Parish Walk Training Diary

My first Mothers Day! My husband brought our baby to me, holding a special First Mothers Day card for me - how sweet! He then went off on his Sunday cycle training. (He’s been a member of the British Cycle Team since I met him so Saturday and Suday mornings are sewn-up, training-wise for him.) So…I had two choices for the afternoon: go for my first Parish Walk Training Walk or spend the afternoon with my new, little family. Guess which one won? I wonder whether pushing a pram at full-tilt into the wind from the Point of Ayre to Ballaghennie counts as Parish Walk training? I hope so.

I’ve been having a look at the Training Diaries on the Parish Walk website. God:these people are serious athletes. They talk about running up Barrule; going snowboarding; one person mentions something pulling at his ‘hip abductors’ - I don’t know what they are but after 18 months of little exercise, I could do with some of those myself.

The other Bloggers seem so dedicated. They’re aware of their bodies. They’ve already done the Parish Walk or they’ve taken part in organised events like 10 km road races. I have never, ever taken part in an organised, sporting event - not even at school. (Infact, I have to admit that I hated games lessons at school so much that I can’t bare to watch sport on TV, even now. )

I bet they’ve got all the kit: the right kind of air-cushioned trainers; luminous bibs; non-chafe clothing that keeps you warm in cold weather and stops you sweating in the heat. I need some proper clothes if I’m going to start training seriously. My old trainers should do for now but I’ve heard that the sports shop in Douglas has one of those treadmills where you run on the spot and they study your style and find you the right trainers. I also need some running leggings as my wide-bottomed tracksuits are not very wind resistant.

But the fact remains: when am I going to make time to train? On work days, I get up at 6.30 in order to get our baby ready and get to work for 9am so there isn’t really time in the mornings. On the other days I’m looking after our baby - and I want to spend time with her because there are three days when I’m away from her at work. I could try doing an hour’s training in my dinner hour then having a sandwich at my desk. I’ve measured the distance between the Manx Radio building and the first kissing gate on Marine Drive and the return trip is at least two miles. So that would make six miles. Then once the evening are lighter…Hang on…Let’s try the dinnertimes first…