A Beacon of Hope

With less than six months until we attempt the Three Peaks, I thought it was about time I tested myself to see how far I've come since deciding to take on this challenge. So on a cold and beautifully clear Friday morning I headed to the Malvern Hills for my first real training walk.

Sean was ill and Chris unavailable, so I enlisted the help of another work colleague, Andrew, who very kindly joined me for the first couple of hours. We set off from Tank Quarry in the dark, arriving at the Worcestershire Beacon just as the sun began to rise. The views were truly stunning. Taking them in it was easy to see why Tolkien took them as inspiration for the hills of Rohan in his Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

After stopping at the Beacon for a few photos we continued to the Wyche Cutting, where Andrew and I parted ways.

Flying solo, I pushed on to the top of British Camp and on to 'Giant's Cave' before turning about face. It was on the return journey that I really started to feel it. Now Ben Nevis the Malvern Hills are not, but they are not to be underestimated. The constant steep up and down of the hills is brutal on the legs and mine protested with each incline. I was in danger of slowing down when I came across an old man with a prosthetic leg who happily informed me that he'd also undergone a triple heart bypass three years earlier. We stopped to chat for five minutes where he told me some of the local history and shared some words of wisdom. Now here was someone who had every reason to not be up on the hills on a freezing January day, but he was there and he had a real spring in his step. Feeling inspired, I continued on my way with new found vigour. 

The stats for my walk can be seen in the graphic above. As I sit here with aching legs I know I've got plenty to work on, but overall I was pleased with my morning's work. It has filled me with hope. A fool's hope, as I've been told.