Crossing France On Foot

This is another in my occasional series, reviewing books about other big walks.

Crossing France on Foot, One Man's Walk from Dieppe to the Pyrenees, by Olver Andrew, is of particular interest to me.

Mr Andrew walked from Dieppe to Goulier, in the Ariege department, a few years ago. He was not much over 60 at the time. The Ariege is the departement next to the Aude, where I live - in fact it starts about 5 kms from our house. We conduct most of our business in the Ariege, in fact we have been there this morning. Also I do most of my walking in that departement and about 10 kms after setting off on VBW, I shall be crossing it.

Mr Andrew walked first from Dieppe to Ouistreham, where I will be finishing the French leg of my walk. It took him 13 days to get to Ouistreham. Why he didn't start his walk there, I don't know. The total walk took him 76 days, so if we knock off the bit to Ouistreham and take into account that it took him 7 days from Mirepoix to home, whereas it will take me 1 day from home to Mirepoix, it took him 57 days to cover almost exactly the same ground that I will be walking in France. That's a bit alarming - it would leave me only 13 days to walk from Portsmouth to Blackpool.

He had to give up after 22 days because of a hip injury, then returned several times to complete the walk in stages. The book is curiously unsatisfying in its lack of detail about why and when he chose to walk on roads or use the Grandes Randonnees long-distance tracks.

Because of the similarities of our routes within France, and because he lives not too far away, I would very much like to meet Mr Andrew but have failed to find him in the 'phone book which covers Goulier.

If you see him, can you please tell him I am looking for him.

Currying Favourite

More advice from my adviser on nutrition and hydration, writer Jean Gardner in Bermuda. It includes some good news for curry lovers.

Jean herself takes more salt in her drinks than the amount she recommended for me. She needs more than most, but because different people obviously need different levels, she suggests starting small then cautiously testing your own requirements.

Bermuda's humidity is brutal and I seem to need more salt than most in my diet - others would find the amount of sodium I can tolerate to be an emetic for them! Also, the level of exercise you are currently undertaking is considered intensive and your needs in heat waves are very different to those of the average walker on an average day.

I would suggest you personally start with one eighth teaspoon first. Everyone's body has different needs and you won't know what works best for you until you have experimented. Essential salts are needed to retain the fluid we ingest and many 'power drinks' contain glucose and salts. I have come across more runners however who cannot tolerate fortified waters than those who can. Gatorade have just recently started to manufacture a lighter product which seems to be more tolerable so if that is available in France give it a try.

I am mostly vegetarian also, so to get protein which is needed for muscle building and repair, I eat lots of non-fat dairy products and of course soy in all forms. Brown rice and whole wheat pasta contain some protein but without question, the richest grain-derived protein source is quinoa which has 5g per quarter cup dry measurement. Quinoa is an ancient grain and can be used in a variety of ways from hot cereals to salads. it is also rich in carbs. Unfortunately I am unsure of its availability in France.

For those runners/walkers who are vegan, rice milk and soy milk are good bases for fruit and veggie smoothies and carbs (simple and complex) can be derived from all the abovementioned along with legumes, potatoes, oats and other grains, and fruits. Tomatoes are important for the those wishing to maintain a healthy heart and are very versatile as you know; they also contain sugar so spaghetti marinara is a good meal for the physically active. Take in a lentil or vegetable curry a couple of times each week too if you enjoy Indian food because turmeric is an anti-inflammatory and helps those over-worked joints and muscles to heal quickly.

Revelations.

Following my revelation that water and cameras do not mix, I have had another one.

Last night we went to our local Afghan restaurant and pizzeria. As usual, Carole, the proprietress, asked me about my walking. I told her that today I was going to walk from Quillan to home, 20 kms including 350 metres of climb. As usual, she said that it was too far to walk in the current very hot weather. For a change, I listened.

She is right. I do not need to be pushing myself like this at the moment. My objective is to stay fit, not to walk at VBW levels now. Not to obsess about packing in the 100+ kilometre weeks. The beginning of enlightenment came when I took a day off on Sunday to prevent myself turning a 130 kms week into a 150 kms one.

So, while this weather continues, I shall be doing shorter walks early in the morning, before it becomes really hot. No walk of more than 20 kms in the week, and most of them at 10 kms or less.

Simple, really. Why did I not see this before?

Despondent Buddha

Yesterday I learned what most people probably know instinctively - not to carry electronic equipment in the same bag as water. It was a costly lesson.

I have been carrying lots of liquid, following the good advice of my nutrition and hydration adviser, Jean Gardner in Bermuda. I have been using a water bladder and also another container to replenish the bladder when empty. In the small Deuter rucsack which I recommended earlier in this blog, there is a special compartment to hold the bladder upright, and a little flap for the tube to come out of the top. Recently I have been using a differnt rucsack because, in this hot weather, my back was becoming red and sore because of the constant rubbing in one place - a bit like bedsores, I suppose.

The Berghause rucsack I have switched to has a sort of arch which holds the sack away from the back, leaving a gap for air. This is good, but unfortunately it does not have a compartment for the water bladder, which is fine and upright to begin with but then sags like a despondent Buddha as it empties and its belly creases. It is also presumably jostled by the other contents of the sack.

Which probably explains why yesterday, having just started my walk from Mirepoix, I discovered that it was not raining on the back of my legs but the tube had become loose where it meets the bladder. There were several inches of water in the bottom of the sack. Among the things swimming in this water was not only the deflated Buddha, but my camera, which is now showing no signs of life.

So not only did I wreck the camera but I was left with less than a litre of water for a walk of 32 kms. The resulting wobbliness was a good reminder to get it right next time.

A Below Average Day

I had a day off from walking yesterday, the first for a while.

My total kilometrage for the week was 130, without the extra 20+ that a Sunday walk would have given me. 130 is quite enough at this stage of the game. In fact I am in danger of overcooking it - I have to keep reminding myself that the objective this year is to keep fit by doing an average of 10 kms a day. That's 70 kms a week.

So far this year I have walked 2,740 kms. So I am probably more than 600 kms ahead of the game.

One Tough Mother

One of the small perks I have received from my sponsors Columbia Sportswear is that they have sent me a copy of this book.

If I had known the book existed I would have already bought it from Amazon.

Columbia is a company whose products I have long admired. That is how our association came about - I am not promoting their products because they are backing me in Vic's Big Walk - more the other way around, they are supporting me because I am so enthusiastic about their excellent products.

One does not use Columbia gear for long before becoming aware of Gert Boyle. I did a piece about her and the company early in the life of this blog. She is a housewife who truly became a superstar. She is my heroine and I hope my connection with Columbia results in me meeting her.

Her husband died young while at the helm of a small company which was in transition from being a hat shop to becoming a sportswear company. Gert, a refugee from Hitler's Germany, was at home minding the home and family. Sportswear is a man's world. The company, heavily in debt, was expected to fold or to bring in experienced, male management.

Gert was having none of this. She took over and with the help of her son Tim, a college student at the time, took the company from below $1 million turnover to over $1 billion.

The book is a slim volume because, at 85 years of age, Ma Boyle does not have the time to write a tome. She puts in a full days work in the office, still stars, as she has for many years, in the companies advertising, and travels extensively on company business.

An inspirational book. Chairman Ma's little book should be on your shelves.

JustGiving Website Rocks!

Time for me to eat humble pie.

It seems I have been traducing the new JustGiving website. They have had their problems, but everything seems to be OK now. The problem of donation amounts not showing, which I mentioned the other day, does not exist.

What happened was that one person, who has since admitted that his lack of technological knowhow was probably to blame, told me that he had donated but the amount was not showing on the page. I then checked and saw that the donations from several other people seemed to be blank, although the figures were included in the total raised.

I now know that, when donating, there is an option for the figure not to be shown, and that several people had ticked this option. I think the amount donated by the original self-confessed technoprat can be restored.

So, all is well, the JustGiving website, and my donations page, are up, running and ready to receive all-comers.

When we lived in Cyprus, our bank manager once said to us "spend without fear!". I now say to you "donate without fear".