Lugano

So for me, the very word Lugano conjures up a whole range of memories and emotions.

It was the name of the race walking World Cup as Lugano was the first city to host it in 1961.  It was also hosted there in 1973.

The "Lugano Cup".

In September 1985, just after my 15th birthday, the Lugano Cup came to the Isle of Man.  It was held at St Johns.  All of the world finest race walkers came to the Isle of Man and as a 15 year old race walker, this was the most incredible thing I had ever seen.

Martin Young and I used to go down the promenade in Douglas every night where the international teams were training.  I don't think they could believe their eyes when these two kids were matching them stride for stride - albeit for a few hundred yards - absolutely killing ourselves to do so!

The 20k was won by the Spaniard Jose Marin and in second place was the Italian Maurizio Da Milano - two of the biggest names in race walking history.  The 50k was won by the big East German Hartwig Gauder.

It was both inspirational and formative.  The memories are etched forever.

Jose Marin (58) and Maurizio Da Minano(38) coming into St Johns from Peel

Hartwig Gauder(22) the 50k winner in St Johns.

So for me, the very word "Lugano" is synonymous with race walking.  It is, of course, a stunning city in Southern Switzerland close to the Italian border.  The city itself is on the edge of Lake Lugano, set in the Alps.

Every year, there is a large international race walking even in the city, around the shore of the lake.  It attracts the best race walkers in the world.  A flat fast course in stunning surroundings.

I do not count myself amongst this elite by any stretch of the imagination, however - I have the qualifying time.  All of my friend from Leeds are either going or have been given an international selection and...

IT'S LUGANO!!

So I am off on Friday to race in the 20km on Sunday.  I will probably be last but I will have the best seat in the house to watch the race and I may just get a personal best as well, inspired by the occasion.

This week has been less hectic than last week as I have started to taper for the race.  I have to admit I was pretty tired for most of the week after last weekends efforts!

I did manage an up-tempo 15km this morning and got round comfortably in 1hour 25.

My weekly total was a mere 61km this week and average pace was exactly 6mins/km.

I went to watch the Ascot Hotel Manx 20km yesterday.  I didn't compete as I am saving myself for next weekend.  I saw some solid personal bests set.  I though the 20 walk of the day was from my fellow blogger and four times Parish Walk winner Jock Waddington.  Jock has had a lot time out of the saddle and only recently been getting his strength back.  To have put in a 1:45 shows real quality and some serious strength.  It was very windy and he effectively doubled his 10k time from only a few weeks earlier.  The other spectacular performance for me was from from young Tom Partington.  25:00 for 5km.  He would have beaten me.  I think Birmingham was the last time I will ever beat that young man.  Following in his parent's footsteps, a thoroughbred if there ever was one!

I also had a good chat with Richard Gerrard - Parish Walk joint course record holder.  Rich was also spectating arriving in late from a Michael Buble concert.  .  He patiently let me quiz him for ages.  I was privileged to be able to tap into his knowledge and experience - trying to pick up tips for the big day.  A big thanks to him.

So, next time I post it will be back to serious distance training.  Of course, I will try and get lots of "selfies" with me and the stars of walking for my next post.  I can't think of anything more blatantly self indulgent. 

Can't wait!!

Hail and High Water

I seem to have a recurring theme in naming my blogs after horrendous weather.  This weekend has been no exception.  The hail on Saturday morning was actually painful and the roads were a cm deep in slush afterwards - not fun.

Last week I hinted that this weekend was going to be a heavy one.  And I was right.   I will try and explain.

Everyone you listen to will tell you their story about their way to train for the parish walk.  I have listened a lot.  I struggle to distil any particular formula; it seems to be very personal - almost every aspect of it from mileage, pace, nutrition, recovery etc.

As a noobie, non finisher, I am worried about "hitting the wall" and walking on empty.  For me, training for the Parish has to be about mitigating or avoiding this for as long as possible.

So this weekend was designed for that purpose.  It is impossible to emulate the last 1/3 of the Parish walk, but you can do things to push your body hard and feel fatigued. This was the goal.

I had a relatively high mileage week so I would go into the weekend with heavy legs.

The goal was to totally empty the tank on Saturday and go into Sunday with really heavy legs and energy fatigue.  On Sunday, I wanted to be forced to refuel on the move and experiment with soups and bananas etc to see how my body copes.

The formula Saturday was 2 hours hard fast walking.  Then Sunday to walk 30km (19miles).

I felt anxious about Saturday as 2 hours hard hurts, I find it hard to keep driving with a big effort for that long.  I got into a steady rhythm and after 10km felt great.  I did the second 10km quicker than the first and went through 20km in 1:51:10, Half Marathon in 1:57 and ended up doing 21550 metres (13.5 miles).  That is 5:34/km or 8:56/mile.

I was wrecked at the end.  I had some lunch and fell asleep for an hour!  I spent the rest of the day eating, trying to recover for Sunday.

I was more relaxed about Sunday (today) as the goal was not to go hard, but just to get round the 30km. I was worried I would hit the wall at about 10km though.

I set off at a slow steady pace and did the first 10km in 63mins. At 10km I joined Adam, Michelle and Marie on the road. They wanted to do 20k.  The company was good and buoyed me up significantly.  Someone had stolen my flask of soup I left behind a tree at 12km and that made me a bit flappy as I was feeling very fatigued so I ate a gel and drank some orange squash instead.

I found my second soup stash at 19km and guzzled down a whole pint of soup and half a banana. I was famished and beginning to think I was hitting the wall at this stage.  I was on my own by 20km, dropped by the others but I got to 20km in 2:07 (16minutes slower than the day before!), another 64min 10km.

The soup and the banana seemed to do the trick.  I felt good quite quickly after them and picked up the pace.  I didn't mean to, I was working at the same rate/effort but the speed just picked up naturally, I began to feel good again.  The final 5km felt great, probably the best 5km of the weekend mentally.

I finished the 30km in 3:05, the final 10km being just under 58mins. Given the punishment I had given myself on Saturday I am really happy with how the weekend went.

Weekly total was 99km.
Weekend total was 51.5km (32miles) 5:55/km average or 9:32/mile

I have been worried about my fitness and race form, suspecting I was on about 1:54 form for 20km, but the 1:51 on Saturday with heavy legs told me I am stronger than I thought.  It must be all this training or something?

There is an international 20km in Lugano, Switzerland on the 16th of March.  The qualification standard is 1:52 and if you go over 1:55 your time does not count.  I am now seriously thinking about going.

Watch this space...

Building miles

Three weeks has passed since I last blogged, but I have been training.

Week after my last entry I was struck down with a crippling and debilitating disorder which indiscriminately strikes down male members of the species.  This illness is often referred to pejoratively by females, who are in fact immune from the illness, as "man flu".  Anyway, I couldn't train for a whole week, and I know at least half of you will have considerable sympathy.

Then I headed off to the UK for a solid block of training.  Last Saturday I did a solid 20k with the UK racewalk team in Leeds.  A comfortable 59mins for the first 10k and a quicker 55mins for the second 10k.  A cruised 1:54 in training is okay for this time of year.

On the Saturday I did the indoor 3km in Birmingham.  It was a brilliant day out, nearly 30 walkers of all ages and abilities as well as a large team from the Isle of Man in the other athletic disciplines - so loads of noisy support.

I was told I has set a Manx record for my age, which sent me a bit giddy until I found out I was the first manx M40 to do an indoor 3k.  I did it in 15:10 which I was content with, given the heavy legs from the 20k 20hours earlier.  Not quite the same as the senior men's lung busting Manx record of 11:47 by Steve Partington though!!

Training this week has been quite good, again geared towards endurance rather than speed.

Today's walk was a steady 30km (19miles).  The conditions were challenging, it was more like a steeplechase, having to walk through floods.  The average windspeed was 40mph gusting 55+.  I was tag-teamed for company with Michelle joining me for the first 20k and a runner friend Phil joining me for the last 10k.

I did it in 03:01:20 which given the conditions I am happy with.  That is 6:03/km or 9:40/mile in old money.

Hopefully I will start picking up the distance now and get in some good back to back walks on the weekend.  Next weekend looks quite brutal, but I am looking forward to it and will blog about it if I survive.  The weekend after than is the Manx Open 20km race - which will be a chance to open up the throttle and see what kind of form I am in.  I can't wait.

Elemental

A really solid weeks training.  Feel I have made real progress.  I am not as sharp as I was in December but I am passed the sluggish feeling I had over the past few weeks.

There was a winter league 10k race today, but I felt my time this weekend was better spent on endurance and not speed.  Therefore I did 25k on Saturday and 16k on Sunday in a solid back to back.

The weather on the 25k was horrific, certainly the worst conditions I have trained in to date.  Some of the gusts were 60mph+.  There were times when I was stopped in my tracks and struggled to stay on my feet.  The rain was horizontal at times and quite painful.  Somehow I still managed to get round in under 2 and a half hours.

That took my weekly today to a much better 83kilometres (8h 16minutes).  My comfortable cruising speed is around 5:55/km (9:28/mile) now which is where I was before christmas.

So doing these longer walks takes some preparation.  There is housework involved before, during and after.  Now I am up to 25km and starting to push beyond, nutrition is becoming absolutely key.

When I prepare for a long walk I think about three things.  Nutrition during the exercise.  Nutrition immediately after the exercise and nutrition shortly after that.

During a long walk we need fuel and we need water.  I have found that "just" water is insufficient for me.  People talk a lot about "isotonic" drinks.  This really means salty.  When we sweat we lose salt.  It needs to be replaced else our muscles stop functioning properly and seize or cramp.  This is a bad thing.

Some people chose a drink which has salts in it.  Some people just add a teaspoon of salt per litre of water and hide it with some fruit cordial.

My advice is do NOT wait until you feel thirsty to drink.  It is already too late once you feel thirsty.  The body has already started going downhill and that is a bad thing.

Fuel is very personal, but on walks under four hours I get by on energy gels.  These are easily digested toothpaste tube sized packets of sweet goo.  I find one an hour is enough to keep me going.  Some types require you to drink water with them, others more runny ones don't need water with them.  You can also get them in a chewy pastel Powershot cube variation too.  They often contain salts too allowing you to drink pure water.

For all of this you need to carry the stuff.  I either carry it around my waist in a pack or sometimes plan a route with big loops and leave a car or "stash" in convenient hedges.

Having only gone over 4 hours once I am not qualified to talk about nutrition beyond that, but I will give my ideas and plans in later entries on my blog.

Immediately after exercise it is essential to eat some carbohydrate and a small amount of protein.  This will allow you to replenish your depleted glycogen (fuel) for your next session.  The later you leave this, the longer it will take to recover for your next session.  This should be in the first 30minutes after stopping.

Shortly after exercising you need a meal.  This is to help your body recover.  This can replace the immediate snack if you do it straight away else is in addition to it if but does need to be within 2 hours of exercise.

If you do all of these things then you have done your best for your body.  Look after it and it will hopefully look after you.

Stormy Waters

A solid week's training this week.  I feel almost back to normal now.  Next week I aim to be back in full swing again.

I decided not to try and walk fast before I can walk, as it were, and limit my mileage in the week and then step it up for the weekend if it felt good.

I did a speed session up at the track at Carnegie in Leeds on Tuesday.  Leg got tight when I started to push on but it was a good session nevertheless.

Total distance for the week was 55kilometres which is a good platform to step up from now.

The week culminated with a brisk 20k today on a tough course in very stormy conditions.  I was joined by Alex, Adam, Michelle with Alan Callow on push bike doing a steadfast job as pack horse and compare.  

We went from the NSC, up Douglas head and along Marine Drive to Port Soderick and back along the Old Castletown Road.  A few laps of a waterlogged NSC at the end to make up the miles.  The youngsters really put the hammer down today and I have to admit I am absolutely shattered now.  My average pace was 5:52/km.

If you are able to walk with faster or more experienced walkers than you, then take the opportunity.  It is the best way to learn and push yourself hard.  Long walks in a pack help a lot.  It is worth dropping into "Manx Race Walking" on Facebook and asking if there are suitable groups going out for your ability.  That is my plan for the next few months anyway.

In my next entry I will talk about racing prior to the parish.  What races I am choosing, why and how I plan to race them.  That gives me a week to do some homework!!

I got lucky in the snow.

So I pulled my hamstring on the 15th of December and needed to recover.  The process took longer than I anticipated.  In hindsight, I should have gone straight to see a physio.

It took 20 days to recover properly in all. By January the 3rd I was able to put in 5k without feeling any strain.  I managed to do a nice 10k on Friday the 10th of January.

Then I went to France for a week of Skiing, Snowboarding and French cuisine.  I like to travel when I am on the slopes and get serious mileage in, so I was concerned.  I felt I was recovered but was concerned the wrong move could set me back.  I threw caution to the wind and got lucky!  I had a niggle free week.  I didn't manage to do any walking though.

I got back from France last night - 18th of January, five weeks after my injury.  I was itching to resume training.  I put on a few pounds in France - cheese, saussison, wine, beer, apres ski etc.  Perfect training fuel for the next few months!

Normally I would do a long walk on a Sunday.  Being unfit and anxious about pushing too hard too quickly I opted for a 22k loop with Michelle(!), which we managed to fit in round family commitments.  

I was really happy to get round in 2:15 6:13/km average.  Hamstring is fine, but the rest of me is feeling very sore from unused muscles.  Adductors and lower back in particular.  A much needed release of endorphins though.  Easy to forget how good it feels to get decent miles in.  Need a lazy afternoon to recover now.

Feeling UBER positive...I'm back!

Recovery frustrations

Another week in and my hamstring still isn't right.

I went to see John Barton the Physio on Saturday. I haven't torn anything but I need to take it easy and gradually build back up over the next 10 days to full volume again.

I managed to get a 5k in on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I did the boxing day relay run, which was a mistake.  I should never have started but I didn't want to let my team down.  I pulled up after 2k with a very sharp pain and walked back in.  I managed to jog the final kilometre.

I managed another 5k this morning to make it up to a 20k week.

Rather than leave this as a dull blog entry, I will tell you how I got into walking.

We used to stay in Wales as a family, same farm each year, family friends.  When I was 10, my Dad announced he was doing a mammoth walk the following day to raise money for the local church roof.  I asked to go along but was told I was too young.

My Mum persuaded them to let me go on the first leg, which was three miles.  The walk was 32 miles right around the Gower starting in Swansea.  There were about 40 people who started out, plus a keen as mustard 10 year old.  There were support cars set up every few miles to bail people out or to give refreshments / socks etc.

After we got to three miles, they suggested I get in the car with my Mum.  I refused.  I wanted to go to the next support stop.  This kept happening all day and I made it to the finish along with only three of the other starters.

I was then greedy for walking!  In my head it was my "thing".  I used to go for long walks with my Dad, we did the Millennium way in all directions, bagged all the hills in on Island, then did the lakes and bagged loads of them and then Scotland and bagged loads of them too.

I lived in Douglas near the (now) NSC.  I often saw Murray and others training down there when I was about 12 years old (1982).  I'd park my bike and try to keep up with them, managing about 100 yards.  Looking back, they probably thought I was taking the p1$$.

Then we did race-walking at school (1984).  They made the whole class do 3k.  In my head it was still my 'thing'. I tried to copy the style of Murry and the other guys training down the NSC and absolutely blasted it.  Lap after lap I flew round.  I managed to do 17:02.  The games teacher was pretty impressed and took me down to Graham Young's house (two times Parish Walk winner and Commonwealth walker).  Graham took a look at me walking and agreed to be my coach and get me ready for the English Schools trials.  I would go there every day straight after school religiously for several years.

I got quite quick.  I can't remember my old PBs any more, but I do have a few newspaper clippings from when I was 15.

Round 6 1985/86 winter league at the Hawthorne Pub.

There are a few names in there that some may recognise. Including the Chief Judge at the 2012 London Olympics!

Round 5 1885/86 winter league at Ballakermeen.

Few more in this one including at least two Parish Walk winners and many more well known finishers.

Peel to Douglas Walk 1986.

Last piece of memorabilia for today.  The 1986 Peel to Douglas walk when I was 16 years old.

That is how it all began for me.  I left the Island in 1989 to go to university and I stopped walking.  We came back a few years ago when Jessica was school age.  

So I decided to take it back up again, and here we are...