Week 30

Week 30.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
22nd Jul	Rest Day
23rd Jul	14.70	23.66	02:42:54	11:05	5.4	421	428	1,451	2	141
24th Jul	Rest Day
25th Jul	7.30	11.75	01:23:26	11:26	5.2	258	264	748	1	132
26th Jul	12.00	19.31	02:12:37	11:03	5.4	555	474	1572	-	-
27th Jul	Rest Day
28th Jul	Rest Day
Week 30	34.00	54.72	06:18:57			1234	1166	3,771
Week 29	46.50	74.83	08:41:00			1756	1625	4,951
Week 28	37.81	60.86	06:59:57			902	809	4,705
Week 27	8.00	12.87	01:30:27			301	302	1,020
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	911.57	1466.99	7 days 06:04:09			22,422	22,143	101,358
To go	341.12	549.01

Another solid week, but not a huge amount to blog about.

On Saturday I joined Richard, Andrew, James, Ray and Vinny for what was the longest walk for all of us since the Parish. The first half was a nice steady pace but it quickened a bit in the second half.

On Monday I went out for a zone 1 recovery walk, and on Tuesday I once again joined the other guys for quite a fast paced 12 mile session.

My left foot has been giving me hassle on and off since the Parish and I could really feel it on Tuesday due to the quicker pace so I decided to take a couple of rest days to let it settle down a bit.

I have recently changed from the Saucony fasttwitch to the Asics DS Racers which are another very lightweight trainer but a little more 'solid' so hopefully they are providing a little more support to my foot. 

I know the real answer is to ease off on the training and let the foot recover but I'd much rather be out walking! 

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 29

Week 29.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
15th Jul	Rest Day
16th Jul	12.10	19.47	02:03:47	10:14	5.9	503	509	1,403	3	160
17th Jul	Rest Day
18th Jul	14.25	22.93	02:45:59	11:39	5.2	605	538	1,359	1	140
19th Jul	10.15	16.33	01:55:53	11:25	5.3	264	191	1247	3	154
20th Jul	Rest Day
21st Jul	10.00	16.09	01:55:21	11:32	5.2	384	387	942	2	145
Week 29	46.50	74.83	08:41:00			1756	1625	4,951
Week 28	37.81	60.86	06:59:57			902	809	4,705
Week 27	8.00	12.87	01:30:27			301	302	1,020
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	877.57	1412.28	6 days 23:45:12			21,188	20,977	97,587
To go	375.12	603.72

Another great week of training, and as you can see I have just past 20,000 metres of vertical ascent so far this year.  12.4 miles straight up!

On Saturday 16th I joined Mike Bonney, Andrew Dawson, KC and Robert Currey for what I was hoping would be a steady paced walk, but I hadn't been out with Mike for a while and forgot he doesn't really ease into a long walk. 

We started at Port Soderick car park and headed along Marine Drive so the first few miles were uphill.  As soon as we started our watches we were straight into a quick pace and covered the first 5k in 31 minutes and had it not been quite so hilly I'm sure it would have been under 30, a pace I would have been happy with in a 5k race let alone the start of a 12 mile training walk!

It was a roasting hot morning too, and with the same pace continuing pretty much for the full 2 hours I can safely say we were all pretty much 'Bonney'd' at the end.  It was a great session though, and I wouldn't push myself that hard for that long on my own.

I was off work on Monday and after dropping my car down for it's annual service I took the opportunity to walk back home the long way round.  The direct walk home would have been about 3 miles back into Onchan so I should probably say 'very' long way around as I covered just over 14 miles instead.

I headed out from Douglas and up Richmond Hill towards Santon where I briefly joined the Parish Walk route onto the old Castletown road but took a left back towards Marine Drive rather than a right towards Santon church.

This was meant to be an 'easy' zone 1 heart rate session using my new, higher, zones after discovering my max was 187 a few weeks ago, with my average of 140 being at the top of my zone 1 range. 

One I thing I can say is it was far from easy!  I really didn't enjoy the session at all.  My legs were tight and heavy, my foot was giving me grief and it was just unenjoyable all round.  I tend to give any training session at least 2-3 miles before throwing the towel in, however by this time I was half way up Richmond Hill so I just pushed on thinking it might get easier when it flattened out a bit, but it didn't and my only option was to suck it up and walk home.

I don't think I was fully over being Bonney'd on Saturday!

On Tuesday I met up with Richard Gerrard, James Quirk, Ray Beattie and Vinny Lynch on what was probably one of the hottest evenings we have had so far this year.  In the morning I was running a little late while I was packing my stuff together (we meet straight from work) and I was convinced I had forgotten something but I wasn't sure what. 

It was only around 4pm when I realised it was my water belt and bottle.  Not the best of days to forget it!  Despite the hot conditions and the tough 14 miles the previous day I just about managed to hang onto the back of them.

As with the session on Saturday I wouldn't have pushed myself that hard in the heat and with my legs heavy and sluggish so it was a really good walk.

On Thursday I headed out on my own so I could maintain a steady zone 2 heart rate, and once again I was using my higher range of 140-155.  The 10 mile loop took me out towards Baldrine hill which is where I recorded the 187 max heart rate a few weeks ago so I decided I would push it hard again to see where my heart rate went.

I'm really not sure what happened because despite giving it everything and breathing exceptionally heavy I only managed to hit 174, still 5 below what I thought my previous max was anyway!

I thought my legs must be too tired after a long week of training and I must be going up the hill slower than last time so I was very surprised to see I knocked another 30 seconds off that mile and climbed it in 11:30.  I didn't get pins and needles in my hands this time, but I did get some little black dots/floaters in my eyes so I really was trying hard!

Anyway I reached the conclusion that I should stick with my max of 179 as it brings my easy/endurance zones back down a little which is fine with me!

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 28

Week 28.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
8th Jul	10.00	16.09	01:57:06	11:42	5.1	339	349	1,238	2	146
9th Jul	Rest Day
10th Jul	13.10	21.08	02:28:39	11:21	5.3	363	345	1,676	3	157
11th Jul	Rest Day
12th Jul	8.50	13.68	01:35:24	11:13	5.3	195	110	936	3	155
13th Jul	Rest Day
14th Jul	6.20	10.00	00:58:48	09:25	6.4	5	5	855	-	-
Week 28	37.81	60.86	06:59:57			902	809	4,705
Week 27	8.00	12.87	01:30:27			301	302	1,020
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	831.07	1337.44	6 days 15:04:12			19,432	19,352	92,636
To go	421.62	678.56

A great return to training after almost 3 weeks off recovering from the Parish, a touch of man flu and a dodgy foot and shin!

My 10 mile walk on Friday was out along Onchan head and past the old Groudle pub towards the Liverpool arms, right towards Baldrine and then left up Baldrine road which is a very steep 1 mile climb onto the Creg-Ny-Baa back road where I took a left back down towards Onchan.

I wasn't sure how my foot/shin were going to behave so just took it steady to start with and luckily  they really gave me no bother which was fantastic. 

I stuck pretty close to my zone 2 heart rate but when I got to the bottom of Baldrine hill I decided to really test the legs, and lungs, and just went for it.

About half way up I was breathing pretty hard and was avoiding looking at my watch as I didn't want to see the pace, but all of a sudden I started getting pins and needles in my hands so I quickly glanced down to check my heart rate.  It was 187 !!

For the past 6 months I have been working with a max heart rate of 179 which is the max I reached during a hill repeat session near Port Jack.  My running max from last year was 183, although I haven't tested that again this year because I haven't done any running.

I had no real reason to doubt the heart rate monitor as it was a really tough effort, legs were turning to jelly, breathing getting tough and of course the pins and needles in my hands.  I pushed on to the top of the hill and recorded exactly 12m:00s, a PB for that mile by over 1 minute.  The elevation gain over that mile is 115 metres.

Despite being absolutely knackered it felt amazing.  That really was the first time since I picked up a chest infection at Easter that I have been able to push so hard, and it felt great.

My 13.1 mile walk on Sunday was just my usual Baldwin loop.  I was still feeling great from Friday's effort and just wanted to ignore the heart rate and just kept pushing 'comfortably hard' for the duration. 

There are 2 particularly steep hills on that route, both leading up to St Lukes church, and once again on both of these my watch recorded a max HR of 187.  I didn't get the pins and needles this time as they are quite short climbs so my HR was not maxed for more than a 2-3 minutes unlike Friday when it was nearly 12 minutes.

At first I thought maybe the touch of man flu I had was the reason for the increased heart rate but then I remembered that illness / over training doesn't increase your maximum.  It is what it is and just declines naturally with age.  Illness / over training does increase your resting and working heart rate, but it still caps at the max.

Discovering my max is quite a bit higher than I thought is both a good and bad thing.  On the good side it means I can push a little quicker on my easy zone 1 recovery walks and endurance zone 2 walks, resulting in the bad side.  They are going to be tougher from now on!

It may not seem much, but my 'core' zone 2 range (where I spend most of my time) has now moved from 135-145 to 140-155.  This means most of my zone 2 training has been at the lower end of my zone 2 range, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that (remember, train slower to race faster), but now I have an extra 10bpm I can push into so hopefully this will help me build a little bit of 'endurance speed'.

I'll be keeping my eye on my max heart rate and testing it again a few times just to make sure.

On Tuesday I met up with Richard Gerrard, James Quirk and Vinny Lynch.  Luckily Richard and James were still easing back into things after the Parish so it was a nice steady pace.

Finally I rounded off the week with the Manx Harriers summer 10k up at Andreas and was absolutely delighted to get under 60 minutes.  One of the reasons I started this challenge was to make sure I walked continuously throughout the year. 

What usually happens after the Parish is I do very little, lose fitness, pile on too many pounds and then wonder why I can't do a sub 60m 10k when the winter league starts in October.

Not only did I beat 60 minutes but I also did a negative split, something I don't think I have ever done before!  My first 5k was 29:30 and my second was 29:18.  Not much of a negative, but a negative nonetheless.

This weeks training has been a great return to where I was back at Easter (chest infection) and is the motivational boost I have been looking for.  If I can keep ticking over like this for another 10 weeks until New York it will put me in a really strong position, both mentally and physically, to hopefully be successful and qualify as a US Centurion.

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 27

Week 27.

Date	Miles	KM	Time	Avg Pace (Min /Mile)	Avg MPH	Elev Gain (Mtr)	Elev Loss (Mtr)	Calories	HR Zone	Avg HR
1st Jul	Rest day
2nd Jul	8.00	12.87	01:30:27	11:18	5.3	301	302	1,020	2	143
3rd Jul	Recovery
4th Jul	Man Flu
5th Jul	Man Flu
6th Jul	Man Flu
7th Jul	Man Flu
Week 27	8.00	12.87	01:30:27			301	302	1,020
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	793.26	1276.59	6 days 08:04:15			18,530	18,543	87,931
To go	459.43	739.41

Not quite the return to training I had hoped for. 

My shin had recovered well and it felt good to get out for my first walk in 14 days.  The walk started well and I could still feel some tightness in the shin but it was actually my opposite foot that was causing me the most discomfort.

It felt like there had been some kind of strain across the top of it, as if my laces were too tight, so I loosened off the laces but it made no difference.  It wasn't painful enough to abandon the walk, more like a dull ache on each step.

The quicker I walked the less it hurt due to my foot rolling more from heel strike alongside the outside edge to the little toe, compared to a slower walk where the foot just rolls 'flat' from heel to toe. 

The downside of walking quicker, other than the fact it was tough after 2 weeks doing nothing, was that it started to pull on my right shin a lot more so I just kept varying the pace, so as my foot hurt I quickened the pace for a few minutes until my shin hurt, and then slowed it for a few minutes until the shin was fine but my foot hurt.

I probably should have thrown the towel in early but I was just desperate to get some miles in.

The overall pace was much quicker than I planned at the start but that was mainly down to the quick mile 7 that I put in.  If you are heading along Marine Drive towards Douglas it's just slightly over 1 mile from where the road closed barrier (Douglas side) to 'the arches' near Manx Radio, and it's 90% a gentle downhill. 

The previous mile is mainly uphill from the Port Soderick side of the road closed barrier and neither my foot or shin gave me any problems on the incline, so as I passed through the Douglas side of the road closed barrier and began mile 7 I decided to push the pace and was surprised, and happy, to put in a 09:24 mile.

About half way through the mile I realised this is probably the quickest mile I have walked since I picked up the chest infection at Easter so it felt really good to be pushing the pace again without trying to breathe out of both ends.

My foot and shin were a little sore at the end of it, but they both eased off in the final 'cool down' mile and by the time I finished they felt just like they did when I started so at least they didn't get any worse.

Unfortunately the rest of the week didn't go to plan as I picked up man flu.  I was worried it was going to turn into another chest infection but luckily it has pretty much all cleared up now. 

It was probably a good thing really as I took it as a sign to give my shin and foot another few days rest.

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.