Week 26

Week 26.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
24th Jun	Recovery
25th Jun	Recovery
26th Jun	Recovery
27th Jun	Recovery
28th Jun	Recovery
29th Jun	Recovery
30th Jun	Recovery
Week 26	0.00	0.00	00:00:00			0	0	0
Week 25	85.00	136.79	17:49:35			1671	1629	10,643
Week 24	19.20	30.90	03:43:53			584	559	2,085
Week 23	30.70	49.41	05:54:07			1453	1574	3,199
Week 22	24.10	38.79	04:44:25			804	813	2,544
Week 21	28.00	45.06	05:20:25			947	966	3,305
Week 20	50.00	80.47	09:47:18			-	-	-
Week 19	19.50	31.38	03:45:04			528	655	2,220
Week 18	28.44	45.77	05:26:59			858	901	3,306
Week 17	48.10	77.36	09:05:52			1023	1082	5,723
Week 16	32.00	51.50	05:43:26			800	837	3,850
Week 15	18.00	28.97	03:24:26			571	582	2,333
Week 14	0.00	0.00	00:00:00			0	0	0
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	785.26	1263.71	6 days 06:33:48			18,229	18,241	86,911
To go	467.43	752.29

Well that's the half way point of the year ended with my second 0 mile week of the challenge so far.

Unfortunately my shin has stopped me getting out again as quickly as I would have liked, but to be honest the break from training has been nice so I'm not complaining.

On Monday I was still in a lot of discomfort so, after checking with Google, I decided to see the doctor just as a precaution as it didn't seem to be responding to the usual RICE treatment. 

The bruising had gone down but the swelling and pain remained.  Even while just sitting at work or watching TV my shin was constantly throbbing so I was really starting to worry I had done some serious damage to the muscle or had even developed a stress fracture. 

The good news is I hadn't and I was just prescribed some anti inflammatories which got to work right away.  By Tuesday evening I was no longer walking with a slight limp/hobble, and by Wednesday evening it really was on the mend.

It's feeling pretty good now, although I still can't flex my ankle fully in either direction without some pain/pulling in the shin. 

I'm planning on getting back out for my first walk on Saturday but it will be a slow pace, and I will also choose a route that allows me to easily cut it short if the shin starts to give me grief.

Here is my shin about 12 hours after finishing the Parish Walk.

And here it is 7 days later.

Still slightly red and you can see it bulging out to the side, and also the ankle is still slightly swollen.

I have been trying to figure out why they gave me a hard time this year when they never have before, and my conclusion is my trainers. 

The saying goes that trainers should be 'worn in, but not worn out' and I think mine were just on the verge of being worn out.

Here they are afterwards, and you can see that one side (the bad shin side) has worn out considerably more than the other.  When I started the walk both trainers were more or less the same, and they had quite a bit more 'tread' than the one on the right.

By the way, the holes you can see are meant to be there, I haven't worn right through.  I'm not sure why the holes are there, maybe just to aid airflow and keep the feet cool, or reduce the weight of the shoe which is great, but they aren't much help when it rains!

I have had my gait analysed and I'm neutral so I shouldn't really have seen uneven wear to that extent, although because my shin was hurting from 4 miles I was probably slightly adjusting my walking technique without realising, hence the extra wear and also the extra strain that would have been going through the shin.

Unfortunately they were my last pair of Saucony fasttwitch 6.  I have been using these for a couple of years now and have gone through 5 or 6 pairs in that time.  They are a really nice light shoe that very very rarely give me blisters, but they no longer make them.

I have just purchased a pair of the newer fasttwitch 7 model which I'm hoping are just as good, and I have also just purchased a pair of Asics DS Racers which a lot of the other walkers use.  These are another nice and light trainer so fingers crossed they work well for me too.

I am looking forward to getting out again on Saturday, even if it's just a few slow miles, to give a pair of these a trial.

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.

Week 25 (Parish Walk)

Week 25.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
17th Jun	Rest Day
18th Jun	85.00	136.79	17:49:35	12:33	4.8	1671	1629	10,643	-	-
19th Jun
20th Jun	Recovery
21st Jun	Recovery
22nd Jun	Recovery
23rd Jun	Recovery
Week 25	85.00	136.79	17:49:35			1671	1629	10,643
Week 24	19.20	30.90	03:43:53			584	559	2,085
Week 23	30.70	49.41	05:54:07			1453	1574	3,199
Week 22	24.10	38.79	04:44:25			804	813	2,544
Week 21	28.00	45.06	05:20:25			947	966	3,305
Week 20	50.00	80.47	09:47:18			-	-	-
Week 19	19.50	31.38	03:45:04			528	655	2,220
Week 18	28.44	45.77	05:26:59			858	901	3,306
Week 17	48.10	77.36	09:05:52			1023	1082	5,723
Week 16	32.00	51.50	05:43:26			800	837	3,850
Week 15	18.00	28.97	03:24:26			571	582	2,333
Week 14	0.00	0.00	00:00:00			0	0	0
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	785.26	1263.71	6 days 06:33:48			18,229	18,241	86,911
To go	467.43	752.29

I did it!

I achieved my 'Plan A' target, set some 6 months earlier, to finish the Parish Walk in under 18 hours.

I wasn't wearing my heart rate monitor on the day because it drains the Garmin battery quicker but it 'felt' like Zone 1, nice and steady.

That was my 5th finish and I can honestly say it felt the easiest of all, despite the warm conditions.

A few weeks ago, while on a curry night with some other walkers, Mike 'pace master' Bonney asked what my target was and, for 'sub 18', he suggested I start off at 12:15 minute miles and maintain for as long as I can. 

I was quite surprised because I have never started the Parish that slowly, even on my debut, and just a week prior I had been in Holland with Mike where I averaged 11:44 pace for 50 miles so I felt like I could definitely start quicker. 

Admittedly the 50 miles was flat compared to the Parish, but I was thinking of starting at 12:00 miles and maintaining that for as long as possible.

Mike was quick to point out that 12:15 average would give me a time of 17:20 so even allowing for the hills if I could average that pace to Jurby I would have an extra 40 minutes in reserve for the final 40 miles, allowing me to drop down to 13:15 average if necessary.

I always go off too quick and start to struggle from Rushen so I bought into this plan immediately.

You may have read in the paper about 'pasta gate' that affected several walkers following a carb loading session on the Thursday night.  I was one of those affected but luckily the vast majority of my symptoms "passed through" on Friday.  I just put it down to nerves.

I didn't think anything more of it until I caught up with James Quirk near Andreas who himself had been suffering that day, and he also told me that Ray Beattie dropped out at Bride because of it.  I remember seeing Dale Farquar out of the race and supporting his wife Jayne in Dalby and he just told me he pulled out sick, but I had no idea it was for the same reason until the next day.

I then heard Richard Gerrard and Dave Walker had been suffering and couldn't believe it.

That was the third consecutive year we have carb loaded at that particular restaurant and have never had any problems, and I was there in TT week and was absolutely fine so I think we were just unlucky with something.

Anyway, at the NSC on Saturday morning I was feeling fine.  Slightly nervous but at the same time strangely relaxed because I knew I didn't have to start as fast as previous years.

On a hilly course it's very difficult to maintain an average pace so my plan was to go no quicker than 12:15 and no slower than 12:00.

My first mile was exactly 12:00, followed by 11:46 (too quick), 12:02 (perfect), 11:46 (too quick again but this included the long downhill from Ballagarey to Marown), 11:54 (ok....) and then dropping to 12:31 in mile 6 which is the long climb from Marown school towards Braaid crossroads.

In previous years I would panic if I saw my pace drop to 12:31 and just push harder up the hill, but this year I just relaxed and didn't worry about it.

Just after Marown school I started to get a pain in my right shin.  I rarely suffer from sore shins so was just hoping I could walk it off, but unfortunately it persisted through to the end.

I arrived in Rushen with an average pace of around 11:55, so about 6 minutes quicker than I should have for a 12:15 pace.  Other than my aching shin I felt pretty good, certainly better than I have ever felt at this stage of the race. 

I had eaten and drank plenty along the route, although the Nutrigrain bar I had just before Rushen nearly finished me off as they are very dry and I took a rather large bite of it.

The climb up Ballakillowey and the Sloc felt much easier than previous years, and when I finally reached the very top and turned the corner at Cronk Nyairey Lay (sorry about the spelling) towards round table I was comfortably walking around 11:30 minute miles, whereas in all previous years I have been lucky to get under 13 minute miles.

I went through Peel in a new PB time of 06:31:56 (my target was around 06:45) and then just took it steady for the next 7 miles to Kirk Michael which are quite undulating.  As usual the Mitre was absolutely buzzing with a large crowd cheering which really does spur you on.

By the time I reached the half way point at Ballaugh my average pace was 12:04, so well under the 12:15 target.  I knew an 18:00:00 time required an average pace of 12:41, so if my average at the half way point was currently up 37 seconds per mile I knew I just had to walk each of the remaining 42.5 miles no slower than 13:18 (12:41 + 0:37) to hit my target.

This was a big mental boost as I still felt pretty good and the next 20 or so miles are pretty flat into Ramsey so I was feeling really confident I could do it. 

Unfortunately just as I was coming into Ballaugh I started to get a few hamstring cramps so I had to take a few seconds to stretch them out every mile or two, or when I came to any slight incline.  They weren't bad though so I just had to manage my pace.  My sore shin certainly helped keep my pace down.

At the short up and down section at Jurby I saw my first other walkers since Glen Maye some 20 miles earlier, James Quirk and Jayne Farquar. 

James had been struggling with his calf (and pasta gate) for a while but it still took me another 12 miles to catch him, just after Andreas. 

A few miles before Bride there was an official '50 miles' sign, however according to my Garmin I had walked 50.5 miles.  This threw me a little because if my Garmin was 0.5 mile over then I was approximately 6 minutes behind where I thought.  I had been walking in the low 12:nn since Ballaugh, including a few under 12:00, so I knew I had covered those 7 - 8 miles about 6 - 7 minutes quicker than the 13:18 I needed, so now I just needed to maintain 13:18 for the next 33 miles.     

Crunching the numbers while I am walking makes the miles fly past!

A few minutes after passing James I was passed by Jock Waddington, shortly before St Judes.  I know Jock had walked with Rebecca Greatbach to Peel (big well done to her for winning the under 21 ladies race), but now he was on a real charge.  Jock eventually finished in 5th place, pulling out just over 1 hour on me between St Judes and the finish.

If it hadn't been for my shin and the hamstring cramps that were waiting to bite I would have tried to stick with him for a little while, although that would have only been 10 yards!

I've often thought if it would be possible to do a 'negative split' in the Parish Walk, and Jock answered the question with 08:42 to Ballaugh and 08:06 to the finish.  Given how well I was going there is definitely a lot to be said for starting slower.

This year was the first time I have arrived at the Maughold checkpoint in daylight, and it was good to see the return of the party atmosphere.   The daylight soon vanished though, so the lights came on just after the first steep climb up Hibernia, a few miles before joining the main Douglas to Ramsey coast road.

After a couple of loo stops, coat stop, lights stop etc James had caught me again and we walked together for a few miles from the bottom of Glen Mona to the Dhoon cafe.  Unfortunately he was having another bout of sickness and slowed down a little.  I knew he wouldn't quit with about 11 miles to go so I just carried on at my pace, but I did feel really bad about not sticking with him.

I arrived in Lonan at 12:25.  I wasn't completely sure of the exact distance from Lonan to the Finish as I thought it was 6 miles but Ed Walter told me it was 6.5.

I had 01:35 to do it.  It was going to be close.

As I climbed to the top of Whitebridge in Onchan my Garmin gave me the low battery warning.  I arrived at Onchan at 01:21.  I had 39 minutes to cover the last 2 miles.  In previous years it has taken me about 32 minutes.  

Half way down Royal avenue my Garmin switched off.  There was no point stressing about it, I just had to keep walking.

It took me 28 minutes to cover the last 2 miles, finishing in 17:49:35!

All in all an excellent day.  Apart from my shin I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I'm writing the blog entry just over a week later and unfortunately my shin is still really painful.  The bruising has gone, but it's still swollen and very tender to the touch. 

As a precaution I went to the doctors today, just in case it was anything more serious, and it doesn't appear to be so I just need to keep resting it.  I think it will be another 1 or 2 weeks before I'm back pounding the streets as I prepare for my final big challenge of the year, the US Centurion in New York.

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.

Week 24

Week 24.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
10th Jun	Rest Day
11th Jun	9.25	14.89	01:46:14	11:29	5.2	244	239	1018	1	134
12th Jun	Rest Day
13th Jun	5.25	8.45	01:03:50	12:10	4.9	223	220	514	1	124
14th Jun	Rest Day
15th Jun	4.70	7.56	00:53:49	11:26	5.2	117	100	553	1	135
16th Jun	Rest Day
Week 24	19.20	30.90	03:43:53			584	559	2,085
Week 23	30.70	49.41	05:54:07			1453	1574	3,199
Week 22	24.10	38.79	04:44:25			804	813	2,544
Week 21	28.00	45.06	05:20:25			947	966	3,305
Week 20	50.00	80.47	09:47:18			-	-	-
Week 19	19.50	31.38	03:45:04			528	655	2,220
Week 18	28.44	45.77	05:26:59			858	901	3,306
Week 17	48.10	77.36	09:05:52			1023	1082	5,723
Week 16	32.00	51.50	05:43:26			800	837	3,850
Week 15	18.00	28.97	03:24:26			571	582	2,333
Week 14	0.00	0.00	00:00:00			0	0	0
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	700.26	1126.92	5 days 12:44:13			16,558	16,612	76,268
To go	552.43	889.08

Just a very quick post before the big day! 

3 sessions again this week, all nice and easy HR zone 1. 

During the longer session on Saturday I kept my HR to the top of my Zone 1 range (125-135), before bringing it down to the bottom of the range on Monday.

I planned to keep to the bottom of the range in my final Wednesday session too but I think there was just a lot of nervous energy in my legs so I let it creep to the top of the zone.

These final few days are definitely the hardest to get through.  Every single ache, pain, twinge, sneeze or cough and you think it's all over. 

It's like the final destination movies.  Everything is trying to make sure you don't make the start line on Saturday.

All that remains for me to say is good luck tomorrow. 

Just remember that your legs will do whatever the brain tells them so make sure you start the walk in a positive frame of mind.  Keep negativity and doubt locked up until Sunday!

Bad patches do happen, some worse than others, but you can push through them.  In one of my earlier posts I wrote about I how I pushed through bad patch after bad patch for nearly 50 miles (Rushen to Maughold) before finally enough was enough and I retired with 'just' 18 miles to go......

If you have a plan, stick to it, no matter how good you feel at the start....  19, 32,  85 mile or anywhere in-between is a very long way, so ease into it.

As usual I have a plan A, B and C and I'm feeling more confident than ever that I can achieve plan A this year, which is to dip under 18 hours and qualify for the 'gold' certificate, providing I stick to the plan and don't start off too fast. 

Plan B is to achieve a PB by finishing under 18:36, and plan C is of course to finish.

Good luck!

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.

Food and drink

I’ll be the first to admit my ‘fuelling strategy’ for long walks is awful.  

I know (roughly) what I should be doing, but I never actually do it.  

After spending many months training to get into the best condition possible it can so easily be undone by incorrectly, or inadequately, keeping the fuel tanks topped up.

I’m normally pretty good to Peel but then it goes downhill from there.

I’m self sufficient through to Rushen and I usually take something from each aid station along the way (Banana or energy/cereal bar (I avoid Mars bars though)), as well as a full refill of my water bottle at Santon.  

One of the big lessons I learnt in my first long walk (end to end 2010) was to wear a water bottle belt rather than carrying a bottle in my hand.  I lost count of the number of times I dropped it as my hands were swinging back and forth and either the bottle, or my thumb, would catch on my trouser pocket. 

Yes... trouser pocket.... that was the second lesson.  

Even though they were lightweight ‘hiking’ trousers they were not very comfortable after about 20 miles when the fabric started to rub on my knee with each step.  It’s been shorts ever since, no matter what the weather is doing.

I have tried the ‘hand grip’ bottle but I don’t like them.  It’s much nicer to be ‘hands free’.

One of the other advantages of a water belt is they usually come with a pocket or two which is very useful for stashing a few extras such as gels, cereal bar, energy tablets etc.

My usual sports drink is powder based so on Parish day I will have a small container in my belt containing enough powder for 1 drink, and I just throw that into my water bottle as part of my Santon refill.

My support arrives somewhere between Ballakillowey and the Sloc where I will either get another full sports drink refill or just plain water, and I will also take half a sandwich.  I try to repeat this every 30-45 minutes through to Peel.

After Peel I find it a real struggle to eat.  While I am drinking plenty and I don’t feel dehydrated everything I eat is like the cream cracker challenge.

As a result I end up falling back onto gels and soup which are easy to get down, but can get a bit sickly after a while.

Anyway, I am certainly no expert in this area, but based on what I have picked up on ‘Tinterweb’ and experienced through training and races here is my approach.

I work on the basis that I burn an average of 100 calories per mile at a steady parish pace, which isn’t far off the figures you see on numerous websites and also matches my Garmin too.

If I am averaging 4.8 mph (12:30 per mile) then I am burning through 480 calories per hour.

In theory I just need to consume 480 calories per hour to even out.  However, from what I have read, there is a limit to how many calories per hour you can actually ‘absorb’, which is around 300, so already I am 180 calories per hour down.

What you are actually trying to do here is preserve your glycogen stores in the muscles and the liver for as long as possible by constantly topping them up, as once they run out you hit the wall.  The only fuel source your brain uses is glycogen so ‘hitting the wall’ is a self preservation mechanism and just shuts down your muscles, hence it feels like an elephant has just jumped on your back.

It is possible to recover from hitting the wall.  You just need to slow down (your legs won’t give you much choice in the matter anyway) and consume some easily digested and quickly absorbed food/drink (gels/sports drinks are best here), and just keep at a slower pace while your glycogen stores are slowly restored.  It's not a quick process and may take an hour or more before it starts to feel a bit easier again.

‘Carb loading’ is basically ensuring your glycogen stores are topped up before you start.

The faster you walk, the more glycogen goes into the ‘chemical reaction’ that powers your muscles.

Even the slowest of walks will result in glycogen being used, but just less of it so you can go for longer.  

The other ‘fuel’ added to the chemical reaction is fat, and on the slower paced walks you will use a higher percentage of fat vs glycogen. This means some of the “100 calories per hour” that you are burning is coming from fat rather than glycogen.  

I don’t know what the split is, but to keep it simple let’s say 50%, so 50 calories are coming from glycogen and 50 from fat.  So, our ‘480 calories per hour’ is now actually 240 per hour from glycogen (which we want to preserve and keep topped up as much as we can), and 240 from fat which we don’t need to top up.

Consuming 240 calories per hour, every hour, for up to 24 hours, now seems much more achievable and a lot easier on the stomach than 480.  That said, I will still try and consume up to 300 per hour (due to the limit you already have on absorbing calories anyway).  

A typical energy gel is around 100 calories so you can see why they recommend ‘3 per hour, or less if also using a sports drink’, as anything more won’t help.

Now you just need to choose the food/drink that works for you and can deliver those 300 calories per hour, but you need to choose wisely.

Food can be broken down into 3 main categories:

Fats
Proteins
Carbohydrates

Fats take the longest to absorb, followed by Protein and finally carbs which are digested and absorbed the quickest.

I therefore avoid eating anything that is high in fat or protein.  I don’t eliminate it altogether, so for example a chicken/tuna mayo sandwich works fine for me, as do crisps and nuts (although eating these raises the cream cracker challenge to a whole new level), but I just avoid things like cheese, even if it does go well with a cream cracker...

Since fats and proteins take the longest to digest and absorb it also means they are sloshing around in the stomach for a long time which can start to make you feel bloated and sick.

So, my 300 calories will primarily come from carbs which opens a whole new topic of what carbs to consume.  

The ‘GI’ rating (Glycemic Index) can help here.

Foods with a low GI (e.g. nuts, peanut butter, brown bread) will release their energy more slowly (maybe too slowly) and also avoid a “sugar rush” which is good, but the downside is they can end up sitting in the stomach for a long time and give you the bloated/sick feeling.  

Foods with a high GI (e.g.  banana, melon, raisins, white bread, crisps, potatoes) will digest easier and therefore 'release' their calories faster, but can give you a sugar rush.  

The other nutrients in a high GI food can slow down the absorbtion, so for example a Mars bar is quite high GI but is also high fat too and therefore slows the absorbtion rate down, whereas Kendal mint cake is high GI (100% sugar) so would give you a bigger rush.

Basically whenever I am out shopping for goodies I just check the nutritional info looking for something that can deliver a reasonable amount of calories in a small enough portion to be eaten easily while walking.  

I pay particular attention to the fat and protein levels per 100g/serving and make sure they are low, and I pay particular attention to how much of the total carbs are made up from sugar.  The higher the sugar, the higher the GI and the faster they will be absorbed but also the more chance of a sugar rush.

I tend to go with things that have at least 50% of their carbs coming from sugar.

If you look at the info for Kendal mint cake for example, these have 0g fat and 0g protein (good) but you will normally see 100% of the carbs are made up of sugar.  If you can tolerate this then it’s brilliant stuff, but not everyone can.

A Jaffa cake on the other hand packs a decent 45 calories per cake, is low in fat and protein, contains 8.6g of carbs of which 6.4g are sugar (75%), so these are a good choice as they are also easy to eat, light on the stomach and tasty too.  

2 Jaffa cakes every 20 minutes gives you pretty much your hourly needs.

Soup is a popular choice, but try to go with something that has some decent calories in it rather than a thin watery type.  If you aren't up to making your own then my tinned soup of choice is Baxters Chicken and Sweetcorn chowder.  It has just under 300 calories per tin and a pretty good 38g of carbs, although only 10g from sugars so is a slower burner. 

It also contains some much needed salt too, and there is something comforting about having some hot food, especially as the night draws in.  Just heat the soup up at home and keep it in a flask, and bring along some plastic disposable cups.

Just be careful not to make it too hot though.  What might feel ok to eat/drink when you prepare it at home will feel significantly hotter to you after you have been walking a while.

I like to have a flask of coffee too. I don't normally take sugar in coffee but I do in the Parish.

Another popular one is mashed potato and gravy.  I have never tried that one myself as I haven't quite figured out the practicalities of it but I'm guessing the mash is premade at home so is now cold after being sat in the car, but then some warm (see note above!) gravy is added to warm it up a little.  I guess the gravy could be premade in a flask, or made on the fly with bisto granules and a flask of warm water.

I guess instant mash/smash could be used....

At the end of the day everyone is different, and what works for me may not work for you.  If chomping down on a full roast chicken which has been stuffed with a block of cheese works for you then go for it.  

The only thing I would say is to avoid anything totally new.    

Week 23

Week 23.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
3rd Jun	Rest Day
4th Jun	10.00	16.09	01:56:57	11:42	5.1	242	334	1062	2	137
5th Jun	Rest Day
6th Jun	10.50	16.90	01:56:54	11:08	5.4	608	639	1249	2	144
7th Jun	Rest Day
8th Jun	10.20	16.42	02:00:16	11:51	5.1	603	601	888	1	127
9th Jun	Rest Day
Week 23	30.70	49.41	05:54:07			1453	1574	3,199
Week 22	24.10	38.79	04:44:25			804	813	2,544
Week 21	28.00	45.06	05:20:25			947	966	3,305
Week 20	50.00	80.47	09:47:18			-	-	-
Week 19	19.50	31.38	03:45:04			528	655	2,220
Week 18	28.44	45.77	05:26:59			858	901	3,306
Week 17	48.10	77.36	09:05:52			1023	1082	5,723
Week 16	32.00	51.50	05:43:26			800	837	3,850
Week 15	18.00	28.97	03:24:26			571	582	2,333
Week 14	0.00	0.00	00:00:00			0	0	0
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	681.06	1096.02	5 days 09:00:20			15,974	16,053	74,183
To go	571.63	919.98

Despite being TT week I'm pleased with my mileage in the penultimate week before the big day.

Saturday 4th June was a steady Zone 2 session from Onchan into Douglas (via Liverpool Arms/Groudle) to pick up my car which I left down there the previous night.  My Zone 2 heart rate is 135-145 so I'm very pleased with my average pace of 11:42 while keeping to the lower end of my zone (137 average).

On Monday 6th I decided to stay clear of the main roads as much as possible and drove up to Douglas Head for an "out and back" route along Marine Drive, continuing along the old Castletown road towards Santon until I reached my half way point of 5.25 miles before turning around.

I have to say it was one of the best sessions I have done for a long time.  I felt really comfortable so just pushed to the upper end of my Zone 2 HR to average 144, with a pace of 11:08 per mile.  What pleased me more was when I loaded the data back into my PC and saw the elevation gain of just over 600 metres. 

I knew that route was hilly but because it's spread out over 10 miles I didn't think it was quite that hilly. 

The views along Marine Drive are stunning in this weather. I was hoping to catch sight of a basking shark but unfortunately it wasn't to be.  Believe it or not I have never seen one in the 35+ years I have lived here. 

A couple of years ago I did see a 'super pod' of Dolphins, again from Marine Drive, but that was the first (and only) time I have seen anything other than seals.  It was quite a spectacular sight but unfortunately I had no camera.  There must have easily been over 100 dolphins, maybe 200, all heading South towards Port Soderick, many of them jumping clear of the water.

I will definitely be adding that 10 mile route onto my regular list, even if it does mean a short drive there and back (unless I want to make it a 16-18 mile out and back!)

It was so quiet and peaceful up there on Monday that I went back and did the same route again on Wednesday, although I turned around slightly short of my 5.25 mile mark.

My plan was to make this a very easy Z1 session and stay as close as possible to the lower end of my Zone 1 heart rate (125-135, and I averaged 127).  My car was parked in the disc zone on Douglas head which has a 2 hour limit, so with it being a slower pace I cut the walk short to make sure I didn't end up with a parking ticket! 

I got back to my car in 02:00:16 and fortunately there was no sign of a traffic warden.  Whenever I walk the dog up there I park next to the arches on Marine Drive, which isn't a disc zone, but I parked in the disc zone on purpose to make sure I wasn't walking for more than 2 hours this close to the Parish.

So while on the plus side I didn't get a ticket... on the down side I did get a blister!!  In my blog last week I mentioned that since wearing the new lighter Saucony fastwitch I never have any problems with the back of my heel so could probably get away without a blister plaster on that part of my foot...but how prevention is better than cure.

Well.... guess where I got the blister!  I could feel it start around the 4 mile mark and I honestly don't know why.  It's only a very small blister and you can't actually see it (it's just underneath the skin), so it's currently protected with some Compeed and I'm just hoping it holds up on the day. The last thing I want is for it to start giving my jip in the first few miles otherwise it's going to be a long day!

5 days to go now, so training really should be winding down.  I am planning on a very easy 5 or 6 miles on Monday and Wednesday and no more. 

Apparently it takes 3 weeks of training for your body to start adapting to the stresses.  IF this is true then it means any training you do this week won't increase your performance for the big day anyway, and just increases your chance of something going wrong (like a blister!). 

I was going to write about food and drink in this post but unfortunately I have run out of time, but I will try and write something in the next couple of days.

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.

Week 22

Week 22.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
27th May	13.10	21.08	02:31:50	11:35	5.2	390	370	1464	2	142
28th May	Rest Day
29th May	Rest Day
30th May	Rest Day
31st May	Rest Day
1st Jun	11.00	17.70	02:12:35	12:03	5.0	414	443	1080	1	134
2nd Jun	Rest Day
Week 22	24.10	38.79	04:44:25			804	813	2,544
Week 21	28.00	45.06	05:20:25			947	966	3,305
Week 20	50.00	80.47	09:47:18			-	-	-
Week 19	19.50	31.38	03:45:04			528	655	2,220
Week 18	28.44	45.77	05:26:59			858	901	3,306
Week 17	48.10	77.36	09:05:52			1023	1082	5,723
Week 16	32.00	51.50	05:43:26			800	837	3,850
Week 15	18.00	28.97	03:24:26			571	582	2,333
Week 14	0.00	0.00	00:00:00			0	0	0
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	650.36	1046.61	5 days 03:06:13			14,521	14,479	70,984
To go	602.33	969.39

It was my wife's birthday last weekend so we went over to Manchester to take advantage of the bank holiday Monday, with the added bonus that Hans Zimmer (her favourite composer) brought his 2016 tour to the Arena.

While I do like quite a lot of his movie soundtracks I wasn't quite sure how they would come across in a live performance, and I have to say they were amazing!

There were a couple of scores I didn't know, for example one of his early ones from 'Driving Miss Daisy' (Morgan Freeman/Jessica Tandy), and there were a couple I knew but didn't realise were his.

The highlights for me were "Now We Are Free" (Gladiator), "Chevaliers de Sangreal" (The Da Vinci Code", "The Dark Knight Rises" (Batman) and "The Electro Suite" (Spiderman).

His final encore was of course "Time" (Inception) which was absolutely amazing.
 
With being away for the weekend I got out for a 'Half Marathon' on the Friday night.  One of my regular Baldwin loops is 11 miles and is easy to extend to 13.1 by walking alongside the reservoir pretty much up to the bottom of the (very) steep climb (takes you to Druidale) and back again.

It's quite a hilly route so was very pleased to average 11:35 pace while staying in Zone 2.

Even though I have put 28th/29th/30th as rest days they were far from it!  According to my iPhone I clocked up just under 9 miles walking around the shops on Saturday, and another 7 on Sunday!  I was exhausted after the first 10 minutes on Saturday!  I think it's the slow pace and standing around that makes it so tough.  If I could just keep walking I would be fine.

The 11 miles I did on Wednesday were some of the hardest I have done for a very long time.  With the roads being closed for TT practices I decided to walk down from Onchan towards Port Jack and then I completed 3 loops of the Onchan coast road, Groudle Road and back down again (past where Molly's Tavern used to be). 

Each loop is 2.7 miles.  Even though the sun was shining it was still a very windy evening which made the coast road hard going.  I knew the route was hilly but was surprised to see the elevation of 414 metres when I got back, which is one of the highest of all my training walks so far.

I was determined to keep this a slower Zone 1 pace, which I did, so I was really surprised I struggled so much.  My legs were burning, shins were painful, hamstrings tight, quads heavy etc.

When I finished I honestly thought if I felt like this on Parish day I'd be lucky to make it to Rushen before throwing the towel in.

I'm putting that one down to spending most of the long weekend on my feet standing/walking around the shops, plus the almost constant headwind.  Funny how you rarely get a tailwind....

So we are now into the final 2 weeks before the big day.  By now you should have tested out pretty much everything.  Clothes (all conditions), trainers (worn in but not worn out), food and drink etc. 

The most important thing is not to try anything new on the day.

If you have encountered any 'hot spots' while training, such as areas prone to chafing or blisters, then you should be thinking about how you can avoid them, and ideally you should have tried all of those methods in training.

Prevention right from the off is definitely the way to go, BUT you have to try the prevention methods in training.  The last thing you want to happen on the day is to find out that the strategically placed blister plaster, vaseline application, tape etc causes the problem to get worse.

Everyone is different and what one person suffers from regularly another person may have never encountered (even blisters!) so you need to find what works for you.  Here are the main things that I do:

• Compression shorts to prevent chafing and also help support the glutes, hamstrings and quads.
  
  My preferred brand are "Time to run" (£10.99 on Amazon).  I have tried the more expensive Skins and didn't really find much difference.
  
• Nipple plasters.  I just use standard plasters but secure them with zinc oxide tape to ensure they don't come off.  If you are brave you could just apply the oxide tape directly!  One advantage of direct application is it will take your mind of your aching feet for a few seconds when you come to rip them off later....
  
• Vaseline.  Reapplied every few hours (more frequently in the heat), ideally before the chafing even starts.  I only use this on the longer events/training sessions, say anything over 4 or 5 hours.
  
  I'll leave it for you to figure out where it gets applied..... for now I'll just say don't ask to borrow mine......
  
  Oh, again only in the very long sessions, I will apply some vaseline to my feet before I pop my trainers on, especially all around my toes.
  
• Blister plasters.  I apply 3 to each foot, but only on the very long races such as end to end, Parish walk, 100 miles.  I'm usually okay on anything up to about 50k.
  
  1 plaster goes on my heel to prevent the back of the trainer rubbing, however for the past few years I have been using lighter trainers such as the Saucony Fasttwitch which barely touches my heel so I'm pretty sure I could get away without this one.   However.... prevention is better than cure.
  
  The other 2 plasters are on front balls of my feet.  The 'big toe' side wraps around the side of my foot to give some extra protection from the side of the trainer rubbing.  The 'little toe' side is flat across the ball.
  
  My top tip for applying these blister plasters is to do it the night before.  Apart from the fact you don't want to be stressing about them in the morning, I find that in the morning they are pretty much welded to my feet and have minimal chance of working loose once I start walking.
  
  It's probably worth wearing a pair of thin socks overnight though just to prevent the plasters catching on the duvet etc and coming loose.
  
• Taping feet.  I find wrapping some zinc oxide tape around my big toe and little toe help prevent the outside edges rubbing against the trainers, especially the big toe as your feet start to swell after a few hours.  I sometimes apply half a blister plaster on the outside of my big toe and then tape over the top to secure it as this gives me an extra layer of protection.
  
  Again do this the night before, and protect them by wearing a pair of thin socks.
  
• Hilly twin skin socks.  They don't work for everyone, but they are my 'go to' sock of choice.
  
  As with trainers you need to make sure these are worn in but not worn out.  After a while of constant use and washing/drying they can start to feel a little 'rough'. 
  
  If you feel the inside of a brand new pair they are really smooth and even cool to the touch so I will always start the very long races with an 'almost' brand new pair, i.e. worn 3 or 4 times.
  
  So just to recap on the feet.  The night before I will apply the 3 blister plasters and tape my big and little toes, then protect them with thin socks overnight.
  
  Next morning I will apply vaseline around my toes (all over the top of the zinc oxide plasters ( I use the really thick and very sticky fabric ones, not the thin type you can buy in town)), and then finally I will slip on an 'almost' new pair of hilly twin skins.
  
  Oh... don't forget to cut your toe nails before hand!  I tend to do this 3 or 4 days before race day, ensuring I cut them as close as I possibly can. 

It's then just a case of adding shorts/tops/hats/jacket/bib (with race number)/water bottle belt etc over the top, but again just make sure they are items you have used before in training.

Don't forget to bring spares too!  Even if a particular T-Shirt is not giving you any problems it can just be nice to put a fresh one on, especially if it's been a hot day. 

It's better to pack too much into your support car than not enough.

Ah.... I just remembered one more important item of gear you should have tested by now.  If you are planning on walking into the night then make sure you have a good head torch and also a light source that is clearly visible from the rear, and any other reflective/flashing bits and pieces you feel necessary.

Training really should be winding down now, but not stopping completely.  Just make sure you stay extra safe over TT week and avoid roads with no pavements as much as possible, which isn't that easy unless you like walking around town centres.

In my next blog post I will write a little about the food and drink that I use.

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.