Sat 9th to Sun 10th May - Resting in Launceston...

In all fairness, even though this weekend was a nice break (albeit
injured) from walking and well earned after 6 days solid plodding, I
was feeling totally deflated.

After stupidly reading a long way ahead in my route book, I came
across the horror stories of The Pennine Way. This included 3 weeks of
pete bogs, horizontal driving rain and all during Summer months!!!
When you're walking on your own, half the challenge is psychological.
Being bored doesn't come into it as you're always kept busy taking
readings from the land, checking your bearings or simply enjoying the
views. It's more the fact that you can seriously beat yourself up and
doubt your ability, meaning you're planning to fail even before you've
set off for the day.

After a good team talk with Dad and the wise words of "why make it
harder for yourself than it is already?", a few things clicked. I'm
walking to John O'Groats from Land's End... who cares which route I
take?!

I think once I reach Bath, a serious sit down at a computer and some
maps is in order. For now, I need to let my leg get better.

After a pretty good nights sleep and a hearty breakfast, my ankle was
feeling a lot more flexible and fancy free. It's still not 100% but
there's not a lot I can do apart from get moving.

Using the excuse of 'keeping my strength up', I hobbled off to The
White Horse Inn for a Sunday cavery... just what the doctor ordered.
It literally didn't touch the sides, so I'm thinking the makers of
Voltarol pain relief gel should start a new line in rub on Sunday
roast gels. If you can get over the issue of rubbing Yorkshire pud
purée into your skin, the recovery times would be miniscule!
!! Business Opportunity Alert !!
... or maybe too many pints of Tribute Ale.

I definitely need to stop thinking about this walk as much as I am.
It's a fine balance of keeping your eyes fixed on the end of your nose
in order to get through the day - and looking at the bigger picture to
keep you on track.
Getting pissed in the pub helps too evidently.

One thing which is going to keep me going is the thought of getting to
Fort William, although let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm just
hoping once I start heading more North, things start looking up so to
speak.

This is turning into a drunken rant so I'm gonna head back to my B&B
and collapse.

After my head cleared, I had a moment of clarity. This book is
actually controlling my trek far too much!! I read about how Mark
Moxon bounces into his destinations with a smile and cheeky comment,
where as I arrive close to tears and even closer to death. That book
is staying in the bottom of my bag for a while and I'll make this walk
my own experience instead of a miserable carbon copy of someone elses.

With that thought, I firmly threw the guide book into my bag and went
about sorting my gear out... Christ I'm carrying too much!