Honest advice on hydration, fitness, injury prevention and kit, written for those of us who took the hills seriously a bit later and want to keep at it for the long haul.
I'm Shane. I'm 43, based in Dorset, and I came to serious walking the way a lot of us do, in my forties, when running stopped loving me back. These days I walk long and often, from all-day coastal routes to my first proper mountains, and I write it all down honestly here.
This section is about hiking past 40 specifically, because the body genuinely does change and most hiking advice pretends it doesn't. Hydration, recovery, strength, and the kit that looks after your knees. I write about it because I'm living it and testing it on real trails, from the 58km Jurassic Coast Ultra to a winter Pen-y-Fan in horizontal sleet, not repeating something I skim-read somewhere.
One thing up front: I'm a hiker, not a doctor or a physio. What you'll find here is lived experience plus honest research, and where something touches your health, like medication in the heat, I'll always tell you to check with your GP. No hype and no miracle fixes, just what actually works for keeping at it over the long haul.
If you want the fuller story, how I got here, the ultra, the mountains and where I'm headed next, it's over on my about page.
New pieces are going up regularly. If you want them as they land, grab a free guide or follow along below. Pull up a rock, get some water down you, and have a read.
And this is Maple, my toy poodle and most enthusiastic hiking companion, even if she has the shortest legs on the trail. Maple and I say hi.
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