The Day Before Scotland – The Trek

Having made all reservations 15 months ago, Patrick and I finally started the West Highland Way on Monday.

My penultimate training walk, on the Bibblemun Track in Western Australia, probably didn’t adequately prepare me for the Scottish weather.

Having traveled to Ireland to meet up with Patrick last weekend, we completed our longest 19.2km training walk of the week. Much cooler. This is the Holy Year Cross that overlooks my parents’ hometown of Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

Our average daily walk in the WHW is 22.3 km/day, so our longest training walk sits at 89% of average. However, we have yet to see how we go with consecutive increases. I’m really hoping to have the self-discipline to arrive at a lighter weight than the 84.5kg I currently sit at for future hikes. Note to self: It’s all very well paying to see a nutritionist, but I really need to do what she tells me!

At least I’ve gone to the gym most days.

Not that I do tremendously on the walk, but I’m happy that I can bench press 198 lbs (90 kg) 10 times.

More relevantly, my best 5K time, even 3 weeks ago, was under 30 minutes at 28.46.

Therefore, the preparation could have been better, but we are still confident of completing the hike as planned.

Let’s send it on Monday.

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.