Shakedown

Leg

Yesterday evening, I ran with my running group. We did a relatively short run, and I actually felt good towards the end, so I upped my pace. My calf decided it wasn’t having it, and screamed at me to stop. I tried arguing with it, but it won. I hobbled the last little bit.

By the time I’d walked home, it had eased a bit. Nevertheless, I was worried about the upcoming weekend.

Practising tenting

As well as practising walking for miles and miles, we’re practising tenting this weekend.

Poles

We drugged and fed Mr Perkins early, then walked along the river to the campsite to get there for around 6.30 pm.

My leg was ok with the walking once it got used to it, although I had to rely heavily on my poles. Walking poles are the best.

Gravity

At the campsite, I stumbled on some uneven ground when we were looking for reception. Once I was off balance, made easier by my rucksack, even my poles couldn’t defeat gravity, and I grazed and bruised my knees. The grazes weren’t bad enough to warrant cracking my first-aid kit open, but the bruises made kneeling a problem later on.

Tent

After a false start or two, we found our pitch and put up our shiny new two-person tent.

The tent weighs about 600 grams, and its poles are my walking poles. It’s pretty easy to put up, once you work out which way round it is. Each occupant has their own door and vestibule for their stuff, and there’s plenty of room inside for two sleeping systems and some bits and pieces.

Meths

We have a little meths stove (NB meths, not meth – we’re not doing a Breaking Bad!); Mr Pandammonium used it to make our tea: soup then noodles, which we followed with an energy bar for dessert. A three course meal – fancy!

Sleep

I’m kind of excited about sleeping in the tent, but I’m not convinced I’ll actually get much sleep.