Now that I've been back to my blog I found that I never wrote a final post for my 2024 LEJOG attempt. To make it easier to find I updated the previously last post with my final notes and some photos.
Here you go!
https://onsorefeet.blogspot.com/2024/05/day-16-drymen-to-sallochy-campsite.html
I have decided to try the LEJOG one more time. The first time, in 2024, I caught covid after two weeks. Once I got better I went back and picked up the route where I should have been, but due to a bad fall where I injured my right knee I had to give up all plans on finishing. This year's route isn't quite finished yet, but the start and end points are always the same, Land's End in Cornwall and, if all goes well, I'll reach the end at John o' Groats in the far north. Give or take 2200 kilometers/1370 miles. You can also do it the other way around, which is then called JOGLE, John o' Groats to Land's End.
What, you may say, it can't be that far! Well, I guess I'm not known for going the shortest route (or, maybe I am, but not this time). There are things I want to see along the way. I'm also hoping to be able to visit a friend, and I'm incorporating The Great Outdoors Challenge, TGOC for short, walking from the west coast of Scotland to the east coast.
The first time I ever heard of the LEJOG was when I was reading a blog by a British hiking legend, Alan Sloman. I didn't understand what LEJOG was. He was a very quirky writer and I thought he meant "Le jog", that he was calling his great undertaking a little jog as a joke. I eventually came to understand that the acronym meant Land's End to John o' Groats.
My current exercise regime is boxercise Sunday and Wednesday nights, and half longish walks, appr. 10 kilometers/6 miles with a backpack that right now weighs 11 kilos/24 lbs. I add to the weight every week, expecting it to get to ~15 kg/33 lbs before I leave. Hopefully I won't have to carry that much on the walk.
I joined the boxercise class last fall, not knowing at all what it was, but the first session i came to the conclusion that it's perfect for winter hiking training. There are a lot of balance and strength training exercises, but it's also a great cardio workout. In spite of being inactive for ten weeks with a broken little toe before Christmas I have noticed both my balance and strength have improved very much. There are a couple of exercises I found very difficult in September that I can now do. I keep pushing myself, trying to do things I haven't done before. I'm still not a fast hiker, I never will be. I've actually toyed with the idea of renaming my blog Low Gear on the Trail, since Low Gear is my trail name. Always in low gear 😂
Walking is a bit tough. Winter is always difficult since I get sinusitis easily. Today was a bit chilly, -11C/+12F. During today's walk I felt great starting out, but was quite tired during the last two or so kilometers, maybe because I added a kilo to the pack today. Or, maybe because I did some intervals as well, walking as fast as I could for a while. It felt so good to come home to a warm shower!
I will be trying to raise money for both oral lichen planus research, a disease I was diagnosed with approximately 14 months ago and to which there is no cure and also cancer research, a disease that has taken the lives of both friends and family.
