Once again sorry about not blogging more frequently, January is flying by!! January has been up and down training wise, the mind is willing, but the body is not playing ball at the moment but as always I’ll keep pressing on and keep thinking of the bigger picture, a Saturday in June!! Up until last Thursday, my short aim was the next Winter Water League Walk on Sunday 1st February, however following a training sessions with Elizabeth Corran and Steve P training group, during a 3km effort around the NSC raceway, I felt a pull in my left hamstring, and glut area, I felt the pull at the start of the effort and stubbornly I carried on. Just as I thought I was overcoming my hamstring issues, the left, not the right one is now stopping me from walking. So back to cycling and cross training, I ventured out with posse group last Saturday morning or spuders how the group is affectionately known!! The group leaves the QB at 8.30am every Saturday morning, and generally consists of a 3 – 4 hour ride, at a decent pace, sometimes flat or hilly or both! Although mostly older riders, the posse ride has welcomed Cav and Peter Kennaugh, who know they’ll get a good ride at a respectable pace + a good bit of banter, which is always important when you are in the saddle for 4+ hours. The injury has calmed down quickly and I even managed to walk to work and back on Monday albeit very slowly, but in the short term, I may have to stick to the longer walks and decrease the speed a bit until I’m more confident with my hamstrings and trying to race walk! So I might have to miss Sunday’s Winter League, I’ll have a fitness test on Friday. As always the x trainer, bike and turbo trainer are helping to maintain my fitness and weight, I cover between 10km and 10 miles on the x trainer, and for me it’s the nearest thing you can get to running without actually running! Before my recent hamstring injury, I had even managed a 5km run on the treadmill at a respectable pace, so the new injury is even more frustrating but you have to remain positive and have a plan b training schedule that can allow you to train around the injury. I also picked up the V+D bug, I’ll leave the detail at that, but it did wipe me out for a day or two! I really enjoyed the recent IOM X country Champs at SCS Ballanette site, at the front end Alan Corlett and Mark Dooley has an epic battle with Mark just edging it, but a brave race by Alan, who led for the most of the way. Alan’s progress as a runner over the last 5 years is truly inspirational, and it shows what consistent training, commitment and believe can achieve. Across the younger age groups numbers were very healthy, and the senior field attracted a good entry, I also noticed a number of established parish and race walking stars taking part, so the benefits of x country running during the winter months are clear to see. So once again another blog, where things haven’t quite gone to plan, but injuries are never too far away and it’s something you just have to deal with, I’ve learnt over the years it’s not worth getting down about and you can spin it and use the time as an opportunity to work on flexibility, strength + conditioning and the list goes on. If I don’t compete on Sunday, I’m desperate to be involved on the 7th March, another great event the Ascot Hotel Manx open, I definitely won’t be running the 10km event, so hopefully I’ll be involved in the walking events, fingers crossed. I’ll leave it there with the promise of more frequent blogs, I will try my best! Take care, and happy training G

29 and out !

Firstly, I hope everybody enjoyed their festive period, and I now we are in 2015, its another step towards the reality, that this year, I am taking part in the Manx Telecom Parish Walk. For me, new year, is just another day, but anything that can be used to to help set new goals and lift your enthusiasm has got to good! Unfortunately, in terms of events and training, things didnt go exactly to plan, the sore and stiff hamstrings noted in my last blog, turned out to be a bit more serious than what I first thought, especially my right hamstring and running proved too painful, which meant I had to pull out of my SCS team, so my run of taking part in what was the Millennium Relay and more recently the SCS relay since 1985 came to an end, however, I did help Alan Franklin at the start and finish area, with the dibbing in and out, so I was involved, and everyone was in really good spirits, so although I was disappointed not to be running, I once again enjoyed the day, and Andy Fox and his team did a brilliant job, as I said in a previous blog, its a great event, and well worth considering putting a team in this year ( you have 11 months to organise it ! ), it would be good to see 20 plus teams involved again. Although, my sore hamstring stopped me running and until the last few days, fast walking, I could cycle and use the x training machine at the NSC and lots and lots of hamstring stretches ! So my only competitive outing during the festive period was the Hamper Cycling race in Jurby, originally scheduled for Sunday 28th December, the event was postponed due to ice, and took place yesterday. Changing the date of the race meant that local cycling stars Peter Kennaugh, Ben Swift and Mark Christian couldnt take part, due to other committments, but it was still a great event, and proved to be a excellent work out, the race was won by Team Polypip Pro Tom Mazzone, I managed to hang onto the bunch, and just came in with the same time as Tom. Moving the Hamper race to yesterday mean't it clashed with the fourth round of the Winter Walking League just down the road in Andreas, I had my trainers in the car, just in case it was icy again! Now my next short term target is the final league event at the NSC on the 1st February. Normally, at this time of year, I would be looking forward to the the IOM and National XC Champs, and then the cycling season, which norammly starts in March, this year, with the Parish, things are going to look a bit different. If I can keep my hamstrings in one piece, my next short term and medium aims are as I said, the last Winter Walking League, hopefully the 20km walk around the the NSC in March and Sara Killey 50km walk in April, and in between those events, steadily increasing my walking training in terms of distance, and hopefully speed, so lots to look forward to, but as always its about training SMART and being sensible, not always something I'm good at! Well thats it for now, I'll try and be a bit more frequent with my blogs in the coming weeks, cheers.

Aches and Pains

Sorry I haven't updated for a few weeks, after Xmas, I'll try and be a bit more frequent. As always the balancing act between regular training and being injured is a thin one, and following a crash on the ice, on my bike Saturday morning and the Up and Running winter race walking league yesterday, I have definitely gone over the wrong side of the line, my right hip and hamstring are very sore today, so a week of ice,ibuprofen and a visit to Chris Walker (chiropractor) is on the cards. My next short term target is the SCS relay, an event I am desperate to do, hopefully, it will be my 30th year of taking part in the event, I first took part in 1985, in 1995, the event was cancelled, and in 2009, I started, but didnt finish my leg due to an achilles injury, but I'm taking this year as my 30th consecutive relay, and then I can move on!! As with any injury, there is always some activity you can do to maintain fitness, hopefully I can cycle on the stationary bike in the gym or even the cross trainer, we'll see later. At this time of year, I would normally be trageting the lancs x country champs in Blackburn, a great event to keep you focused during the festive period, but due to my achilles problem (fingers crossed it seems to be getting better), I am unfortunately giving it a miss this year, Andy Fox, does a fantastic job organising the trip which is usually the first Saturday in January, Manx Harriers and local athletes generally do very well, and come away with an bag full of medals across the different age groups. I may ride the Hamper cycle race on Sunday 28th Dec, its advertised as a fun event over 25 miles in Jurby organised by Manx Viking Wheelers, but with the likes of Cav + Peter Kennaugh riding, fun is not a word I would use to describe the experience, but its another hard session, so fitness permitting, I'll give it a go. In Janaury + February, my thoughts will start to specifically focus on the Parish, but for now its short term goals, and cycling, walking + running pain free, which at the moment seems a massive challenge in its self, but its part of sport, and something you have to get used to! Just before I finish, I must mention our family holiday to London last week, well not the whole family just my wife Karen and 8 year old daughter Lola, the lads stayed at home, who now have work and important school committments. London, wow! what a place, great for Christmas shopping and getting in the Christmas spirit, but it makes you appreciate, the Island, and not having to struggle on trains and the tube to get to your destination. Managed a run around Croydon, but also enjoyed a bit more food and drink than usual, but not too worry! For me Christmas offers an opportunity to do a bit more training, time off work etc, but I appreciate thats not the case for everyone, and January offers the opportunity to kick start things training wise. Hopefully, I'll get one more post in before the end of the year, if I dont, have a good Christmas and a healthy and injury free 2015.

The Start !

Well here goes, starting to write this blog, which in itself is a first, makes things a bit more real now, in that, after about 20 years of thinking about it, June next year, I will hopefully be on the start line as a competitor. I appreciate first posts are usually to offer a profile of the blogger which I will do over the course of next 7 months, but firstly, I just want to thank Manx Telecom for supporting the event and also the army of volunteers, and supporters that make the Parish Walk the great event that it it is. I've been involved in athletics and sport in general for about 30 years, primarily as a competitor, but also as a coach, oh yes ! Its also my day job, so I really apprecaite that with out volunteers willing to give their time, allot of events we enjoy would not happen. As I said at the start, I've never done a blog before, so bear with me, I'll try my best to make it interesting, and hopefully my story/journey might help others to take part in furture Parishes. Training wise, I've got a bit of a plan, plenty of cycling, x training, hopefully a bit of running, the walking winter league, and from February + March, specifically focus on the Parish. I'll be asking lots of questions and picking people brains, who have more experience than me, Ive done a marathon, lots of 10km's runs, cross country events and more recently lots of cycling events, but for me this is a harder and very different challenge altogether. Well I'll stop there for now, I'll give you my next update in a couple of weeks and a bit more frequently after Christmas. Cheers G.