We've decided that we trained on the actual route so much last time that it would be good to do something different, and the Warburton Rail Trail is boring enough without doing it over and over. We also discovered two things last year; one, that walking a long way on the flat is not easy - because your stride doesn't change much, you can get very sore. The second thing was that you really need to walk long distances in training - the parts of your body that ache after 10 or 15km are not the same as those that start to hurt after 30 (or 60). So the Yarra Trail was good because it was long and (we thought) flat.
We started in fairly cool conditions around 10am, and finished around 4pm, which included a decent lunch at the Fairfield boathouse, so we did well for pace (we're aiming for an 'on-the-day' speed of between 5 and 6 km/h) - but we were all a bit stiff for a couple of days, especially on the hips and lower back. The sun came out pretty strongly after lunch, as well, so there was a little bit of sunburn too.
I was testing out a theory that it's better to wear trainers when walking on tarmac - this theory remains unproven. I did the whole walk last time in boots, and only had a small blister (and given the weather last time, boots were a good choice). On this outing, I got a blister in a totally new spot and really felt the lack of ankle support, although I think having slightly lighter footwear did help a bit.
One of the great things about Trailwalker is that I've discovered places that I never knew existed - last year it was Churchill NP and Lysterfield Lake, whereas this year I've found that there is a footpath right next to the Eastern Freeway (not quite in the same league, I know), and that the Yarra between Dights Falls and Gardiner's Creek is very attractive.
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