Walk 1000 Miles - A virtual walk from Land's End to John o' Groats

Lockdown wasn't kind to me. My regular exercise (fencing) wasn't available to me and I spent too much time at home, eating and lounging about.

I resolved to get fit and lose weight this year. Then I can get back into my fencing kit and carry on with the sport that I love. And it'll be better for my health.

I decided that the easiest way to make sure I stuck to this was to do it for charity, which gives me accountability. It also means I get to raise some money for Gemma Dearsley's incredible charity 'The Lighthouse Centre'. They do amazing work providing palliative care to local people in their homes. They rely on donations to survive.

I signed up for the Country Walking magazine's 'Walk 1000 miles 2023' scheme which provides an app to track my exercise and chart my progress on a virtual walk from Land's End to John o' Groats. I'll be doing some of this on an exercise bike, for when the weather's bad and because it will build strength in my legs for fencing.

I'll share significant updates on this page and on Facebook, so you can see my progress.

Please help me to help raise funds for The Lighthouse Centre (I hope to raise £500) and get fencing fit again at the same time.

Paul Drake

Happy Boxing Day from John O'Groats!

I did it! I completed my 1000 mile challenge before the end of the year, and here I am (virtually) at John O'Groats.
I want to thank everyone who has supported me in 2023, both with donations and emotional support. I certainly wouldn't have finished without you.

This is my last update. I'll leave this donations page open until 1st January 2024. If you haven't made a donation yet, please do. Every penny helps the amazing folks at The Lighthouse Centre to keep providing the incredible support that they offer to palliative patients in their own homes. It's been an honour to be able to raise nearly £700 (so far) for this small, but deeply worthwhile charity.

Thanks again.
Paul

Friday 17th November - Less than 100 miles to go!

So here I am, with 6 weeks to finish the challenge and I'm down to double figures in the miles I have left.

Looking at the map, it still looks like a long way, but I know it's easily achievable.

I'm walking when I can, but mostly still using the bike. I've reduced my sessions to 5 miles at a time, but with a higher intensity. It's less about the miles now and more about the fitness, as I now have a new secondary goal.

I'm planning to compete in a team fencing competition in January 2024. It's in Dublin at the beautiful Trinity College. It's a brilliant, friendly, well organised competition which I've competed in many times before. I need to keep my weight down (obviously!) but now I need to work on my stamina. My Walk1000 mile challenge will continue to help with this.

But my main goal is still to complete this challenge and raise money for The Lighthouse Centre, so they can continue to do their fantastic work.

Please help me by donating to this worthy cause. 

Friday 13th October - Three Quarters Distance!

It took me from the start of the year until 20th September to get to half distance. Today, less than a month later, I hit 750 miles - three quarters of the way there. 😲

A sustained effort - 10 miles most mornings and evenings on the exercise bike, combined with fencing and walking has got me to this point. In a few days I hope to have caught up with where I should be at this point.

Our Weymouth holiday was brilliant. The weather was incredible for late September and I made an effort to walk whenever I could. I even strayed out of my comfort zone and walked down and back up the cliff steps to Durdle Door (that's me there in the picture) - a very steep 100m each way. 

Just before the 750 mark I (virtually) crossed the border into Scotland and reached Edinburgh - a city that holds bittersweet memories for me. If you want to hear the story of my real life trip Edinburgh, buy me a coffee sometime (and maybe make a small donation).

The support of my family and friends has been invaluable to get me this far. I just need a little more incentive to make the final effort. So please dig deep and make a donation to The Lighthouse Centre - a cause that I am proud to support.

Wednesday 20th September - The halfway point is somewhere familiar

It's been nearly a week since my last update and I'm pleased to report that I'm getting into a great rhythm with the exercise bike. I've started to do 10 miles before breakfast and another 10 in the evening. I've found that i can watch TV whilst I'm doing it and the miles just disappear. 

As a result, I've just hit the halfway point. I've walked and (mostly) cycled for 500 miles. OK, I've used three quarters of the time to get here, but I know I can complete the challenge. I've got a holiday coming up soon, so I'm hoping I can do some walking when I'm in Weymouth.

The halfway point on the Lands End to John o'Groats route found me at a familiar place - Grassington in South Yorkshire. I visited Grassington last year with a friend and we spent a very enjoyable day walking by the river. There was a very steep hill at the end of the route though, which was a challenge. We arrived back in the village of Grassington at around 5pm. We'd had no lunch and were famished. We found a lovely little tea room on the market square, which looked very busy. As we approached, a couple got up and left, giving us an outside table. It was clearly meant to be. We sat and enjoyed a coffee and some Yorkshire tea loaf with Wensleydale cheese - a first for both of us. As we sat watching people in too big cars trying to squeeze them into too small spaces, the clouds started to break and the sun came out, making it quite warm. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day and a great memory.

So, (virtually) standing in Grassington, I can look South and how far I've come already. Then I can turn North and see that I still have a long way to go. Thinking of the rest of the Yorkshire Moors and the Scottish Highlands ahead I'm very grateful that I'm only walking this virtually.

But I look forward with enthusiasm and confidence that I'll reach my destination before the end of 2023. And in the process, raise some desperately needed funds to allow Gemma and the rest of the folks at The Lighthouse Centre to continue to provide their amazing service. Please help if you can.

Thursday 14th September - A New Milestone

It’s been 6 months since my last update. I reported then that my back was improving. It did, to some extent, but it took me a while. Then I went for a short walk in bad shoes and blistered both of my feet.

This has hampered my progress and I found myself hundreds of miles behind schedule. 

Feet and back finally cleared up, I started walking and cycling again to get back on track. My eating healthier has continued though and last week I hit my first weight target - I’d lost a stone since the start of the challenge in January.

This encouraged me to try my old fencing kit on again - just in case it fitted me again. It did! So today I fenced at the club for the first time since before lockdown. And I didn’t suck at it. The old skills were still there, just a little rusty. Got a few very good hits though. 🤺😁

Then the next day, I did another 10 miles on the bike and hit my 450 mile milestone.

it’s been a good week.

I have my work cut out to complete the challenge, but it’s still achievable.

i just need some further incentive, so please donate to this brilliant charity.

Friday 10th March - Back woes

Between the bad weather and me having a cold, I'd slipped behind by about 25 miles. So on Friday I decided to do 15 miles on the exercise bike and the same again on Saturday. That would get me a bit ahead again.

15 miles on Friday was great. I sat down afterwards in my trusty, comfy recliner to relax and record my stats. I'd hit the 150 mile mark and earned the relevant badge on the app. 😁

When I stood up, I reached for something and my back went. I used to have problems like this years ago, but it had been fine since before lockdown. I could barely walk. I couldn't even stand up straight. It was agony. 😫

That put paid to the plan to do 15 miles on Saturday.

Sunday 12th March - Sidmouth

By Sunday it was easing a bit and I managed a couple of slow miles on the hard paths around the lake at Rushden Lakes and along the lake edge. It's getting better each day, so I should be back walking/cycling soon.

Anyway, Sunday's walk got me to Sidmouth, a beautiful little town on the South Dorset coast. My family and I visited there for real back in the 1990's. I remember it well because there had been a TV documentary about a local Lifeboat crew. We were sat in a cafe on the seafront and Mother-In-Law spotted one of the crew. She shouted 'Hi' to him. Fortunately he didn't hear because she'd called him by the completely wrong name! But it was one of those memorable moments that went down in family legend.

Sidmouth is well worth a trip if you're down that way. It's a shame I don't get to actually visit these places on my virtual  journey!

Sunday 26th February - time for bingo?

This morning I walked one of the paths near Rushden Lakes with my best friend. Today's target had been added, so I was now just 3.2 miles behind.

We walked 3.5 miles on a path we hadn't tried before. I ended the morning 0.3 mile ahead. That's the first time I've been ahead since I started.😲

On the virtual map that put me at Dawlish, near Exmouth. I remember when I was first married, the family holidayed in Devon. A couple of times my WIfe, her Sister and Mum went to Dawlish Warren where they really enjoyed playing Bingo on the coast. A lovely memory to go with my achievement today.

Saturday 25th February - Playing Catchup

Having started the challenge slowly and not been adding miles every day, I found myself a little over 25 miles behind target. I wasn't worried, as there's still loads of time, but I decided it was time I pushed myself a little and do some catching up.

I set the exercise bike target to 25 miles, put one of my favourite shows on the TV and started pedalling, to see how far I could get towards my target. 75 minutes later I reached the 25 miles. And it felt good. Really good!

That was double the distance I'd ever cycled before, and even though it was at a fairly low intensity, it was a good workout and a great achievement. But it didn't kill me.

Now I was less than half a mile under target and had a walk planned for the next day. 😃

21st February - Plymouth & 100 miles

The exercise bike is working out well. I'm too busy to walk during weekdays and I won't walk in the dark, so I'm using the bike before I go to work. Walking at weekends though. When the mornings and evenings are lighter, I intend to walk more, but for now the bike's helping a lot. 

I've just finished the first 100 miles. I'm 10% of the way there! It looks a long way when I look at the entire map though. But I know I'm going to do it.

I've arrived at Plymouth, which means I've crossed the border from Cornwall and I'm into Devon - my second county.

Woo hoo! My first milestone. 10 miles under my belt and I've arrived in Penzance.

Progress is slow at the moment, but I hope to start catching up soon. I've set the exercise bike up now so when the weather's bad I can use that instead.

There's a long way to go, but I've got plenty of time. 😄

7th January - And I'm off

So, I'm virtually here at Land's End with my rucksack on my back. Looking at the map and thinking what a long way it is! But it's only a little over 2.75 miles a day.

Wish me luck.