16 Shiny Miles
Despite a slightly broken night’s sleep, I don’t feel too bad this morning, this is of course considering that Moochy and I walked 16 miles yesterday. I won’t lie, I felt pretty beaten up when we got back yesterday, with throbbing feet and achey legs for most of the day, but the sense of achievement at having done it was great.
I have to say though, we had a stop at 13 miles as I felt completely exhausted. The sun was really quite warm and I was tired and starting to feel a bit sick. 
I might have even told Moochy that I wasn’t sure I could do it. However, it is amazing what a good old fashioned sit down can do and before long, we were off again to complete the whole 16 miles.
I am quickly learning that walking for 5 hours+ is not simply about physical fitness, but it’s also about preparation, correct footwear and most importantly, mental strength. Our way to break down the miles psychologically so that we “tick” them off, is to “chunk” out the walks we do. There is no rhyme or reason as to when we have completed a chunk, its just usually a landmark or place that we are familiar with and if we are feeling tired, we have a chunk quite close to where we are already, so that we can feel good about passing another checkpoint.
As I mentioned, preparation is also vitally important as we found to our detriment whilst doing the 13 miler last weekend. We simply didn’t eat enough before we left and were so eating our lunch after about 40 minutes and topping up almost constantly for the rest of the way. This weekend however, we got up about a hour and a half before we wanted to leave and I made us both bacon sarnies and it made a huge difference. No hunger pangs for me for a couple of hours into the walk. Brilliant.
Anyway, here is our route and blisters and aches aside, its was great. Just a 20 mile walk to do next weekend before the Shine itself. Oh. My. God.
p.s. another unseen casualty of walking for 5 hours, is that my poor hands swell up:
Monday Morning Smugness
Am I entitled to feel a little smug today? Well the answer is yes. I walked 4 miles on Friday night, 5 and a half miles yesterday and 4 miles this morning before I left for work. So what’s that…. 13 miles in 4 days. Smug, I deserve a bloody medal. It’s all good though, 2 of the walks have been with Moochy and Peggy dog and all 3 were thoroughly enjoyable.
I don’t know if I mentioned, but I have been a “jogger” in my time, going for runs sometimes 4 times a week, sometimes not for weeks at a time. I started running because Moochy did and he inspired me, although I never really enjoyed it. However, I continued doing it as the health benefits were obvious and I always DID enjoy the feeling of achievement when I had finished. I mean, how many people do you know that can run 4 miles, or even 1 mile?! I have done the Manchester 10k twice and twice attempted the Tatton Park Cancer Research 10k and whilst I finished them all, my times were never anything to write home about. I also have done a Race for Life (5k) every year since my Grandad passed away in 2004, and in turn this has helped me raise lots of money for charity. Brilliant.
In September 2010 my mother-in-law pointed out to me that my brother-in-law and I were the only 2 members of the family that hadn’t completed marathons..
- AL ran the London Marathon in 2003 and 2004
- ML ran the London Marathon in 2004
- JL walked the Shine Marathon in 2010
- RC walked the Shine Marathon in 2010
So this is partly the reason why I signed myself up, it’s a personal challenge and I feel it will help me focus and lose some weight. There is definitely a different vibe around walking training as opposed to running training. I start these sessions almost certain that I will be able to finish, knowing that even though I might be walking for a while, the distance isn’t beyond my physical capability and that I probably won’t have to stop due to fatigue.
For instance, I am just starting my 3rd week of training and I am already up to 5 miles and almost 2 hours. There is NO WAY I would be up to this if I was running…. it’s a revelation. It’s true that I am a bit stiff and achey, but that is to be expected and partly what the training is all about – getting our bodies ready for the marathon experience.
I’m still smug btw x
Shine Training Plan
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Total Miles | |||
| Week 1 | 10/01/11 | 3.0 | Rest | 3.0 | Rest | 3.0 | Rest | 4.0 | 16/01/11 | 13 |
| Week 2 | 17/01/11 | 3.0 | Rest | 4.0 | Rest | 4.0 | Rest | 5.0 | 23/01/11 | 16 |
| Week 3 | 24/01/11 | 3.0 | Rest | 4.0 | Rest | 4.0 | Rest | 6.0 | 30/01/11 | 17 |
| Week 4 | 31/01/11 | 4.0 | Rest | 4.0 | Rest | 5.0 | Rest | 6.0 | 06/02/11 | 19 |
| Week 5 | 07/02/11 | 3.0 | Rest | 4.0 | Rest | 5.0 | Rest | 7.0 | 13/02/11 | 19 |
| Week 6 | 14/02/11 | 3.0 | Rest | 5.0 | Rest | 5.0 | Rest | 8.0 | 20/02/11 | 21 |
| Week 7 | 21/02/11 | 3.0 | Rest | 6.0 | Rest | 5.0 | Rest | 9.0 | 27/02/11 | 23 |
| Week 8 | 28/02/11 | 5.0 | Rest | 7.0 | Rest | 6.0 | Rest | 10.0 | 06/03/11 | 28 |
| Week 9 | 07/03/11 | 5.0 | Rest | 8.0 | Rest | 6.0 | Rest | 12.0 | 13/03/11 | 31 |
| Week 10 | 14/03/11 | 5.0 | Rest | 8.0 | Rest | 6.0 | Rest | 12.0 | 20/03/11 | 31 |
| Week 11 | 21/03/11 | 5.0 | Rest | 7.0 | Rest | 5.0 | Rest | 15.0 | 27/03/11 | 32 |
| Week 12 | 28/03/11 | 6.0 | Rest | 10.0 | Rest | 6.0 | Rest | 15.0 | 03/04/11 | 37 |
| Week 13 | 04/04/11 | 6.0 | Rest | 12.0 | Rest | 9.0 | Rest | 18.0 | 10/04/11 | 45 |
| Week 14 | 11/04/11 | 6.0 | Rest | 15.0 | Rest | 6.0 | Rest | 20.0 | 17/04/11 | 47 |
| Week 15 | 18/04/11 | 6.0 | Rest | 10.0 | Rest | 6.0 | Rest | 10.0 | 24/04/11 | 32 |
| Week 16 | 25/04/11 | 5.0 | Rest | Rest | 5.0 | Rest | Rest | Marathon | 01/05/11 | 10 |
OK, here is step 1 Training Plan for the Shine “Walking” Marathon. Bring it on x
p.s. if you want to download it – feel free… Marathon Training Plan.
