Laxey to Ramsey
I've been feeling good since the Begoade Road walks so I decided to see how long it would take me to get to Ramsey today. It was pretty hot so I took some of those water bottles on a waist belt and filled them up again at the Dhoon. Again, I was suprised that I arrived in Ramsey feeling quite fresh. It always seems so far when you're driving. The road can seem a bit relentless but when you're walking, you notice things you don't see when you're rushing past in a car.
Road walking is great if you're of a basically nosey nature. You get to see into people's gardens on the way past: you see whose house is up for sale; how people like to spend their Sunday's - cutting the grass, washing the car, panned-out on the lawn reading the Sunday papers. Then of course, there's all the flora and fauna- the lambs are in the fields at the moment and as for the totally heavenly smell of hot gorse: why has no one ever bottled and sold the smell of hot gorse? It has got to be the most beautiful of all natural scents.
It took me just fractionally under two and a half hours to get to Ramsey. So again, I must be walking at just over four miles an hour.
I think I'll do the same route a couple more times then the week before the Parish, I'll walk back to Laxey again. That'll be about 20/22 miles. Then I'll know that I can definitely get to Rushen and, at a push, I could perhaps get to Peel. But for today, I took the bus back.
Road walking is great if you're of a basically nosey nature. You get to see into people's gardens on the way past: you see whose house is up for sale; how people like to spend their Sunday's - cutting the grass, washing the car, panned-out on the lawn reading the Sunday papers. Then of course, there's all the flora and fauna- the lambs are in the fields at the moment and as for the totally heavenly smell of hot gorse: why has no one ever bottled and sold the smell of hot gorse? It has got to be the most beautiful of all natural scents.
It took me just fractionally under two and a half hours to get to Ramsey. So again, I must be walking at just over four miles an hour.
I think I'll do the same route a couple more times then the week before the Parish, I'll walk back to Laxey again. That'll be about 20/22 miles. Then I'll know that I can definitely get to Rushen and, at a push, I could perhaps get to Peel. But for today, I took the bus back.
Dear New Mum,
It is entirely up to you how you want to train but I wouldn't recommend doing the 22 miles the week before the race.
Most wise coaches would probably advise that it is better to get your long ones in now and then 'taper' (sorry - scary athletic term, meaning shorten the amount of training you do gradually as you get closer to the race) otherwise your body will be recovering instead of being fresh for the big day.
In the last week, you should do pratically nothing besides a few loosening exercises, including pushing the pram to the shops.
I hope this helps but I'm sure that someone better qualified will correct me if they do not agree.
Michael A.F.T. (Comment this)
Thanks for your advice. As you'll see from my last entries, I didn't get so far as the 'last week' of training as I'm pregnant. But I will bear this in mind for next time! Kerry xxx (Comment this)