Back to nature

Good evening (albeit a few evenings later than usual - sorry about that!):

	Distance (miles)	Time (hh:mm)	Energy (kcals)
Since last post (22 Apr 2013)	20.2	6:49	3207
Since records began (27 Dec 2012)	374.6	106:36	64851

Nothing remarkable since last time in terms of distance or pace. However, I did get in a couple of short but fairly challenging walks.

At the weekend we headed out to the Divoká Šárka nature reserve. If you've ever visited Prague you're sure to have passed it: it runs alongside the main road into the city from the airport. From the road we dropped quickly down into the gorge which runs through the centre of the reserve before climbing through an orchard to a rocky outlook. Our route continued down through woodland to join the gorge further downstream and we made a steady ascent from there back to the car.

Blossom on trees in Divoká Šárka nature reserve

Today is a public holiday in the Czech Republic, and the third anniversary of our engagement. We made our annual trip back to Mariina Vyhlídka where I popped the question. It's a lookout point in the national park known as 'Czech Switzerland'. The walk up from the village below isn't that long (less than a mile) but pretty steep. From there we wound our way through the forest to a few other viewpoints in the area before making our way back down into the valley. It was rather hazy and a little chilly compared to 1 May 2010, but still an incredibly photogenic location.

Mariina Vyhlídka (centre) snapped from one of the other viewpoints in the area

The ruin of a good walk

While it has often been said that golf is the ruin of a good walk, for me it's rather been work-related shenanigans getting in the way a bit since last time. In the last two weeks I will have managed to keep to my daily walking schedule for only three-and-a-half out of nine working days: not good!

There's not much I can do about disruptions to the weekday schedule, but they make it all the more important for me to get out and put in a good walk or two this weekend.

And finally...

... you may have noticed that the training page on the Parish Walk website has been updated with a general tips sheet and a six week plan for novices by Elizabeth Corran (plus a link to the previously mentioned video of this year's 'Walk Talk'). Well worth a look.

Thanks for reading and have a good week!