Elastoplast miracle cure and another walk

Meg had decided to forsake the opportunity of a walk for her other favourite pastime that of hydrotherapy. At this point I would fully understand you beginning to question just how spoilt Meg the dog is and you are right she is. I try to maintain a level of owner/dog relationship by allegedly being cruel to the dog i.e. she will not sleep on the bed all night nor on the sofa all day but unfortunately I am frequently over ruled by the trouser wearing one. Anyway....... Meg is a walking injury zone with bad hips and a knackered elbow plus trying to spear her brain on a stick so she goes swimming once a fortnight. Wonderful it is too and does her no end of good http://www.ashbournecaninehydrotherapy.co.uk/index.html if you have a canine in need of treatment.



Anyway what of me. Unlike the dog I am in prime physical condition...not! So the start of the day saw my weekly visit to the physio, an amiable sadist called Norman Hibbert. Now Norman is one of the nicest people you could wish to meet unless you are lying on his treatment table when he states a need to apply a little "gentle" manipulation. He has been treating me for a couple of months and while he is clearly hugely knowledgeable and the back is improving it is not a fun filled forty minutes. Currently I have a "stretch" of traction (groan) followed by manipulation and exercises. This week he tried a new technique whereby he applied strips of expensive elastoplast down my back which apparently lifts the skin away from the bone / disc area. Amazingly this was a Eureka moment where for the first time in 20 years (promise) I could touch my toes without bending my legs. Somewhat unkindly the bride suggested it might the first time I could see my toes! Norman is also the only person bar one who has greater road rage than me. He is the only childless person I know to celebrate half term on the grounds of less people slowing him on the way to work.



Once suitably mobilised and the wallet lighter too I set off for the walk along Curbar edge via the Grouse and over Big Moor. This was an 11 mile stretch made difficult by well trodden paths creating an icy route for the first half followed by deep snow on the second. I was initially faced by a somewhat intransigent cow with sharp horns that made me decide not to challenge its right of way but then the views were fantastic from the edge The Grouse Inn provided a welcome midway pit stop followed by the obligatory climb thereafter and the latter half was generally desolate and people free but very tiring. I certainly felt the effort today but I guess it is good training as I keep telling myself when I am hurting most. I am conscious that I am going to have to up the distance and carrying weight soon (Other than that located in the belt area) but also aware that walking conditions will improve. Wading through knee high snow certainly takes it out of you. Speed is still OK with a steady 5 km/hr being maintained.

Asher & snow again

After more substantial snowfall over the weekend (fortunately nothing like as bad as they suffered darn sarf!!) I took the opportunity to get out and about once more. Meg had been released from all other duties such as barking at the milk, postmen etc and was free to come with me. Henry the springer spaniel we inherited from my sister was deemed too independant to come with us. Basically Henry is a dog with his own agenda i.e. he is far too intelligent to respond to his owners commands which is a bit like me and Cheryl...I think I shall leave that one to the readers imagination.... just remember I am the good guy.

Anyway I had had a bout of Winstons "black dog" over the past few days (if you are well read historically you will know what I mean) so it was good to be out and active in the fresh air. We decided to do the Ashover route in reverse which meant a viscous initial climb from Tansley in difficult conditions underfoot. Meg however was excelling at showing how easy it was, only pausing to eat snow. Is snow to dogs what beer is to obese males? She certainly had her share on the stretch over but since it failed to inhibit her motion or activity I can only assume not. Anyway we made decent time only losing our way once and stopped once more at the Crispin for suitable refreshment.

The post lunch meander turned out to be anything but easy. Firstly the cloud dropped meant we were walking in a light blizzard. Having decided to extend the route this also meant we were walking across roads and fields we had not been before despite only being five miles from home. At one stage we entered a field where allegedly there was a path. With the clouds down restricting visibility and no sign of anybody having walked this way since the snowfall we were almost completely blind. Suddenly out of the murk a black cow (or rather twenty) appeared heading menacingly towards us. Yes I know they are gentle animals but one running towards you is still a lot of steak in motion. Meg, ever the loyal and devoted protector of her master promptly legged it leaving me and Ermintrude to face up. Fortunately my deliberately cultivated obese status made Ermin (we were getting familiar by this stage) realise it was not such a one sided contest. Oh and me yelling at her to F*** off helped.

Anyway....... that little diversion aside we finished the walk. Meg had decided to do the loyal thing three miles from home meaning she was knackered running away from the cow. I wasn't talking to her after her previous show of devotion and calmly let a retriever chase after her close to home....ha now you know what if feels like dog! 12.5 miles completed at the standard 3 miles per hour showed I am definately getting fitter if not slimmer although I welcomed the hot bath at the end. I reckon this obese thing is definately saving on the gas bills however... less water and deeper baths.

just the odd foot of snow in places

Well with Tuesday being the second day in a row that I couldn't get the car out I decided to do another training walk this time via Tansley, Lea, Holloway and back over Riber once more. It was a glorious sunny morning but the glare off the snow made me rapidly regret not taking my sunglasses. Snow blindness is not a condition we suffer from hugely in the Derbyshire dales but was sufficient excuse to need to find a darkish location for relief from the glare and the Jug & Claret at Lea sufficed after three miles of hard work through a somewhat powderery snow.

With eyes adjusted and suitably fortified by some lunch I emerged to find the overhead conditions had reverted to derbyshire type i.e. grey cloud cover. While I could now see where I was going this didn't help the navigation hugely because all paths were obliterated by snow. This required some detailed map navigation which seemed somewhat ironic being only five miles from home. After a fair amount of backtracking I did find my way over to Upper Holloway not normally an isolated hamlet but today feeling totally cut off probably because realistically it was. (see route in). My only contact with other people was a mother and son carrying small amounts of grit from the bins at the side of the road on shovels in a vain attempt to clear their access to the house. It certainly didn't appear the most efficient operation I had ever seen but at least the council had deigned to fill their bins... as you have probably guessed grumpy old man is not happy about the lack of grit in the bins on our lane.

The walk from Holloway to Starkholmes was via a path through a wooded hillside with the snow over a foot deep in places, good training but seriously hard work. I am assuming I followed the path but for long periods I had no idea if I was on the correct route. Eventually I got to Riber where kids were sledging down the steepest slope you could imagine. Seriously scarey fun but the danger was shown later when I heard about the teenager killed at Rother Valley country park near where I work. Just about managed to get down the hill without landing on the previously mentioned large posterior, pausing only for another pitch inspection from high up which resulted in the phone call that evening to postpone Wednesdays game. Not many refs can say they have held pitch inspections from 2 miles away.

By the end of the walk I had done over 11 miles which was pleasing but I certainly felt the effects of the snow. Hopefully in May that shouldn't be a factor. On the kit front I need to either find my gaitors or invest in some new ones. While the boots held firm and dry the socks and trousers were well covered in mud which cunningly disguised itself beneath what appear solid snow. Typically organised when I got home I got distracted by the equipment websites and ordered a new ultra lightweight mattress instead.... doh.

After todays exercise the obesity meter still appears stuck on fat which is not pleasing but I am definately getting fitter. I intend to structure my training as the weeks appear to be reducing at a rate and I need to plan a couple of overnights as well in April. That is likely to be cold but I do need a full trial in the new tent.

Artic blizzards in London so off for a walk up here...

So don't get me started on the fact that every news item, web page etc is telling us how tough it is anywhere south of Nottingham but then with our hardy whippets, cloth caps and log fires to keep us warm up here what have we got to worry about. Anyway enough of that... our lane which in one direction goes up steeply and in the other down and then up steeply is not on the bus routes so doesn't get gritted. Note the cunning plan we have up here..... grit the roads before the snow comes. Anyway consequence of all this is that if I got out in one piece of car the likelihood of getting home intact was not great so I worked from home for a bit and then went for a walk this afternoon.

Having slipped into the clinically obese zone (chuffin scales are clearly faulty even after doing the one legged stance, holding onto the bathroom sink, removing the wedding ring routines) it was important to get back into the training regime. That said I have had quite a decent week exercise wise with running the line at Buxton, playing 5 a side and then reffing on Sunday.morning. Unfortunately interspersed with all this positive activity was the Notts County beer festival which may not have aided the obesity scale. Buxton was fun apart from having the village idiot giving me "advice" and then wanting to be my friend afterwards in the bar. I was the model of decorum, understanding and requested that he politely fornicate elsewhere.

Anyway back to the training, due to the probability of quite a bit of road walking Meg was banned from coming with me on the grounds of her being a total wuss in the proximity of traffic and a pain in my rather ample posterior on the lead. Todays trek was off up over Riber, down through Starkholmes and round Matlock Bath before heading home via High Tor and to feed the lion (red variety) in Matlock Green. Underfoot was interesting to say the least but good on the exercise front as you never quite knew how to avoid the heavy bits.... so I didn't. This meant a good test for the boots which as ever stood up to the task perfectly. Sad indictment of our marriage but they are the best ever pressie the bride has bought me (just ahead of my lycra undershirt for reffing... told you I was sad). Up by Riber I was able to make a pitch inspection of the Matlock Town ground where I am due to be reffing Wednesday...its the flat white area in the distance which makes me think play is unlikely.

Anyway todays route took me past the cable cars which of course are not running in the Alpine conditions they are designed for, and then back over High Tor. Riber castle was looking distinctly faint through the snow on the way back and it was easy to see how people rapidly get lost in a white out. Fortunatly I regained my bearings by observing the highly pleasurable sight of all the stationary cars far below on the A6 as I slid my way down to feed the lion. Lion suitably fed, or rather watered, I sauntered or slid my way home because by this stage we were getting "londonesque" drifts (well a couple of inches anyway). As we speak it looks like another day at home tomorrow and the schools are already closed... tough for these overworked teachers hey. Hopefully I shall get out and about once more and be able to update my travails again.

Although I am not yet getting big mileages in the kit is standing up well. Obviously the boots were great today but the mid layer top is outstanding. With the temperatures set to dip tomorrow the cold weather kit shall be tested. Anyway enough of the technical garbage I'm off for an emotional tryst with my maps and compass. Waheyyyyy.