WalkAcross Lekki Peninsula - Day 1 in Tweets

Just woke up, still I got some aches on my feet but they are easing. I managed to complete 17km on Day 1, 55km to go.

Day 2 is Environmental Saturday and the time now is almost 08:00 so I have a couple of hours before setting out. Some updates on Day 1 below using tweets from yesterday. I got a few pictures which I'll upload later.

-          -  #wallacross #walkcrosspeninsula 1.5hrs behind schedule

-          -  18:55 Bonny Camp, Ozumba Mbadiwe

-          -  #walkacross seen a couple of people with back-packs also walking...in the opposite direction though. Am thinking #notransport

-          -  19:22 Law School. I recall a colleague telling us he got robbed around here. I better cross to the other side of the road

-          -  19:39 Where am I? I got my GPS locator up now

-          -  19:47 Mobil V/I

-          -  #walkacross approaching the Toll Gate, Oniru. No need to take the alternative route

-          -  19:54 Oriental Hotel, walking pass #Club23

-          -  20:14 1st Roundabout, Lekki Phase 1

-          -  It starts getting lonely from here, no other pedestrian around

-          -  20:33 2nd Roundabout, Lekki

-          -  #walkacross am clocking an average of 4.5km/h

-          -  #walkacross Two hours deep, approx 9km. 63km to go

-          -  20:58 3rd Roundabout, Lekki

-          -  #walkacross Oando (Elegushi) filling station traffic, 3 straight nights @gidi_traffic

-          -  21:11 4th Roundabout, Elegushi

-          -  #walkacross Am starting to slow down, slight aches settling in

-          -  I wonder why one foot aches more than the other...maybe my left butt cheek is heavier #walkacross

-          -  21:38 6th Roundabout, Jakande

-          -  I think am o go for #Ajah. Make or break decision

-          -  Ops, last checkpoint was actually 5th Roundabout #walkacross

-          -  21:59 Idado. For the records, I've now walked from the office, home.

-          -  I've lost my face towel. Lucky this is a night walk else my face sweat will drown me

-          -  @LadejobiAde and I left the office together. He drove, I walked. 3 hours later, walking pass his hood #walkacross

-          -  I can see lightning in the clouds ahead. Rain? I miss my #ICS weather widget

-          -  22:14 7th Roundabout, Chevron

-          -  The last time I walked 3 hours straight, I legs were almost giving way. This time around, just aching feet #newshoes

-          -  #walkacross The 'Christmas' lights of Chevron Toll gate ahead

-          -  #Ajah is close, yet f&¥king far

-          -  22:53 Ikota, Mega Chicken. Calling it Day One, am out

   JAS

Jogging is hard, Walking is well...that's a different story

As part of plans to get my fitness level up for #walkacross Peninsula, I'd made jogging a regular in my exercise routine. Sometimes I try to imagine jogging the distances I (plan to) walk. The great James Cracknell comes to mind. Though he never made the epic run across the United States, the intensity and difficulty he endured shows jogging great distances is for the greats way up there.

For mere mortals like myself, walking is as tough as it gets. In just over 24 hours, I will set off from the Ozumba Mbadiwe end of the 72km road that winds up to Epe. I had initially planned to postpone the walk because some equipment I ordered were delayed - one of the items being new walking shoes. But thinking about Walking 101 (Never do long distances in new shoes) made me re-consider.

So I'll go ahead with the 72km walk on Friday. The Mrs. got my apples and glucose to I will pack along going to work in the morning. I expect to complete the distance in about 2 and half days. Going to work usual however TGIF won't be at the Wine Bar or SS Lounge. I will be setting off after the day's hustle, with ETD as 17:00.

The key to completing this walk successfully by Sunday will be the distance am able to cover in Day 1 so I plan to hike to Ajah before 9pm then rest for the day  (at home) before continuing on Saturday morning.

Not sure if I'll update this blog again before 17:00 on 28/09/12 but you can follow the walk on the hash tag #walkacross or #walkacrosspeninsula - I'll be tweeting usual @alldatjas. You can also locate me on G Map to see "where I at"...juice permitting.

Walking Trail - 72km

JAS

Post Saturday, Pre Next Week

Its 4 days now since the practice walk and I haven't done none of my planned fitness regime for next week's walk.

After estimating I must have burnt almost 2,000 calories, my psyche has sort of relaxed a bit. Work is not helping matters in trying to create time for some exercise plus tomorrow and Friday are out of the question. That leaves Saturday and 6 days to get ready.

Oh yeah, seen some gear online that I need to buy before my +300km walk, definitely a must before then. Trying to think of stores locally where I get some of the stuffs...not sure.

JAS

Practice Walk, Attempt 2 in Pictures

09:50 Mega Chicken, Ikota

09:52 Still at Ikota

10:15 VGC

Practice Walk - Attempt 2

This is the very first of many exciting journeys ahead in the #walkacross adventure. I hadn't done any fitness regime in awhile so I wanted to test my body's endurance without prior training.

The walk on Saturday Sept 15th was actually the second attempt at a practice walk. The first attempt was 6 weeks ago. I had set off on the 24 km trek but got a call at the 3km mark from the office (our ED...ok he was not ED then, but he's ED now), that I had to attend an important meeting. So I had to abandon the walk then.

Sept 15th, no such meetings sprung up. Hung out  the night before with the Black Card crew and told them I will be doing the practice from my place to Awoyaya. Set off time was 09:04 from Idado for the grueling 24.8km trek.

Just to clear things right from the onset, I'm not trying to break any distance/time record. I just want to walk like no Nigerian has done before...and along the way, see where this take me. I also want to leave a mark, something like what you see in toilet cubicles - JAS Was Here.

As a practice run, I learnt a couple of things along the way;

- walk breaks are necessary and beneficial
- if I'm to walk and use my phone (Xperia S) for stuffs, I will need back up juice
- 24km is childsplay compared to what's ahead
- I need more gadgets, a bit more equipment

After 6 hours, 10 mins. I got to Ladi and Obi's place in Awoyaya. Mission accomplished...that's my trail below.

JAS