"Mind Over Matter" - Four Days Hiking Around the Isle of Wight

Live-well Blog #1 - 13/10/25

This summer I had the pleasure, and the great challenge(!), of hiking around the Isle of Wight (just under 70 miles) with my wife and mum-in-law. I had visited numerous times over the years and really loved its mixture of landscapes, charming towns and villages alongside the interesting quirk of being an island off of the mainland.

Before starting the event, I saw it as a sort of mini adventure, a mixture of travelling by foot to places I found familiar, like Ventnor and Ryde, alongside new and exciting locations like Freshwater Bay and Cowes. However, I didn’t truly appreciate the physical challenge we had set ourselves…

We chose to break the island down into rough quarters as best we could, hiking through the morning until early evening. And sleeping in prebooked B&B’s, which would become our pit stop sanctuaries after moving for 8-10 hours a day!

Starting from the northern end, Cowes from the ferry, we set westwards along the coast. Blessed with sunny dry conditions. We packed everything in our back packs, such as change of clothes, hydration tablets, snacks etc. Getting top ups along the way, as frequently as we could, especially with our water intake. Sun cream was a must, as was covering our heads and necks from the powerful sun.

At the end of day 1 we had hiked for 10 hours, burned over 2000 exercise calories, and travelled nearly 22 miles over hills, coastline and woodland. It was tough… And that night at the first B&B, I stretched and nursed by sore feet and extra tight right glute. I knew we had three more days of this ahead of us.

And that was the moment I realised, yes this was indeed a physical endurance event. But as we got into the thick of it all, this was to become more a mental endurance event.

As we kept going, we had to focus on:

First our micro goals: “One mile at a time, keep going”.

To longer goals: Reaching our B&B after another 8ish hours hiking.

And then onto our main goal: Travelling the 70 mile approx coastline of the island!

Honestly, it was really refreshing to wake up everyday and know that my only purpose was to walk. Life can be complicated sometimes and a physical event such as this can really help clear the mind!

Needless to say, we all continued over days 2 – 4. Up and down valleys, through woodland, darting across traffic when the path had soil erosion. At one point my wife had a serious attack of foot blisters and I got mini heatstroke on day 2, along the exposed southern coastline (my mum-in-law had no issues whatsoever!)… With all the best will, we of course made sure we were safe and hydrated effectively, however there will always be “bumps in the road” as we go through any challenge. But we always had our goals in sight and continued.

Day 4 thankfully, for our bodies at least, was also the shortest. We wrapped up at our previous starting location of Cowes again. We felt elated and exhausted in equal measures, and very much enjoyed the ferry back to the mainland. I mentally waved goodbye to the Isle of Wight, safe in the knowledge that I would surely be back again soon. ...But maybe next time I would choose to go on a relaxing camping trip or take my time and do some leisurely sightseeing instead! Thanks for the great memories!

My top tips from doing this hiking endurance event:

1 Seek the shade when possible, no use wasting energy overheating. 😓

2. Wear a cap/buff. Switch it up to cover your eyes/back of neck from the sun. For an added bonus, soak and wear them. It keeps you very cool! ☀️🧢

3. Start with a fresh pair of hiking socks each morning. Motivationally a new start to your adventurous day ahead and, of course, hygienic. 🧦🥾🥾

4. Have a mini first aid kit handy. At the very least loads of plasters for sore feet. 👍⛑️

5. Hydration to the max. Electrolyte tablets in water really kept me going. After sweating tons all day, I need to keep replenishing them asap. 🥛

THE RESULTS!

For any help with endurance events, or building your exercise stamina, get in touch!

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