22 Miles done this week

Been a big week again for walking. On Monday we did 6 miles and on Thursday, Clare and I did 12 miles. The same route as last time, from my house to Castle Lane Tesco and back.

Was a lot warmer this time. We did it in 3 hours and 20 minutes, so knocked 5 minutes of the total time taken which is always a big yay. My legs still ached at the end of it, but I think we have acknowledged that if you walk 12 miles, it is going to hurt at the end of it lol

The train tickets arrived on Tuesday, so thats it, no backing out now, not that I would of course.

Then today I did just under four miles by myself. To be exact, 3.73 miles in a time of 1hr 5 mins and 5 seconds, so just under 22 miles in total.

This week we are upping the distance. Tomorrow we go for 14 miles!!!! Omg that sounds a bit scary, but then it did when we went to 12!. We will have walked over half the total distance when we complete tomorrow, so that is a moral booster in itself!

Walk Number 9 and others planned

Distance 5 miles- Time..not so much worrying about this


Had a lovely 5 mile walk today. We had planned 10, but due to injury on Clare's part, decided to do two shorter walks. We therefore did 5 miles today and are doing the other 5 miles on Sunday.

We did it in about 1hr 20, but after reading advice on the Moonwalk blog about not getting obsessive about times, are not so much focusing on miles per minutes now.

It was a gorgeous day for it. Nice and sunny even though it started off fresh. 5 miles is very easy now though, still hate hills lol.

So are doing 5 miles on Sunday, then are going for 10 miles on Monday and another 5 the following Wednesday. Over the four sessions we will have done 20 miles!! Just need to merge them altogether now hehe.

Starting to find all the little hints and tips to get us through this, won't be long before we need to start planning stuff to take!!!

First Walk of 2012 and OMG!!!!

Distance 8 miles. Time Taken 2 Hours


Well, after a gap due to Christmas and New year, we did the first walk of 2012 this morning!

It was gorgeous. The sun was out, the sky was blue and it was heaven. I haven't really managed to get any distance in since our last walk so it was bit of a shock to the system. We also realised that we have been slightly cheating ourselves. This is because the last few 8 mile walks we have done have been on flat terrain (along the sea front) and this was the first road walk we have done for a few weeks. I had forgotten how much harder it is to do when there are hills and traffic lights involved.

We also had to incorporate a trip to Tesco into the walk so I could pick up a new Skylander for my son that we had on order (thanks Sam lol)

Reassuringly, despite the three week break, we still manged to maintain a fairly steady mile per minute. Due to the app playing up, I am unable to add exactly what our minute per mile time was.

We are both panicing a teeny bit as the walk will be on us in under 5 months!! We have worked out that going by the training plan, we need to do the final 20 mile walk the last week of April, before the kids break up for Easter. The plan is then, that every other week we are upping the distance by 2 miles. We have done 8 for a few weeks though, so next week are going for 10 miles! Got a feeling thats going to hurt a bit.

It's all getting a bit real now. Next month we have to sort out the train tickets for London. My Justgiving link has been handed out and it's countdown time now....OMG!!!!!!

Walk number 7 in the bag and New Trainers!

Distance 8 miles, Time Taken 2.15.44, Average Minute Miles 16.56 mins


First of all, I road tested my new trainers today. I bought a pair of Nike Dart lX's

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jyd1UcfkL.jpg

Like this, but with green flashes. OMG they are so comfortable! What a difference a good pair of shoes make!.

Last week, by 6 1/2 miles, my feet were killing me and I just wanted to stop! This week was so much better. No aching feet at all and in fact I could have gone on easily!

The walk itself was great. We went down the beach again and it was really warm. Am secretly hoping it stays like this all winter lol. I'm dreading the cold walks, although give it a few miles and I doubt we would notice.

8 miles is so easy now. I think we are ready to go up to 9 or 10 (yay)

The best bit is the fact that over the three walks we have knocked 10 minutes of the time for 8 miles. That is so good and I am so proud of what we have achieved so far

Not sure if we will get out on a big one next week. Have a few commitments at school. Am hoping we get a shorter one in somehow.

Woohoo Team Swagger Together At Last

Distance 5 Miles-time taken 1hr 20 mins


Walk number 6


Just a short and sweet (well blowly) walk this morning. The lovely Hannah joined us today, so Team Swagger is finally together. Decided to go for a walk along the sea front. My god it was cold!! Walked 2 1/2 miles then turned round and walked back. There was a really really strong wind coming off the sea when we were walking towards Bournemouth Pier and my hands got sooo cold. I think I need to invest in a pair of fingerless gloves to save my hands turning into blocks of ice!.

It was lovely to have Hannah with us now. It really really felt like we were finally a team. Lots of great chat, lots of giggles, great walk.

Back onto 8 miles on Wednesday

Walk Number 4, Bum bags and Jackets!

An odd combination I know, but all will make sense!

So lets take it one thing at a time

Walk Number 4 in the bag


Planned distance six miles, actual distance covered 7.7 miles! We seem to have a habit of deviating slightly and adding miles without realising lol

So 7.7 miles took us 1 hour 50 with a rough minute per mile of 14.15 seconds.

It did feel really hard work today. Maybe it is because we added nearly two miles more on than planned, but those two miles seemed to take forever. Think this is the first real "wall" we have hit.

So anyway, the plan is now to concentrate on 8 mile routes and nail them before moving on again. 8 does feel like it is my limit at the moment! Shame I have to add another 18 miles on top of that lol!

I know it will get easier, but I do think I am beginning to understand what people say about hitting walls in long distance events or training. The last mile was hell, my thighs were burning, my shins were aching and I did feel like I had done enough. I know Clare felt the same way too.

It can only get easier though....can't it?

Bum bags



My gorgeous son has bought me a bum bag for my birthday. I need one to carry all the little bits and bobs on the night with me, plus keep train tickets etc safe. I do feel like I have reverted back to the 80's! It is amazing though. Three zipped pockets, plus a place for camera and mobile phone. Well worth the money as I  think it will come in use on the night.

Jackets


One thing I have been really struggling with is getting the clothing right. It doesn't matter what jacket I wear, I have ended up feeling really hot and manky! (lovely image I know).

So anyway, it is my birthday coming up and I decided that a running jacket might be a good idea and my lovely mum and dad bought me one and let me have it earlier, so here it is.

http://www.jjbsports.com/champion-womens-pac-a-mac-jacket/jackets/shop/fcp-product/23521

It is an absolute godsend! I felt warm, but not too hot and because it is breathable I felt really comfortable the whole time. Luckily it is also a pack-a-mac, so on the day I can use it if I want, or fold it up and it won't take up too much room

Official Walk Number 3-What a shock!

Distance covered 6 miles!


Well today was a funny one. We had a five mile route planned as per last time, but somehow ended up doing six!


OMG I am chuffed beyond belief!


Last walk we did five miles in 1 1/2 hours walking at a pace that averaged 18.01 minute miles. We had said that this time we were going to aim to do 5 miles again and get into the 17 minute miles.


Well, here is the shocker! Somehow we went slightly off planned route and did six miles (6.20 if I am being pedantic) and did it in 1.41.40hrs! 


This means we actually did an average of 16.24 minute miles!!!!! We dropped 1 min 50 off each mile and added an extra mile! I feel phenomenal!


I am so unbelievably proud of Clare and myself. At the start of this whole process, I would have said dropping nearly two minutes a mile of the pace at this stage was wishful thinking, but it isn't. We did it!! Yay us 


All of a sudden, the 14 minute miles that you need to do to complete 26 miles in six hours doesn't sound so unachievable. 


Whether or not at the moment we could maintain this pace over a long distance, who knows?


Something has changed in our mindset now though. I can feel that  definitely.


Next week is half term, so there will be no walking next week, but I go into this break feeling so positive about the progress we have made.


Hopefully next time, our final walking buddy Hannah will be joining us as well. 


Bring on walk number 4. It is a definite six miles one planned to Bournemouth Pier and back.

Official Walk Number 2 In The Bag

Total Distance Covered 5 Miles 


(Okay, this did include the School run, but who's counting lol)

So, this morning, walked to school as per normal, dropped Sam off and went on another walk with my buddy Clare.

Started from school, walked past Bournemouth University, down to Westbourne and home.

I have to admit, today did feel a bit tougher. I haven't quite got the layers right for this and at 2 miles in felt so hot. Must plan this a bit better I think for next time. At least remembered again water so kept fluid level up. We also did the whole thing with an average pace of about 18 minute miles again, completing the whole thing in about 1 1/2 hours. We actually picked up the average pace this time. Our first walk was an average of 18.22 minutes for the mile. This time we did an average of 18.01. If we pick it up a little bit again next week, we will be into 17 minute miles!!!

I think we have both agreed at this particular moment in time, it seems impossible to imagine getting the mile speed down. I honestly at this present moment, cant image being able to walk a mile in the 14 minutes recommended and keep it up the whole way! Still nothing like setting a challenge for yourself is there?

We also had this nieve idea last week, that we would not talk and would just put our foot down and go for it.

Have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for two women to be together and not have a good gossip!

I have to say, I am so glad I am doing this with someone else and someone I get on with so well. It would be so much harder training by yourself. I know without having someone else there to do this with, I would find an excuse to not go out for a walk. I'm sure I would be too tired, or it would be too cold! Having someone else there gives you that little push as you don't want to let them down.

I also can't think of anything scarier than walking 26 miles round London at night by myself. I wouldn't even have considered doing this if I was by myself. We have agreed that if we see anyone ladies walking by themselves, we will pick them up and get them to join us. It has to be the safer option.

So anyway, booked another walk in for this time next week. Again 5 miles. Going to pick up the pace and distance in January.

Ist Official Training Walk in The Bag.

Distance covered 4 miles.

First confession is that I am rubbish at gauging miles. I thought I had worked it out that this was a five mile route, but it would seem my sense of distance is as rubbish as my sense of direction!

Anyway, walk number two was done with my buddy Clare who will also be doing the Moonwalk with me. I hold her slightly responsible for giving me the push I needed to agree to do this.

One think I am realising fairly quickly is  how far I probably walk in one go on a day to day basis. When you start working out mileage, the smaller distances aren't as bad as they sound. When will that change? 10 miles? 15 miles?

Maybe 26 miles isn't as scary as I think, or is that just me being over optimistic?

According to all the advice we can find, we should be aiming to do a mile in 16 minutes if not ideally 14 minutes. We did a mile in 18 minutes this morning, so not far off the target (yay). Not sure whether it is better to get the distance up, then worry about speed? Or go for speed then build distance lol.

The thing that I have just worked out though is that doing 1 mile in 18 mins would mean it would take nearly 8 hours! I would love to do it in 6 hours really which means we do need to get down to the 14 minute mile!

Walking with someone though is definitely more pleasurable that walking by yourself. It's a great time to have a girlie gossip and put the world to right!

Talked about possible routes getting longer each time. Some of them sound really unattainable at the moment. Still we have 7 months before the main event. I know for running a marathon, they reckon you should be able to do 18 miles before the day. I think that or 20 would be a good final target to reach before the day.

I wonder whether further into this journey, there will become a day when 26 miles actually will sound achievable?

The really good thing to know is that everything I am scared of with this, Clare is too. That does make feel better.

Whitney-turning the town pink

Okay, so this isn't about the Moonwalk, but just being reading a blog post from

http://makingitasmum.blogspot.com/

It talks about the people of her home town in Witney turning the town pink to raise awareness and funds to help people with breast cancer. It has got me think about whether this would work here where I live? Honestly I think it would be a no. I'm not sure whether you could get this to spread enough through a big suburban area like where I live. Oh it would be fantastic though, the whole area pink!

People often comment that there is no such thing as community spirit anymore. Every now and again though, something like this pops up and restores my faith in human kindness and community spirit. It makes me smile.

Anyway, I guess this is my little way of contributing by turning my blog pink.

So spread the word and turn your blog pink too!

Hills...Who decided they were a good idea?

So, did my first little walk today. Nothing major. 4 miles. It is fairly easy for me, well within my comfort zone.

I have one question though? Who invented hills?? Why did someone decide they were a good idea and why do they have to be on my route lol! Seriously four miles flat, piece of cake, four miles up a hill the majority of the way..not good on the old thigh muscles!

Doesn't help that it feels like the hottest day of the year so far today! I now have a massive urge to jump on a bulldozer a flatten a 26 mile route around my house for a practice route. Either that, or I think I need to seriously hit a treadmill to get some incline practice in. Although I live in blissful ignorance that the route will be entirely flat.

This then brings me to my next issue...treadmills = gyms = lots of extremly fit people in designer gymwear not even breaking a sweat after an hour. There I will be, in my trackkies looking all sweaty and red after 10 mins..Eek!

Oh my..what have I done lol-London Moonwalk 2012

Friday 30th September. That date is going to stick in my mind for a long time. It is the day I made a really big decision and one I think I will soon come to regret. It is the day I decided to sign up for the London Moonwalk 2012.

For those of you that don't know what the Moonwalk is, it is a 26 mile walk starting in Hyde Park in London. It is organised by Walk the Walk http://www.walkthewalk.org/AboutUs  and the money raised goes towards helping vital breast cancer causes, but is also about encouraging men and women to become healthier, fitter and to take charge of their own well being. So all in all a great cause.

But....26 miles!!! I'm still not sure how this happened. All I remember is reading a link on Facebook from a friend saying she was doing it. I remember adding a comment saying how I would " Love to do that", am still not sure whether I was serious or not, and next minute I am filling in my application form.

I have to admit that, when filling out the application form, I was secretly hoping that it would come back saying "Sorry we are fully booked, please try next year" Guess that was slightly optimistic as it had only been open to entrants for a day!

Anyway, here I am. Fully commited to doing this walk. This is my challenge, probably of my life so far, apart from having kids. I will fully admit that I am never going to be fit enough to run a marathon. I take my hat off to all the men and women that every year take part in the London Marathon. I will never be fit enough to cycle it either..so I guess for me this is it. This is MY marathon, my very first one.

So right this minute, I am full of fear and apprehension of what the next few months will bring. Walking for me is something I enjoy doing. Six, seven miles I can do fairly comfortably. 26 is a whole other issue!.

I am looking forward to seeing how this goes, of getting the training pack through the post, decorating my bra (lol) and whatever will come with this journey.

So anyway..Saturday 12th May 2012..D Day Help!!!!

I think thats its for now. Apart from doing a few little walks, guess there isn't much that can be done till the first training pack comes! Wish me luck...think I am going to need it!