walk prep

With no big fanfare this time, I'm taking this coming Friday and Monday off work to walk to Incheon and back. This is the same route I had walked last October; I want to get the trek in before the weather becomes too hot, and according to Weather.com, this weekend ought to be fairly pleasant except for Sunday, which is going to be rainy, alas. As long as Monday isn't miserable, I'll be OK with whatever weather comes my way.

I started last week with step work: I walked twenty-six floors up my building's staircase on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, I did two 14-staircase creekside walks. I rested on Friday, then went up Namsan with John Mac on Saturday, followed by a long walk on Sunday that took me from Apgujeong to my place.

Tonight, I'm doing a megawalk out to Gwacheon City: that'll be thirty-three staircases and about five hours' schlepping—good prep for the long, flat walk ahead of me. You'll recall that the distance to Incheon, from my place, is almost exactly 60 km, which makes for a 120-km round trip divided into four 30-km days. In theory, at a walking speed of 5 kph, I ought to be able to do each day in six hours, but I know myself well enough to foresee a series of 8- or 9-hour days if we consider rest stops and the natural slowing of my pace as the pain begins to radiate up my legs. I'll probably have a couple blisters by the time I return to work on Tuesday morning, but it'll all have been worth it.

Don't expect many—or any—photos this time around. I bored you once last year; there's no need to bore you again.

UPDATE: Sigh... I'm already back home. While I still plan to head out on Friday, I made a choice to cut the walk short this evening: it turned cold and rainy, and I didn't want to catch a cold. I'm going to risk relying on the fact that I did a good bit of distance walking last week to toughen up my feet. Tomorrow, I'll let my legs heal up, then I'll start out early on Friday morning. If it turns out that things are getting too painful, I'll quit and turn around.