‘I CAN’T RECOMMEND IT ENOUGH’
Kat Savage walked from Land’s End to John o’Groats in 2018 – ‘on a bit of a whim’.
I wanted to raise money for charity.
After discovering a surprisingly small number of women had walked the LEJOG solo, I decided that was it! I began on the 4th Feb following a route based partly on John Hillaby’s Journey through Britain, and partly Andy Robinson’s End to End Trail. I finished on 3rd May.
I was met with such overwhelming
kindness. Britain is brimming with kind and generous people only too pleased to help a random smelly stranger with a dodgy backpack!
I had no idea what was coming for
me weather-wise. Crossing the Severn Bridge where I was pelted so hard with hail I had loads of cuts on my face by the other side. One time I had to scale a near-vertical bramble-filled riverbank when
I lost my way. When I came out on the road, I felt as if I’d survived a zombie apocalypse!
Oxide tape, medical strip tape and hydrogel for those blisters
are a must. Hydrogels were a game changer: you can wear them in a shower for at least three days without changing them which is a massive bonus.
If you do it solo, be mentally
prepared. Breathing and mindfulness techniques help – your thoughts are your most powerful motivator or your most inhibiting competitor. When you hit the ‘wall’ a few miles from the end of each day, having a little mantra to get you to the end will massively help. I would say to myself ‘minutes not hours’ over and over. You will chafe in places the sun doesn’t shine! Pre-prepare with tape and plaster before it becomes a repetitive injury and a ton of misery. And if you’re a woman, think about your cycle. I cannot recommend enough reusable pads or moon cups that you can clean and put away in your rucksack instead of having a bunch of rubbish you may not be able to get rid of for a few days.
Cool your muscles down each day.
You will feel like slumping, but tendonitis will get you if you’re not careful (it got me and reduced me down to 5 mile walks for a week). Trust me on this, do the cool down every day.
You won’t eat as much as you need
water. Go on a foraging course before you start and acquaint yourself with the free wild food you can pick as you walk.
Be prepared to change. By the end, I knew individual bird and animal calls, to follow livestock across the moors if I got lost and how to find the road just by observing the direction of the trees. I felt limitless, connected. When I came home, life was so hectic and bombarding, that I actually quit my job and changed the course of my career. It was the most astounding, hardest, testing, cathartic thing I’ve ever done! I can’t recommend this life experience enough.