LEJoG 2017 - 7 weeks to go. This just got real!

7 weeks to go...

Last weekend I went for a back-to-back 20 miles Saturday and Sunday, with a camping kit test overnight in between.  This is the first time I've slept out with all of my gear and the first time I've really gone any appreciable distance with full pack.  And it went really pretty well.

Yes, I got pretty cold overnight.  But, hey, it's March!  Even in Scotland in June it won't drop that low overnight.  All my kit was good, except for the sleeping mat, which moved about underneath me and just wasn't that great. I kept finding it half-way down my back and off to one side.  So, I've gone for a slightly heavier, full length one instead. Which should arrive this week.

I also came across a number of obstacles...

I can't even...

Locals...

SO! FLUFFY!

And trials...

Gave up after 6 miles of this and lots of folks not being sympathetic to a pedestrian observing the highway code

I've been ticking through plotting the route, heavily inspired by Linda Brackenbury's book.  Her route really took my fancy as it's one of the shortest I've seen and it avoids roads a huge amount.  Her trip was over 70 days and mostly ended each 15ish mile day in a hostel or B&B, which all lines up to being perfect for me to use and modify where necessary.  I've combined many of the early days in pairs, but left some of the later, more lengthy days of her route in place so there are some 20ish mile ones when I hit Scotland and it gets a bit hillier.  So I'm looking at 37 days as a minimum and 42 as a maximum right now.

Actually not Scotland, but a tiny bump in Central Park, New York

I've also been run-commuting with my pack fully loaded.  Doing between 5 and 7 miles each day so as not to overload myself unnecessarily.  And this carries through when I'm traveling for work, so there's a bit of a temperature variation as well as scenery (and more than a little trouble with GPS where I am this week).

I'm nervous.  I'm not quite finished plotting the route yet and problems with the Ordnance Survey web site every now and then, usually when I've actually got time to dedicate to route plotting, really isn't helping.  And then there's the map buying to ensure I actually have OS maps when I'm not in mobile data coverage... ($$$!)

Not long now!