Week 10

Week 10.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
4th Mar	Rest day
5th Mar	20.00	32.19	03:53:08	11:39	5.1	398	390	2293	2	148
6th Mar	Rest day
7th Mar	5.00	8.05	00:55:37	11:07	5.4	122	104	536	1	136
8th Mar	8.50	13.68	01:31:13	10:44	5.6	202	117	1081	3	149
9th Mar	Rest day
10th Mar	8.00	12.87	01:26:56	10:52	5.5	160	162	962	2	143
Week 10	41.50	66.79	07:46:54			882	773	4,872
Week 9	21.00	33.80	03:53:34			547	545	2,631
Week 8	27.43	44.14	05:02:31			421	416	3,176
Week 7	35.87	57.73	06:41:54			829	927	4,444
Week 6	24.82	39.94	04:36:11			395	443	2,830
Week 5	27.70	44.58	05:24:26			671	656	3,235
Week 4	31.50	50.69	06:11:56			806	831	3,528
Week 3	36.50	58.74	06:58:54			873	825	4,390
Week 2	29.70	47.82	05:37:20			629	621	3,720
Week 1	30.00	48.28	05:51:27			629	580	3,633
TOTAL	306.02	492.50	2 days 10:05:07			6,682	6,617	36,459
To go	943.98	1,523.50

My biggest week last week, making up for the slightly lower mileage in week 9 to make sure I remain just ahead of target in case anything goes wrong.

The weeks are rushing by at an alarming rate!  Here we are at nearly a quarter of the way through 2016 and I am just under quarter challenge target, so looking good so far.

The week kicked off with my longest walk of the year so far, 20 miles, and in keeping with the 'quarter' theme the route was the first quarter(ish) of the Parish Walk route from the NSC to Rushen.

I started on the NSC perimeter road about 200 metres past the Manx Harriers club house to take account of not being able to do a lap of the athletics track first, but after that I followed the route exactly, including the 3 little "out and backs" to the gates of Marown, Santon and Malew church.

My Garmin recorded a distance of 19.22 miles to Rushen church, and a time of 03:41:53. 

This a PB to Rushen by just 1 minute from my 2014 time (the year I retired at Maughold), which I am pretty pleased with given I was following heart rate training in zone 2 so I had to hold back.  The more observant of you may notice that my average was 148bpm, whereas my zone 2 max is actually 145. 

This is because at the start of mile 18 I decided to ignore the HR monitor and just push as hard as I could for the next few miles to Rushen church, the idea being to really push myself on tired legs.  It was pretty tough and I could feel the burn instantly.

I recorded 11m 04s for mile 18 and 10m 31s for mile 19 which, after 17 miles, is quick for me.

During the hard push my HR was into Zone 4 for approx. 20 minutes and therefore dragged my average above the 145 I had maintained up to that point.

I was certainly finished at the end, and there was no way I could have tackled Ballakillowey and the Sloc, but on the day I will be aiming to maintain a slightly slower average pace to Rushen and I certainly won't be pushing hard on the approach to the church, not with another 65 miles still to go !

I had arranged to be picked up by my wife, Maeve, in Port Erin on the condition I bought her lunch, hence the total distance of 20 miles into the town centre (I slowed down after reaching the church).

Based on the fact I wasn't really 'dressed' to go anywhere posh for lunch I got away with taking Maeve to Subway just inside Shoprite, so I got off quite lightly there.

Luckily she does like Subway, especially their latte coffee, so I didn't feel guilty.  I did make it up to her later that evening and we went into Douglas town centre for a few drinks and a cheeky curry at the Taj.

Something I have noticed more than ever this year is that drinking the same evening as my weekend long walk isn't much fun! 

The first time was about 4 weeks ago after the tough 16 mile group walk with the 'pros' (Richard, Jock, Vinny, Dave W etc).  Later that evening I went to Artisan and it was "Taxi for Jones" after 2.5 pints (I had to leave half, and that's pretty unheard of for me !). 

A similar thing happened last Saturday after my walk to Port Erin, but I lasted a little longer this time with a pint in the Manx Arms and another in the Prospect.  This was followed by Artisan once again, but I avoided the draft beer and played it safe with a bottle, followed up by another bottle of beer in Sir Normans. 

We then walked over to the Taj where I sensibly declined the offer of a Cobra (one of my favourite beers) and opted for a refreshing lemonade instead.  Indian food is one of my favourites so that had to take priority over beer. 

Anyway, the moral of the story is you need to ensure your long training sessions and beer drinking sessions are not scheduled for the same day if possible.

Joking aside, the real moral of the story is you need to ensure you sufficiently rehydrate both during and after a long training session.  You may not feel like you sweat a huge amount in the colder weather but you would be surprised.  It can take a long time to fully rehydrate after a particularly long training session and that long drink of water when you get home really isn't enough on it's own.

I was going to write more about the Parish Walk route to Rushen but, just like the weeks, time has rushed by tonight so I'll hopefully try and post about it in a few days.

I hope everyone's training is going to plan, and if you are thinking about entering the Parish Walk but haven't done so yet then do it today!  It doesn't take long. 

You can enter here https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?event_id=2468

Also, don't forget the Fireman's 50k walk is only 6 weeks away and is ideal preparation for the Parish. 

You can enter here: Firemans Walk

Thanks for reading.

And don't forget, the second part of my challenge is to try and raise £2,016 for Finley's Tracks and all donations are welcome here.  A big thank you to everyone who has already sponsored me online or offline, and to those who have pledged to donate later.