Best foot forward

Good evening. The stats are a bit off this week, but here they are anyway.

	Distance (miles)	Time (hh:mm)	Energy (kcals)
Since last post (8 May 2013)	28.3	9:26	2787
Since records began (27 Dec 2012)	433.7	124:28	72326

I've covered a bit more distance in a bit less time, expending a bit more energy because:

1. I did a few completely unmeasured walks;
2. I did a few walks without the heart monitor (for which energy wasn't calculated); and
3. I did a couple of measured walks where I forgot to stop my watch until a while after stopping.

It's symptomatic of my training of late, which has been all over the place. We arrived back yesterday from a weekend trip to Hungary to attend a friends' wedding. It was in a small town called Tata; quite a picturesque spot, but unfortunately my photos don't do it justice, so here's one I found later.

Tata Castle. Photo by Barry Dinning from Wikimedia

Under any other circumstances it would have been a good opportunity for a walk: nice weather, staying in a hotel right next to a large(ish) lake with quiet pathways all the way round. However, my resolution to get up early on Sunday to do a circuit before the wedding brunch and before heading home was unfulfilled. After eventually getting to bed at 4am I was deaf to the alarm at 7am and it was 10am before we surfaced. I'm hoping that this week is going to be more productive.

Tried and tested

I've recently ordered and received several new pairs of socks: Hilly Mono Skin Anklets, 1000 Mile Fusions, and 1000 Mile 1187 Tactel Anklets. I'm relatively happy with my existing Hilly Dual Skins, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try out a few others ahead of race day. So far, I'd say the Hilly Monos are my favourites of the three new varieties, but I haven't really tested any of them over longer distances yet.

And finally...

... congratulations to my dad for completing his Parish Walk 'fitness test' last week: an impromptu charity walk from Douglas to Peel and back. He's definitely going to give me a run for my money... which is now a smaller amount after sponsoring him :)

Wednesday at 8am will be exactly a month until the 2013 Parish Walk. Don't forget that you should start to taper off your training in the next few weeks so that you're fresh for the race. If you're planning to put in any longer training walks get them in now!

Thanks for reading and have a good week!