Trouble is, Ernest isn’t here, and I have no idea where he is either.
Any time now, MLC is going to ask me whether I’ll be entering the run or the (with apologies to Julie) girly walk; truth is, I’m nowhere near the fitness necessary to even attempt the run.
I do actually blame The Antipodean one for my current state of mind, for wasn’t it he who relayed the story of a NY marathon runner who wouldn’t even consider P2P? So walk it is for me then, and I now need to formulate a training err….schedule.
But again you see obstacles have been thrown in my path. I am being whisked away to Florence for a romantic long weekend in a couple of weeks time. A few short weeks later I shall be forced to attend what is ostensibly called a ‘golf tour’, but which we all know will be 4 days of beer-soaked late nights. And yes Sweder will be there to lead me astray.
I reckon El C (or is it G) is the man to help me here, walk as he did the hills of Connemara last year. Did you train for this old chap, or did you just turn up and wing it?
My runners have not seen the light of day since June, and here we are just 10 weeks from the event and I’m starting to question my sanity. I have found a (sort of) hilly circuit through the beautiful Ashdown Forest which I can route march around with a backpack a few times with the dog. That’s a start, and that’s Saturday morning taken care of.
I don't recall doing any preparation for the Connemara walk, apart from singing the great Dubliners classic "The Travelling People" twice a day. I had this weird idea that I would stand in a pub sometime on our Connemara trip and perform this marvellous song. But it didn't happen.
Apart from that, nothing. In my race report I refer to standing at the start of the half marathon walk and reflecting on "no exercise for 2 months..." as well as having had 8 pints of Guinness the night before and a mountainous fry-up an hour before the race.
Admittedly you have an uphill task compared with mine but still, if you're planning on walking I don't think you need to fret too much. That said, it would seem sensible to want to do the race as comfortably as possible, so why not put together a training plan?
Here's an example.
You have 10 weeks and 2 days to the race.
Forget miles. Think time.
Why not put together a plan that has you walking briskly every other day, starting really modestly, e.g. 30 minutes every other day during the week, with an hour at the weekend?
In week 3 and 4 move to 45 minutes every other day, with 90 minutes
at the weekend. Then gradually extend the weekend walk so that your final one, a week before the race, is 3 hours?
The big thing you have to add in, particularly in the longer weekend walks, is hills. You need a long steep hill. Walk up it and jog down it for at least two thirds of your long weekend walk.
You can do this even on your romantic weekend and golf trip. Just get some miles through those legs. Cycling would be good prep too.
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
It was only a 1 hour run/walk, but without a GPS watch I resorted to the Runkeeper app on the iphone.
Whilst I was relatively happy with the outing, I was quite shocked to learn that I'd covered 14.59 miles in 57 minutes. My hand was hovering over the phone to call the Olympic selection committee when I noticed the map. Seems that plodding through tree-covered paths confuses the signal somewhat....
Nice work going on at Sweder's gaffe. Crikey it is creeping up isn't it?
Despite my lack of postings, I have been out there to err....practice walking up hills. 2 and a half hours at 4.5% incline on the treddy last week, culminating with the last 10 minutes at 15% was no problem at all - but has left me with a lovely egg-sized blister on the ball of one foot.
That has to be sorted, and it didn't help my cause to be padding around Lewes a few days later setting fire to things on Bonfire Night.
Compeed plasters will be the first thing I throw into the suitcase come Tuesday.
It all started the moment I saw a dangerous spider chart on MLCM's fridge door..
Oz is supposed to be awash with the poisonous buggers, and so began my slightly unhealthy obsession to find one. Any redback or funnelweb would have done. Just far enough away to observe without any risk of high-tailing it to casualty for an anti-venom jab.
My quest was somewhat rewarded when I spotted this monster. Thankfully dead but still large enough to worry.
"Nah", said MLCM rather matter of factly. "It's only a harmless Huntsman".
Harmless and dead it may have been, it still scared the bejesus out of me.
(29-11-2011, 08:12 AM)Seafront Plodder Wrote: ...as an aside, I got to wonder why an arachnid that feeds on insects carries enough venom to kill a man.
Well clearly if the spiders rid the planet of humans, it'll be easier for them to get the insects. Better watch out SP, those spiders are out to get you.
P2P preperation begins in Ernest
2 and a half hours at 4.5% incline on the treddy last week, culminating with the last 10 minutes at 15% was no problem at all - but has left me with a lovely egg-sized blister on the ball of one foot.
