I've been on a training plan to walk the half marathon with Joy at the end of the month and yesterday my husband joined me on the 16K I had to do. I plotted out a route on my walking paths map and our oldest son drove us out to the starting point, from where we would walk home. It was a gorgeous spring morning, as you can see!
It took us 3 hours 45 minutes to walk 16.4 km. We had a packed lunch with us and stopped along the way to eat at a nice picnic spot and then at a cafe when we were almost done for a coffee (those two stops are not counted in the time). I was a bit worried about stopping, that it would be hard to get up and walk again (Ingrid and I never stop when we walk) but actually it was a nice little rest and didn't seem to make it harder to go on at all.
The trails were challenging - a lot of ups and downs, muddy, uneven paths, and cobblestones. The half marathon in Illinois will be flat and paved. I honestly feel like the variation in trails is a lot healthier for my body and leaves me feeling less sore than walking on the monotony of paved roads/sidewalks. The advantage to paved, however, is that you don't have to keep your eyes on your feet as much. There's a Swiss Flag to everything, I guess...
