Ice, ice ... maybe

Week Three done, with minimal interference from the icy weather. Waking up on Friday morning, I wondered if there might be some speed-skating, but in the event it was fine. The morning is definitely the time to do these sessions - far fewer people around, and far less traffic as well. The urban fox I saw on my way in took four attempts to cross the main road, but I was a bit luckier. Even at 5'5", height has its advantages.

The session itself was a two-miler this time. I'm still getting used to keeping the pace up - it's not difficult effortwise, but it requires concentration to keep walking out of your natural rhythm. It's fun, though, to be doing something new - feels a bit like running did when I first started, years and years ago. Fear of injury means I'm not running at all at the moment - a longstanding ITB problem means the risk is pretty significant, and the last thing I want to do is scupper my Parish attempt by arsing about - and so far, surprisingly, I'm not really missing it. Having something else to obsess over is obviously good for me.

The other two walks were three miles and eight, the latter done in the Peak District on Sunday morning. A later start than usual allowed for some of the ice to clear from the roads but there was still a fair bit about, so progress was fairly slow. Except at one point, when progress from my feet to my backside was very rapid indeed. Good job I bounce well.

This week is the first of three in which I've got too much on to fit in a long walk at the weekend, so I'll be doing them during the week instead. Working nine to five means this has to be either early in the morning or late in the evening: I've gone for the former. It'll make for a pretty early start, but it suits me better than having nine miles to do after work. I'm looking forward to this one. 😁

Left, left, left-right-left...

That's my second week of training complete. This week's short walks were the same distance as last week's, the only difference being that this time I did the tempo one out on the roads rather than on a treadmill. It went well: 1.52 miles in 20 minutes, 30 seconds, so an average speed of just over 4 mph. I found it reasonably easy - it's a fast pace, so I had to keep my brain engaged to ensure I didn't settle into my usual rhythm and slow down, but it wasn't uncomfortable. I did this one in the evening, straight after work, which also reminded me why I've always trained in the morning. If I go out at that time again, I might be tempted to take my harmonica to help get rid of those people who shamble down the middle of the pavement like snails going over sandpaper. Headbutting them in the small of the back feels a bit extreme.

Speaking of backs, I've discovered that the combination of an office job and my own total inability to sit in a sensible position is (probably) causing lower back pain when I walk. Not all the time, but sometimes. It was there for much of this morning's seven-and-a-half-miler. It's not severe, but it'll have to be dealt with. Some bad habits need to be unlearned, I think.

Overall, things are going well. Total training mileage is still low - eleven miles this week - so it should be easy, and it is. The tests of character will come later, which makes it important that I form the right habits now.

Onwards and upwards.

The end is where we start from

I've really got very little idea what I'm doing here. I've been walking in the hills for years, but always for fun and never with a time limit. I'm familiar with speed and endurance work, however, thanks to my running background, so maybe I'm not as deeply in the dark as I could be.

I'm also a trained researcher and project planner, so it seems natural to break the challenge down into aims, objectives and methods. What I need to achieve is dead simple: walk as far as I can without exceeding the time limit for a given section and, if at all possible, keep going for 42 miles. That's the aim. The objectives, then, are to extend how far I can walk and to learn how to walk at a set speed for mile after mile. The method I'm using to achieve those objectives is a training plan incorporating three walks per week, rising to four at around the ten-week point. The first (and later the fourth) will be a short walk at a comfortable pace, the second a short one at race pace and the third a longer one. Once I get used to covering the ground at 4mph, I might increase the pace of the slower walks as well: that's a decision for later.

I kicked this off last week with walks of 2 miles, 1.5 miles and 6.5 miles. The latter was supposed to be closer to six, but we saw Stanage Pole on the horizon and had to go and visit it, as you do. All three walks were well within my capacity - at the moment it's about increasing my overall mileage and getting into the habit of walking several times a week for its own sake. I decided to do the first tempo walk on a treadmill at the gym, because I hadn't the faintest idea what 4mph felt like. As it turns out, for a shorty like me it's pretty close to how I remember the basic marching speed, roughly two steps per second: easy to count and easy to maintain. Encouraging. The thought of keeping it up for 42 miles is a sobering one, but now I know what I'm dealing with.

This week is the same as last week, so another easy two-miler tomorrow morning.

So it begins...

On the 17th of June, I'll be attempting the Isle of Man Parish Walk for the first time. This is an annual event that takes place over an 85-mile course, visiting each of the Isle of Man's seventeen parishes, with a time limit of 24 hours. The people who complete the full course are by and large race walkers, many of them quite serious athletes - the rest of the field is made up of more ordinary people, from all sorts of backgrounds, who've set themselves the challenge of reaching a certain point.

The Parish is also a fundraising event, with each entrant using sponsorship to raise money for a charity of his or her choice. Mine will be Combat Stress, which offers support and treatment to serving and former members of the British armed forces who experience mental health problems associated with their service. They've been in existence since 1919, at which point they were years, if not decades, ahead of their time, and they've helped thousands of men and women with problems that can still be very difficult to talk about. I'll say more about the charity as I go along.

My personal challenge, born of a combination of naïvety, blind ambition and a long history of not knowing what's good for me, is to make it as far as Ballaugh. That's forty-two miles, to be completed in just under twelve hours. At the moment I think I might be mad, but I've drafted a training plan that should get me there if I can stay clear of injury.

I've just completed my first week's training, so I'll write about that in a second post at some point over the next few days. Thanks for reading, and welcome to the madness.