Nerves

Nerves


Every LEJOGer I've followed this year has successfully completed LEJOG. Hat's off, guys - Jimmy, Santosh, Mike, Paul N - I'm impressed.

In twelve days it's my turn. Now I'm getting nervous. Cardio training went well until the weekend (15th/16th July) when I came down with a cold, training is therefore on hold until this has cleared up. It's my fault; increased training without my usual fresh lemon juice drink every morning has weakened my immune system and not given it the tools to fight. Fortunately it's happened now and not during the walk. Every cloud...

Why the nerves, though...? This experience might change me in ways I cannot foresee. I might not want to come back and resume my old life. I might want to keep going. Day 2 of LEJOG (30th July) is my 35th birthday. To date this is the only thing of any merit I have ever attempted - how many years of realistically thinking about projects like this are left in me? There's a chance it might change me beyond recognition - for better, or worse...it's impossible to say. That kind of thought makes me nervous.  

Anyway, enough of this hypothetical bullshit.

12 days until LEJOG

Where am I at in terms of prep? The last O/S map (good old OL49) is en route from Meteodale, my trusty discount map vendor, I would happily recommend them to anyone else planning a walk using O/S maps and looking to bulk buy.  

I've plotted a single unbroken route from LE to JOG - more on that in the "Navigation" blog post which I'm currently working on.

Gear has been pared down to the bare minimum:



I'll detail the gear later in a "Gear" post.

Motto: travel light, freeze at night. 

"Nutrition" has been bagged and tagged and is ready to forward up country for collection. More on that later.

"Poste restante" - after a change in tactics I've had a breakthrough here; I have now detailed exactly how I arranged poste restante and with which post offices in detail for the benefit of anyone else who wishes to use this free service but doesn't know how to do it.

So look out for the Navigation, Gear, Nutrition and Poste Restante posts, coming soon. Hopefully they will be of use to anyone thinking about LEJOG.

Countdown

What's left to do? What loose ends need tying up before Go Day? Apart from the final week of cardio training, there's some detailed map work that involves using Mapometer to calculate exactly how much distance I will have to cover per hour/day/week/month. I'm marking off distances on the maps every two miles, so I will always know what's in front of me distance-wise. On similar lines, I'm also annotating the maps so I know what shops/pubs/garages/campsites/post offices I'm closest to, their opening times and any other details that might be of use. That way I know how much water and solid food I'll need to carry between stops.

Blurb

As an independent author I have to use completely unrelated blog posts like this one to promote my books; historical fiction and call centre fantasy. I'm also writing a book about my LEJOG experience. You are welcome to ask me for a free copy of all of the above which I can send to you. Please email me: lejog2017@outlook.com


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