Walking For Pleasure

### This is collaborative post ###

This year I've been putting extra effort into looking after myself. 

My new mens ski Jacket ready for winter walking on the hills

I'm only 35 but already I can start to feel aches and pains more. There have also been a couple of instances that have really slowed me up and made me think.



One of those was earlier in the year when I was lambing a ewe in the shed. It was about four in the morning when I started and after a couple of hours I managed to pull two lambs out (one alive and one dead). It took me about two hours in total, lay on the floor in the wet. When I got up I knew straight away I'd done my back in again. I could barely walk.

It was the Easter bank holiday but luckily I managed to get hold of my chiropractor, where I was in so much pain that I told him if he could sort me out I'd marry him. It was another three weeks and many visits later until I was right again and it made everything very hard. For the first few days my wife even had to put my socks on!

Determined not to let this happen again I asked what was the best thing I could do to strengthen my back. And although he said my back is already quite strong with just a weak spot, he recommended I try to do a lot more walking.

Blowy Autumn walks to school

So I really took this to heart and I've been trying to walk a lot more. We try to walk the mile to and from school as many times a week as we can. It's tricky as if its wet the one field we walk across is impassable but the rest of the time I much prefer it to driving as the children really open up and chat which is lovely.

I've also been trying to get up the hills a lot more to do some walking. I normally go with a friend and love getting up there and learning my local area. The Malverns are simply stunning so it's great area to live if you like walking.

I have been getting ready for winter though and I'm in love with the new mens ski jacket that Simply Hike sent me to try out. It's going to be perfect for winter walks whatever the conditions - no excuse when it snows either! I'm terrible for keeping clothes too long and my old coat is falling apart so it's great to be ready for winter already.

It's also a brand I've always liked, Quiksliver, as their products always seem to be built to take the kind of abuse I give. My Quiksliver glasses lasted 12 years until my daughter handed them me in two pieces, straight faced, as she said "I didn't sit on them and break them daddy." Great...

The weather can really differ up on the hills to what we experience in the valley below. Even last Wednesday it was nearly blowing us off our feet and we were both laughing as we tried to take some photos without leaning too much! Also if we have a winter like we did last year it's far better to your winter wardrobe sorted now rather than trying to get it when the weather turns.

I'm feeling great from all the walking and I can really feel a difference. I normally clock anywhere from 12,000 step to 20,000 depending on what I'm doing that day. I should imagine it was pretty high before hand with all the chores and other jobs I do each day, but walking for enjoyment is somehow different. It lets me clear my head, think about things and really enjoy where I live, normally everything I do has to have a practical reason and it's nice to have something that doesn't - other than my own well being.


Who else walks for enjoyment rather than for just practical reasons?

What do you like to wear for cold weather walks?



#### Simple Hike sent me the jacket free of charge but all thoughts and opinions are my own.