Today marks one year since I started activating summits for SOTA. I don’t have quite such accurate records as Robin has but here are some figures (some accurate and some estimates).
I should work out the distance walked and total ascent with Anquet just for a laugh. I don’t want to think of how much I’ve spent on petrol. I might have worn out my first pair of boots. Well I think the GoreTex membrane is punctured in at least one place as they are no longer completely waterproof. If so then they’ve cost £1.20 a week which is really not a lot of money. At this rate I hope to get Mountain Goat status in three and half years from now.
But it’s not about the money or the points. I’m significantly fitter than this time last year. I’ve not lost any weight at all but my legs are a funny shape now with bulges in strange places. My doctor is delighted that I’m doing some exercise and wants to me to try an encourage the other lardbuckets like me at the diabetic clinic to do some! I’ve also discovered something that other walkers already knew, that the real beauty of this country starts at the car park and gets better the further you go.
So thank you to all of you out there who are all waiting to pounce whenever I get on the air. Thanks to Richard G3CWI and John G3WGV for coming up with such a daft idea as SOTA and to Brian G4ZRP who persuaded me to buy some boots and take my FT817 out into the countryside.
But it’s not about the money or the points. I’m significantly fitter
than this time last year. I’ve not lost any weight at all
My XYL complains about this as well - but apparently Muscle weighs more than fat.
Thats my excuse anyway - but it may be wine and Theakston’s Old Peculiar.
But it’s not about the money or the points. I’m significantly fitter
than this time last year. I’ve not lost any weight at all
Andy,
Keep it up and see what happens. I’ve lost over 1/2 stone, most of it after my first year of SOTA. I took up SOTA as a means to improve my health and get back into enjoying radio again… and to that end I too would thank all the friendly souls that call in to make contact when out on a summit.
The bonus is being able to see all the beautiful places that I wouldn’t otherwise have any reason to see.
Since the start of SOTA, I have lost about 2.5 stones. Admittedly, that took me from 19.5 to 17 stone - I am not a small bloke (6’3")! Despite maintaining a strong exercise programme, I haven’t lost any more weight since the end of the Pennine Way, but my body fat percentage has continued to drop. No doubt yours has too Andy.
SOTA has inspired me to (a) get in better shape and fitness and (b) maintain it. I don’t think SOTA alone could ever improve my weight and fitness, not with the relatively short walks (5/6 miles) at relatively gentle pace I do with Liam, but I now also play football and squash weekly, swim and work out at the gym.
Without doubt, SOTA has affected my lifestyle in a big way. It has introduced the help to develop my amateur radio skills and equipment, the inspiration to get fitter, and had a particularly profound effect on my eldest son - his progress at school since he got his amateur radio licence has been remarkable, and it is no coincidence.
The bonus is being able to see all the beautiful places that I wouldn’t otherwise have any reason to see.
Well, I live amongst a rather different landscape to you Gerald, and always did go for walks in beautfiul places. In fact, some of those places I have hardly visited since I started SOTA - Macclesfield Forest, Shutlingsloe, Timbersbrook, Middlewood Way, Macclesfield Canal, Teggs Nose, Jacob’s Ladder etc, and I really should halt the SOTA obsession and do more local walking. On the other hand, SOTA has certainly broadened my horizons and encouraged me to get in amongst places like Snowdonia, Lake District, Northern Pennines, Brecon Beacons etc, none of which I had been hiking in before 2002.
