Crisis of confidence?...

I wasn't able to get out walking last weekend as my wife was away on a training course, so I spent Saturday and Sunday with my wonderful daughters Holly and Lucy! Due to life getting in the way once more the first chance I got to go out walking was Thursday night. It was dry, but very, very cold. With my wooly hat and snood on I looked like a deadly assassin (with leggings on). I managed to get in just over 8 miles worth of walking during the 1 hour and 50 minutes I was out, but for the first time since starting my training, I lost my enthusiasm for walking. Not sure if it was the temperature, the darkness or the loneliness of walking on my own (or a combination of all three), but this got me worried?

I've had some support for my friend Richard who still offers his time to help me train, but conflicting schedules have meant that we haven't been able to get as much as we've wanted to. My sister, Jo Healey has so far been full of false promises regarding training together, although she has promised to organise some time to train... Watch this space!

Anyway, back to the concerns over my commitment to walking... What happens if I get bored early on and end up quitting before the race has really got started? It never really occurred to me that since finishing in 2011, I may take it for granted that I can finish once again with relative ease. So far, I've not done as much as I would have liked and time seems to be going by pretty quickly! Since my ankle injury back in September, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to walk over long distances, but so far the furthest I've managed to walk in one go is about 16 miles. I promised myself that I wouldn't play football again, but since that 'promise' I've been persuaded by the manager to play 3 times (and tomorrow will be game number 4)! The plan for tomorrow's game against Marown is to get the ball and pass it off straight away, I can't take another 3 month lay off from training due to a dodgy challenge from the opposition!

So with my current crisis of confidence I now doubt my ability to finish the Parish Walk again... But maybe this is a good thing? Maybe the realisation that its not going to be a walk in the park (no pun intended), is a positive thing? Maybe it will help me focus on doing more training?... I hope so!!!

As a bit of fun and to check if anyone actual reads my blog, can anyone tell me what this is...

Back in the saddle again...

I've not blogged in a couple of weeks now and that doesn't necessarily mean that I've not done any training... Just that I've not really done that much training! I've managed to get out for 2 substantial walks, but missed out on a few shorter walks due to either poor planning, bad weather and / or laziness!

I thought about filling this post with the routes I took and my pace per mile, but think it's more interesting to go through the reason why I didn't train... Simple answer is 'life'!

Spending time with my family is obviously very important and this can account for most of the time spent not training. My wife and I have been organising our youngest daughter, Lucy's birthday presents & party etc. (Lucy was 1 last Friday by the way... happy birthday Lucy!!!) and I've been trying to juggle work for the Everton Supporters Club and my other hobby as a mediocre table tennis player!

The main point I'm trying to get across is that I'm not a race walker and despite starting out thinking that I could do really well in the race, I know that I have too many other things going on to concentrate on just training for the Parish Walk... and that's ok! If you have found that your training plan isn't going how you thought it would, then don't worry. Life will always get in the way of any planning and there's not a lot you can do about that. Just re-evaluate the time you can spend on training and review your goals. There is no short cut to finishing the Parish Walk and you get out of it what you put in, but don't be disheartened at this stage, there is plenty of time to make up any missed sessions.

Below is the picture I took from Blackberry Lane over looking a misty Douglas whilst out on Saturday as I jump started my training once more!

Keep on training guys, it'll all help on the big day!