Taken To The Limit

"Above all do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it..." ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Taken to the limit is God damn right!
Walking 100 plus miles on ordinary footpaths is one thing, walking in excess of 100 miles through fields of mud, rough terrain, and in awful weather conditions is a totally different matter!
Completing the charity walk along the entire length of The South Downs Way in aid of Cancer Research UK was an unbelievable experience, but words cannot ever fully do it justice. The emotions and feelings that we all went through, along with all the sweat, blood, tears, pains and joys left us all completely drained and exhausted. I know for a fact that I personally pushed myself further than anything I've physically experienced previously in my life, and I was definitely taken to my limits of physical capabilities as well as being severely challenged mentally. Despite my prior training nothing conditions you properly for what we all had to endure...but we did it, which is all that matters and to date we've so far raised £3,450 in donations.

We arrived in Winchester on Day 1 at 9.30am to be greeted by rain...and it didn't let up once all day.
With only a brief stop for a lunchbreak we walked continually to 7.30pm ~ we expected to trek in the region of 24 miles, but it transpired we trudged in excess of 32. This was partly due to a temporary route put in place just after Exton, but unfortunately along this route we encountered flooded fields of mud, chalk and clay and numerous climbs in extraordinary conditions. Needless to say when we finally reached our B&B for the night in Buriton in the dark we were completely exhausted, fatigued, bewildered and dumbfounded ~ one look at at our soggy clothing and muddied boots told its own story...I bet Julia Bradbury never went through this! Lol.

Fortunately with a good nights rest our spirits were lifted on the morning of Day 2 when we were greeted by some sunshine. We also had the knowledge that by comparision to yesterday's hellish stage, we would be encountering a fairly flat stage along well trodden paths. The only surreal sensation that we did experience though was the most unlikely of visions which had us all rubbing our eyes in disbelief...whilst comfortably strolling through a field of rape seed, we suddendly came across a convoy of three grannies travelling uphill on their motorised scooters/buggies!
We ended up in Amberley at the end of the day and even afforded ourselves the luxury of an evening meal before retiring to our beds in anticipation of another day.

Wednesday (Day 3) was forecast for torrential rain and gale force winds...and it didn't disappoint!
We awoke to these elements which seemed to be worsened by taking breakfast in our B&B under a corregated roof. Unbelievably, by the time we were ready to start the rain had stopped, but we've since heard that most other parts of West Sussex and Hampshire were experiencing flash floods and hail storms at this time. What we didn't escape however, was the vicious and cutting winds. We ploughed on regardless all day until we finally reached our daily destination of Pyecombe, situated just next to the A23. Once again we were totally exhausted, but due to our very friendly landlady (Wendy Desborough) we soon recovered to enjoy a very restful and relaxing evening...oh the joy of what a little ice can do when you are in discomfort!

Day 4 (Thursday) was always going to be our 'easy' day...and so it proved.
Just the 14 miles were due to be trekked and once again the weather was mainly on our side.
A pretty uneventful day ensued on a relatively flat stage ending in our B&B in the pretty little village of Rodmell. We decided to talk tactics for our final day, so we made the length trip (five yards across the road) to the nearest pub, and for the first time in the week we really relaxed and unwound over a beer or four! We mutually decided to start the Friday early and to really push on to get as much out of the way as possible, in the vain hope that we could actually enjoy the final afternoon.

We awoke early on Day 5, prepared ourselves with iced foot baths, ate breakfast and then we were on the trail before 9am. We pushed on as intended via Firle Beacon (see photo in my blog profile) and made it to the village of Alfriston by midday. However, this wasn't without it's price. Although the sun may have appeared to have been shining, we all suffered from severe windburn as once again the vicious winds cut into us very hard. But this meant with the exception of one very tough, final climb, we were able to complete our journey by descending quite comfortably (if you can be comfortable after 100 miles?) into Eastbourne via the promenade during late afternoon as the sun thankfully shone down upon us. Once I hit the seaside, my boots went in the bin, my waterproof trousers came off and much relief was felt I can assure you. We all ended up by Eastbourne Pier where we decided to wade into the sea for a paddle to cool down our aching and throbbing feet, ankles, shins and knees.

A few beers later and an Italian meal with Jon's parents alongside Leah and Carrie (Curph's and Jon's wives respectively) to thank them for their support during the week, and then we were all ready to collapse in our funky hotel (appropriately named The Big Sleep) around midnight!
On the train journey back on Saturday morning, we started recalling some of the things we had experienced as the scale of just what we had actually achieved finally began to sink in.

So, what did we actually learn along The South Downs Way?
* never trust the regional weather forecast.
* always trust Curph to make us smile with his scouse humour.
* never trust the mileage shown on maps and signs.
* always trust Chappers to make us laugh with his little wiggle..."everyday I'm shuffling!"
* never trust me when I continually say, "It's ok lads, we're nearly there!"
* always trust Jon with his navigational & map reading skills.

I now know how Steve Redgave felt when he said straight after winning yet another olympic rowing gold medal, "if I ever get into another rowing boat, then shoot me!" ~ well, if I ever put on another pair of walking boots then please shoot me too!

Once I was finally alone for a short while in my hotel room on Friday night, before going downstairs to join the party greeting us, I must confess to shedding a tear or two, which is totally unlike me, but I think all the emotion suddenly overwhelmed me especially when I though of Lou and the reasons why I chose to do this event...I hope she's proud of what we've achieved and despite being totally drained physically and emotionally after completing the trek, I do know that it was all worthwhile.

Further donations can still be made should anyone so wish ~ please find the link to my 'Just Giving' sponsorship page below:

http://www.justgiving.com/SteveMuskett27010

I'd like to thank the lads for joining me on the trek, as I now realise that it would've been near impossible to complete the walk on my own. I was severely challenged as it was, so to try to cope with it on my own would have been soul destroying I reckon.
And finally, I'd just like to thank all the good luck and supportive messages received during the week of the walk...believe me, they were all very much appreciated and I passed all of them onto the other lads on a daily basis ~ they really helped to drive us on and maintain our spirits.

Ramblin' Steve