Walking Wounded

Walking distances has had a big impact on my life and I find the more I walk the  more I want to walk and I am constantly considering where, when and how to walk over the next few years.

But at the moment I am walking wounded. After a recent arthroscopy on my left knee, I am unable to walk even short distances. My surgeon's appraisal of 6 - 8 weeks recovery time computed to 6 -8 days in my head and I started with 3 kms, 3 days after surgery! Bad move. Since then I have been holed up waiting for the swelling to go down, which means I really should stop being an idiot and wait for a few weeks before I try again. My latest check up has given me an all systems go, but SLOWLY.

I keep checking the calendar and realise I only have 4 months left to get my fitness right for walking a lot of kilometres. If you take into consideration that I have to wait another 6 weeks or so before I can actually start to pick up the pace again, we are then only 3 months away. My walking schedule is going to have to be pretty rigorous from the end of May.

Let's talk about the walk  along the Thames Path so you get an idea of where we are headed in September.

The Thames is a very long river that runs through the capital London. It starts at a small village called Keswick in the Cotswolds. That is in the SW part of England. The path follows the river and all its bends and ends up at the other side of London. It passes through Cirencester, the City of Oxford, the Chilterns and into London. With places like Fiddler's Island, Neigh Bridge, Henley, Windsor and the Great Tower of London. Amazing countryside, thatched cottages and to die for gardens. 

At the source, the river can only be seen as a small puddle when it rains. I think you need to either be dead drunk or have a great imagination to see it. But the closer you get to London, the wider the river gets and by Gravesend it's 732 meters wide. The walk is about 185 miles long, that's 297 kilometres, if you just walk along the path. I think we should clock up closer to 350 kms by the end and I am hoping to feel pretty fit by the time we get to London. I have no doubt that we will complete the journey unless there are widespread floods, famines or pestilence.

Walking the Thames path guides you through some pretty spectacular countryside and in spring the wildflowers will be unbelievable. There will be lots of small village, pubs, cafes and I hope a little wildlife.

So onwards and upwards. Time to slowly get back to the gym and build up a few more muscles before that seed of doubt starts to creep into my psyche. Team this with a little diet tweeking and I might start to feel pretty happy about where I am heading.