(Unlucky) Week 13

Week 13.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
25th Mar	21.72	34.95	04:03:13	11:12	5.4	229	249	2505	2	144
26th Mar	Man flu
27th Mar	Man flu
28th Mar	Man flu
29th Mar	Man flu
30th Mar	Man flu
31st Mar	Man flu
Week 13	21.72	34.95	04:03:13			229	249	2,505
Week 12	21.21	34.14	03:40:53			578	481	2,499
Week 11	53.27	85.72	09:59:05			1501	1296	6,240
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	402.22	647.32	3 days 03:48:18			8,990	8,643	47,703
To go	847.78	1,368.68

The table says it all really.

Good Friday was my only walk last week, covering the Parish route from Ballaugh to Ramsey in reasonably windy conditions.

I had hoped to cover the final quarter from Ramsey to the finish on either Easter Sunday or Monday but it wasn't to be.  I got up on Saturday feeling a little rough and just continued to get worse throughout the day so I knew that was the end of my walking over the long weekend.

Things weren't much better for the return to work on Tuesday so I had to take a couple of extra days off.  I normally bounce back from "man flu" pretty quick, and while the main symptoms have now gone they have unfortunately left behind a chest infection so no walking this weekend either.

It's now 9 days since my last walk and I'm getting tetchy because this chest infection doesn't seem to be going anywhere.  I did take the dog for a short (3 mile) walk this morning and it was a real struggle to breathe walking up the hills.

I'm going to give it a couple more days but if it doesn't start to move I may need to admit defeat and  visit the doctors for some antibiotics to help shift it.  I'd rather not take them if I can avoid it though.

I'm unlikely to get any walking in this week, and I'm off to Manchester at the weekend to watch Muse, so that won't be a big miles week either. 

It's only 3 weeks until the Fireman's 50k, followed by 50 miles in Rotterdam 3 weeks after that so needless to say I'm panicking now.  It wouldn't be so bad if I could just do a few short miles to keep the legs ticking over but even that's a struggle at the moment.

It's no secret that prolonged exercise weakens the immune system making you very susceptible to colds and flu in the hours afterwards, so I can only assume I picked up the virus after my walk to Ramsey.

One advantage of knowing your resting heart rate is that it allows you to very quickly tell if you are fit and healthy, or if maybe you are coming down with something/over training.

My resting HR is around 50, but on Saturday it was around 65 and then stuck around 75-80 until about Wednesday. 

It's back to normal again now which is a little confusing as I would still expect it to be slightly higher while my body tries to fight off this chest infection.

If you get ill/injured during training it's really easy to get fed up and think it's all over but it's important to remain positive.  Unless you are unfortunate enough to be side lined for weeks, or even months, you aren't going to lose too much of your training fitness, and in fact the extended down time can do your muscles the world of good.

I still haven't written about the Parish route from Rushen to Ramsey but I will get around to it.  Writing about walking is not really something I feel like doing at the moment.

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.