I have not kept up to date with my training for about a week and am conscious that my 32 mile charity walk for Woodlarks is now not that far away – July 28. I meant to have a quick six mile practice stroll along the coastal road out of Kalamata yesterday afternoon but IT snags caused a postponement. And so I headed off at noon today in the mid-day sun. I think it was about 34 degrees.
The road is not as flat as you might imagine, it bends inland and uphill, for reasons I can’t quite explain, more than once. But in terms of legs and feet I was fine. I arrived back in just under two hours with my shirt soaked in sweat and with sweat dripping off my nose. I smelled bad and the world is a better place for me having had a shower but overall it was a doddle.
Tomorrow will be less easy. The road forks just past the hotel where I am staying. Today I took the right fork to the sea. Tomorrow I head straight on up the hill. And boy is it a hill. Essentially I just keep heading up and up for what, I calculate to be five and a half miles. At which point I take a left towards the village of Megali Mantineia – the place where the authors of “Things can only get Feta” stayed and caused something of a stink with their book. There I shall allow myself a bit of a break before continuing down to the coastal road at Akrogiala before heading back into Kalamata. I reckon that all in all it is about 12-14 miles.
My belief is that the hard yards are those up to the Kouris turning for Megali Mantineia. That is the uphill section. If I can make that without collapsing the rest will be much less painful. Fingers crossed.
As ever if you enjoy the thought of my suffering, as I know many folks will, or if you want to help a genuinely good cause, Woodlarks, then how about sponsoring me for a tenner HERE?