Good news....

...I have finally managed to replace my treadmill thingy. Great celebrations....!!! This is number 5. I am not allowed to get another if this one breaks. I have been told quite categorically. Dad refuses to negotiate any more long solid structures down and around our dog-legged stairs. He has a point. So having gone through two circuit boards (unable to be replaced due to age and unknown planet of origin), one electrical fault that caused the whole house to plunge into darkness when the 'on' switch was engaged, and a structural failure - my advice is as follows. If you are buying one - make sure you (a) can get parts, (b) know how old it really is, and (c) get it checked by a man who knows what he's talking about (thanks Kevin). Cheap isn't always cheerful.....

Dad has been busy yomping up Peel hill every morning as well as pounding the tarmac on the Marine Drive (oh yes, I found out - and it wasn't Hamish who told me!) so I really have to get my act together. Am now in a position to resume a full PW11 training schedule... long walks, blasts on the cross trainer and working up a good sweat on the treadmill thingy. Well that's if I have the time....

Time for a blast.....at last.

Only three months later than intended Dad and I managed to finally synchronise diaries to get a day free for a walk. Training has really begun! Well almost - still not managed to get the Parish Virgin out with us on the course - ah well 2 out of  3 aint bad (ref: Meatloaf ). Intended route - Peel via the Sloc. Aim - to give the legs and feet a good pounding and see how we feel in the morning. If we can get out of bed no problem - then training is on track. Alas weather forecast not brilliant. 4 am this morning wide awake - rain lashing against the window. Flashbacks to PW2008 - top of the sloc  - extremities turned blue - horizontal rain and howling wind. Teeth chattering uncontrollably - and no shelter in sight. Sleep is difficult. Maybe I can write a note to be excused training today? Flashbacks to PW2011 banners and adverts appearing everywhere and decide time really isn't on my side. Crawl out of bed very tired - decide a pre walk cross training session isn't a good idea - so go back to bed. Eventually have to surface to minister to needy offspring... so decide to get ready and head down to meet Dad at the QB. Being the local he is Dad offers his advice on the direction of the prevailing wind and we mutually agree that the sloc should be avoided this time. Still head to Peel (still into a head wind) but consider opportunities for diversions along the way to add miles and some gradient. It is a horrid road at the best of times  - with a head wind and zillion tonne HGV's skimming the pavement - it's worse than horrid. We were glad to turn right at Ballacraine and head for.... first coffee break in St John's Mill. Carrot cake rather nice too. Up the incline to the Poortown Road (mental note to self avoid moving when having just consumed large slice of stodge) and blast into Peel. Hang a left to the Patrick Road, left at Patrick Church, then enjoy the relative peace of a walk back into St Johns. It is fabulous this time of year - if you usually walk with some sort of headphone device - try taking it out - you'll be amazed at just how good nature sounds. So heading into St Johns - dilemma - attack the main road back or try the old train route which can be a bit of a quagmire - and I had my nice white trainers on. Need cup of tea to make a decision so we stop at the cafe - no cake this time! Decide we can't face more traffic so march off down to the PROW and have good mostly mud free blast all the way back to Douglas. Dad's leg was good. Worked up a fair temperature heading home - and arrived back 7 hours later to a house like a bombsite, dishes and washing everywhere. All this and training too....

Honesty is always the best policy...

..or that's what I was always told by my parents, as I wandered through that lovely state of blissful ignorance that is, and should be, childhood. Admittedly, in adult life this maxim doesn't always hold, and one learns, more through trial and error than by instruction,  when the 'little white' lies are an essential strategy to deal with horrendous haircuts, outfits, or choice of (boy) friends/partners etc. However, in an event such as the Parish Walk, when you choose to train, and ultimately commit to walking with someone, trust and honesty are almost unspoken rules of the partnership. How else can you support each other during the darkest hours and longest climbs unless you can speak your mind. So, imagine my surprise when, having made no plans for any training walks due to the sheer volume of 'other stuff' happening evenings and weekends for the past month or so  (I'll come back to that in a bit) I discover in a passing remark made by Mum, that Dad  - my walking partner for 3 PW's, has been doing secret training between  Port Soderick and town every day for the past week..........Dad - you have been outed and I am most unimpressed!

So - as I anticipated from the outset of the blog - serious training is having to take second place behind all the other stuff that is life with children and work and hobbies and involvements. Treadmill is still broken, the only time I have seen the PW Virgin was bumping into him on the way home in the rain the other night. We didn't mention PW. And as much as I'd like to be able to report on miles of arduous, focused training, targets met and calories burned - I can't. Training walks completed = zero, training walks planned this side of March = zero. Honest.

Shoes for PW Virgins

With thanks to Paul for following the blog thus far - and with apologies to everyone about the complete lack of formal training 'notes'  - it's not that they are top secret - there just aren't any. Training walks completed since last blog = O. Plans for training walks with Mr Dunn, PW virgin = O. Opportunity for serious walks = O - just too busy. And what's more annoying - my treadmill thingy I run on is broken - serious undermining of attempts to stay in shape - and unlike MrTaggart (no not the famous one who wins running fell races - the other one from Laxey) I'm not partial to running up, and rolling down Snaefell - ok so it may have only happened once but it still a great chance for me to get my own back... allowing me to finish 2 mins slower than his PW PB last year - and not telling me in time to speed up.

But I digress...(just like Mr T did one year in the mist and ended up... no that would be too cruel). I've been asked about footwear. Again nothing scientific just how it is for us. It's something I took a couple of years to get sorted and as with many things it is personal preference - try a few different types early on  - and then choose a pair and train in them for a few hundred miles! Dad uses good walker/trainers - I use RBK's road plus running because I have such broad feet, and they give really good support. On the day I get blisters - which pop and I walk them in. Try never to remove shoes unless its an emergency - and good socks are essential! All of which probably isn't tremendously helpful....but it has worked for us. Now I did see one person in multi-coloured flip flops at Santon one year......

171 days (or thereabouts) and counting....

The trouble with numbers is just that - they make everything sound much more definitive. 171 doesn't sound a lot when you say it in the context of  - for example - the global population or distance to Mars... but it's only 5 more turns of the calendar til June and that makes PW2011 just that little bit more real. So time for some serious stuff... Well update from last blog in December. Walking on ice - now that is a skill I have yet to master. A thick layer of glass like shiny stuff all over the pavements and two Springer Spaniels to walk is just the scenario you need for a comedy sketch. The dogs won by several paws. However the discovery of ice grippers not only transformed what was becoming a daily creep along railings to work into the normal aerobic blast past the traffic - it also meant the canine steam trains could be controlled. Thankfully by the time we hit County Clare on Boxing Day the ice was no more. Saw the local Rugby team training on the beach at Lahinch....it looked such a good idea... a run along the beach...into the wind  - in soft sand  - air temp about 2 degrees..... still have a sore knee. However onwards and upwards. The 'Parish Virgin' has finally agreed to come out of the closet. Mr Robert Dunn you have been called by name. Have discussed with Dad (very briefly as we had both just come out of the Irish Sea on NY day and at this point were turning a delicate shade cornflower blue) our training programme. Given Rob is relatively fit & healthy and can do the physical cardio vascular stuff himself - we agreed we needed to concentrate on the psychological side. Walking the full route, getting to know and hate the hills  - both up and down - dealing with the monotony of long hauls (Andreas to Lonan) etc. Although we need to finalise this with Rob - we are confident it is a good strategy for a first timer. I left Dad at home tonight working on his training - a box of 24 posh chocs and a bottle of 2001 Shiraz. It's only numbers... 

  

Boob's n other Bits

Can't disagree  - its a rather interesting title - let me explain... Dad - a now fighting fit 76 year old - was diagnosed with prostate problems a few years ago (with absolutley no apologies to the squeamish - it's just one of those things that happens to men of a 'certain age'). In fact it was one of the reasons we very nearly didn't enter the 2008 PW.  Anyway...  a fall on the ice in Feb this year (ripped tendon) had him operated on and in plaster for 10 weeks I think it was ( ok so it may have been less but it felt like 10  - not a patient patient!).  The plus side was that  (in a very convoluted way far too tedious and frustrating to mention) this led to his being diagnosed as needing an op on his prostate.... which happened just before the Parish. Stalwart as ever he bounced right back and, along with number 1 and only son, was my support for 2010. This year he's back walking!
So that's part of the 'Bit's (see above).  As many of you know my Big Sis died of breast cancer in 2005. That in fact was the reason Mum got so involved with Breakthrough, and Dad and I started walking - the latter not particulary to raise funds - just to 'do it for Michele' - and also to raise awareness of the need for TLC (touch look check - men and women). And it's not just boobs - there are so many other diseases which, if detected early, really can save lives - bowel cancer being another. So I guess for us its the year for 'Boobs and Bits' . All about not sticking your head in the sand and knowing that you need to take care of your bod and get stuff checked out if it doesn't seem right.....
Ok  - that's that one cleared up...

Just to clear up the bit about the 'Parish Virgin'

Last - well this year - following several pre PW comments about me being 'old' (its all relative) and grey (technically correct if you change the 'e' to an 'a') the gauntlet was thrown down after crossing the finishing line.... The challenge was, of course, to beat me the following year. Well common sense prevailing - and as I fundamentally disagree with the use of humiliation as technique for learning - we agreed that this year we (that's Dad and I) would train and potentially walk with said protagonist. If this was sucessful, then the following year the gloves would be off...
So Mr (at present) Anonymous PW Virgin.... the challenge still stands. If you're up to it, & ready to be named, then we'll have to give some serious thought to training....( note to Dad - walking Hamish and drinking red wine are not recognised training techniques)
Right - that's that one cleared up......