Returning from Kili the legs were feeling a little tight and with only 5 days of rest I knew everything I did in the next week would massively either help or hinder our chances of getting round! I therefore went spinning on Monday to keep the legs ticking over and played footy on Wednesday to run about a bit. Nothing too heavy though and with a week off work too I spent most of the week enjoying the summer and not doing too much of anything except making sure I was fully prepared and registered for the Parish!! I booked in for a sports massage on Friday which I found helped loosen the legs off, followed by a session in the Mount Murray hydropool and soaking the legs in their freezing cold plunge pool! Bring on the walk!
Got a fairly decent sleep on Friday night and woke early on walk day, after all the training we’ve put in now really is the time to deliver! I’ve known the Parish Walk is a big event on the Manx calendar, but not really appreciated the amount of people involved until we got down to the NSC for the start! My support car was loaded up with all sorts of goodies, including about 3 changes of clothes, 4 different pairs of trainers, first aid kit, chicken pasta, rice pudding, numerous energy bars & shakes, bananas, sandwiches and crates of water to name but a few things! Hopefully I won’t be needing much of it until at least Peel (32.5 miles) but fail to prepare etc! Slapped a couple of Compeeds on my feet for the start and where I predict blisters, put on my magic ‘double skin’ socks and I was off!
The first few miles of the walk the adrenalin takes over and to be honest I wasn’t feeling much in the legs. There were a fair few people about, along with Bratty & I, we had Corkey, Pasty and Steve Jackson who we’d trained with, along with Tom Sinden. The only slight issue I had was that I could already tell that my heels might be a problem, I had put the Compeeds on the wrong place! Still, with loads of people entered it was a great atmosphere and I was chatting away to fellow walkers, including Anna Q who is going up Kilimanjaro next week….great minds think alike! I made the first 19 miles down to Rushen fairly comfortably, walking with Pasty and a hockey player called Lorna. To be honest I was absolutely loving it, there was loads of people about, the amount of people who come out and support is incredible and the whole atmosphere of the day is fantastic…now for the Sloc! Headed up the Sloc (the steepest part of the walk) all the way to Peel and surprisingly didn’t find it too bad. It has featured heavily in our training and I found that having trained it so many times I knew what to expect and was still feeling fairly happy how everything was going, though it was hard to decline a beer at the top!
Heading into Peel was another fantastic experience, the amount of people everywhere cheering you across the line is ace…unfortunately as only about a third of the walkers carry on after Peel it gets a bit lonelier and a few less water stations etc! It was a real shame too that our training buddy and one fourth of the ‘Kili Climb and Parish Walk team’ Pasty pulled out at Peel due to severe blisters. Along with Tom pulling out at Rushen with back problems, it again came as a reminder that we can’t be too careful, anything can effect you on the day and a bit of luck is needed to get round the 85 miles. Still, we ploughed on, donned our high visibility jackets and headed towards Kirk Michael (39 miles).
I was struggling coming into Kirk Michael, the heat was stifling and it was getting tough, a little too early for my liking. Little did I know at this stage that it is such a mass of up and downs, when you’re down and struggling everything seems awful but then you pick up a head of steam and you feel so much more confident. Coming into Kirk Michael was my first down but I was just pleased to get there and head towards Ballaugh, just under half way round the course! Corky pulled out at Ballaugh and it again hit home what a massive challenge this walk was going to be, Steve had problems with blisters by now but after having them pop he plugged on and we were heading towards Jurby.
We had trained around Jurby and this again helped as the roads are seemingly endless! Not to be fooled by the roads this time, I knew that the stretch between Jurby and Bride (52.5 miles) was a tough stretch and I had prepared mentally that this was going to be tough. The road simply kept going and going and Bride seemed to simply never arrive, worrying about the time it was taking to get there (plus I thought Bride was only 51 miles) I was getting a bit concerned we weren’t going fast enough and I just badly wanted to get there. I think we were both struggling to Bride, which is the most northerly point, at least then you are heading in the right direction back towards Douglas. This was where the support cars really started kicking in, and we were grabbing lots of water and bananas to keep our energy up. Finally, after what seemed like forever we got to Bride, and I think at this point Mark was feeling a bit low. We stopped at Bride for 10 mins or so while Mark’s support patched up his feet and we re-hydrated and headed off. I think Bride was a turning point (literally…boom boom) because getting there was such a relief that I was in a good mood, and probably on an up while Mark was on a down. This is where having someone to walk with makes all the difference, you often find that while he was struggling I was getting a second wind, and vice versa, so we could almost drag each other along! The break helped and walking out of Bride as the sun disappeared I was feeling as confident as I could.
The other great thing that happened between Bride and Andreas was that we were caught by Steve, as we had left him popping a blister a while back. I think this lifted us too and I got to Andreas (55.5 miles) feeling ok. Only slight problem was that my shoes were feeling tight as my feet had swollen at least a shoe size so I swapped to a different bigger pair…not much better! The next section was Andreas down to Lezayre (61.5 miles) before a tough loop round Maughold that we knew was gonna be tough! Up to Lezayre was pretty tough as darkness fell but at least it was half interesting coming into Ramsey and again the support was out of the pubs and on the streets which was a great lift. I have to thank and apologise in equal measure to the kind lady who allowed us to use her house toilets in the absence of portaloos in Ramsey! Getting to Lezayre felt great but again I was a little worried about the pace and by the time we got there, despite being ahead of schedule I felt we needed to quicken slightly. Another massive advantage of walking with a partner was that we would regularly switch who was leading the pace. This helped because it just allows you to not concentrate on how fast you are going for approx half the route! I would simply follow Mark for a few miles and then I would keep the pace for a bit.
Leaving Lezayre we again left Steve sorting a blister, it sounds brutal to but you simply have to keep a consistent pace to give yourself the best chance you can. If I stopped for a toilet break or even to tie a shoelace and my fellow walkers waited then we would all lose time. If you keep plugging on then they speed up a little to catch you up (which is incredible how long it can take to catch just 30 seconds down the road) and no-one loses any vital minutes. The route from Lezayre down to Maughold (67 miles) went very fast in my opinion, which I was not expecting because I expected it to be the toughest section! Again, an example of how my expectations have a massive bearing on how difficult I find it.
This is where it went from a tough walk to incredibly draining, our support cars were going a mile at a time so that we knew how long there was to go, and the next section was definitely the toughest. You are so close to home (relatively at least) that you start thinking of the finish but equally there is 11 miles before the next checkpoint and this is the point at which the cut-off also became an issue. The support and donations I received from everybody has been overwhelming, but I just want to thank Pasty, Corke, Voirrey Samson, Lois, my sisters Fi and Beth, my cousin Mary Jane and ‘coach’ Jack for their kind words of support at this point, just knowing you were following us online made such a huge difference you wouldn’t even know and it really spurred us on at the most difficult point. I’m sure Marky B won’t mind me saying we both got a bit emotional reading Pasty’s text out of Maughold, just incredible support.
The next 10 miles there is not really much to say except it was pretty awful, by this time my feet has pretty much fallen apart, my blisters had got blisters and I was walking on them. I didn’t dare to even check my feet for fear of never getting my shoes back on so I ‘manned up’ and walked through the pain. Mark’s mum and sister Nikki was his support and Nikki became our guardian angel, every single mile she was asking if we wanted anything and it was a massive help, the hot chocolate was much appreciated! My mum and dad were also absolutely brilliant, with dad giving me the exact number of miles back so I could get my head round how far it was and they were just simply the best support I could have had. After 3 and a half hours of gruelling walking through the night, we arrived at Lonan church (78.5 miles) and the relief was extraordinary….there is no way I’m quitting now!
The 4.5 miles into Onchan (83 miles) I remember little about, the sun was coming up and there was fog everywhere so there wasn’t much to see, but I remember thinking we are going to do this and the pain my feet were causing me eased slightly. Purely running on adrenalin by this point, there was no way we were stopping as the finish approached and I tucked into what must have been my 10th banana to give me the energy for the home strait. Knowing the course now and how close we were we checked into Onchan church and headed down the prom for the finish. The support was great as we crossed the line and everybody was understandably emotional….we did it!!!! I was feeling pretty emotional but to be honest I was just too tired to feel anything, I was like a zombie and it couldn’t sink in we’d just walked 85 miles in a day, I was shattered but unashamedly amazingly proud of what we had achieved.
Time for a new challenge…..to be continued!
Dave.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Kili!
Headed off to Kili on the afternoon boat on Thursday full of nervous excitement, the challenge really does start here! After a long day’s travelling got down to Heathrow for the first stumbling block….the hotel we were staying in had cancelled the room in error! After a fairly heated exchange with the hotel we had to go straight back to the airport and slept on the less than comfortable floor…not a good start! Luckily (!) our flight was at 6:30am and we had to check in 3 hours before the flight even though check-in didn’t open til 5:00am….headaches already.
Flights over including a brief stop in Amsterdam weren’t too bad at all and we got to Kilimanjaro and transferred to the lodge near Arusha on Friday night. Absolutely shattered we hit the hay immediately and on our free day on the Saturday we went out to explore the local town. Unfortunately the receptionist’s English wasn’t great and she told us left instead of right so we never found the place!!!! We spent an hour and a half walking round dusty roads getting extremely funny looks from tiny shops looking for a thriving metropolis before heading back to the lodge and meeting up with the rest of the group when they arrived at 4ish. On first impressions, the group seemed like a good bunch of guys with 6 English guys, 3 English women, a couple of Cypriots and a Latvian called Eddie! After the initial briefing and questions and then dinner spent the night watching Rob Green throw the ball in his own net for England vs USA! An early start would be needed next morning to head an hour over to the Machame gate at Kili and start our climb so we hit the hay early, excitement taking place of my initial nerves after the flights!
First day on the mountain was a fairly easy climb after registering at the gate (which is already at 1,800 metres up!). We climbed steadily but not too steeply for about 6 hours to the first camp at 3,000 metres, which was a bit of a shock when we realised that we were already twice the height of Ben Nevis and only half way up the mountain! We also had our first glimpse of the summit, which seems an incredibly long way off! You could already feel the difference in pressure, with 30% less oxygen in the air I had a bit of a thick head but nothing too troubling. First night was mainly getting used to camp life, washing our feet in a bowl and slightly more unusually having a fantastic 3 course meal that the chefs made. One thing we have to get used to is the guilt of having the porters carrying everything and setting up camp etc….I’m not used to being waited on! They leave later than you in the morning in order to break camp, carry your equipment past you on the track and then have to get to the next camp earlier than you to set it up! They take fitness to a ridculously new level and between 14 of us we had 34 ‘crew’ ranging from chefs, porters, summit porters and guides.
The second day was a shorter but steeper climb up to 3,850 metres, and involved a bit more scrambling across rocks. We were up by half 6 to grab some breakfast so that we could be trekking by 7am. In total we were only walking for about 5 hours but it was far more enjoyable than the previous day, taking us above the clouds to some unbelievable views of cloud cover. We settled in at our very exposed camp (Shira camp) and braced ourselves for a windy night! We had a fair bit of time to kill at this camp and due to the extra height we’d gone up to everyone was nursing headaches as a result of the pressure change. We decided to make the best of it though and after a brief visit to a nearby cave we spent the afternoon before tea playing cricket on possible the most uneven wicket ever played on! Was a good laugh and got us to know more of the group better, with Giles, Chris, Sam and Zoe taking part to represent England against us manxies (the flag of which was soon hoisted next to our tent)! We grabbed another brilliant dinner and hit the hay, I was still nursing a bit of a headache and I think it was getting me down a bit, acclimatisation was not coming easy and I had a long night ahead!
Another early start on the next day, and after a very disjointed sleep simply due to the volume of the wind I was feeling a bit like the living dead, I think Mark was also having trouble sleeping and we certainly weren’t fresh to start the day! I choked down some of the porridge to keep up my stamina (which tastes awful) and the plan for the day was to ascend to 4,600m and have lunch there, before heading back down to 3,950m to camp in Barronco valley. The ascent up to 4,600m was fairly gentle but I was definitely feeling it and my head was throbbing on the way up, I even started to feel a bit nauseous, another classic sign of altitude sickness. One of our group, Mike threw up on this ascent and although not uncommon, it came as a reminder to do all the right things to mitigate the effect of the altitude (e.g. drink at least 3 litres of water, eat to keep up your energy etc). By the time I got to the top the symptoms tended to disappear though and I was feeling ok, though a little sunburnt!!!! It was a bit demoralising to then descend 650m but it all helps the acclimatisation so we headed down and camped at the Barronco camp at 3,950m and I was feeling a little back to my old self though pretty shattered after 7 and a half hours hiking! We grabbed some tea and headed to bed at the standard 8pm….as it gets dark early there isn’t anything to do in the evenings! After the bad night’s sleep the night before, Chris lent us some earplugs so I thought I’d give them a go…..they were incredible, I slept like a baby which was great because little did I know that it would be the last sleep I’d have for a while...
We had to move the next day by 6:30 so had an early breakfast before facing the ‘breakfast wall’, the pretty steep cliff face we were going to traverse! Thankfully the sleep gave me some energy and I thoroughly enjoyed tacking the wall! Zoe from our group actually worked for the trip organisers (The Adventure Company) and was writing a Health & Safety summary of the trip….let’s just say I’m not sure the wall passed with flying colours! We scrambled up the wall (watching porters tearing past carrying huge loads) and after a little more up and downhill we came to a camp where we grabbed some lunch. Looking at the summit it did look much closer and we’ve had to do the toughest walk all the way around the mountain so I was hoping the final ascent wouldn’t be too bad! We then ascended fairly steadily but tediously for hours and hours across sparse dusty rock fields and the camp seemed to just take forever to arrive. Finally after about 7 hours we arrived at our final camp, 4,600m high and just the assault on the summit to come! As it is pretty difficult to sleep at this altitude, we rested and checked our kit to make sure we were all prepared for the final ascent. A brief panic with finding my headtorch was in order but it was eventually located in the lining of my bag! At dinner that night there was a definite tension in the air, we were heading up at 11:30pm for 8 hours of uphill before the top. Thankfully I had acclimatised a little better and wasn’t feeling the effects, but it was in general a nervy time waiting for the off!
Popped a couple of painkillers at the start as advised, which was a bit of a shame as I’d wanted to do a ‘pill-free’ climb, but the guides know best so we followed them to the letter and headed off up the mountain. After a couple of hours of steep climbing it was getting tough and I think this was the first point that I genuinely thought there was a chance I wouldn’t make it. I plugged the ipod in and listened to some terrible music as the only playlist I had was the horrendously cheesy Blackpool hockey tour music! To keep my ipod warm I had it buried under about 4 of the 6 layers I was wearing so there was no chance of skipping tracks….nightmare! The temperature was dropping faster and the ascent turned into a monotonous trudge, with people being pulled out of the group who were really struggling and going up separately with porters. It was relentless and the only thing that was keeping me going was simply focussing on the feet of whoever was in front of me. I found that rather than worrying about how long we had left, how high we were, how I was becoming more and more spaced out and how much energy I didn’t have it helped to have one point of focus, simply focus on the feet! Abstract thoughts are something you don’t have time for, focus on the feet and they will get you to the top! Almost the hardest thing was actually the rest stops as it gave you a moment to realise that your brain isn’t functioning great!
After 5 hours of solid ascending, my ipod ran out of battery, ironically on ‘Eye of the Tiger’ which I thought would psyche me up! The ‘zoning out’ then became a touch more tricky but as we were getting closer it was just a thought of ‘ok this is bad, but this will only be 3 hours of my life and I will have the rest of my time to remember this’. I have to say as well that I was thinking about the support we’ve received since we decided to do these challenges, and every pound that has been donated to the charities is because we said we’d do this. The feeling at the top will supersede any pain I’m feeling now and this is what the events have boiled down to, so there’s no chance I’m quitting! I’ve found that if you decide you are going to achieve something then the pain of actually doing it becomes an annoying inevitability rather than a reason you won’t be able to do it! You just have to convince yourself you will do it.
Approximately two hours from the top was probably the hardest bit, I started hallucinating that I could see a little black dog next to me, which in actuality was the shadow of my trekking pole. However this fooled me three times and each time I jumped a mile away from the dog and then got cross with myself for that bloody pole fooling me again, I knew it wasn’t a dog…until it was again! It’s so frustrating but with only 30% of the oxygen you’re used to your brain really is tricking you all over the place! I even saw Marky B go up in smoke at one point when he pulled a scarf out of his bag...weird stuff! Focus on the feet! One hour to go and the sun started to come up, a big relief, we got to the top of the ridge and all the guides start congratulating you, slapping you on the back and there is a great feeling! They then turn round and say it’s just another hour to the summit….why?!?! By now my brain wasn’t engaged and I was genuinely worried about frostbite on my fingers! The gloves I had brought weren’t up for the job and at -14C I was permanently shaking and hitting my hands to get the blood flowing! Still we could see the end was nigh and ploughed on, buoyed by the fact that there was no way we were stopping now we eventually arrived at the top!
Everybody was pretty euphoric at the top, and it was simply an incredible feeling! The rest of the group were at the top together and the feeling of achieving what we set out to do so long ago was tremendous, all that training had paid off, we were there!! My brain wasn’t quite with it and I realised I am a bit of a control freak because as great as the feeling was I just wanted to get back down! The only way I can really try to describe how I felt is that I was watching myself as a third person, it seemed almost dreamlike and I didn’t like the feeling at all. We took a few obligatory pictures that I treasure so much now, because it reminds me of what I went through to get there. At 5,893 metres high, the world seems a very different place and after half an hour or so at the top we headed back down as quickly as we could!
We headed down from the summit and the oxygen in the air was already more noticeable straight off the top. After a little while descending we came across huge fields of skree (loose rocks) that people were almost skiing down on their shoes. This was one of the most unpleasant parts of the trip, with the sun now out and still wearing six layers on top and dressed for sub zero temperatures, there was 5 hours of dusty loose slippy rocks with everyone falling over and generally hating it! I know this is coming across like a massive whinge but we hadn’t slept all night, were baking hot and had to basically slide on our feet for 5 hours…..moods were not exactly sky high and I still feel sorry for our guide Filbert who had to put up with Giles and myself going very slowly moaning and complaining bitterly most of the way down! Hot and bothered we finally got back to the camp to find we had a couple of hours rest followed by a 4 hour walk down to the altitude where we could safely sleep (3,100m)!
I don’t remember much of the walk down due to still being completely spaced out and stumbling about but we got to camp at approximately 4pm, where we crawled into our tents and I slept straight through dinner until 6:30am the next morning! It was a blissful oxygen-filled sleep and after all the difficulty of sleeping in a tent this time it felt like a four poster bed! Waking up early we headed off after tipping our porters and guides, donating a lot of kit and saying goodbye, we trekked another 5 hours back down to the gate where we were greeted triumphantly by souvenir sellers all over the show! A successful period of bartering started which I absolutely loved and I even managed to trade my hat for one of the sellers straw hats with no money changing hands...jackpot!
We drove back to the lodge absolutely exhausted but elated, there is still a feeling from my point of view that we’ve only done 50% of what we’ve set out to do but I also feel that we’ve done the most ‘non-manageable’ part of our challenges. Although I think the parish will be every bit as tough if not tougher, the variable of altitude sickness meant that Kilimanjaro could have been impossible but we’ve conquered it meeting some amazing people on the way! A bed was my reward when I got back to the lodge and I made the most of it, followed by a top dinner, a miserable England draw and a very random night out with the guides, Will, Sam and Zoe from the group! First beer for over two months felt like a celebration too!
Five days rest until the Parish...
Dave.
Flights over including a brief stop in Amsterdam weren’t too bad at all and we got to Kilimanjaro and transferred to the lodge near Arusha on Friday night. Absolutely shattered we hit the hay immediately and on our free day on the Saturday we went out to explore the local town. Unfortunately the receptionist’s English wasn’t great and she told us left instead of right so we never found the place!!!! We spent an hour and a half walking round dusty roads getting extremely funny looks from tiny shops looking for a thriving metropolis before heading back to the lodge and meeting up with the rest of the group when they arrived at 4ish. On first impressions, the group seemed like a good bunch of guys with 6 English guys, 3 English women, a couple of Cypriots and a Latvian called Eddie! After the initial briefing and questions and then dinner spent the night watching Rob Green throw the ball in his own net for England vs USA! An early start would be needed next morning to head an hour over to the Machame gate at Kili and start our climb so we hit the hay early, excitement taking place of my initial nerves after the flights!
First day on the mountain was a fairly easy climb after registering at the gate (which is already at 1,800 metres up!). We climbed steadily but not too steeply for about 6 hours to the first camp at 3,000 metres, which was a bit of a shock when we realised that we were already twice the height of Ben Nevis and only half way up the mountain! We also had our first glimpse of the summit, which seems an incredibly long way off! You could already feel the difference in pressure, with 30% less oxygen in the air I had a bit of a thick head but nothing too troubling. First night was mainly getting used to camp life, washing our feet in a bowl and slightly more unusually having a fantastic 3 course meal that the chefs made. One thing we have to get used to is the guilt of having the porters carrying everything and setting up camp etc….I’m not used to being waited on! They leave later than you in the morning in order to break camp, carry your equipment past you on the track and then have to get to the next camp earlier than you to set it up! They take fitness to a ridculously new level and between 14 of us we had 34 ‘crew’ ranging from chefs, porters, summit porters and guides.
The second day was a shorter but steeper climb up to 3,850 metres, and involved a bit more scrambling across rocks. We were up by half 6 to grab some breakfast so that we could be trekking by 7am. In total we were only walking for about 5 hours but it was far more enjoyable than the previous day, taking us above the clouds to some unbelievable views of cloud cover. We settled in at our very exposed camp (Shira camp) and braced ourselves for a windy night! We had a fair bit of time to kill at this camp and due to the extra height we’d gone up to everyone was nursing headaches as a result of the pressure change. We decided to make the best of it though and after a brief visit to a nearby cave we spent the afternoon before tea playing cricket on possible the most uneven wicket ever played on! Was a good laugh and got us to know more of the group better, with Giles, Chris, Sam and Zoe taking part to represent England against us manxies (the flag of which was soon hoisted next to our tent)! We grabbed another brilliant dinner and hit the hay, I was still nursing a bit of a headache and I think it was getting me down a bit, acclimatisation was not coming easy and I had a long night ahead!
Another early start on the next day, and after a very disjointed sleep simply due to the volume of the wind I was feeling a bit like the living dead, I think Mark was also having trouble sleeping and we certainly weren’t fresh to start the day! I choked down some of the porridge to keep up my stamina (which tastes awful) and the plan for the day was to ascend to 4,600m and have lunch there, before heading back down to 3,950m to camp in Barronco valley. The ascent up to 4,600m was fairly gentle but I was definitely feeling it and my head was throbbing on the way up, I even started to feel a bit nauseous, another classic sign of altitude sickness. One of our group, Mike threw up on this ascent and although not uncommon, it came as a reminder to do all the right things to mitigate the effect of the altitude (e.g. drink at least 3 litres of water, eat to keep up your energy etc). By the time I got to the top the symptoms tended to disappear though and I was feeling ok, though a little sunburnt!!!! It was a bit demoralising to then descend 650m but it all helps the acclimatisation so we headed down and camped at the Barronco camp at 3,950m and I was feeling a little back to my old self though pretty shattered after 7 and a half hours hiking! We grabbed some tea and headed to bed at the standard 8pm….as it gets dark early there isn’t anything to do in the evenings! After the bad night’s sleep the night before, Chris lent us some earplugs so I thought I’d give them a go…..they were incredible, I slept like a baby which was great because little did I know that it would be the last sleep I’d have for a while...
We had to move the next day by 6:30 so had an early breakfast before facing the ‘breakfast wall’, the pretty steep cliff face we were going to traverse! Thankfully the sleep gave me some energy and I thoroughly enjoyed tacking the wall! Zoe from our group actually worked for the trip organisers (The Adventure Company) and was writing a Health & Safety summary of the trip….let’s just say I’m not sure the wall passed with flying colours! We scrambled up the wall (watching porters tearing past carrying huge loads) and after a little more up and downhill we came to a camp where we grabbed some lunch. Looking at the summit it did look much closer and we’ve had to do the toughest walk all the way around the mountain so I was hoping the final ascent wouldn’t be too bad! We then ascended fairly steadily but tediously for hours and hours across sparse dusty rock fields and the camp seemed to just take forever to arrive. Finally after about 7 hours we arrived at our final camp, 4,600m high and just the assault on the summit to come! As it is pretty difficult to sleep at this altitude, we rested and checked our kit to make sure we were all prepared for the final ascent. A brief panic with finding my headtorch was in order but it was eventually located in the lining of my bag! At dinner that night there was a definite tension in the air, we were heading up at 11:30pm for 8 hours of uphill before the top. Thankfully I had acclimatised a little better and wasn’t feeling the effects, but it was in general a nervy time waiting for the off!
Popped a couple of painkillers at the start as advised, which was a bit of a shame as I’d wanted to do a ‘pill-free’ climb, but the guides know best so we followed them to the letter and headed off up the mountain. After a couple of hours of steep climbing it was getting tough and I think this was the first point that I genuinely thought there was a chance I wouldn’t make it. I plugged the ipod in and listened to some terrible music as the only playlist I had was the horrendously cheesy Blackpool hockey tour music! To keep my ipod warm I had it buried under about 4 of the 6 layers I was wearing so there was no chance of skipping tracks….nightmare! The temperature was dropping faster and the ascent turned into a monotonous trudge, with people being pulled out of the group who were really struggling and going up separately with porters. It was relentless and the only thing that was keeping me going was simply focussing on the feet of whoever was in front of me. I found that rather than worrying about how long we had left, how high we were, how I was becoming more and more spaced out and how much energy I didn’t have it helped to have one point of focus, simply focus on the feet! Abstract thoughts are something you don’t have time for, focus on the feet and they will get you to the top! Almost the hardest thing was actually the rest stops as it gave you a moment to realise that your brain isn’t functioning great!
After 5 hours of solid ascending, my ipod ran out of battery, ironically on ‘Eye of the Tiger’ which I thought would psyche me up! The ‘zoning out’ then became a touch more tricky but as we were getting closer it was just a thought of ‘ok this is bad, but this will only be 3 hours of my life and I will have the rest of my time to remember this’. I have to say as well that I was thinking about the support we’ve received since we decided to do these challenges, and every pound that has been donated to the charities is because we said we’d do this. The feeling at the top will supersede any pain I’m feeling now and this is what the events have boiled down to, so there’s no chance I’m quitting! I’ve found that if you decide you are going to achieve something then the pain of actually doing it becomes an annoying inevitability rather than a reason you won’t be able to do it! You just have to convince yourself you will do it.
Approximately two hours from the top was probably the hardest bit, I started hallucinating that I could see a little black dog next to me, which in actuality was the shadow of my trekking pole. However this fooled me three times and each time I jumped a mile away from the dog and then got cross with myself for that bloody pole fooling me again, I knew it wasn’t a dog…until it was again! It’s so frustrating but with only 30% of the oxygen you’re used to your brain really is tricking you all over the place! I even saw Marky B go up in smoke at one point when he pulled a scarf out of his bag...weird stuff! Focus on the feet! One hour to go and the sun started to come up, a big relief, we got to the top of the ridge and all the guides start congratulating you, slapping you on the back and there is a great feeling! They then turn round and say it’s just another hour to the summit….why?!?! By now my brain wasn’t engaged and I was genuinely worried about frostbite on my fingers! The gloves I had brought weren’t up for the job and at -14C I was permanently shaking and hitting my hands to get the blood flowing! Still we could see the end was nigh and ploughed on, buoyed by the fact that there was no way we were stopping now we eventually arrived at the top!
Everybody was pretty euphoric at the top, and it was simply an incredible feeling! The rest of the group were at the top together and the feeling of achieving what we set out to do so long ago was tremendous, all that training had paid off, we were there!! My brain wasn’t quite with it and I realised I am a bit of a control freak because as great as the feeling was I just wanted to get back down! The only way I can really try to describe how I felt is that I was watching myself as a third person, it seemed almost dreamlike and I didn’t like the feeling at all. We took a few obligatory pictures that I treasure so much now, because it reminds me of what I went through to get there. At 5,893 metres high, the world seems a very different place and after half an hour or so at the top we headed back down as quickly as we could!
We headed down from the summit and the oxygen in the air was already more noticeable straight off the top. After a little while descending we came across huge fields of skree (loose rocks) that people were almost skiing down on their shoes. This was one of the most unpleasant parts of the trip, with the sun now out and still wearing six layers on top and dressed for sub zero temperatures, there was 5 hours of dusty loose slippy rocks with everyone falling over and generally hating it! I know this is coming across like a massive whinge but we hadn’t slept all night, were baking hot and had to basically slide on our feet for 5 hours…..moods were not exactly sky high and I still feel sorry for our guide Filbert who had to put up with Giles and myself going very slowly moaning and complaining bitterly most of the way down! Hot and bothered we finally got back to the camp to find we had a couple of hours rest followed by a 4 hour walk down to the altitude where we could safely sleep (3,100m)!
I don’t remember much of the walk down due to still being completely spaced out and stumbling about but we got to camp at approximately 4pm, where we crawled into our tents and I slept straight through dinner until 6:30am the next morning! It was a blissful oxygen-filled sleep and after all the difficulty of sleeping in a tent this time it felt like a four poster bed! Waking up early we headed off after tipping our porters and guides, donating a lot of kit and saying goodbye, we trekked another 5 hours back down to the gate where we were greeted triumphantly by souvenir sellers all over the show! A successful period of bartering started which I absolutely loved and I even managed to trade my hat for one of the sellers straw hats with no money changing hands...jackpot!
We drove back to the lodge absolutely exhausted but elated, there is still a feeling from my point of view that we’ve only done 50% of what we’ve set out to do but I also feel that we’ve done the most ‘non-manageable’ part of our challenges. Although I think the parish will be every bit as tough if not tougher, the variable of altitude sickness meant that Kilimanjaro could have been impossible but we’ve conquered it meeting some amazing people on the way! A bed was my reward when I got back to the lodge and I made the most of it, followed by a top dinner, a miserable England draw and a very random night out with the guides, Will, Sam and Zoe from the group! First beer for over two months felt like a celebration too!
Five days rest until the Parish...
Dave.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Up, up, up, up, up and away!
What a week!!!! Last full week before heading to Tanzania and it's fair to say it wasn't without a number of crises!
Started the week as per usual with a spinning and weights session, before heading out on Tuesday night to do the walk from Quartebridge to Mt Murray but unfortunately for us the TT was on and the roads were closed. We therefore did the shorter walk around Marine Drive, but still keeping the legs going.
On Wednesday the final football before the trip was on and it was a decent session. With no hockey now on Thursday, and with the squash double booked, it meant a night off! Took a break as we are winding down and watched Ross Noble at the Villa which was a hilarious night! Friday night met Marky B for lunch and managed to buy quite a bit of kit for Kilimanjaro, including gaiters, 3 season sleeping bags and walking poles! Looking fairly adventurous now! Also managed to get a picture in the paper which is hopefully going to get a little more publicity and raise a bit more money!
Finished the week with the standard gym session and sauna/ice bath combo before a sober appearance at the beer tent! Completely shattered at the end of the week and was looking forward to a weekend of not much to do except wind down! Saturday headed down south as Karen Hardman had agreed to kindly run some dance classes to raise funds, the first of which was on Port Erin beach. Although we didn't get into the dancing, it looked like great fun and I might even throw some shapes out at the next one! Saturday night had a standard barbie at my mate Jack's place, who has been mega useful in giving us nutritional, physical and mental advice for the walk. He's finished it twice and coaches football so is a great source of info!
Sunday we did a standard walk but nothing too heavy, started in Castletown and went round to Port Erin before back round to Castletown. Was a decent way to finish the week and I was feeling good on Sunday night, just needed to sort out the fine details of the trip, and came back home to grab my passport to put with the tickets.....ooh dear!
This week so far has consisted of searching both my flat and my office for my passport and my family searching their house.....no luck! Between spinning, the gym and work I have turned my flat over to no avail! I therefore today decided I would have to fork out for a new 'same day' service passport, which hits both my preparation and even more fundamentally my wallet!!!! The motto 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail' is etched on my mind and I have had to accept an epic failure! It turns out I am so keen to sort out my physical preparation I've never had a head for the administrative side!
Still, after taking today off work, I've managed to sort out my new passport and check through all my equipment to make sure I have everything. I need to grab a waterproof jacket and some gloves but everything else is sorted thank god!
So tomorrow is the day we set off down to London, for the very very early flight over to Amsterdam and then flying into Kilimanjaro on Friday. Apprehensive about the flights and the main worry of altitude stopping me from getting to the top I just need to put my all into it and fingers crossed it will all go well. I feel I'm prepared as I'll ever be, I even got glacier glasses through the post! I will update this blog (if anybody is reading) on my return and have bucketloads of pictures to show everyone!
My frankly pathetic Kilimanjaro beard is as beardy as it is going to get, so it's time to man up! Wish us luck!!!!
Dave.
Started the week as per usual with a spinning and weights session, before heading out on Tuesday night to do the walk from Quartebridge to Mt Murray but unfortunately for us the TT was on and the roads were closed. We therefore did the shorter walk around Marine Drive, but still keeping the legs going.
On Wednesday the final football before the trip was on and it was a decent session. With no hockey now on Thursday, and with the squash double booked, it meant a night off! Took a break as we are winding down and watched Ross Noble at the Villa which was a hilarious night! Friday night met Marky B for lunch and managed to buy quite a bit of kit for Kilimanjaro, including gaiters, 3 season sleeping bags and walking poles! Looking fairly adventurous now! Also managed to get a picture in the paper which is hopefully going to get a little more publicity and raise a bit more money!
Finished the week with the standard gym session and sauna/ice bath combo before a sober appearance at the beer tent! Completely shattered at the end of the week and was looking forward to a weekend of not much to do except wind down! Saturday headed down south as Karen Hardman had agreed to kindly run some dance classes to raise funds, the first of which was on Port Erin beach. Although we didn't get into the dancing, it looked like great fun and I might even throw some shapes out at the next one! Saturday night had a standard barbie at my mate Jack's place, who has been mega useful in giving us nutritional, physical and mental advice for the walk. He's finished it twice and coaches football so is a great source of info!
Sunday we did a standard walk but nothing too heavy, started in Castletown and went round to Port Erin before back round to Castletown. Was a decent way to finish the week and I was feeling good on Sunday night, just needed to sort out the fine details of the trip, and came back home to grab my passport to put with the tickets.....ooh dear!
This week so far has consisted of searching both my flat and my office for my passport and my family searching their house.....no luck! Between spinning, the gym and work I have turned my flat over to no avail! I therefore today decided I would have to fork out for a new 'same day' service passport, which hits both my preparation and even more fundamentally my wallet!!!! The motto 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail' is etched on my mind and I have had to accept an epic failure! It turns out I am so keen to sort out my physical preparation I've never had a head for the administrative side!
Still, after taking today off work, I've managed to sort out my new passport and check through all my equipment to make sure I have everything. I need to grab a waterproof jacket and some gloves but everything else is sorted thank god!
So tomorrow is the day we set off down to London, for the very very early flight over to Amsterdam and then flying into Kilimanjaro on Friday. Apprehensive about the flights and the main worry of altitude stopping me from getting to the top I just need to put my all into it and fingers crossed it will all go well. I feel I'm prepared as I'll ever be, I even got glacier glasses through the post! I will update this blog (if anybody is reading) on my return and have bucketloads of pictures to show everyone!
My frankly pathetic Kilimanjaro beard is as beardy as it is going to get, so it's time to man up! Wish us luck!!!!
Dave.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Go hard or go home!
It’s all getting frighteningly close now and the time to sort out the finer details of the Kili trip is fast approaching. I feel as though now that I have put the miles in my legs and have trained as much as I can for the challenges. I don’t want to slack off the training over the next couple of weeks but equally I don’t see that any more big walks etc are going to do us much good at this stage and I don’t want to jeopardise the training I’ve already done. With this in mind I want to concentrate on preparing myself as well as possible and this is what the next couple of weeks is going to be all about.
Did my spinning session on Monday again which wasn’t too bad, I think I had a fairly easy bike! Tuesday’s walk took us from the start of the Parish Walk across to Marown church, down through Braaid and then back up to Mount Murray and back round to Quarterbridge, which must be approximately 10 miles but nothing too huge. Wednesday was a standard 7-a-side footy session and then Thursday as hockey training has now finished I headed to the NSC to get walloped at squash by Cooky and Corkey….all good fun! Finished the week with a gym session and the sauna/ice bath treatment. This has been recommended between Kili and the Parish Walk as a way to recover the muscles….10 minutes at a time! Will see how that goes…..
Had an early night Friday because on Saturday the first team had a few people who couldn’t make their final game of the season (including Bratty) so I managed to get a call up for cover! After the scorching weather we’ve had for the past 2 weeks, I couldn’t believe turning up in Peel it was absolutely throwing it down! Despite this we managed to finish the season with a convincing 3-0 win and it meant they went the entire season winning every game, the only hockey team on the island to do so! It was good fun to play at that level and I even surprised everyone (including myself!) by bagging myself the third goal at the end of the game! I don’t think anyone’s gonna hear the end of it! Still celebrating, I went to the MHA Karaoke for another crazy night on the J20s! Hilarious night and Pasty has to get a nod for his beautiful (…!) rendition of James Blunt’s ‘Goodbye My Lover’!
With James Blunt ringing in my head all day today, we decided to keep the training up but nothing too strenuous. We therefore went from the bottom of the Sloc up to the Round Table, back down through Ronague and then via Colby and Gansey round to Port Erin for another ice cream before heading back to the Sloc! I hope ice creams are as easy to get a hold of at the top of Kilimanjaro but I’m not holding out too much hope!
Definitely a more than decent week’s training, felt that it’s not as hardcore as a month or two ago but we’re staying in as peak condition as we’re likely to get to! Bring on the mountain and the long long roads!
Dave.
Did my spinning session on Monday again which wasn’t too bad, I think I had a fairly easy bike! Tuesday’s walk took us from the start of the Parish Walk across to Marown church, down through Braaid and then back up to Mount Murray and back round to Quarterbridge, which must be approximately 10 miles but nothing too huge. Wednesday was a standard 7-a-side footy session and then Thursday as hockey training has now finished I headed to the NSC to get walloped at squash by Cooky and Corkey….all good fun! Finished the week with a gym session and the sauna/ice bath treatment. This has been recommended between Kili and the Parish Walk as a way to recover the muscles….10 minutes at a time! Will see how that goes…..
Had an early night Friday because on Saturday the first team had a few people who couldn’t make their final game of the season (including Bratty) so I managed to get a call up for cover! After the scorching weather we’ve had for the past 2 weeks, I couldn’t believe turning up in Peel it was absolutely throwing it down! Despite this we managed to finish the season with a convincing 3-0 win and it meant they went the entire season winning every game, the only hockey team on the island to do so! It was good fun to play at that level and I even surprised everyone (including myself!) by bagging myself the third goal at the end of the game! I don’t think anyone’s gonna hear the end of it! Still celebrating, I went to the MHA Karaoke for another crazy night on the J20s! Hilarious night and Pasty has to get a nod for his beautiful (…!) rendition of James Blunt’s ‘Goodbye My Lover’!
With James Blunt ringing in my head all day today, we decided to keep the training up but nothing too strenuous. We therefore went from the bottom of the Sloc up to the Round Table, back down through Ronague and then via Colby and Gansey round to Port Erin for another ice cream before heading back to the Sloc! I hope ice creams are as easy to get a hold of at the top of Kilimanjaro but I’m not holding out too much hope!
Definitely a more than decent week’s training, felt that it’s not as hardcore as a month or two ago but we’re staying in as peak condition as we’re likely to get to! Bring on the mountain and the long long roads!
Dave.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Championship performance....
With only three weeks to go I just wanted to put in another full week’s training before I can start to think about getting into peak performance for the events. On the walk talk with Roger Black we were advised that an important part of preparation is making sure you are fully fit for the day. E.g don’t do something stupid like walking over 30 miles less than a week before the event because you may still be feeling it! Therefore it was time to start winding down the training and making sure I give my best chance on the mountain. I figured though that I would at least try to get another full week of training under my belt before slacking it off.
Monday was again spinning and weights, something we’ve been pretty consistent on and definitely helps start off the week. For our Tuesday evening walk we just did a quick one around Marine Drive and then back along the Old Castletown Road back into town. Nothing too major but a good hour and a half walk and a chance to keep the legs ticking over. Wednesday footy and Thursday hockey as has become religion, as the hockey season is drawing to a close we tend to play matches in training now which is a good laugh but as there are only a couple more games this was the last training session! Looks like we timed Kili well as our training is dropping off!
Friday night was a bit of a surreal night, it was our end of accounting year work do and after nipping to the gym early for a session I went out to find all the drinks were being bought for us! Two non-alcoholic cocktails and a J20 later I was thinking maybe this whole training thing was a bad idea! However, as we have raised almost £800 for the charities now and there is definitely pressure on us to at least give it our best shot. With only three weeks to go the least I can do is have a few sober nights out!
Saturday I was given the great honour of being called up for the mighty Cosney (our fifth team) at hockey as they were short a couple of players and the captain Laurence Watterson took great delight in starting me on the bench. I managed to get on the pitch after a while though and even scored the scrappiest goal all season with my first touch! Really good game with a good bunch of guys, I was just gutted James ‘Diver’ Smith didn’t get himself on the scoresheet in the final game of the season! Saturday night was a similar story to Friday (I think I know too many alcoholics…) with our end of season hockey do at the curry house In Port St Mary. Putting the healthy diet to one side for the night, the curry was great and it was a good laugh. I figure if I can survive a free bar work do and an end of season night out without a drop of booze then anything is possible! And no hangover!
It was the junior golf championships on Sunday and my little brother Rich had got into the semi final so I was caddying for him, a good excuse for a 5 mile walk! He was playing the favourite and scratch golfer Tom Harris and the omens were not looking too healthy when he went 2 down after 3 holes. However, an absolutely brilliant run followed and Rich didn’t then drop a hole until the 12th, including back to back birdies to lead 2 up with 4 holes to play. A brilliant putt from Tom on the 16th closed the gap to all square after he took the 15th and it remained all square with each getting a birdie on the 17th. Unfortunately for Rich, Tom’s extra experience just told down the 18th but it was an unbelievable performance and made me very jealous I just never had the temperament for golf! No doubt I would have blown up on the 4th at 2 down but Rich has definitely got the head for the game!
Finished off the week by going up and over Fleshwick like the start of training, over to Milner’s Tower, having an ice-cream on Port Erin beach then around the Sound to Port St Mary back up the sloc and back down Fleshwick! Absolutely shattered but a decent bit of uphill and I was glad to get the week over and done with!
Dave,
Monday was again spinning and weights, something we’ve been pretty consistent on and definitely helps start off the week. For our Tuesday evening walk we just did a quick one around Marine Drive and then back along the Old Castletown Road back into town. Nothing too major but a good hour and a half walk and a chance to keep the legs ticking over. Wednesday footy and Thursday hockey as has become religion, as the hockey season is drawing to a close we tend to play matches in training now which is a good laugh but as there are only a couple more games this was the last training session! Looks like we timed Kili well as our training is dropping off!
Friday night was a bit of a surreal night, it was our end of accounting year work do and after nipping to the gym early for a session I went out to find all the drinks were being bought for us! Two non-alcoholic cocktails and a J20 later I was thinking maybe this whole training thing was a bad idea! However, as we have raised almost £800 for the charities now and there is definitely pressure on us to at least give it our best shot. With only three weeks to go the least I can do is have a few sober nights out!
Saturday I was given the great honour of being called up for the mighty Cosney (our fifth team) at hockey as they were short a couple of players and the captain Laurence Watterson took great delight in starting me on the bench. I managed to get on the pitch after a while though and even scored the scrappiest goal all season with my first touch! Really good game with a good bunch of guys, I was just gutted James ‘Diver’ Smith didn’t get himself on the scoresheet in the final game of the season! Saturday night was a similar story to Friday (I think I know too many alcoholics…) with our end of season hockey do at the curry house In Port St Mary. Putting the healthy diet to one side for the night, the curry was great and it was a good laugh. I figure if I can survive a free bar work do and an end of season night out without a drop of booze then anything is possible! And no hangover!
It was the junior golf championships on Sunday and my little brother Rich had got into the semi final so I was caddying for him, a good excuse for a 5 mile walk! He was playing the favourite and scratch golfer Tom Harris and the omens were not looking too healthy when he went 2 down after 3 holes. However, an absolutely brilliant run followed and Rich didn’t then drop a hole until the 12th, including back to back birdies to lead 2 up with 4 holes to play. A brilliant putt from Tom on the 16th closed the gap to all square after he took the 15th and it remained all square with each getting a birdie on the 17th. Unfortunately for Rich, Tom’s extra experience just told down the 18th but it was an unbelievable performance and made me very jealous I just never had the temperament for golf! No doubt I would have blown up on the 4th at 2 down but Rich has definitely got the head for the game!
Finished off the week by going up and over Fleshwick like the start of training, over to Milner’s Tower, having an ice-cream on Port Erin beach then around the Sound to Port St Mary back up the sloc and back down Fleshwick! Absolutely shattered but a decent bit of uphill and I was glad to get the week over and done with!
Dave,
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Shaking the bug
Standard spinning session on the Monday, followed by a weight session kept everything ticking over after the walk. Still not feeling 100% after the weekend so it was a bit of a killer and I was pleased to get it out of the way. Tuesday we decided a bit more uphill was needed before Kilimanjaro so we headed out again to the highest point of the Island and walked up to the top of Snaefell from Laxey. To be honest it was a real struggle, I was really hating it getting to the top. I’ve never had a problem with my breathing etc. but after the bug I was really panting away to make it to the top. It’s made me realise how much I need to be in peak condition for Kili and the Parish, and one little thing can make things exponentially harder!
Started to put the crap weekend behind me by Wednesday and didn’t feel too bad playing footy on Wednesday or at hockey training on Thursday, where we had another good game against the first team. They had a big game against the second placed team on Saturday so they were trying to get a bit of match practice as there hasn’t been a game for a couple of weeks.
With the way I was feeling at the weekend, and with only a month to go until we leave for Kili, we’ve both decided to concentrate a little more on our diets and nutrition which means the inevitable knocking the booze on the head. Although I have been conscious not to drink too much to affect my training until now, we’ve decided to completely cut out alcohol until we’ve finished the events. The only exception is I might have a cold beer if I make it to the top of Kili! Therefore, Friday night was spent having a game of cards with a few mates after out gym session. What a professional!
The weekend was good although not too much exercise on Saturday. I went down to the NSC and watched our first team effectively win the league 2-1 against the second placed team. It put them 4 points ahead with 2 games to go (and a win is worth 2 points). It was a deserved victory after a great season for them and now there is just the small matter of winning every game in a season, 2 to go! Quiet one Saturday night with a housewarming in Castletown, which was a bit of a bizarre experience watching everyone getting slightly worse for wear while I was avoiding the booze.
Finally, we finished off the week today by going out for a walk with Rich Corke, who has just signed up for the Parish too. Walked from Colby out to Castletown and then round Scarlett and back round the coast all the way to Port St Mary, and then back into Port Erin via the Sound. It must have been probably 19/20 miles or so and wasn’t too bad because finished in the pub to watch the cricket (with a lemonade!!!).
A good full week of training and I am just thankful I seem to have shaken off the bug and can hit the training hard before tapering it down!
Dave.
Started to put the crap weekend behind me by Wednesday and didn’t feel too bad playing footy on Wednesday or at hockey training on Thursday, where we had another good game against the first team. They had a big game against the second placed team on Saturday so they were trying to get a bit of match practice as there hasn’t been a game for a couple of weeks.
With the way I was feeling at the weekend, and with only a month to go until we leave for Kili, we’ve both decided to concentrate a little more on our diets and nutrition which means the inevitable knocking the booze on the head. Although I have been conscious not to drink too much to affect my training until now, we’ve decided to completely cut out alcohol until we’ve finished the events. The only exception is I might have a cold beer if I make it to the top of Kili! Therefore, Friday night was spent having a game of cards with a few mates after out gym session. What a professional!
The weekend was good although not too much exercise on Saturday. I went down to the NSC and watched our first team effectively win the league 2-1 against the second placed team. It put them 4 points ahead with 2 games to go (and a win is worth 2 points). It was a deserved victory after a great season for them and now there is just the small matter of winning every game in a season, 2 to go! Quiet one Saturday night with a housewarming in Castletown, which was a bit of a bizarre experience watching everyone getting slightly worse for wear while I was avoiding the booze.
Finally, we finished off the week today by going out for a walk with Rich Corke, who has just signed up for the Parish too. Walked from Colby out to Castletown and then round Scarlett and back round the coast all the way to Port St Mary, and then back into Port Erin via the Sound. It must have been probably 19/20 miles or so and wasn’t too bad because finished in the pub to watch the cricket (with a lemonade!!!).
A good full week of training and I am just thankful I seem to have shaken off the bug and can hit the training hard before tapering it down!
Dave.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Crashin' and burnin'
No big walk last week and as it was a bank holiday weekend and I was still playing hockey on Monday no spinning session wasn’t the ideal start to the week. We therefore decided to head up to Mount Murray on the Tuesday instead to do our standard Monday gym session. Footy again on Wednesday, followed by a hockey session on Thursday. Although there was no hockey scheduled for the weekend following Whit, we took the opportunity to have a game against the first team to keep them “on the ball” as they have the title decider next week, which was a good laugh.
Towards the end of the working week was feeling the pace a bit and I think I’m coming down with something at the worst possible time. Tried to push through the crap I was feeling in the gym on Friday and put it all in to the session and promptly nearly collapsed afterwards! Went around to mate’s house on Friday night and a late night the way I was feeling was probably a bit of a mistake.
Saturday was a complete write-off! As there was no hockey on it wouldn’t have been the most active day anyways I had intended to make the most of the day, get stuff sorted and keep the training going. As it turned out I spent almost the whole day on the sofa shaking, trying to fight off a fever and generally feeling absolutely awful. White as a sheet I decided that there are just some days I will have to put behind me and you physically can’t train every day. I was just hoping it isn’t something that would hold me back and make me miss too much training.
Today was a bit better, although I still felt rough I decided to “man up” and went to do the Ramsey to Douglas Parish Walk route with Mark & Pasty, our official Parish Walk Guide! To be honest the walk must have been 22 miles odd and it’s probably the best I’ve felt after a decent walk. Still not feeling too hot healthwise but my legs weren’t too bad. Even though I was worried the whole week would be a write-off, today’s walk at least made me feel that all wasn’t completely lost.
I just want to shake off this bug as quick as possible and it’s made me worry that if I picked something up on the mountain or the Parish then this may compromise my performance. I’ve just got to prepare as well as I can and keep my fingers crossed!
Dave.
Towards the end of the working week was feeling the pace a bit and I think I’m coming down with something at the worst possible time. Tried to push through the crap I was feeling in the gym on Friday and put it all in to the session and promptly nearly collapsed afterwards! Went around to mate’s house on Friday night and a late night the way I was feeling was probably a bit of a mistake.
Saturday was a complete write-off! As there was no hockey on it wouldn’t have been the most active day anyways I had intended to make the most of the day, get stuff sorted and keep the training going. As it turned out I spent almost the whole day on the sofa shaking, trying to fight off a fever and generally feeling absolutely awful. White as a sheet I decided that there are just some days I will have to put behind me and you physically can’t train every day. I was just hoping it isn’t something that would hold me back and make me miss too much training.
Today was a bit better, although I still felt rough I decided to “man up” and went to do the Ramsey to Douglas Parish Walk route with Mark & Pasty, our official Parish Walk Guide! To be honest the walk must have been 22 miles odd and it’s probably the best I’ve felt after a decent walk. Still not feeling too hot healthwise but my legs weren’t too bad. Even though I was worried the whole week would be a write-off, today’s walk at least made me feel that all wasn’t completely lost.
I just want to shake off this bug as quick as possible and it’s made me worry that if I picked something up on the mountain or the Parish then this may compromise my performance. I’ve just got to prepare as well as I can and keep my fingers crossed!
Dave.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Whit!
Weirdly enough, despite how tough I found the fireman’s walk, my legs weren’t feeling too bad the next day, especially in comparison to the state they’d been in the week before doing the 32 miles from the start up the sloc! Maybe there is a case that we are getting more used to road or maybe we’re actually getting fitter! Still, spinning on Monday was another relief , followed by a pretty decent gym session.
Tuesday was my final kayaking course and we concentrated on rolls, e.g. capsizing and then the technique of pushing the paddle out of the water twisting it and using it to pull yourself back up! Not an easy skill to master as I was proving! I am also desperate to get out on the sea but until I’ve done these events I think this is going to go on the backburner along with the diving, I just don’t have the time (or finances!) to sort it out. Definitely a plan for July though!
Standard footy on Wednesday, unfortunately the mighty Reds were playing Atletico Madrid in the Europa league semi final on Thursday so I couldn’t manage to make it down to hockey training; I watched my team get beat instead!! Friday was the start of another hockey festival (Whit) over on the Isle of Man, so after the gym I went into town and met the hockey team for the start of a long weekend...
Although we didn’t manage to get a walk in on Sunday I was playing a lot of hockey all weekend, for my hockey club Castletown and also for Saracens. There’s a great atmosphere at Whit and it’s a great opportunity to meet other hockey teams and generally have a laugh, anyone plays for anyone and it’s not taken too seriously, tour hockey is definitely the way forward! After a weekend (and bank holiday Monday) of loads of hockey, Laxey Blues festival and laughs, I think we both decided that it’s time to step the training up.
We’re on the home straight now, it’s only 5 weeks until we go and we’ve got to get some more miles on the clock!
Dave.
Tuesday was my final kayaking course and we concentrated on rolls, e.g. capsizing and then the technique of pushing the paddle out of the water twisting it and using it to pull yourself back up! Not an easy skill to master as I was proving! I am also desperate to get out on the sea but until I’ve done these events I think this is going to go on the backburner along with the diving, I just don’t have the time (or finances!) to sort it out. Definitely a plan for July though!
Standard footy on Wednesday, unfortunately the mighty Reds were playing Atletico Madrid in the Europa league semi final on Thursday so I couldn’t manage to make it down to hockey training; I watched my team get beat instead!! Friday was the start of another hockey festival (Whit) over on the Isle of Man, so after the gym I went into town and met the hockey team for the start of a long weekend...
Although we didn’t manage to get a walk in on Sunday I was playing a lot of hockey all weekend, for my hockey club Castletown and also for Saracens. There’s a great atmosphere at Whit and it’s a great opportunity to meet other hockey teams and generally have a laugh, anyone plays for anyone and it’s not taken too seriously, tour hockey is definitely the way forward! After a weekend (and bank holiday Monday) of loads of hockey, Laxey Blues festival and laughs, I think we both decided that it’s time to step the training up.
We’re on the home straight now, it’s only 5 weeks until we go and we’ve got to get some more miles on the clock!
Dave.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
On fire.........
Waking up on Monday morning following the previous day’s walk I spent another day staggering about like I’d wet myself. Luckily my blister has disappeared as quickly as it arrived but I do need to think about everything I can do to minimise the risk and increase the manageability of blisters on the day, as they are unfortunately an inescapable inevitability (try saying that fast!).
The hardest part of spinning on Monday was getting to it. I felt that I could well injure myself if I pushed it too far with my legs as tight as they were, but in hindsight it turned out to be the complete opposite! I don’t know if spinning the legs burns off all the lactic acid that may have built up in my legs but the difference it made was amazing, my legs felt back to some sort of normality straight after! Did the Monday weights session and by my kayaking on Tuesday I was worrying that I would get straight into the kayak and cramp up! My whole body felt like a wreck with both arms and legs aching and I couldn’t wait to curl up in bed!
Footy as per usual on Wednesday but I think the weekend had taken it out of me as I played even worse than usual! Missed hockey training on Thursday as I went to a random quiz night in Braaid with the island’s Rotarians! I had randomly turned up at the previous one and our team had won so we had a trophy to defend! That and I thought it would be a good opportunity to drum up some support for the events, as the Rotary clubs are renowned for raising funds for charitable causes. After a bit of networking and some slightly less successful question answering, we came a disappointing second but it was a good laugh and hopefully beneficial to our events!
Standard Friday with gym session and even more standard poker night that night with me losing my money! As the hockey season has finished for our team I was at a bit of a loss on Saturday, but luckily before I bit the bullet and cleaned the flat the second team were short of players so I was able to play in their game. Recovered from 2 goals down to win 4-2 in a mad game, not too much composure (especially on my part) but we got the result! But for some horrendous refereeing (no names mentioned) it could have been 5 and I would have had my name on the scoresheet!
During the week we had enrolled ourselves in the Fireman’s racewalk from Peel to Ramsey along the Parish Walk route through Jurby, Bride & Andreas. Therefore a quiet night was in order to prepare thoroughly for the walk…unfortunately it didn’t materialise as the next round of beer pong was being hosted in Castletown. After a few beers, then a few more, it was going to be a struggle to make the start line for 8:30am the next morning!
Somehow after waking at 8 this morning and a frantic phonecall and drive to Peel we managed to make the start of the race. As this was an official race (with numbers and everything!) rather than just training everyone set off at a pretty decent pace…except us! Still, it was a good session to ensure that we knew the Parish Walk route. Who knows our time may have improved significantly if we didn’t make any shop stops en route! Not sure that’s too advisable in the Parish! After 45km I was feeling fine but the last 5km really took it out of me and it’s the mental hurdle again of being close to the finish and my legs just giving up! Although it wasn’t as hard a route as we’d managed up and over the sloc the previous week and I think we were going slower than the previous week, by the end of the race I was shattered! We walked with a couple of hockey guys, Pasty and Steve and their company was a blessing because you find the roads around Jurby, Andreas and Bride are just endless with only hedges for a view! Also the roads are very flat and it is also another mental hurdle as you don’t even get to go up and down hills, it really drains you heading straight for miles and miles!
Another full week of training did feel good but some of the confidence of the previous week disappeared and the shock factor is back. There’s no doubt the Parish Walk is a massive massive challenge, and I now need to start thinking about Kilimanjaro too as it’s getting closer and closer! Some uphill needed!
Dave.
The hardest part of spinning on Monday was getting to it. I felt that I could well injure myself if I pushed it too far with my legs as tight as they were, but in hindsight it turned out to be the complete opposite! I don’t know if spinning the legs burns off all the lactic acid that may have built up in my legs but the difference it made was amazing, my legs felt back to some sort of normality straight after! Did the Monday weights session and by my kayaking on Tuesday I was worrying that I would get straight into the kayak and cramp up! My whole body felt like a wreck with both arms and legs aching and I couldn’t wait to curl up in bed!
Footy as per usual on Wednesday but I think the weekend had taken it out of me as I played even worse than usual! Missed hockey training on Thursday as I went to a random quiz night in Braaid with the island’s Rotarians! I had randomly turned up at the previous one and our team had won so we had a trophy to defend! That and I thought it would be a good opportunity to drum up some support for the events, as the Rotary clubs are renowned for raising funds for charitable causes. After a bit of networking and some slightly less successful question answering, we came a disappointing second but it was a good laugh and hopefully beneficial to our events!
Standard Friday with gym session and even more standard poker night that night with me losing my money! As the hockey season has finished for our team I was at a bit of a loss on Saturday, but luckily before I bit the bullet and cleaned the flat the second team were short of players so I was able to play in their game. Recovered from 2 goals down to win 4-2 in a mad game, not too much composure (especially on my part) but we got the result! But for some horrendous refereeing (no names mentioned) it could have been 5 and I would have had my name on the scoresheet!
During the week we had enrolled ourselves in the Fireman’s racewalk from Peel to Ramsey along the Parish Walk route through Jurby, Bride & Andreas. Therefore a quiet night was in order to prepare thoroughly for the walk…unfortunately it didn’t materialise as the next round of beer pong was being hosted in Castletown. After a few beers, then a few more, it was going to be a struggle to make the start line for 8:30am the next morning!
Somehow after waking at 8 this morning and a frantic phonecall and drive to Peel we managed to make the start of the race. As this was an official race (with numbers and everything!) rather than just training everyone set off at a pretty decent pace…except us! Still, it was a good session to ensure that we knew the Parish Walk route. Who knows our time may have improved significantly if we didn’t make any shop stops en route! Not sure that’s too advisable in the Parish! After 45km I was feeling fine but the last 5km really took it out of me and it’s the mental hurdle again of being close to the finish and my legs just giving up! Although it wasn’t as hard a route as we’d managed up and over the sloc the previous week and I think we were going slower than the previous week, by the end of the race I was shattered! We walked with a couple of hockey guys, Pasty and Steve and their company was a blessing because you find the roads around Jurby, Andreas and Bride are just endless with only hedges for a view! Also the roads are very flat and it is also another mental hurdle as you don’t even get to go up and down hills, it really drains you heading straight for miles and miles!
Another full week of training did feel good but some of the confidence of the previous week disappeared and the shock factor is back. There’s no doubt the Parish Walk is a massive massive challenge, and I now need to start thinking about Kilimanjaro too as it’s getting closer and closer! Some uphill needed!
Dave.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Manning up! (and the blister to prove it!)
Daunted by the 3 hour drive around the course, this really gave a shock purely on the distance of the walk and the kick I need to spur myself on. As it is less than 2 months until we are off I think it is time to really put in some hard yards!
Therefore I didn’t think twice about spinning on Monday and put as much in as I could for both that and the gym session straight after. Tuesday night was in Peel again for my second kayaking session, something I’ve realised is not an easy skill! It involves a lot of hip work and there are so many things to think about technically it’s really difficult to master! After numerous capsizes (some deliberate, some definitely not!) I was pleased with the session and certainly slept well!
With the week in full swing and going well I managed to get through football and hockey training with no problems, although no squash again due to people away etc. The week finished with the standard gym session at Mount Murray, which was good as I wasn’t feeling as shattered as usual! I think I need to push myself a bit more in the gym as I didn’t really work to exhaustion….I will push it up next week!
Pretty happy after a decent full working week of training, we had our final hockey match of the season against the team who haven’t even dropped a point all season and won every game. However with our full team out and everybody putting in sterling performances we managed to recover from a goal down at half time to draw 2-2. Dale was back in the goals with 2 great strikes and it was the most enjoyable game I’ve played, we even could’ve nicked it at the end and 2-2 felt a bit like a defeat at the final whistle, but in hindsight a draw was probably a fair result! Celebrated with a chilled out barbecue in Ballasalla and some pitch black cricket!
For the past few times we’ve done the sloc, Bratt has often mentioned that it is not too bad but wondered how hard it would be after a 20 mile walk aka on Parish Walk day. I always nodded along, with little knowledge of the fact that he actually planned to do the sloc after we’d already done 20 miles! Therefore we set off about 10:45am from Douglas and headed to Marown Church on the exact Parish Walk route. Despite a few miscalculations and going a bit off track (and therefore adding a mile or two to the distance) we made our way to the bottom of the sloc and somehow successfully to the top! It was about a 31 mile walk after going back down to Ronague and a big jump from our previous longest walk.
It was successful in the fact that mentally I am prepared that I can do the sloc after walking the 20 miles, and although I picked up a blister the size of Gibraltar en route, I wasn’t feeling too bad and the blister I feel was manageable. My legs are pretty stiff now after the walk but there wasn’t anything that suggested I wanted to stop. I think it's mainly in the mind because the last couple of miles my legs get tired but I think it is because they know the finish is close...I just have to convince them that we are going to make it to the finish and so they won’t go wobbly until after 83 miles!
With a really decent week of training and a long walk under my belt, I haven’t felt more confident of climbing the mountain and giving the Parish Walk my best. After all, once you’ve done 30 miles there really is only another 55 to go....
Dave.
Therefore I didn’t think twice about spinning on Monday and put as much in as I could for both that and the gym session straight after. Tuesday night was in Peel again for my second kayaking session, something I’ve realised is not an easy skill! It involves a lot of hip work and there are so many things to think about technically it’s really difficult to master! After numerous capsizes (some deliberate, some definitely not!) I was pleased with the session and certainly slept well!
With the week in full swing and going well I managed to get through football and hockey training with no problems, although no squash again due to people away etc. The week finished with the standard gym session at Mount Murray, which was good as I wasn’t feeling as shattered as usual! I think I need to push myself a bit more in the gym as I didn’t really work to exhaustion….I will push it up next week!
Pretty happy after a decent full working week of training, we had our final hockey match of the season against the team who haven’t even dropped a point all season and won every game. However with our full team out and everybody putting in sterling performances we managed to recover from a goal down at half time to draw 2-2. Dale was back in the goals with 2 great strikes and it was the most enjoyable game I’ve played, we even could’ve nicked it at the end and 2-2 felt a bit like a defeat at the final whistle, but in hindsight a draw was probably a fair result! Celebrated with a chilled out barbecue in Ballasalla and some pitch black cricket!
For the past few times we’ve done the sloc, Bratt has often mentioned that it is not too bad but wondered how hard it would be after a 20 mile walk aka on Parish Walk day. I always nodded along, with little knowledge of the fact that he actually planned to do the sloc after we’d already done 20 miles! Therefore we set off about 10:45am from Douglas and headed to Marown Church on the exact Parish Walk route. Despite a few miscalculations and going a bit off track (and therefore adding a mile or two to the distance) we made our way to the bottom of the sloc and somehow successfully to the top! It was about a 31 mile walk after going back down to Ronague and a big jump from our previous longest walk.
It was successful in the fact that mentally I am prepared that I can do the sloc after walking the 20 miles, and although I picked up a blister the size of Gibraltar en route, I wasn’t feeling too bad and the blister I feel was manageable. My legs are pretty stiff now after the walk but there wasn’t anything that suggested I wanted to stop. I think it's mainly in the mind because the last couple of miles my legs get tired but I think it is because they know the finish is close...I just have to convince them that we are going to make it to the finish and so they won’t go wobbly until after 83 miles!
With a really decent week of training and a long walk under my belt, I haven’t felt more confident of climbing the mountain and giving the Parish Walk my best. After all, once you’ve done 30 miles there really is only another 55 to go....
Dave.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Do more!
After a near disastrous trip back from Blackpool on the Monday but finally getting on the right boat rather than the 2am one, I felt like I was one of the only members of CHC who was actually in work the day after returning! As a tour virgin, I hadn’t realised the importance of booking the day(s!) immediately following the tour off work. A bleary eyed Tuesday therefore was the start of the week, and as we were feeling bad about the prior week setback we hit the gym after work and then I went to Peel swimming pool to start a 4 week kayaking course. On my day off I figured I wasn’t doing enough sport!
Footy as always religiously followed on Wednesday, but as everyone was still in recovery mode from tour the squash went by the wayside! Hockey training on Thursday mainly consisted of reminiscing about Blackpool and taking the mickey out of the people who didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory on tour! Ended the working week at the gym again but Bratt has picked up a back injury and didn’t make it which tends to make it a tougher session due to my self motivation. A 4 day week of work immediately following 4 days of pretty heavy going left me shattered and I was struggling to make it through the session. Attempted to walk back to the flat to keep my legs going but went back to Bratt’s to get my stick bag and collapsed in front of a movie!
Still, a hockey match on Saturday and with our star striker Dale away again I was hankering for a run up front! We grabbed a 4-1 win but I had a bit of a shocker in attack! Managed to bag a couple of goals but I think my chance conversion rate must have been about 6%, missed bucketloads. I’m only glad Lar Watterson didn’t attend as I’m sure there would have been another fare in the taxi for me!
Finished the week with more sport...beer pong at the flat. The pong league is threatening to take over the hockey and I don’t think it will be too long before we are Castletown Beer Pong Club rather than Castletown Hockey Club! Still I wasn’t complaining as James “Chunk” Ormond and I carried our Blackpool form to the island and won the championship (and associated t-shirts) 3 times! Hilarious night!
With Bratty still feeling his back injury and after the night before, we didn’t walk on Sunday but instead I went to play footy up at Nobles Park, which was ace as always. Wanting to do something towards the events, Mark’s girlfriend Hayley very kindly drove us round the Parish Walk in order to familiarise ourselves with where we have to go! It was completely daunting to think just the drive round the course lasted 3 hours!!!! And we have to walk this?! Time to man up, be better and do more!
Dave.
Footy as always religiously followed on Wednesday, but as everyone was still in recovery mode from tour the squash went by the wayside! Hockey training on Thursday mainly consisted of reminiscing about Blackpool and taking the mickey out of the people who didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory on tour! Ended the working week at the gym again but Bratt has picked up a back injury and didn’t make it which tends to make it a tougher session due to my self motivation. A 4 day week of work immediately following 4 days of pretty heavy going left me shattered and I was struggling to make it through the session. Attempted to walk back to the flat to keep my legs going but went back to Bratt’s to get my stick bag and collapsed in front of a movie!
Still, a hockey match on Saturday and with our star striker Dale away again I was hankering for a run up front! We grabbed a 4-1 win but I had a bit of a shocker in attack! Managed to bag a couple of goals but I think my chance conversion rate must have been about 6%, missed bucketloads. I’m only glad Lar Watterson didn’t attend as I’m sure there would have been another fare in the taxi for me!
Finished the week with more sport...beer pong at the flat. The pong league is threatening to take over the hockey and I don’t think it will be too long before we are Castletown Beer Pong Club rather than Castletown Hockey Club! Still I wasn’t complaining as James “Chunk” Ormond and I carried our Blackpool form to the island and won the championship (and associated t-shirts) 3 times! Hilarious night!
With Bratty still feeling his back injury and after the night before, we didn’t walk on Sunday but instead I went to play footy up at Nobles Park, which was ace as always. Wanting to do something towards the events, Mark’s girlfriend Hayley very kindly drove us round the Parish Walk in order to familiarise ourselves with where we have to go! It was completely daunting to think just the drive round the course lasted 3 hours!!!! And we have to walk this?! Time to man up, be better and do more!
Dave.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Setback!
OK first I have to say that in January I knew there was gonna be one major setback that I would have to factor in to the training schedule….Blackpool! It’s basically an annual four day hockey tour that takes place over the Easter weekend and isn’t renowned for its intensive training regime!!
Therefore I needed to do something in the week in order to make up for the carnage that would follow. On Monday I attended a “walk talk” with Roger Black, Olympic silver medallist and ambassador of Scottish Widows, the Parish Walk sponsor. It was really interesting to hear an insight from such a high profile athlete (along with a Parish Walk panel) who gave some great advice, especially concerning training partners. His number one tip was that if you find a training partner it forces you to turn up to training sessions etc. If you’re on your own it’s very easy to slack off because you know you’re just letting yourself down and this rang true as self-motivation has always been a major hurdle of mine!
After the talk and a quiet word with Roger and an extremely cheesy picture I headed to the gym for a spinning and weights session as per normal. The only other sport I managed until we headed off on the Thursday was my Wednesday night footy session (unless you count watching the champions league on Tuesday night!)
So onto Blackpool….and with a hockey team full of athletes such as CHC is renowned for, it came as no surprise to me that straight off the boat and after meeting up with the rest of the team a sporting event was soon underway. Jaegerbomb pong went down well and it really is a privilege to watch such dedicated athletes in action. As it was my first tour and we had 3 games the next day I decided to prepare well (?!) and get an early night so I disappeared to bed at 9:30pm…..strangely very shortly after the pong had finished…..not a good tour start!
There is far too much to write about over the next 3 days, although since the tour motto changed from “goes on tour, stays on tour” to “goes on tour, goes on facebook” there is unfortunately photographic evidence of most of the weekend. Not too many of actual hockey though……but then I don’t remember playing much! We all did however learn on tour to “do more”, “be better” and “man up”, 3 phrases that are going to define the rest of my training and will be ringing in my ears 6,000 metres up in Tanzania and on the long long roads of the Parish Walk.
Finally, I do just have to give a nod to James “Pasty boy” Russell for some impressively awful dice action, counting himself down during a game of 21, terrifying female opponents and team-mates alike and being a general menace (no nicknames mentioned); Sam Spooner must get a shout for providing the most epic failure by booking 4 of us on the boat that had left 13 hours before; and of course the real legend of the entire tour….step forward Mr Elton Ron. We definitely won’t let the sun go down on him…..
Dave.
Therefore I needed to do something in the week in order to make up for the carnage that would follow. On Monday I attended a “walk talk” with Roger Black, Olympic silver medallist and ambassador of Scottish Widows, the Parish Walk sponsor. It was really interesting to hear an insight from such a high profile athlete (along with a Parish Walk panel) who gave some great advice, especially concerning training partners. His number one tip was that if you find a training partner it forces you to turn up to training sessions etc. If you’re on your own it’s very easy to slack off because you know you’re just letting yourself down and this rang true as self-motivation has always been a major hurdle of mine!
After the talk and a quiet word with Roger and an extremely cheesy picture I headed to the gym for a spinning and weights session as per normal. The only other sport I managed until we headed off on the Thursday was my Wednesday night footy session (unless you count watching the champions league on Tuesday night!)
So onto Blackpool….and with a hockey team full of athletes such as CHC is renowned for, it came as no surprise to me that straight off the boat and after meeting up with the rest of the team a sporting event was soon underway. Jaegerbomb pong went down well and it really is a privilege to watch such dedicated athletes in action. As it was my first tour and we had 3 games the next day I decided to prepare well (?!) and get an early night so I disappeared to bed at 9:30pm…..strangely very shortly after the pong had finished…..not a good tour start!
There is far too much to write about over the next 3 days, although since the tour motto changed from “goes on tour, stays on tour” to “goes on tour, goes on facebook” there is unfortunately photographic evidence of most of the weekend. Not too many of actual hockey though……but then I don’t remember playing much! We all did however learn on tour to “do more”, “be better” and “man up”, 3 phrases that are going to define the rest of my training and will be ringing in my ears 6,000 metres up in Tanzania and on the long long roads of the Parish Walk.
Finally, I do just have to give a nod to James “Pasty boy” Russell for some impressively awful dice action, counting himself down during a game of 21, terrifying female opponents and team-mates alike and being a general menace (no nicknames mentioned); Sam Spooner must get a shout for providing the most epic failure by booking 4 of us on the boat that had left 13 hours before; and of course the real legend of the entire tour….step forward Mr Elton Ron. We definitely won’t let the sun go down on him…..
Dave.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Back in the game!
Determined to get a full week’s training under my belt I went to spinning on Monday and tried to push it as hard as I could, although it helped that I was on an easy bike! You find some of them are easy as you put up the resistance and some of them you put a tiny bit of resistance on and it’s so hard! I think Marky B had a tough bike so looked like he was hating it mwahaha!! Standard gym session afterwards and it was a decent start to the week.
Tuesday has kind of become my day off as I don’t do anything too strenuous. Apparently one rest day a week is almost more important than the training itself so trying to factor one in. I did walk from B & Q back to the flat though which although only a couple of miles was at least something! Standard footy and squash on Wednesday which I’m really enjoying and was pleased to keep up the full week so far. It continued as I went to hockey training on Thursday and finished off the week with a good gym session on Friday! It’s scary to see our website clock which ticks down to when we leave, the time is fast disappearing and is another reminder I can’t skimp on the training!
An early start (for a Saturday) to get down to Castle Rushen for hockey game at 11:00, which was a pretty tense affair and was gutted we were defeated against Bacchas 3-2. It was fairly similar to our first game against them where we went down 2-1, in both games we had our chances to win and it is tough to take that we got nothing to show from two very competitive games with them. Still, sitting in the sun with an after game drink and then having the afternoon with my nephew & niece cheered me up from the defeat!
To finish off the week, we decided to go for a decent walk and try to incorporate road walking and hill walking into a decent length walk. We therefore walked up from Ronague to the round table back down the sloc and then back up to Fleshwick. The hill at Fleshwick is so steep and it doesn’t seem to get any easier to power up no matter how much training I’m doing! From there, we went around Milner’s Tower, down to Port Erin for refreshment, then back round through Colby to Ronague. It was about a 15 mile walk I think, but because it was a fair bit steeply uphill it felt like longer!
Still felt good to get a full week of training under my belt and even resisted the temptation to go out! What a professional……may be a case of the calm before the storm though as next week there is a 4 day hockey tour in Blackpool!
Dave.
Tuesday has kind of become my day off as I don’t do anything too strenuous. Apparently one rest day a week is almost more important than the training itself so trying to factor one in. I did walk from B & Q back to the flat though which although only a couple of miles was at least something! Standard footy and squash on Wednesday which I’m really enjoying and was pleased to keep up the full week so far. It continued as I went to hockey training on Thursday and finished off the week with a good gym session on Friday! It’s scary to see our website clock which ticks down to when we leave, the time is fast disappearing and is another reminder I can’t skimp on the training!
An early start (for a Saturday) to get down to Castle Rushen for hockey game at 11:00, which was a pretty tense affair and was gutted we were defeated against Bacchas 3-2. It was fairly similar to our first game against them where we went down 2-1, in both games we had our chances to win and it is tough to take that we got nothing to show from two very competitive games with them. Still, sitting in the sun with an after game drink and then having the afternoon with my nephew & niece cheered me up from the defeat!
To finish off the week, we decided to go for a decent walk and try to incorporate road walking and hill walking into a decent length walk. We therefore walked up from Ronague to the round table back down the sloc and then back up to Fleshwick. The hill at Fleshwick is so steep and it doesn’t seem to get any easier to power up no matter how much training I’m doing! From there, we went around Milner’s Tower, down to Port Erin for refreshment, then back round through Colby to Ronague. It was about a 15 mile walk I think, but because it was a fair bit steeply uphill it felt like longer!
Still felt good to get a full week of training under my belt and even resisted the temptation to go out! What a professional……may be a case of the calm before the storm though as next week there is a 4 day hockey tour in Blackpool!
Dave.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Snae problem!
After the birthday celebrations of the weekend really wanted to hit the ground running on Monday and get in another solid week of training. Unfortunately, Monday had the worst possible start, as finishing work late I couldn’t manage to make it to the spinning class for 6. Marky B was also still feeling his knee so missed spinning and was called to coach some junior hockey so we decided to move the gym session to the next day. Tuesday we headed for the gym and did our Monday session but no cardio!
Wednesday I played footy as normal but as there were a few of the hockey guys who couldn’t make squash this was my only cardio fitness work for the entire week! Hockey training on Thursday was a no-go too and called off as only 4 people turned up! Bit of a crazy week seems that everything is getting called off all over the show! Trying to leave it to my self motivation is not a good idea, although I love the training I know I need more self motivation and really need to pick it up when things aren’t all organised! To finish the working week I had a work do out on Friday night at 7, but I was absolutely determined to at least get to the gym and do the standard workout on beforehand so at least I managed that one!
Pretty busy weekend in flat, sorting all sorts of DIY out and took me hours screwing rusted nails out of concrete to sort out my shed as trying to put a punchbag up! What a nightmare! Hockey match Saturday afternoon and a repeat of the bad-tempered derby of a few weeks ago! Not as bad tempered, but not a good result going down 3-0. To be fair we were outplayed by a better 3rd team and they fully deserved victory but it was just frustrating conceding 2 goals in 5 crazy minutes at the start of the second half! Unfortunately I took a hit to the knee in the game which was giving me a bit of trouble but I can’t let it stop me from my Sunday walk……Saturday night was probably the most fitness I had done all week on the dance floor as I went out for a “rubix cube” party, which involved wearing multicoloured clothes and swapping until you are all one colour! Was shattered!
On Sundays we’ve been concentrating a lot on training for the Parish Walk, and the last 4 walks we’ve done have been all on road. Obviously this is great training for the walk but I was getting a little concerned about the balance between road walking in trainers and going uphill in mountain boots! We therefore decided to climb up Snaefell for a bit of “altitude” training haha (all 2,036 feet)! The only problem was that we didn’t know the way or the best place to climb from! We drove out of Douglas, straight to Laxey and had no clue where to go so found the mountain road (via Ramsey!!!!) and headed up from there. If wasn’t the usual route up (we decided it was steeper!) and to be honest we didn’t actually know we were on Snaefell until we saw the tram lines at the top! It was just a big hill so we decided to climb it!
Although it picked up towards the end of the week I definitely need to pull my finger out and find my motivation from somewhere!
Dave.
Wednesday I played footy as normal but as there were a few of the hockey guys who couldn’t make squash this was my only cardio fitness work for the entire week! Hockey training on Thursday was a no-go too and called off as only 4 people turned up! Bit of a crazy week seems that everything is getting called off all over the show! Trying to leave it to my self motivation is not a good idea, although I love the training I know I need more self motivation and really need to pick it up when things aren’t all organised! To finish the working week I had a work do out on Friday night at 7, but I was absolutely determined to at least get to the gym and do the standard workout on beforehand so at least I managed that one!
Pretty busy weekend in flat, sorting all sorts of DIY out and took me hours screwing rusted nails out of concrete to sort out my shed as trying to put a punchbag up! What a nightmare! Hockey match Saturday afternoon and a repeat of the bad-tempered derby of a few weeks ago! Not as bad tempered, but not a good result going down 3-0. To be fair we were outplayed by a better 3rd team and they fully deserved victory but it was just frustrating conceding 2 goals in 5 crazy minutes at the start of the second half! Unfortunately I took a hit to the knee in the game which was giving me a bit of trouble but I can’t let it stop me from my Sunday walk……Saturday night was probably the most fitness I had done all week on the dance floor as I went out for a “rubix cube” party, which involved wearing multicoloured clothes and swapping until you are all one colour! Was shattered!
On Sundays we’ve been concentrating a lot on training for the Parish Walk, and the last 4 walks we’ve done have been all on road. Obviously this is great training for the walk but I was getting a little concerned about the balance between road walking in trainers and going uphill in mountain boots! We therefore decided to climb up Snaefell for a bit of “altitude” training haha (all 2,036 feet)! The only problem was that we didn’t know the way or the best place to climb from! We drove out of Douglas, straight to Laxey and had no clue where to go so found the mountain road (via Ramsey!!!!) and headed up from there. If wasn’t the usual route up (we decided it was steeper!) and to be honest we didn’t actually know we were on Snaefell until we saw the tram lines at the top! It was just a big hill so we decided to climb it!
Although it picked up towards the end of the week I definitely need to pull my finger out and find my motivation from somewhere!
Dave.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Happy Birthday!
Ow! Woke up Monday morning, got out of bed and nearly fell straight on my face. After the walk on Sunday my legs had stiffened up and spent most of Monday walking around like I’d wet myself (and I haven’t done that in weeks). Have also been out at clients auditing for the past couple of weeks and had to scale 3 sets of stairs straight legged! Ever the professional accountant! I thought spinning was going to be an absolute nightmare but weirdly I found it a massive relief! Getting my legs spinning on the exercise bike loosened them up and it was a good session, followed by the gym.
As it was my flatmate Dan’s birthday on Tuesday, this was my day off for the week and I went down the pub to watch the football with a few beers, which made a nice change from training! Had a good footy session and squash games on Wednesday, after the last couple of weeks of my co-ordination being all over the place didn’t play too badly for once although I did manage to blow an 8-1 lead in my final squash match to Mark C! Thursday again was hockey training on a freezing pitch, not too many people turned out and we finished with a full pitch game with not many players! Was a good excuse for a decent run about!
After a really busy week at work was glad to get the working week out of the way and bring on the weekend! Did a quick gym session on Friday night and then went to the steam room, hydro pool & freezing cold plunge pool at Mount Murray. Is a great way to finish the week and chill out and try to rest the weary muscles!
Saturday arrived and was keen to play hockey, we had a winnable game at home and I was desperate to open my account in front of goal as it was my birthday weekend! After switching from the right wing in men’s hockey to defensive midfielder in mixed I miss (literally) getting in the D and swinging blindly trying to bag a goal! I started defensively but as the game wore on moved further and further forward trying to score, eventually hitting a shot which was kicked off the line, penalty flick to us! I stepped up, flicked the ball past the keeper and trotted back to the centre delighted….only problem is my foot had been in the wrong place (I’m a bit sketchy on the rules…..) and the goal was disallowed! Taxi for Dave! Still, after that I decided I was going to stay up front and get a goal by hell or high water and despite also missing a few gilt edged chances I did manage to grab a couple of goals in a 4-0 win....result!
As it was mine and Dan’s birthdays in the week, we decided to have a flatwarming/birthday party on Saturday night, play a bit of beer pong and head into town! Was a really good night, cheers for everyone for coming, hats off to Chunk and Graeme Brown for passing out soon after each other….and hats definitely on for Dale for bringing the port! Also congratulations to Sam R & Keggy, taught beer pong by Americans and left undefeated champs! Was a hilarious night and definitely need to sort out a rematch soon!
Being my birthday yesterday and nursing a wee bit of a hangover I knew the walk was going to be epic! Unfortunately (?!) Marky B picked up an injury at hockey the day before and was limping about, in no fit state for walking! To keep up the training, I therefore went to play football in Nobles park at 2, something I used to attend religiously but has had to take a back seat since Sunday is the only day we can put in a big walk. Was a good kick about on a pretty sunny day (for March!) and I really enjoyed the run about, there just aren’t enough days in the week! Was amazed how much the fitness has helped at football and was a good indication of the difference it’s made. I’m usually knackered but I felt I could do much more running even after 2 and a half hours. Spent the rest of yesterday back down south with the family on my birthday and had my 3 year old niece Poppy “help” open all my presents for me! Although she seemed completely disinterested when it wasn’t a Barbie doll/pink hairdryer! (I got them both last year).
Pretty successful week all in all and feeling confident I’m not burning out, bring on the mountain!
Dave.
As it was my flatmate Dan’s birthday on Tuesday, this was my day off for the week and I went down the pub to watch the football with a few beers, which made a nice change from training! Had a good footy session and squash games on Wednesday, after the last couple of weeks of my co-ordination being all over the place didn’t play too badly for once although I did manage to blow an 8-1 lead in my final squash match to Mark C! Thursday again was hockey training on a freezing pitch, not too many people turned out and we finished with a full pitch game with not many players! Was a good excuse for a decent run about!
After a really busy week at work was glad to get the working week out of the way and bring on the weekend! Did a quick gym session on Friday night and then went to the steam room, hydro pool & freezing cold plunge pool at Mount Murray. Is a great way to finish the week and chill out and try to rest the weary muscles!
Saturday arrived and was keen to play hockey, we had a winnable game at home and I was desperate to open my account in front of goal as it was my birthday weekend! After switching from the right wing in men’s hockey to defensive midfielder in mixed I miss (literally) getting in the D and swinging blindly trying to bag a goal! I started defensively but as the game wore on moved further and further forward trying to score, eventually hitting a shot which was kicked off the line, penalty flick to us! I stepped up, flicked the ball past the keeper and trotted back to the centre delighted….only problem is my foot had been in the wrong place (I’m a bit sketchy on the rules…..) and the goal was disallowed! Taxi for Dave! Still, after that I decided I was going to stay up front and get a goal by hell or high water and despite also missing a few gilt edged chances I did manage to grab a couple of goals in a 4-0 win....result!
As it was mine and Dan’s birthdays in the week, we decided to have a flatwarming/birthday party on Saturday night, play a bit of beer pong and head into town! Was a really good night, cheers for everyone for coming, hats off to Chunk and Graeme Brown for passing out soon after each other….and hats definitely on for Dale for bringing the port! Also congratulations to Sam R & Keggy, taught beer pong by Americans and left undefeated champs! Was a hilarious night and definitely need to sort out a rematch soon!
Being my birthday yesterday and nursing a wee bit of a hangover I knew the walk was going to be epic! Unfortunately (?!) Marky B picked up an injury at hockey the day before and was limping about, in no fit state for walking! To keep up the training, I therefore went to play football in Nobles park at 2, something I used to attend religiously but has had to take a back seat since Sunday is the only day we can put in a big walk. Was a good kick about on a pretty sunny day (for March!) and I really enjoyed the run about, there just aren’t enough days in the week! Was amazed how much the fitness has helped at football and was a good indication of the difference it’s made. I’m usually knackered but I felt I could do much more running even after 2 and a half hours. Spent the rest of yesterday back down south with the family on my birthday and had my 3 year old niece Poppy “help” open all my presents for me! Although she seemed completely disinterested when it wasn’t a Barbie doll/pink hairdryer! (I got them both last year).
Pretty successful week all in all and feeling confident I’m not burning out, bring on the mountain!
Dave.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Gamblin' and ramblin'
I really needed to pick up a bit of motivation this week after a scrappy week including no walk on the Sunday. Felt like I needed to kick myself to get back into the intensive training of a couple of weeks ago, and forget about the previous week. With only 13 weeks until we go although I am in far better shape than 2 months ago I think that stepping off the training is dangerous and I just need to keep at the same fitness level but increasing the distances.
Standard start to the week, went spinning and then to the gym. Tuesday did a bit more cardio with an hour and a half of squash with Marky B & Claire J which was good. Wednesday again played football and then went to squash with the hockey boys. Was a bit off form again on the court, including taking an 11-1 kicking by Cooky which didn’t exactly put me in the best mood! I am ultra competitive and get very frustrated with myself if I play badly. Luckily I have calmed down a lot in the last few years, I remember in my first year of university by the end of the year I was on my sixth squash racquet!!!
Trying to keep up the training I went to hockey training on Thursday which I really enjoy. It’s not the most intensive sport I do all week but it’s great banter and a good laugh and does get you running around! Since spinning has now been cancelled on a Friday (apparently not enough people turn up….turns out the pub is a more tempting option on Friday night…..don’t I know it!) I went to the gym and then headed back to the flat to host a poker night at the new flat. Was a good night but a few hours later and £20 down the swanny I was counting the money I didn’t have!
Played hockey on Saturday against the league leaders, managed to lose 5-1 but I didn’t feel that the scoreline was a fair reflection on the game, we put in a good performance and Dale scored the only goal they had conceded all season! Still it was played in a great spirit and but for some questionable refereeing decisions (I have to say for both teams!) it could easily have been closer. Stayed down south to try to win some money back again at a poker night at PK and Chunk’s new flat and despite being down to 2 chips at one point managed to win the game and the £60 kitty!! Problem was that we went down the pub straight after and the victor bought the first round in! As I’d paid £15 into the kitty and the round cost approx £23, I worked out that after 2 poker nights I’d managed to make a total profit of about £2!!!! Still a great couple of nights and coming out with any profit at all was a bonus!
Finally it was time for the day of truth and the big walk. As we’d not had a big night out before we decided to start earlyish (11!) and head from Rushen church up the sloc and over to Peel, and then back again! The total walk was about 23/24 miles and was up and down hills so would definitely be our biggest test so far. After about an hour I was really struggling, I get pains in my calves and round my ankles and the first hour of uphill walking is an absolute killer. The weird thing is that after about an hour the pain dies off and I don’t feel it any more, if anyone has any suggestions why please let me know! I just have to keep going and walk through the pain!
The other point it highlighted for me is that we need to concentrate on our pace, I think on the way back we had it about right (as it was getting dark) but we need to maintain a consistent pace and monitor it more closely, I’d hate to be denied the opportunity to complete the Parish because of a time constraint. Overall though I felt the benefits of the walk outweighed the negatives. It showed that I could walk for an extended period of time and the legs could stand up to it, after you learn to walk with the aches and the pains I think it will be more of a mental challenge than anything else. It is also helping that we are hardening our feet to road walking. These longer walks hopefully will toughen up our feet and decrease the chance of blisters etc.
All in all though a very satisfying week, I feel I’m back on the trail and back on target to tramp all over that mountain and put my best into completing the walk!
Dave.
Standard start to the week, went spinning and then to the gym. Tuesday did a bit more cardio with an hour and a half of squash with Marky B & Claire J which was good. Wednesday again played football and then went to squash with the hockey boys. Was a bit off form again on the court, including taking an 11-1 kicking by Cooky which didn’t exactly put me in the best mood! I am ultra competitive and get very frustrated with myself if I play badly. Luckily I have calmed down a lot in the last few years, I remember in my first year of university by the end of the year I was on my sixth squash racquet!!!
Trying to keep up the training I went to hockey training on Thursday which I really enjoy. It’s not the most intensive sport I do all week but it’s great banter and a good laugh and does get you running around! Since spinning has now been cancelled on a Friday (apparently not enough people turn up….turns out the pub is a more tempting option on Friday night…..don’t I know it!) I went to the gym and then headed back to the flat to host a poker night at the new flat. Was a good night but a few hours later and £20 down the swanny I was counting the money I didn’t have!
Played hockey on Saturday against the league leaders, managed to lose 5-1 but I didn’t feel that the scoreline was a fair reflection on the game, we put in a good performance and Dale scored the only goal they had conceded all season! Still it was played in a great spirit and but for some questionable refereeing decisions (I have to say for both teams!) it could easily have been closer. Stayed down south to try to win some money back again at a poker night at PK and Chunk’s new flat and despite being down to 2 chips at one point managed to win the game and the £60 kitty!! Problem was that we went down the pub straight after and the victor bought the first round in! As I’d paid £15 into the kitty and the round cost approx £23, I worked out that after 2 poker nights I’d managed to make a total profit of about £2!!!! Still a great couple of nights and coming out with any profit at all was a bonus!
Finally it was time for the day of truth and the big walk. As we’d not had a big night out before we decided to start earlyish (11!) and head from Rushen church up the sloc and over to Peel, and then back again! The total walk was about 23/24 miles and was up and down hills so would definitely be our biggest test so far. After about an hour I was really struggling, I get pains in my calves and round my ankles and the first hour of uphill walking is an absolute killer. The weird thing is that after about an hour the pain dies off and I don’t feel it any more, if anyone has any suggestions why please let me know! I just have to keep going and walk through the pain!
The other point it highlighted for me is that we need to concentrate on our pace, I think on the way back we had it about right (as it was getting dark) but we need to maintain a consistent pace and monitor it more closely, I’d hate to be denied the opportunity to complete the Parish because of a time constraint. Overall though I felt the benefits of the walk outweighed the negatives. It showed that I could walk for an extended period of time and the legs could stand up to it, after you learn to walk with the aches and the pains I think it will be more of a mental challenge than anything else. It is also helping that we are hardening our feet to road walking. These longer walks hopefully will toughen up our feet and decrease the chance of blisters etc.
All in all though a very satisfying week, I feel I’m back on the trail and back on target to tramp all over that mountain and put my best into completing the walk!
Dave.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
When the going gets tough....the footy's on!
After all the fun of the snow last Sunday was feeling the pace on Monday and was completely knackered. Went spinning and the gym but couldn’t really get into it. Apparently after between 6-8 weeks of training is the danger time when you are most likely to get injured or burn yourself out. I’m just waiting for my second wind.....it’s taking its time!
Training kept going slowly, only managed a mile in the pool on Tuesday, followed by footy and squash on Wednesday where I was smashed all over the place. Cut my leg up at footy too sliding through the snow on astro-turf (what did I say about injuries?!?!) which was another excuse for my abject squash performance. Feeling the pace by Thursday I didn’t finish work until late so missed hockey training!
By the end of the working week I was definitely ready for the weekend, and when the spinning instructor didn’t show up for 5 mins I thought I was gonna be able to crawl back home. My hopes were dashed when she walked in though and after the last Friday spinning session and the gym I went back home for some well earned beers and watching the rugby with a couple of mates, completely shattered!
Early start Saturday for our hockey game in Peel but was a cracking match, managed to put 5 past a decent side, Dale Williams bagging a hat-trick (and had another unfairly disallowed!) Dale only plays well still drunk and is generally sweating guiness by half time so we knew he must have had a big night before! Spent Saturday afternoon sewing as was turning boiler suits into top gun outfits by sewing patches on! Thankfully the rugby was on too, don’t want to get too much in touch with my feminine side! Great 80s night out anyways for Dawse’s birthday and some great 80s outfits!
Finally for the big walk on Sunday…..Bratty came up at about 2, and the league cup final kicked off at 3 so both hungover we figured we’d watch a bit of the build up. Then the first 5 minutes. Well might as well see how the first half finishes. Oh and the half time analysis. Might as well see who wins. And the trophy presentation. Oh is Harry Hill on? etc. etc. etc until it got dark and wasn’t really worth the walk! Poor form and no excuses after a long week and a big night out the night before. It was even Man Utd I watched, as a Liverpool fan I must really not have wanted to go! Defo need to make up for it next week!
Dave.
Training kept going slowly, only managed a mile in the pool on Tuesday, followed by footy and squash on Wednesday where I was smashed all over the place. Cut my leg up at footy too sliding through the snow on astro-turf (what did I say about injuries?!?!) which was another excuse for my abject squash performance. Feeling the pace by Thursday I didn’t finish work until late so missed hockey training!
By the end of the working week I was definitely ready for the weekend, and when the spinning instructor didn’t show up for 5 mins I thought I was gonna be able to crawl back home. My hopes were dashed when she walked in though and after the last Friday spinning session and the gym I went back home for some well earned beers and watching the rugby with a couple of mates, completely shattered!
Early start Saturday for our hockey game in Peel but was a cracking match, managed to put 5 past a decent side, Dale Williams bagging a hat-trick (and had another unfairly disallowed!) Dale only plays well still drunk and is generally sweating guiness by half time so we knew he must have had a big night before! Spent Saturday afternoon sewing as was turning boiler suits into top gun outfits by sewing patches on! Thankfully the rugby was on too, don’t want to get too much in touch with my feminine side! Great 80s night out anyways for Dawse’s birthday and some great 80s outfits!
Finally for the big walk on Sunday…..Bratty came up at about 2, and the league cup final kicked off at 3 so both hungover we figured we’d watch a bit of the build up. Then the first 5 minutes. Well might as well see how the first half finishes. Oh and the half time analysis. Might as well see who wins. And the trophy presentation. Oh is Harry Hill on? etc. etc. etc until it got dark and wasn’t really worth the walk! Poor form and no excuses after a long week and a big night out the night before. It was even Man Utd I watched, as a Liverpool fan I must really not have wanted to go! Defo need to make up for it next week!
Dave.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Snow joke!
After four weeks of pretty solid training this was the first week that it went a little bit backwards!
With Marky B picking up a bug in the previous week it was up my own self motivation to get training hard, hence why the training went a bit backwards! Managed spinning and the gym on Monday, however Tuesday I didn’t go for a swim as it was the start of the Winter Olympics and I wanted to see how fellow manxie Zoe Gillings got on in the snowboard cross! As someone who has only tried skiing a couple of times I can only wonder how impossible it must be to carry those speeds on a snowboard on a difficult track, let alone with four other people bombing down next to you! In the end Zoe did brilliantly getting into the semi and it’s great to see someone really putting the rock on the map on a global scale!
Played footy and squash as usual on Wednesday, but as we didn’t have any hockey match on the Saturday, instead of Thursday training (some of) the hockey club decided to go on a ghost walk round Castletown! Was a good tour and there were some really interesting and gruesome stories, but as a cynic I have to say my favourite moment was the headless dog ghost whose existence cannot be proven as it can only be seen by other dogs!!
It’s amazing how quickly fitness leaves you and by the end of my Friday spinning session and gym I was absolutely knackered! Was really struggling with the spinning and had a severe case of couldn’t be bothered, I was all up for it but I hadn’t told my legs they were nooot interested! After struggling through spinning and the gym I went to the hydropool and sauna at the spa and it was only jumping in the freezing cold plunge pool that woke me up!
Again the weekend was pretty slack, Saturday I moved the rest of my stuff including beds etc. into the flat and sorted out a fair bit of my stuff. Went for a few quiet pints on Saturday night as I was shattered from the week’s non-exertions! Today we decided for our “big walk” we would go from my flat down Marine Drive, through Port Soderick and then walk back down South to Ronague. The only slight problem is that it had snowed overnight and there were no pavements for part of the way out of Douglas (especially around the Fairy Bridge). We were therefore dodging fast-moving traffic in the slush and although we managed to walk 12.5 miles on road it certainly wasn’t my most enjoyable walk and we do not intend to repeat it!
Luckily since the walk I’ve managed to not have too many flashbacks of traffic going 50mph on a freezing road tearing towards me!
Dave.
PS I appreciate the titles of these blogs are getting worse and worse.....
With Marky B picking up a bug in the previous week it was up my own self motivation to get training hard, hence why the training went a bit backwards! Managed spinning and the gym on Monday, however Tuesday I didn’t go for a swim as it was the start of the Winter Olympics and I wanted to see how fellow manxie Zoe Gillings got on in the snowboard cross! As someone who has only tried skiing a couple of times I can only wonder how impossible it must be to carry those speeds on a snowboard on a difficult track, let alone with four other people bombing down next to you! In the end Zoe did brilliantly getting into the semi and it’s great to see someone really putting the rock on the map on a global scale!
Played footy and squash as usual on Wednesday, but as we didn’t have any hockey match on the Saturday, instead of Thursday training (some of) the hockey club decided to go on a ghost walk round Castletown! Was a good tour and there were some really interesting and gruesome stories, but as a cynic I have to say my favourite moment was the headless dog ghost whose existence cannot be proven as it can only be seen by other dogs!!
It’s amazing how quickly fitness leaves you and by the end of my Friday spinning session and gym I was absolutely knackered! Was really struggling with the spinning and had a severe case of couldn’t be bothered, I was all up for it but I hadn’t told my legs they were nooot interested! After struggling through spinning and the gym I went to the hydropool and sauna at the spa and it was only jumping in the freezing cold plunge pool that woke me up!
Again the weekend was pretty slack, Saturday I moved the rest of my stuff including beds etc. into the flat and sorted out a fair bit of my stuff. Went for a few quiet pints on Saturday night as I was shattered from the week’s non-exertions! Today we decided for our “big walk” we would go from my flat down Marine Drive, through Port Soderick and then walk back down South to Ronague. The only slight problem is that it had snowed overnight and there were no pavements for part of the way out of Douglas (especially around the Fairy Bridge). We were therefore dodging fast-moving traffic in the slush and although we managed to walk 12.5 miles on road it certainly wasn’t my most enjoyable walk and we do not intend to repeat it!
Luckily since the walk I’ve managed to not have too many flashbacks of traffic going 50mph on a freezing road tearing towards me!
Dave.
PS I appreciate the titles of these blogs are getting worse and worse.....
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Moving times!
Busy busy busy week!
Started off with a very strange spinning session as our usual “slave-driver” Greta was away, followed by a session at the gym. I then managed to do my second decent 2 mile swim in a row on Tuesday, I’m trying to vary what I do and I find swimming stretches all the muscles better than any other exercise, I’ve always loved the feeling of being in water nothing beats it!
Things then picked up on Wednesday with a shattering night, played 7-a-side footy in St John’s for an hour, followed by going straight to the gym at 7:15 for another hour. Then down to the NSC for squash with the hockey guys at 8:30!! Certainly slept well on Wednesday night was knackered!
Thursday I had some great news, not only did my spangly new trainers arrive (and actually fit) but I finally managed to get the keys for my flat! This was meant to be sorted by Christmas, but it has been delayed again and again due to various problems, windows with no planning permission etc. etc. etc. Buying a house is definitely one of the most stressful things you can do!!!! Still, it was fantastic to finally get in there but the only problem was I missed hockey training because I was packing my life up to move! I figured after an epic Wednesday I could afford to have a night off, but it was almost as tiring sorting my stuff out!
Finished the working week with another spinning session on Friday and then spent my first night at the flat. I’d like to claim it was cold weather training for Kilimanjaro to sleep in the freezing cold flat but in truth I couldn’t get the bloody heater working!! The weekend was pretty chilled out, trying to sort things out at the flat and played a shocker at hockey on Saturday, went 2-0 down in the first half because could barely see the ball against the blinding sun! Managed to win the second half but went down 2-1 in a game I didn’t feel we were second best.
Valentine’s day on Sunday, had a very romantic day by walking down Marine Drive then back round to Douglas with Marky B and then bought some stuff for the flat! We managed to resist the temptation to hold hands but looked very gay looking round B & Q on Valentine’s day!
End of another busy week but at least I had a freezing cold flat to put my feet up in on Sunday night!
Dave.
Started off with a very strange spinning session as our usual “slave-driver” Greta was away, followed by a session at the gym. I then managed to do my second decent 2 mile swim in a row on Tuesday, I’m trying to vary what I do and I find swimming stretches all the muscles better than any other exercise, I’ve always loved the feeling of being in water nothing beats it!
Things then picked up on Wednesday with a shattering night, played 7-a-side footy in St John’s for an hour, followed by going straight to the gym at 7:15 for another hour. Then down to the NSC for squash with the hockey guys at 8:30!! Certainly slept well on Wednesday night was knackered!
Thursday I had some great news, not only did my spangly new trainers arrive (and actually fit) but I finally managed to get the keys for my flat! This was meant to be sorted by Christmas, but it has been delayed again and again due to various problems, windows with no planning permission etc. etc. etc. Buying a house is definitely one of the most stressful things you can do!!!! Still, it was fantastic to finally get in there but the only problem was I missed hockey training because I was packing my life up to move! I figured after an epic Wednesday I could afford to have a night off, but it was almost as tiring sorting my stuff out!
Finished the working week with another spinning session on Friday and then spent my first night at the flat. I’d like to claim it was cold weather training for Kilimanjaro to sleep in the freezing cold flat but in truth I couldn’t get the bloody heater working!! The weekend was pretty chilled out, trying to sort things out at the flat and played a shocker at hockey on Saturday, went 2-0 down in the first half because could barely see the ball against the blinding sun! Managed to win the second half but went down 2-1 in a game I didn’t feel we were second best.
Valentine’s day on Sunday, had a very romantic day by walking down Marine Drive then back round to Douglas with Marky B and then bought some stuff for the flat! We managed to resist the temptation to hold hands but looked very gay looking round B & Q on Valentine’s day!
End of another busy week but at least I had a freezing cold flat to put my feet up in on Sunday night!
Dave.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Less slacking more sloccing!!!!
Am getting a bit slack at these blogs am going to try to put some time aside for them each week Marky B is tearing ahead with his!
Training-wise this week it has been pretty consistent and I'm definitely feeling the effects of the training in a good way, the hill up to my house has never been less daunting! I'm even still running at hockey after 10 minutes of the match (although hitting the ball is still proving to be a problem!) The mixed season has now started which has been a good laugh, although after starting with a good win up in Ramsey we were beaten yesterday by our 3rd team in a very bad tempered derby match in which our captain was sent off and one or two of us were lucky not to get our marching orders.....not good form!
We're also trying to incorporate longer walks into the training schedule, and as the nights start to get lighter we will try to walk on a Tuesday after work and then a long walk on Sunday. I'm also trying to include squash on a Wednesday night with the hockey lads into the schedule, which is meaning pretty much cardio every day, is gonna be a killer!
After walking up the sloc last week we then repeated the exercise today but when walking back through Ronague we went left instead of right and down the Ballabeg straight round to Gansey, which turned out to be a 14.4 mile walk, the longest we've done! I’m looking into ordering some half decent trainers to try to not put too much pressure on my joints on the road. It’s quite a difficult balance training for both because as Kili is going to be uphill in boots, the Parish walk will be all on road with trainers. Trying to make sure we do enough of both to make it is gonna be another challenge but I guess we've just got to try and do as much as possible of both!
Finally I've just got to say I almost didn't make it to the longest walk of the training so far because I was out dressed as a cow with an entire herd the night before, was a hilarious night! Nearly even did the sloc dressed as a cow but just wasn't in the mooooooood!
Dave.
Training-wise this week it has been pretty consistent and I'm definitely feeling the effects of the training in a good way, the hill up to my house has never been less daunting! I'm even still running at hockey after 10 minutes of the match (although hitting the ball is still proving to be a problem!) The mixed season has now started which has been a good laugh, although after starting with a good win up in Ramsey we were beaten yesterday by our 3rd team in a very bad tempered derby match in which our captain was sent off and one or two of us were lucky not to get our marching orders.....not good form!
We're also trying to incorporate longer walks into the training schedule, and as the nights start to get lighter we will try to walk on a Tuesday after work and then a long walk on Sunday. I'm also trying to include squash on a Wednesday night with the hockey lads into the schedule, which is meaning pretty much cardio every day, is gonna be a killer!
After walking up the sloc last week we then repeated the exercise today but when walking back through Ronague we went left instead of right and down the Ballabeg straight round to Gansey, which turned out to be a 14.4 mile walk, the longest we've done! I’m looking into ordering some half decent trainers to try to not put too much pressure on my joints on the road. It’s quite a difficult balance training for both because as Kili is going to be uphill in boots, the Parish walk will be all on road with trainers. Trying to make sure we do enough of both to make it is gonna be another challenge but I guess we've just got to try and do as much as possible of both!
Finally I've just got to say I almost didn't make it to the longest walk of the training so far because I was out dressed as a cow with an entire herd the night before, was a hilarious night! Nearly even did the sloc dressed as a cow but just wasn't in the mooooooood!
Dave.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Strict regime & organisation!
After the initial walks up Fleshwick and the aches and pains after them it soon became obvious that a "strict" training regime would be needed to make these events actually possible!
I therefore bit the bullet and signed up for the gym, and sat down with Bratt to come up with the following weekly routine. Should keep us in some sort of shape until we break down!
Monday - Spinning class (exercise bikes for 45 mins) & gym
Tuesday - Squash/swimming or a walk
Wednesday - 7-a-side footy then quick gym session
Thursday - Hockey training & walk back home (approx 5 miles)
Friday - Spinning (45 mins) & gym
Saturday - Hockey match
Sunday - Walk/footy
So far it's the end of the second full week of the regime and my body has stopped screaming at me but it's still non-stop complaining! I also managed a whole week of the schedule before my big toenail completely came off......(bet you wanted to know that!). The regime will be updated though if we find that we are not walking enough or have no toenails left! The general idea now is just to stick to it as rigidly as possible!
Today for our Sunday walk we decided that we will man up and go up the sloc, as this is deemed to be a pretty tough part of the Parish Walk with a pretty relentless uphill gradient. It wasn't quite as bad as I had imagined but I reckon it will be 100 times harder when we've previously walked 20 miles just to get there!!!! Forgot to bring our cameras again but we will be uploading pictures soon!
Along with the training, it's been a pretty busy couple of weeks with the administration side. We have had business cards printed to advertise the event, Bratt has been designing t-shirts and sorting out the printing of them and we've applied for a bank account to collect any donations we raise. Plus we've been setting up this website and trying to make sure everything works! Hopefully now everything is in place and we can start advertising and trying to raise as much as possible!
We've also been recruiting and anyone who has expressed an interest in the Parish Walk will be being chased up to come out on a Sunday morning and get training up in the hills with us. Don't worry you know who you are......
Also since I’ve started training have managed to lay off the booze but as it was my mate Graeme’s birthday had to go out to see him dressed as a woman! I tried to walk briskly between pubs in order to keep up the training, but then Marky B outdid me by running home from paramount…..what can I say I guess he was taking his “training” that night much more seriously than I was!
Right I better get some rest, the best thing about this regime is you appreciate sitting with your feet up so much more!
Dave.
I therefore bit the bullet and signed up for the gym, and sat down with Bratt to come up with the following weekly routine. Should keep us in some sort of shape until we break down!
Monday - Spinning class (exercise bikes for 45 mins) & gym
Tuesday - Squash/swimming or a walk
Wednesday - 7-a-side footy then quick gym session
Thursday - Hockey training & walk back home (approx 5 miles)
Friday - Spinning (45 mins) & gym
Saturday - Hockey match
Sunday - Walk/footy
So far it's the end of the second full week of the regime and my body has stopped screaming at me but it's still non-stop complaining! I also managed a whole week of the schedule before my big toenail completely came off......(bet you wanted to know that!). The regime will be updated though if we find that we are not walking enough or have no toenails left! The general idea now is just to stick to it as rigidly as possible!
Today for our Sunday walk we decided that we will man up and go up the sloc, as this is deemed to be a pretty tough part of the Parish Walk with a pretty relentless uphill gradient. It wasn't quite as bad as I had imagined but I reckon it will be 100 times harder when we've previously walked 20 miles just to get there!!!! Forgot to bring our cameras again but we will be uploading pictures soon!
Along with the training, it's been a pretty busy couple of weeks with the administration side. We have had business cards printed to advertise the event, Bratt has been designing t-shirts and sorting out the printing of them and we've applied for a bank account to collect any donations we raise. Plus we've been setting up this website and trying to make sure everything works! Hopefully now everything is in place and we can start advertising and trying to raise as much as possible!
We've also been recruiting and anyone who has expressed an interest in the Parish Walk will be being chased up to come out on a Sunday morning and get training up in the hills with us. Don't worry you know who you are......
Also since I’ve started training have managed to lay off the booze but as it was my mate Graeme’s birthday had to go out to see him dressed as a woman! I tried to walk briskly between pubs in order to keep up the training, but then Marky B outdid me by running home from paramount…..what can I say I guess he was taking his “training” that night much more seriously than I was!
Right I better get some rest, the best thing about this regime is you appreciate sitting with your feet up so much more!
Dave.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The start of a long road.......
Hello, I thought that I would write this blog to give me and anyone else interested an insight into what will be a big challenge for me and Marky B and to see how this trip up a mountain & round an island develops and the training etc!!!! I haven't really got a clue what I'm doing blogwise so please ignore any rambling (boom boom!).
After a pretty hectic Christmas & New Year and visit from four uni mates I decide to knock the beer on the head and start the training on the day they left (6th January 2010). After only a week of training my body is already a wreck, I have a split toenail and I am starting to realise what a long road this is going to be towards June!!
I started my training by going up and down the Fleshwick hills for approx 5 hours on the 6th Jan, talk about running before I can walk (or should that be walking before I run?)!
Since then I have been a model of determination (!) walking home from Ballasalla (7 miles) after work, swimming a couple of miles on a Tuesday and going up and down Fleshwick as much as possible. The only break I have is playing football in the snow on Sundays and Wednesdays, good job I don't run too much at footy! I think I'm on the edge of a burnout and I have barely even started!
The plan for the next week is to join the gym at Mount Murray and outline a training regime with Mark that I can actually stick to! Am also in the process of fitting this all round moving into a new flat in Douglas so it is a hectic time to say the least! Unfortunately it is a ground floor flat so I don't even get the exercise of going up and down the stairs!
I read some other blogs on Kili and the Parish walk and have already started to think I've bitten off more than I can chew!
Dave.
After a pretty hectic Christmas & New Year and visit from four uni mates I decide to knock the beer on the head and start the training on the day they left (6th January 2010). After only a week of training my body is already a wreck, I have a split toenail and I am starting to realise what a long road this is going to be towards June!!
I started my training by going up and down the Fleshwick hills for approx 5 hours on the 6th Jan, talk about running before I can walk (or should that be walking before I run?)!
Since then I have been a model of determination (!) walking home from Ballasalla (7 miles) after work, swimming a couple of miles on a Tuesday and going up and down Fleshwick as much as possible. The only break I have is playing football in the snow on Sundays and Wednesdays, good job I don't run too much at footy! I think I'm on the edge of a burnout and I have barely even started!
The plan for the next week is to join the gym at Mount Murray and outline a training regime with Mark that I can actually stick to! Am also in the process of fitting this all round moving into a new flat in Douglas so it is a hectic time to say the least! Unfortunately it is a ground floor flat so I don't even get the exercise of going up and down the stairs!
I read some other blogs on Kili and the Parish walk and have already started to think I've bitten off more than I can chew!
Dave.
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