Saturday - Stone (and a little way beyond)

Distance: 33.8 km (21 mi)
Time: 6 hours 32 (including the time taken to eat the sandwiches)
Average speed: 5.17 km/h (3.21 mph)

This was the first of the 20 mile training walks, so I opted for a flat walk along the Trent & Mersey canal. To get to the canal I walked along the road to Sandon, passing some examples of the rare Staffordshire Llama.

Three llamas

After the blue skies of the last week or so, yesterday was completely clouded over, but at least there wasn't any of the threatened rain. A bit less wind would have been nice.

At Sandon I joined the Trent & Mersey heading west towards Stone. At Aston Lock just south of Stone I finally noticed that the mile post reads 46 miles to either end of the canal, making it the centre.

Coming up into Stone itself I and a couple of other people spotted a river creature narrowly avoiding being run over by a barge. It seemed to be trying to get up onto the western bank (the Trent side), but failing. That it was the side that the humans were walking along wasn't helping either. One of the other people there reckoned it was an immature otter. It certainly looked otter-like but I didn't think they were black.

An otter?

After that excitement it was just a steady plod along the canal through Stone and beyond to my destination: bridge 102 at the edge of Barlaston. There I had my sandwiches and a banana before turning around and heading back.

This time there was not sign of the (probable) otter, so I guess it got where it was going to.

At Aston I left the canal for a bit of variety. Unfortunately this involved walking along the path beside the A34. I did think of taking the Enson road, but I stuck on the main road until I reached Yarlet. There I did have enough willpower to avoid the pub and head off down towards Marston. That I also regretted 15 minutes later when I drank the last of my water. Still it was on the final stretch.

So that was the first 20 mile walk of the year. It left me stiff, but with no new blisters. I used a new pair of walking shoes, as opposed to my boots, so I think that I'll be using those for the K2B itself. I feel fine this morning, but I think I need to step up the training.

Friday 18th - Over the Chase

Distance: 22.2 km (13.79 mi)
Time: 4 hours 21
Average speed: 5.1 km/h (3.2 mph)

Last Friday was the start of a batch of good, spring-like weather. So good that I walked most of it in short sleeves, a hat and sunglasses.

This route was again Rugeley to Stafford but this time it was the scenic route. From work I went up to Stile Cop, then down along one of the bike trails to Miflins Valley. That particular trail isn't bike-only but is pretty steep so you have to watch out for fast bikes coming down. Fortunately the bikes were struggling going uphill.

I crossed the road and went past the pools and up to Fairoak Lodge, then across to the Tackeroo camping site and Rifle Range Corner. From there it's down to the Sherbrook Valley and up over the heathland to join the route of the old military railway. Leaving the Chase I took the footpaths across the fields from Brocton Lodge to Walton-on-the-Hill. Then I crossed the A513 and cut through the housing estate to get down to the canal to get to the other side of Baswich Bridge. Instead of continuing on to near Radford Bank, I took a footpath over the fields to the bank of the River Sow and followed that to Fairway, thence by the roads home.

It really was far too nice a day to be indoors. Unfortunately it's been that way most of this week when I've had to be in doors.

Catching up

25th February - Canals again
Distance: 20.9 km (12.99 mi)
Time: 3 hours 49
Average speed: 5.48 km/h (3.4 mph)

This was the exact same route as earlier in the month, although the GPS reckoned it was 100 m shorter. A minute longer, which I can attribute to crossing roads in Stafford. The weather was kinder, less wind.

6th March - The Roaches
Distance: 13.8 km (8.58 mi)
Time: 3 hours 35
Average speed: 3.85 km/h (2.39 mph)

The first trip of the year to the Peak District and as usual it was to the Roaches, just north of Leek. A cold day with ice in the puddles. Only a couple of weeks earlier it had been much milder in the mornings.

12th March - Gnosall
Distance: 22.6 km (14.04 mi)
Time: 4 hours 4
Average speed: 5.56 km/h (3.45 mph)

A new route for me, for this one I followed the old railway line west out of Stafford as far as Gnosall. As it was flat and a proper path I tried an experiment and wore walking shoes rather than boots. The K2B is almost entirely roads and suits lighter footwear, but I do my training on rougher terrain wearing my boots and when it comes to doing the actual walk I prefer to use the same footwear I trained with.

The shoes were a cheap pair I'd got for everyday use, so I need to factor that I when considering the results (1 blister on the sole, could feel most of the stones on the path). No decision yet.