Second training walk… we’re getting there

I attended my second Tailwalker training walk on Sunday. We had four starters from our total twelve participants. This was one of the hardest walks in our training schedule; from CP2 (Lysterfield Lake) up to CP3 (Grants Picnic Ground). This was 13.5klms each way, with a gain of about 400m (most in the last 6klms). The day started out cool (16c) and we had pleasant weather up to the top, but as we came down the warmer weather kicked in (about 27c) and it was very hot.

This section is reasonably flat for the first 3klms, then has a slight climb as you cross over Wellington Road heading north. Then there’s more flat up to Tecoma and getting into Belgrave. Then the climb starts up Broadway and then between houses to the Belgrave pool. The trail dips up/down through Belgrave Station and Puffing Billy station before climbing (an nice 23degree road) to the Sherbrooke forest and then gradually flattens out to the checkpoint. The track was chockers with other training trailwalkers (often given away by the camelback backpacks and being in groups of four).

The return journey was a lot harder. The steep downhill parts were really working (straining) my knees. By the time we’d reached Wellington Road, with only 3.7klms to go, I was feeling the fatigue in my legs. Whilst the trail from here was reasonably flat, it was a very long and tiring section.

Overall we took about 5 hours for the entire 27klms, 2.5 up and 2.5 back. I suspect we were punting along a bit on the way up and slowed down significantly on the way back.

On the gear perspective:

• The shoes and socks are great. No extra treatment added to the feet and no blisters for the day. My feet felt good at the end, even though I could feel some of the rocks through the soles. Even the steep downhill sections were fine.
• I replaced my jocks with nylon bike shorts and that reduced, but didn’t eliminate, the chafing. I’ll get some lycra ones for the next walk.
• I bought myself a Camelbak backpack (“Trail Blazer”), 2l water capacity, total capacity of about 22l. It’s a great size for the stuff I’m likely to carry. I filled it with water and found by the top (CP3) I’d only drunk a little bit. I put in my Hydralite and concentrated on drinking more on the way back. It’s a comfortable pack with a lot of adjustment, but I found myself pulling the shoulder straps forward as I got fatigued. I’ll see if I settle into it.

That’s it for another fortnight. We’re not walking over the long weekend (Australia Day) and have a reasonably easy walk next time; 25klms over mostly flat terrain (Start to CP1).