Microadventures...

Al Humphreys has a theme running on his blog at the moment on Microadventures. The idea is to try to show people that they don't need a long, expensive trip to somewhere exotic to have an adventure, and to inspire them to break out of the normal routine and go have an adventure in their spare time - evenings and weekends. In doing so, you can discover areas relatively local that you might otherwise never come across.Al is doing about one of these per month and posting some nice little videos as a challenge for the rest of us. Even though I would consider myself fairly active already, I've decided that I'm going to try to complete each of these. It's very easy, especially in London, to fill up you spare time with lots of other (great) things, so any extra motivation to get out into the wild a little is a good thing. And maybe by actually writing them down here, in public, I'll get that extra impetus to do them even if I'm feeling too busy / tired / lazy.It may be that I've done some of the microadventures before, or was going to do anyway. That's ok though, I guess it will just show that I have some adventures in my life already! They will still count in the challenge, but I'll try to complete the rest also. Maybe I'll even come up with my own. This of course might be tricky when I'm away later in the year, but we'll see how it goes.I'll update this page as Al adds more challenges and as I attempt complete them.So starting at the beginning:Microadventure 1: Enter a race todayThis is all about getting you out there and challenging yourself, from your first 5km run to a marathon - whatever challenges you. I'm not much of a runner. I enjoy it, but always need to train to run any distance and have had various niggly problems with my feet and body over the years that has made any running pretty intermittent. But I do enjoy it, and I'm somehow probably stronger now than I have been before. So, about a month ago I registered for one of the Clapham Common 5k races that takes place tomorrow. Yes, it's only 5km but it's not really about the distance (honestly!). Its more about it being some incentive to get out and run each week. There's another in a month at which point I might opt for the 10k, and hopefully I'll continue. So this one is in progress and should be complete tomorrow!Microadventure 2: Use your weekendThis is all about getting out there and making the most of the weekend. Getting wet muddy and tired doing something new or something familiar somewhere new. Normally this one would be easy... Last year I was often heading off for a weekend of mountain biking. But this year those whole weekends away have been a little bit sparse. I have a plan to ride the South Downs Way as prep for the bike trip later in the year so watch this space...Microadventure 3: Sleep on a hillThis is a great challenge, and a lovely video from Al. Leave work. Hop on a train. Climb a hill and sleep on the summit. Head back next morning. I'm thinking of doing this fairly close to home somewhere in the Surrey Hills, North or South Downs. They are only 40 minutes away by train - so close! So for this, I've made a little investment in an Alpkit Hunka bivvy bag for only £30 (or £40 if you want a bit more space in the XL size) and will head out for this in the next few weeks!Microadventure 4: 24 hour bivvy challengeThis is a little similar to number 3, though the focus is on walking or riding from your front door to find some wild area relatively close by. The rules are roughly that the journey must start and finish at your front door; you must cover, through non-motorised means, a circular journey of at least 30 miles (or a distance that is moderately difficult for you); it must take at least 24 hours; you must sleep outdoors (no tent) in a place you have never been before and if possible you must have an outdoor swim. But of course any variation of your own us perfectly fine - the aim is to get out there, not to rigidly follow a set of rules! So, the bivvy bag is already here, I just need to find a location and route! Again, watch this space...To be continued...