Reaching a plateau

My husband and I looked at the weather forecast for today (very cold but dry and sunny) and decided to go for a walk in the hills! I'm trying to get fitter so this would help on the route to that goal. I took the day off work and we set off early for the Peak District (in northern England). We took a walk up onto Kinderscout - near the start of the Pennine Way. We had a wonderful, but very tiring day. We walked about 10 miles but it was a hard 10 miles. Kinderscout is a high (600m) peaty plateau - much of the ground is waterlogged and covered with eroded peat hags. There was also a lot of snow lying on the ground. This meant every step was an effort. Some steps involved a huge effort in dragging feet, ankles and calves (!) out of deep mud and peat.

The result was, a very long and tiring day. My pedometer recorded nearly 20,000 steps and 1,040 calories burned! I got really exhausted at one point. I decided this was partly down to the poor choice of food I'd taken with me. I thought that I would need some hefty carbohydrates so took some baked beans, chick peas and sardines with me (cold, of course). However, these are 'complex' carbohydrates and take some time to digest and provide energy to the body. I also found this food unappetising when eaten cold, on a cold, windy hillside! The only thing I could eat that provided some 'instant' energy was Dextrosol tablets - and I ate two-thirds of a pack! It was just as well I had them with me as I think I would have had serious problems getting down from the moor otherwise.......

I am sitting at home now, having had a refreshing shower and lots of drinks. My legs have a warm tingly feeling that I expect to turn into muscle aches by tomorrow! I have eaten some nice food (ocean pie and peas) and feel very satisfied with myself at completing such a challenging walk so early on in my post-op period. I know I wouldn't have been able to do such a walk when I weighed two-and-a-half stone heavier. I'm making progress and learning lots of useful lessons on the way.