The Event

We will walk the first lap of the loop together as a group. This will serve both as an appropriate warm up and gives everyone a chance to familiarize themselves with the route both in terms of directions and conditions under foot.

Once we have completed our initial lap, people are then free to carry on 'looping' in a fashion that suits them. There is no fixed way to do this. People wanting to enjoy an afternoon stroll and socialise - brilliant. Those wanting to challenge themselves, also great.

Here are a couple of ideas in which you might enact the challenge:

• A timed cutoff - You set a time limit for completing a loop. The more loops you do, fatigue develops and keeping to that time will become increasingly challenging.

• Set yourself a target, it could be no. of loops, total distance, total elev or total time.

The Route

The Loop of Languish (I’ll accept I’m over dramatic with the name!) Here is a snapshot of the route on an os map.

The loop is approximately 2.7km with a 152m of elevation. Route of travel is clockwise.

 As you can see, a good 75% of the route will see you either ascending or descending. Most of the ground covered can be considered 'trail' so potentially muddy, rocky etc

Parts of the ascent are objectively quite steep and quite muddy in places, poles are a massive help here.

Why choose this route for a Training Walk? Both ascending and descending are physically demanding, utilising different muscle groups meaning your legs will get a thorough workout. From a cardio perspective the flats and descents will see you operating in a lower heart rate zone, building aerobic endurance whilst the ascent should push you to be working harder, perhaps anaerobically. Again this means the cardio system gets some stimulation in multiple domains. 

Should you want a gpx file for this route please use this link: https://explore.osmaps.com/route/29973524/the-loop-of-languish?lat=51.40237&lon=-2.38577&zoom=15.4884&style=Leisure&type=2d