Walking

Today I went for a walk. Quite a long one: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=DN33+1EN&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1280&bih=711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x487884a52a1de7eb:0x930d2bda1454cdca,Grimsby,+South+Humberside+DN33+1EN&gl=uk&ei=o5s-TomyO8-whAeEosmLAg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ8gEwAA

I decided that I'd make something of my Sunday and so I put on some hiking socks and boots and set out for the beach. I packed some water, enhanced with effervescent sports hydration tablets (the particular brand is High5. I prefer the citrus flavour ones : http://www.superfit.co.uk/high-5-low-cal-zero-active-hydration-1-x-20-flavoured-tablets.html) and some oatbars.

It was excellent weather for it too; not too hot and with a good breeze to help keep me cool. As I'm due to go on holiday to Austria to walk in the hills, I wanted to ensure that I've got some miles in my legs in preparation. I've been doing a lot of walking recently just going about my business in my summer break. This has given me the basic fitness I need to get by in Austria. However, I wanted to test myself on a route of roughly the distance that I'll be doing on holiday.

This 9 mile route is over mostly flat terrain and because Google maps doesn't allow for off road route plotting, the parts where I walked on the sand aren't shown. So for completion, on the more northern part of the route, I did walk on the beach and on the sandy thoroughfare near the docks. A lot of the route is over paths and roads. This isn't representative of what I'll be covering in Austria but the distance is so it's all good fun and good prep for my holiday!!

health

Summer Cycling

I had a great time cycling today. I had to go and pick up some groceries from the shops and I decided that, rather than take the bus, I would go by bike. It had rained about 4 hours previously so the air was nice and crisp. Perfect for cycling as it keeps you cool and is really nice to breathe as it keeps you fresh.

Riding down the street, there was a light breeze and that helped keep me cool too. I have a tendancy to ride quickly even if I intend to go out for a slow, easy ride. The breeze helped me from turning into a sweatbox as I cycled to the shops. I parked my bike and locked it to the steel sheffield frame outside and went in.

After finishing buying some essentials, I cycled home again. The whole trip was really pleasant and simply goes to highlight how useful and fun cycling can be when integrated into one's daily routine or, as I did, taken as an option to mix it up a bit.