Moving up a notch

I have completed the first six weeks of training, and this week it gets a bit tougher. I am now doing two one-hour walks during the week, and shall be doing a four-hour one at the weekend. All of them of course faithfully accompanied by The Beast. The walking does not bother me too much although I have yet to see how I feel after four hours.

I know my weak point is hills, especially the 'ups', so I have decided that every time I go for a walk I won´t use the lift. Since I live on the eighth floor that means I shall walk up and down eight flights of stairs (each flight has 15 steps, as a matter of interest) fully loaded at least three times a week. Later I intend to increase this as my building has fourteen flights altogether. I did something similar to prepare for the Inca Trail.

Now, all of the above I can cope with, even if I have to occasionally grit my teeth to keep going. What I really can´t stand are all the set exercises for stretching and strengthening the muscles, I find them excruciatingly boring. At this stage there is an hour´s worth after every walk and I find them a real pain in the proverbial. I can walk ´til the cows come home, but gym in any shape or form drives me nuts. I know it´s an essential part of my training, so it is no good whinging on about it, I´ll just have to find a way of making it more enjoyable. I thought of music, but since I´m counting most of the time that might make me lose track of where I´m up to (having to go back to the beginning again doesn't bear thinking about). The same goes for television. I think I´ll try some music next time, anyway, maybe a compilation of hits from the sixty´s and seventy´s and see how it goes. I must find a solution. Watch this space!