Little and often

Just two miles today- well the walk was about 3.5 but some of that was through the fields in my wellies. Minnie gets a raw deal if she spends the whole time on the roads on a lead. She went scooting exuberantly about in the mud (of which there is an abundant supply) and found various really vile things to roll in. Maybe if it stays warmish over the weekend I'll clock a few more miles up.

Caution: do not read this if you're easily grossed out

An annoying start to the day as two patches of lovingly(?) toughened skin- one on the middle toe of my Right foot, the other on the sole of my Left- which had been soaked in so much surgical spirit that you could almost sand wood with them-came adrift in the shower, and I had to cut them away, leaving depressingly soft, pink, innocent looking stuff underneath.
Nothing daunted however, I decided to go out barefooting, as the temperature is up to a steamy 10C, so I started off on my 4 mile circuit. I did the walk in 1hr 25, the third mile of the four is the hardest- really coarse road and I can almost feel the tarmac tearing holes- but the 4th mile is lovely- a really smooth, level main road- feels like a carpet by comparison. AND this time came back without bleeding feet, so some of this lunacy must be paying off.

Missing King Wenceslas

As the snow is still lying on the ground I decided to walk the dog wearing boots and take her round the river. A combination of half melted snow, deep mud, rain, sleet and an easterly wind made 4 miles feel like 6.
Its really annoying not being able to barefoot it, but I don't think its more than 2C out there, so it doesn't really make sense to try.
But on the barefoot front I have sorted out another stop- lunch at a school on day 2 of the walk. The headteacher even said they'd feed me! First school dinner I will have had since the last millennium. Yum.

Three miles is a whole lot further than two

As I discovered today- three miles on tarmac in 5C- had unanticipated and largely unwelcome effets on the feet- but I still came home feeling uplifted. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon- and I'd received my first online donations, so it feels as though today was quite a significant step.