Onward and Upward, or sideways.

Since I had a BUPA medical two years ago, and the medic told me to get out and walk a bit, i've taken him seriously and got into bipedal perambulation in a biggish way.

It's not that I had a serious problem. I'd just let middle age overtake me, enjoyed the beer and crisps too much and built myself a spare tyre, along with a "marginal high blood pressure and cholesterol level" to use the medical terms...In other words I was becoming a fat lazy bastard.

I've always enjoyed my own company (how vain is that?) and of recent years i've had some interesting work (see attached blog item entitled "put it there") which allowed me to travel and keep myself fit and solvent, but this has sadly gone and been replaced with a more sedentary lifestyle which led me to the standard family shape of - a bit pudgy round the middle.

After a slow start, I got into the old phrase "early to bed early to rise, makes a man tired, cranky but slightly thinner"....and went out to walk our local beach each day at sunrise. It's a three kilometer march and was a dawdle as I wasn't THAT unfit. I started to like it, and one day broke into a trot, then after 100 metres found I was totally out of puff, so decided I needed to do this a stage at a time. I kept setting targets - end of the beach and back as far as the tree with the scabby warts - for a week, then if I felt like it, as far as the portaloo they've built for the workers on the new pavement project..etc, until after a year I was running the whole beach.

When the first winter came round I saw a programme on Spanish TV about something called the "Vias Verdes". This showed happy, mostly elderly or severely enthsiastic sport nuts on bikes, travelling on flat, paved converted railways. It looked great, so I investigated and found that Spain has 1600 kilometers of rural railways which have been converted to walking and cycling tracks. This was just what i'd been after...great scenery, flat paved routes and above all well away from Salou so I could get a bit of a change of scene. The neares Via Verede to us is the "Baix Ebre" or Low Ebro River Valley which measures 26 kilometers. It's a bit of a drive to the start point but I went there and did a notable 22 kilometers from Tortosa to Xerta and back on the first day. That was a bit of a fast learning curve as I found that my trainers, from Decathlon, were actually a tiny bit too small and i'd bruised my toes, however I learned fast, got myself some nice soft impact trainers plus a pair of fell boots, some shorts and socks.

Within three months i'd not only done the "Baix Ebre" out and back in stages, but found the extension of that trail which ges west. called the "Terra Alta", another 30 kilometers and done that too.

Since then i've discovered a marvellous site operated by the regional government the "Generalitat de Catalunya" www.gencat.cat/palaurobert which gives routes for walking, cycling and driving...on a well organised and easy to use site. Ive taken myself off most Sundays to a valley, mountain or forest and trekked around getting wet, sweaty, scratched, stung and completely exhausted and VERY happy. Een the wife and several friends have become enthused, so ive started to store some of the less strenuous and more interesting routes so I can take them along.

So my exercise routine now consists of weekday morning walk/run events lasting 30 minutes. Sunday specials - either one of the local Fun Run routes - 10 kilometer power walk, or a hill somewhere , usually half an hours drive away. End result I am now far more motivated, a good deal slimmer and much fitter than I was, plus it's keeping my eyes open to what's around in Catalunya.