About 25 miles into the Sara Killey memorial walk on Sunday, I remembered just how painful long distance walking can be and was thinking to myself why do I want to walk 85 miles! It reminded me just how sore my legs felt in the parish last year. Fortunately, that thought soon faded and within a few hours it didn't seem so bad after all.
I was using the walk as preparation for the Parish not just with walking the distance but also footwear, food, support etc. However, I was really pleased with my time and position in the walk and overall, things pretty much went to plan. I thought I would use this entry while things are fresh in my mind to share things that went well and things that need some improvement.
Firstly, liberal vaseline in the morning - I had no chaffing thanks to my trusty tub of vaseline. I also ate little and often from the beginning of the walk and that seemed to keep up my energy levels reasonably well - I was eating fruit (banana) and chocolate biscuits. I also managed to drink a reasonable amount but found the orange energy flavour drink too sickly after a while and found it much easier to drink orange squash drink. I think on the Parish I will need to be eating and drinking more frequently than I did last Sunday. Footwear was a positive for me too. I wore a pair of trusty old 1000 mile socks (Not a popular choice by most people but I bought a few pairs last year which are made of a thinner material and never cause me any problems - They don't seem to make these thinner ones any more. The rest of the 1000 mile sock range which I have tried do cause me blisters however). I also wore my old asics gel trainers, and with this combination I did not have any pain or blisters whatsoever. After the walk, I felt quite unwell for the first 3 or 4 hours but my recovery was rapid after that and yesterday, my legs didn't feel as stiff and sore as I had expected and I went for a 1 mile swim last night to loosen up and I plan to get out walking again later today.
The things that I learnt from this walk is that between now and the Parish, I could do with improving my stamina as I could feel my energy levels rapidly tailing off towards the end of the walk. Obviously, on the Parish I won't be setting off at anything like the pace I was walking last Sunday and also on the Parish I plan to walk at a much more consistent pace. So I plan to do one longer walk per week for the next 6 weeks or so. My night before preparation also left a little to be desired. After abstaining from alcohol for the previous 2 or 3 nights, I decided to pop down to the pub for a pint to relax the pre race walk nerves on Saturday night. When we got home, I asked Sally to get me another can of lager and she said 'you're walking tomorrow and shouldn't be drinking lager, you should be drinking wine instead' So as the evening went on and we were sharing the wine out, Sally came up with the classic quote 'you have the rest of the wine, I've got to be the support driver tomorrow'. Fortunately, I don't think it affected my race on this occasion. Definitely not doing it on the evening of the Parish though.
After the walk I was lucky enough to get a massage from Lisa Motley (3 P.W. finishes, P.B. 20 hours 13 min's 38 s.) and as she was rubbing my inner thigh she gave me a top tip. She suggested walking the sections of the Parish Walk in training that you think you will struggle on, and then they won't seem as bad on the day if you have walked them when you felt good. You never know where your next top tip is coming from!
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