Henry Cooper is walking 2016 km in the year 2016!

Henry is walking 2016 km in the year 2016, to raise some funds for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

Please click below, to sponsor him – thank youHello again

Things continue to progress nicely, here are the figures for up to the end of April:

• 1094km
• 26 marathon distances
• As far as Buckingham to Prague, Czech Republic (as the crow flies)
• 80935 calories
• 54% of target distance

Thank you again for the fantastic donations, I’m really grateful – you can donate here thank you

As I carry on in my quest, I am starting to see some lovely changes to the nature that I can see on my travels.  We’ve progressed from snowdrops to daffodils (sometimes at the same time!  I’m now seeing tulips and yesterday the most amazing carpet of bluebells.  With birdlife, I have seen the first ducklings of the year and many other birds are starting to nest, I have even seen my first swallow it is really my favourite time of the year – just a shame that up to now, the weather has been so cold – must be very confusing for the animals, although, as I write, things seem to be starting to warm up at last!

Many people who know me, know that I am a bit of a geek, so I thought I would just share a few apps, that I use to help me on my way:

• Runtastic – this is a great app for recording my progress.  It works out how far I have walked, how many calories, speed etc – can be quite a good motivational tool.
• iPhone health app – always running in the background, recording steps/distance – tends to under-read distance sometimes, but is a good guide
• OS Maps – this is a paid for subscription that gives you full access to all of the UK Ordnance Survey maps – also works as a GPS, so is great for finding your way back to a path, if you stray off the beaten track, so you should never get lost.  Also has a great plotting a route, telling you the distance and time taken to walk.  You can save your routes and follow them, when you are out walking.  I’ve discovered many new routes near to my home using this.

Plans for the future – as well as my run of the mill walking, I would love to have a go at “walking” up Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben-Nevis – not sure when this will happn, so watch this space!

Thats it then,  thank you for reading, another update soon – happy walking – go on, get out there, you know you want to and who knows, the sun might shine!

Bye for now

Hello again

Things are still going well, firstly, here are the figures for up to the end of March:

• 820 km
• 19.5 marathon distances
• As far as Buckingham to Stuttgart, Germany (as the crow flies)
• 54985 calories
• 40% of target distance

Thank you again for the fantastic donations, I’m really grateful – you can donate here thank you

So – why do I like walking so much?

• It’s fantastic exercise, with minimal cost – you can usually find some lovely walks very near to where you live.
• It’s a great way of spotting nature, I have seen kites, buzzards, deer rabbits, hares, lambs, as well as all of the lovely plants and flowers that are now appearing
• You will almost certainly see something to make you say “wow”
• It’s a great way of de-stressing.

Hopefully now that we are officially in spring, the weather will start to warn up, really looking forward to enjoying a bit of warmth and maybe shed a few layers of clothing!

So – thank you for reading, another update soon – happy walking – go on, get out there, you know you want to!

Bye for now

Hello again

After last months promising start, I’m pleased to say that things are still progressing nicely.  Here are the figures for up to the end of February:

• 588 km
• 14 marathon distances
• As far as Buckingham to Bonn, Germany (as the crow flies)
• 39400 calories
• 29% of target distance

I’m really grateful for all of the donations that I have received so far, they are really helping to spur me on – especially when it’s wet and cold.  Thank you everybody, you are all very generous.

So – what have I learned so far?

• No matter where you walk and whatever the weather, there is always something nice to see and to make you smile.
• I am very lucky to have some beautiful countryside on my doorstep.
• The Ordnance Survey app is fantastic for planning walks and for helping you out, if you get lost.
• Bridleways get VERY muddy, during “damp” weather!
• My small coffee flask has become a very welcome friend

So – there you have it, another update soon – happy walking!

Bye for now

Henry Cooper is walking 2016 km in the year 2016!

Henry is walking 2016 km in the year 2016, to raise some funds for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. 

Please click below, to sponsor him – thank you

Hello again.

Being an accountant, I suppose it is pretty obvious that I like figures/targets etc.  My lovely wife Catherine has said that my figure has improved quite nicely, after all of the walking that I have done over the last couple of years – I haven’t had the courage to explain to her that this wasn’t the sort of figures I had in mind!

I have got so into my walking (some might say obsessed!), that I needed a new challenge, hence the 2016 km in 2016 idea.  So, here come some of the figures that I was talking about:

• 2016 km in a year is just over 38 km a week or just short of a marathon distance
• I will therefore walk 48 marathon distances in the year
• This should burn off about 130000 calories over the year!
• I will walk (as the crow flies), roughly as far as Buckingham to Sicily

So – how am I doing so far?  I’m quite pleased to say that I have managed:

• 343km
• 8.1666 marathon distances
• As far as Buckingham to Carlisle (as the crow flies)
• 23000 calories
• 17% of target distance
• 2 sets of plasters for my little toes!

So – overall, a very pleasing start.  I’ll tell you about some of my exploits in another blog soon.

Bye for now.

Henry Cooper is walking 2016 km in the year 2016!

Henry is walking 2016 km in the year 2016, to raise some funds for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. 

Please click below, to sponsor him – thank youHello and welcome to my new walking blog.

Some of you may have noticed that I have been doing a lot of walking (and cycling), lately.  Some of you may have also noticed that I am now a little lighter (and fitter) than I was a few years ago.

I thought I would set up this blog to tell my story of why I took this step (see what I did there!) and to share some of my experiences on my journey (see what I did again!), maybe to inspire you and maybe to tell you that if an old codger like me can get himself reasonably fit and have a nice time doing it, then maybe you can too.

I’ve also taken the plunge (something I hope NOT to do whilst out walking!) and set up a Justgiving page https://www.justgiving.com/birchcooper/ where I am going to try to raise some funds for the local Thames Valley Air Ambulance, by trying to walk 2016 km in the year 2016 – I hope you will be able to support me in the weeks and months ahead and maybe even join me and maybe lose a few lbs?  Any spare £s you may have will be gratefully received.

Please come back soon and see how I am getting on and to share some of my experiences past and future.