A good day. A solid three and a half hour march in conditions that couldn't be more different from the rain and wind of the other day. Sunny and very pleasant, and I had some good company too - my wife Carol walked with me. I didn't get to talk into the machine today, but we did go some way to putting the world to rights, or at least the world of social services. Carol is going to reform the management of the service and there could be a nice little outsourcing contract in it for me!
Still doesn't feel like training though and I wonder if I'm on the right course. With running (in my case, jogging) each time I extended my long run I felt it, and needed some time to recover such that the next step up would be no less than a fortnight away. I guess the objective here isn't really to push myself for a single event but to prepare for walking every day.
Maybe I'm taking it too seriously? The thing is, my main concern about the Coast to Coast is the cumulative effect. Most of the days are within what I have done on day trips in the past, and only the walk across the moors to Blakey Ridge is a genuinely long trek. But stringing them together is something I've not done before and it plays to what I see as my main weakness.
I feel that my stamina is good on any given day. I'm not fast (slow in fact) but I can keep going with the best. I conserve energy well, I'm skilled at managing myself to the target distance, and I like to think I have good strength of character. But what happens after four or five testing days?
I have a history of reacting badly to over-training - a result of pushing myself too much over a period of time. My mechanics aren't the problem, they stay pretty much in tact: Fingers crossed I don't get many injuries. And other than a bit of "deadness" my working muscles also hold up OK. But my energy levels drop through the floor, and I tend to come down with minor ailments. The loss of vitality gets to my state of mind. Exercising becomes a chore and my belief in my ability takes a hit. This is a killer because my endurance is based on strength of mind rather than strength of body, and I spiral. Sounds depressing doesn't it, but hopefully this explains why I'm so keen to put in the effort in advance to try to avoid this happening during Coast to Coast.
On a more positive note, when I focus sufficiently on something I tend to succeed. I have a tremendous passion for this adventure, and as I've stepped up my preparations just lately I've felt the focus build. There is a fine line between single mindedness and obsession, and I get the feeling I could be treading that line before too long. I've been there before.
It feels a bit like 2005, when I completed my one marathon. I had always admired anyone who could run this far, but thought such a distance was out of my range, even though I'd done half marathons before. In 2002 I suffered from a serious knee injury and the surgeon who operated on me recommended that I avoid high impact exercise such as running, or face walking with a stick by the age 50! Somehow being told I couldn't do something I'd always taken for granted made me more determined to hang onto it. I did a proper job of recovering, engaged a good physiotherapist, joined a gym, built up my leg strength to compensate for my weak knee, and within a few months I was running again.
A year after the operation I competed a 10km race in Amsterdam, just to prove the man wrong, and with no intention of taking it further. I enjoyed the experience so much that undertook to do the half marathon at the same Amsterdam event the following year. I finished that half marathon easily, and in a fast time (for me). As we rode the tram back into the city after the race I declared to Carol that I'd decided to enter the Amsterdam marathon the following year, 2005.
This was my time. My chance to do something I'd always considered beyond me. I was within striking distance of the marathon. In the run-up to the event I worked like a Trojan. Pushing myself to the limit time and time again week after week. There were times I'd sit at the roadside completely shattered and unable to go on. Every time I found some way of getting up and finishing. And whilst my body struggled under the strain I never once doubted that I'd succeed. In fact, as soon as my race number arrived I had it tattooed on my arm, such was my compete belief.
Maybe this time too? And this spirit with a good walk strategy will see me through. I believe I can do it. And let's see if I am walking with a stick by the time I'm 50?
Carol is snoozing after her long march today, and its time to read my grandson a story.
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