An introduction

I don't walk. I mean, I don't really walk. At the supermarket, I instinctively look for a parking place near the door, or near the trolley park. Saving a few metres and a few seconds really does mean that much.

In the last couple of years, a bulging waistline has convinced me that I do need to walk more. So, from time to time, I've made an effort. Walking to St Peter's for morning prayer is just over a mile. I do it once a week or so on average - but only when the weather's clement and when I've given myself enough time. Time, that's the problem. I keep telling myself. With more time available for walking, I could actually do a lot in the course of my parochial duties. There are plenty of visits to make and meetings to attend within a couple of miles of home.

But at 2mph that's an hour for a very modest journey. Okay, 2mph is very steady, I'm just being cautious here. It's just feels so difficult to leave my desk early enough to give myself the time. It's logical. There's no time to walk.

I usually return from holiday with a fresh outlook. Being far from home brings perspective. And so it was this year. After several days recovering from jet-lag, I resolved to walk at least 30 minutes a day, and preferably for at least an hour. A very modest ambition. But given my sedentary existence, this would, I expect, do wonders for my health and fitness.

I'm not in a very bad way. It's just that my middle-age paunch is building steadily and my stamina has never been terribly good. And there are other reasons to get outdoors.

In an alternative worship service just before I went away, the small congregation was invited to go for a short prayer walk. We were asked to go outside and when we returned, there were sheets of paper, pens and paints so that we could record what happened. I scrawled a few notes and words, including this: I think I heard God say that I should get out more.

The other significant thing is that I've committed myself to a substantial walk during my study leave next year. I'm hoping to 'walk home' from Paris, visiting places and people who have been significant in my 45 years along the way.

This will definitely substantial training. I not only need to get fitter, I also need more experience so that I can plan realistically.

For the last four days I've managed a walk each evening. The weather has been gloriously hot and I've been surprised how beautiful the paths are that begin a few hundred yards from my home.

As I walked, I realised that I'm the kind of person that finds goals and plans helpful, so I began to wonder how I might use a long walk of four to six hours on my day off. I was already aware of a 100-mile footpath called The Leicestershire Round. It's a route that someone plotted along the existing footpaths and trails around the edge of the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. Could I walk The Leicestershire Round bit by bit? I would need to get out to the footpath and with no one else to regularly help, I would need to park, walk a stretch and then return. Would this be boring? How far could I get in a day? When will I get bored of it? Will it become a grim chore, especially on the wet and chilly days?

With these and lots more questions unanswered, I decided that today (Monday - my day off) would be the moment I tackled the first leg of the LR. How much of it I will actually cover, I haven't a clue.