carry a bottle and pour them as you would at home. I'm looking forward to giving all of this a go.
I'm going to leave this here for today as this seems to be quite a long post. I'll be back on Wednesday with your next Girl on Rails update, or for more Girl on a Hike check back next Monday. I'm hoping to do a medium (6-8 mile) walk in the next few days, so will be able to tell you how that went next week!
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