Sunday 23 June 2013

An honourable 'Bust'

Good afternoon. Here's my mileage from yesterday (including a short warm-up walk down to the start).

Distance (miles)
Time (hh:mm)
Energy (kcals) 
Since last post (21 Jun 2013)
39.7
10:37
7359
Since records began (27 Dec 2012)
549.9
161:34
90501

And here are my official race stats:


But, of course, the stats only tell part of the story, so here's as full an account as I can muster of my experience of the race.

My Parish Walk

At the start we were near the back, but had made our way up to the middle of the field by Santon, finding a position that matched our pace. After a short toilet break at Santon and time for Mrs W to Compeed a blister we forged on to Arbory. Unfortunately, Mrs W's blister popped shortly after Arbory, and she decided to call it a day at Rushen. She was very happy with the result: she'd reached her primary goal in a decent time.

Mrs W and I getting ready for the start
I was starting to feel an impending blister on my left heel, so I patched it with a Compeed at Rushen before heading on up the Sloc. The first steep section was a little challenging, but after that it was a fairly comfortable climb. I spent a few miles on the way up chatting with some fellow 'overseas participants': they'd both been over to the Island several times for the Parish Walk. Coincidentally, it turned out that they were in-laws of Murray Lambden.

Once I reached the plateau, I returned to my 4 mph pace, as I'd slowed a bit during the climb. After grabbing some refreshments from my supporters at Round Table I started the long drop down into Peel. I struggled a bit during the early miles, after finding myself out on my own between two groups: quicker than one group but not quite quick enough to make much headway on the other. Eventually I did catch them on the way into Dalby, but was re-passed when I stopped to tend to an emerging blister on the ball of my right foot. I caught up again and it was then to-and-fro with that group until Patrick.

I got renewed energy between Patrick and Peel, especially on the final stretch into the checkpoint at Peel: I passed about a dozen people between the turn into Market Street and the checkpoint. Having reached my primary goal I decided to continue, although I was very conscious that my feet were starting to struggle with the distance and that any hope of reaching Douglas Promenade was gone.

Arriving at Peel

I changed my shoes and socks outside the chippy on the corner of Church Street; it helped a little, but the climb out of Peel was a struggle, and it was clear that I was falling off the pace and back through the field. My legs actually felt fine, but I was having to walk a little more gingerly to accommodate my feet.

Looking strong, but feeling the blisters on the way out of Peel

At some stage I thought that my feet might take me as far as Jurby, but unfortunately this was rather optimistic. By the time Murray Lambden's in-laws caught up to me again a few miles from Kirk Michael it was clear that I was struggling, and would have to finish my race there. As a first-timer, I was happy to have made it to Peel in a decent time and to have gone on at least a short way beyond Peel. The weather, which had been unexpectedly kind during the day, was starting to worsen, and the heavens really opened as we made our way back to the car, so it seems like I chose a good time to stop.

On the way in to Kirk Michael with Murray Lambden's in-laws, Alan and David

A dramatic postlude

After I finished at Kirk Michael we continued round the course to see how the rest of the field was doing. It was truly humbling to see just how far ahead of me some walkers were. We stopped at Bride to cheer my cousin's husband, Ed Walter, through the checkpoint. While we were waiting, I got out of the car to chat with my other cousin and his wife. Aside from rather tender feet and a natural amount of tiredness I felt fine, otherwise I would have stayed in the car. However, I was suddenly aware of my vision rapidly receding and the next thing I knew I was on the ground with a lot of concerned faces around me: I had blanked out for a few seconds before coming round.

I was up again and sitting in the car within a minute, with nothing but a bit of grazing on my leg where I fell. As we headed homewards I felt fine again, but Mrs W and my parents were understandably concerned and wanted me to get checked out. The decision was made when I blanked out again for a few seconds in the car as we went round the mountain, so we set course for Noble's A&E. After various tests the verdict was exhaustion and slight dehydration: I thought I'd been drinking (and eating) quite a lot on my way round the course, but evidently not enough. I was also surprised to end up looking like a lobster: based on the weather forecast I had anticipated that it would be mostly overcast, and hadn't expected sunburn would be an issue, so I hadn't greased myself up before the race, and didn't think to do it at any of the stops once it was clear that the weather was turning out better than expected.

Today, my legs are a bit stiff, my feet are a bit tender, and my skin is glowing, but otherwise I'm unscathed. Lessons learned:

  • Take on food and fluid at every opportunity;
  • Don't underestimate the power of the sun;
  • Effective foot management is key to achieving significant distances.

Thanks and congratulations

Overall, it was a great event to be part of. I'd like to extend my thanks to all the sponsored and impromptu refreshment stands, to those around the course applauding and offering shouts of encouragement, and to the fellow walkers who chatted to me on my travels: you spurred me on. Also, to the race officials, who give so generously of their time to make the Parish Walk possible.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank my support team for their help and to apologise for giving them rather a nasty fright at Bride, and to the fan club at Rushen who gave me a great boost. I'd also like to thank the staff at Nobles A&E for their kindness despite my self-inflicted condition.

Congratulations to all participants: I hope you reached or exceeded your goals.

Some particular honourable mentions:

  • Regular contributor Michael George for a well-deserved win!
  • Cousin-in-law and contributor Ed Walter for a Top 100 finish and a personal best time
  • Regular contributor James Bassett, who made it to Maughold in just over 16 hours.
  • Fellow blogger Paul Callow for a great performance.
  • Team Cooil Ny Rhunnings for getting to Peel in a bobsleigh

Cooil Ny Rhunnings at the start
  • Family friend Terry Qualtrough for winning 'Best Dressed Male' and making it to Peel
Terry Qualtrough at the start

It only remains for me to say thanks for reading one last time. Writing the blog has been a great motivator for me during my training, and I've received a lot of great advice and encouragement from the contributors.

See you on the start line for Parish Walk 2014?

Friday 21 June 2013

A midsummer night's dream?

Good evening! And it's...


... the final countdown! Just twelve hours until the start.

For the sake of consistency, here are my stats since last time:

Distance (miles)
Time (hh:mm)
Energy (kcals) 
Since last post (15 Jun 2013)
3.9
1:32
3145
Since records began (27 Dec 2012)
510.2
150:57
83142

Here's hoping that I'll have bigger numbers to report in my next and final post!

We arrived on the Island yesterday evening, and have spent today enjoying the sunshine and stocking up on food, drink and medical supplies. Boots in Strand Street had a special display of items for Parish Walkers: blister pads, plasters, anti-inflammatory gels, painkillers etc. We'll need to watch the dosages  or risk violating the 'lifting' rule by floating round the course!

We walked down to the NSC earlier this evening and there was a steady stream of people arriving to register. Having the tag on your wrist definitely makes it feel more real and imminent! I also had to notify a non-starter: unfortunately my dad won't be walking with us, as he's damaged his achilles. He and my mum will support us during the day and, if I'm still on my feet, my brother and his girlfriend will be supporting during the later stages. Thanks in advance to them, and to all the volunteers who make the event possible.

For now, all is calm: no more training to be done nor preparations to be made. My only task for this evening is to keep the nerves under control and try and get a good night's sleep.

Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone taking part tomorrow. Give me a shout if you see me out on the course: I'll be wearing race number 494.

Saturday 15 June 2013

The end is nigh!

Good afternoon! It's been nearly two weeks since my last post, so bear that in mind when looking at the miles I've clocked:

Distance (miles)
Time (hh:mm)
Energy (kcals) 
Since last post (4 Jun 2013)
21.5
7:20
3145
Since records began (27 Dec 2012)
506.3
149:25
79997

I've cut right back on my distances: mostly just a mile or two to/from work. The temperatures have picked up a bit, so an equivalent distance at an equivalent pace does leave me feeling more drained than it did during the cooler spring days.

Looking at the long-range weather forecasts for the Isle of Man next weekend I don't think heat will be a problem; in fact, it looks fairly promising at the moment:

Long-range forecast for the Isle of Man next weekend (from wunderground.com)
If the forecast holds true then I'd settle for that: fairly windy, but dry and not too hot or cold. Fingers crossed...

The flurry of activity on the Parish Walk Facebook page has alerted me to a lot of good new information posted on the website. It's weird to see our names up there in the programme for the first time: I've got race number 494 and Mrs W has the rather more memorable 999.

At this stage I'm doing final equipment checks and planning for the day, including a bulk order of Jelly Babies: my food of choice should I continue after the food stations run out. I worked out (using the calculator here) that I'm likely to burn around 9500 kcals over full race distance: that is equivalent (based on info here) to nearly 3kgs of Jelly Babies!

As a first timer I'm not sure how far I'll get: Peel would be my primary goal, but if I'm feeling fine at that point I'll certainly press on, and I'm prepared with everything I'd need to finish. A quick analysis of Murray's stats on entrants this year with prior finishes would suggest that debut finishes are fairly rare:
  • 22% finished on their debut
  • 56% finished within two years of their debut
In terms of my training I think I've put in a decent number of miles in preparation, although my general fitness is still a little lower than I'd hoped and my weight a little higher: evidently I started carb loading about six months too soon for the race! :)

Last questions

As the big day approaches I'm left with a few niggling doubts regarding my race strategy. I'd be interested in your views.

  1. To tape or not to tape? I get a sense that opinions are pretty divided on this, but what are your experiences of taping your feet from the start to prevent blisters? My inclination is not to tape them, as my feet have hardened through training and I haven't suffered from blisters lately. However, I'm concerned that I'm potentially going to be putting much more miles into my feet this time to the extent that blisters may be inevitable without drastic countermeasures.
  2. Positioning at the start? When I was over for the Parish in 2011 supporting my dad and brother they started right near the back of the field and seemed to put quite a bit of energy in the early miles weaving their way up. If you're planning to continue beyond Peel is it worth lining up early behind the seeds to get out ahead of the pack? It goes without saying that it would be important not to be driven to an unsustainable pace in any case.

Thanks for reading! I'm hoping to make one or two posts when I'm back on the Island before race day.

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Floodpocalypse!

Good evening. As it's TT Week I feel like I should have had the scoreboard painted by a scout, but here it is anyway in its usual digital glory:

Distance (miles)
Time (hh:mm)
Energy (kcals)
Since last post (28 May 2013)
12.0
5:41
1392
Since records began (27 Dec 2012)
484.8
142:05
76852

You may have seen in the news that it's been a bit damp in Prague this week. As dedicated as I am to my training I draw the line at walking through torrential rain and wading through flood water, so my totals are pretty meagre. Let's call it 'tapering' :)

River flow rate near Prague in the last few days (source here)
[Hint: above red line is bad; above purple line is very very bad]

River water level near Prague in the last few days (source here)

The first I knew about it was on Sunday afternoon when I was notified that our office's emergency plan had been activated. We're close to the river, and the basement and lower ground levels of our building were flooded during the catastrophic floods of 2002. My team sits on the upper ground level, so rather than taking any chances I spent Sunday afternoon shifting the important stuff to a storage area on the fourth floor. Fortunately the water didn't reach 2002 levels and is now dropping again, although it'll be a while before the full extent of the damage is apparent. Prague seems to have got off fairly lightly; other towns, such as Passau in Germany, have been much more severely affected.

The rain abated yesterday evening, so I spent a couple of hours after work walking along the river from our office to see what I could see. As is evident from the first photo, quite a few others had the same idea.

Roads closed to traffic, flood barriers erected by the river near Charles Bridge

Fancy a beer? Submerged parasols at a 'riverside' cafe

Flood barrier just about protecting the tow path at one of the many inundated locks on the river
(when I checked again this morning the water was spilling over the top of this barrier)

The weather looks like being a bit unsettled well into next week, but I should be able to get out often enough to keep myself in condition. At this late stage I'm not planning any further long training walks.

Thanks for reading and have a good TT Week! It looks like yoú've got decent weather for it!