Shine Manchester 2010 – What an Experience!!!! April 19, 2010

Hi all, after all my blog posts re Shine 2010 over the last few weeks, I am now going to update you about my Shine experience from start to finish! I hope that this will be a nice acolade for the people who have supported me to read, as well as those who are taking part in the 2nd Shine event in Cardiff this september! Good luck to you all!   Please check it out below…

Saturday 17th April 2010

At about 12pm, Cheney came to pick me up and we were all packed and ready to go, heading up to Manchester on the M6 Toll to check into the Radisson Edwardian, which was really close location wise to the start of the marathon at Manchester Central. I had tried to bring everything that I thought I might possibly need, including snacks for the night, blister plasters, spare socks, deep heat muscle ache cream, sanitiser hand gel (im funny about public loos!), tissues, vasceline – you name it i’d packed it, anyone would think we were staying for a week!!! Id also packed my bikini, having purposefully chosen a hotel with a spa, as I figured that on the sunday we might be thankful for the opportunity to sit and chill in the jacuzzi for a while.

2.30pm

Our Suite

We arrived at the Radisson about 2.30 and were realllllly grateful when we were able to secure a late checkout till 3pm. Usually checkout is at 11, so having those few extra hours secured so we could guarantee a rest was a real weight off our mind. Our room, a junior suite on the 5th floor, was amazing! Queen size bed, sky tv, bose ipod docking station and our own private balcony!! I was like a kid in a sweet shop, and for a while I completely forgot about my Shine nerves, and spent a few minutes giggling to myself about the lovely wet room shower and lying star fish on the bed! *Simple things eh!?*

We quickly popped to the local sainsburys and got some food ready to “carb up” on our balcony for a while (I had pasta, chicken wrap and some french bread!) before getting into bed to try and catch some well needed rest before the start. The night before, I had tried to stay awake as late as possible thinking that my body clock would find it easier to reverse if I was tired enough to sleep in the day. Im not sure that actually worked, because with the mix of excitement and nerves that I was experiencing, I didnt really get much sleep at all. We set the alarm for 6.30pm and I probably had about 10 minutes sleep, and about 1hr30 of tossing, turning and yawning.

6.30pm

 At 6.30 we got up and starting getting ready to leave as registration was from 7pm.

At this point I was feeling really quite nervous. My head was saying “What the hell are you doing?! How the hell are YOU going to walk 26 miles? and why would you want to get out of this bed?! Seriously?!” . I had a quick wash, bathed my feet for a bit, and put some make up on (no, im not really sure why either!) and got dressed and ready in my Shine T shirt, joggers, blister proof socks and the trusty old trainers. We had arranged to quickly meet up with Nancy (aka @CRUKWalton from twitter) in the foyer as she was staying at the same hotel. She hadnt managed to get much sleep, due to the hotel checking the room was ok, and coming to try and turn down the bed while they were napping – I guess normally these are things we would be really grateful for!!

7.45pm / 8pm

Arrived at Manchester Central and the atmosphere was amazing!! Manchester Central is a convention centre, but actually used to be an old railway station, and therefore is a really attractive and interesting building. There were thousands of people milling around in Shine t shirts, with 7500 of us taking part in total. Walking into the building, we saw that the finish line was inside, and the start line just a few hundred metres away, so this would be the main hub of the walk! Inside, there were hot food and drink stands, merchandise sellers, tea and coffee, toilets, a donation station, and live music from Blake – a classical music band. This was the strangest part of the night for me, I knew logically that sitting down was a good idea, but the adrenalin was starting to kick in and I really wanted to just get going! The glow balloons were given out about 9pm and madness persued! Iv never seen so many people rushing to get something before, and luckily Cheney managed to get one for all three of us!

 The glow baloons were a really great idea. Filled with helium and a little light bulb, the mass of different colours (Blue, White or Pink) meant that we definately stood out, and it must have been an amazing sight for any spectators in the centre of Manchester that evening! Walkers had specified when registering which cancer they wanted to take part for, in my case cervical, in Cheneys, breast cancer, and in Angela’s – CRUK in general. The type of cancer people were supporting was represented by the colour of their in memory banner on their backs, and as always there were some lovely inspirational and emotional messages on many  of these.

After a brief warm up, we headed outside towards the start line, and at this point I was definately excited and raring to go! Whilst waiting for Manchester Metropolitan Police to confirm the roads were closed, we enjoyed a sing song to Aswad’s Shine, the Proclaimers I would walk 500 miles (which by the way I definately WOULDNT!) and Black Eyed Peas Tonights Gunna be a good night! The atomosphere was buzzing! I could here accents from people all over the UK, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and of course those from Manchester and Liverpool, but people like us, had clearly travelled some distance to take part in the event. Finally at about 10.20 – slightly later than planned, Dennis Law, a football legend and prostate cancer survivor, said some words before announcing the walk officially open! The start line had a fantastic flame light show and we felt proud to be on our way!!

10.30pm

The Start

And we’re off!!! Slightly later than billed and with a great crowd of balloons walking past the start line, we all headed off for what was going to be a long and challenging night, it still felt slightly surreal, and I couldnt quite get my head round the fact that i was going to be walking alllll night long! The spectators, volunteers and supporters at the start line were amazing, cheering and clapping as we started, and one, who really made us laugh, with a megaphone shouting “good luck, you’re all MAD!!!” lol

The first mile seemed to go quickly and that was reassuring, I think I actually said to myself “only 26 more of those to go” or something ridiculous, if only it was that easy!!

The route for Shine 2010 was 26 miles round manchester city centre, and they had arranged for us to pass some great landmarks on the way, including the Manchester Wheel, the University, Patterson Institute, Old Trafford and the Trafford Centre to name but a few. There were various “pit stops” along the route, where people could pause to use the toilet, grab some food, or simply have a quick rest before continuing on.

Approx 12am

The first pit stop was at around four miles, and I stopped to use the toilet. Despite having quite a large number of porta loos, the queues were of course massive, and in hindsight perhaps I could have carried on and used the 2nd pit stop instead. Women clearly take far too long to use the toilet – I could have sworn some must’ve been reapplying lippy or something the amount of time they took, but I was in and out in a flash! – we grabbed a quick bite to eat (one of the many snacks out of our rucksack), had a quick stretch and then carried on.

Candle of Hope

At this pit stop, a candle of hope ceremony was taking place, where people had lit candles in memory of loved ones and volunteers had spelt out the word Shine in candles. This was a really stunning scene to walk through, and made me feel a tad emotional! We were handed a bottle of water and a pink lady apple, and then carried on our merry way!

I have to admit I hadnt really fully estimated how much harder walking at night time would be, and depsite having done a fair bit of training, all of my long walks being over 9 miles, I actually found the first 9 miles of this walk the hardest part. I think when it got to about midnight, my body was telling me I should be in bed, and it all just seemed that little bit tougher than  normal!

Approx 2.30am

At mile nine, just 1/3 of the way through, I did have my first moment of doubting whether we would all actually make it the whole 26 miles! My feet were already starting to hurt a bit, I felt tired and hungry and it seemed to be going so slowly. On our training walks we had been averaging about 3 – 3.5 miles an hour, but we were a lot slower on the night, the dark just seemed to make everything seem a little harder, or at least thats what I was hoping at this point!! I’ve always been a bit of a bed lover, and cant remember the last time Id been walking around at this time in the morning!!

We had passed through some “interesting” parts of the city, including curry mile, which was a little bit scary if im honest, some people smoking bongs outside dodgy looking  bars, and quite a few rowdy left overs from the manchester derby that weekend, so I was glad when that mile was over!

Approx 3.30am

At 11.5 miles, and we arrived back at the first pitstop again having done a full circuit. At this point, my feet were pretty sore so after queuing for the loo again, I sat down and got out my blister plasters. I didnt have any blisters but the balls of my feet were sore, so to preempt the possibility of getting one half way round, I put them on the both feet and changed my socks to a slightly more lightweight pair, before grabbing another quick bite to eat (some fruit flakes) and continuing on our way. This part of the night was the toughest, it was very early in the morning and we were all getting tired and wondering whether we could actually finish. Shockingly, one lady had collapsed on the grass whilst waiting for the loo and was being treated by Manchester Medical Services before being taken away in an ambulance. I think she was ok, probably just dehydrated or hadnt eaten enough. I do think that some people think, “its just a walk” and forget that actually you can burn off over 3000 calories walking a marathon, and therefore food and drink is crucial! Manchester Medical Services provided the two Ambulances, three Ambulance cars and all staff to Shine for free as part of  their donation to support the event – and did a fantastic job.

4.30 – 5am

Halfway

Halfway!! At about 4.30am we arrived at the 13 mile marker and I felt a bit like id been beaten up! Shoulders and legs were hurting like someone had been punching me repeatedly for a few hours! The roads were a lot quieter now, as those that were doing the 13 miles / half marathon, had separated off in a different direction at the 11.5 mile pitstop. We were very very relieved to have made it to at least the halfway point, and took a photo to document the fact!!

The next pit stop was just short of 16 miles, after Old Trafford, and here we didnt stop very long at all, as it appeared to have come round quite quickly since the last break, and we didnt want to get stiff from resting too long! It was also a lot quieter at this stop, with the number of participants having probably halved, so far less queueing thank god! After a quick sit down stretch, and another toilet break we continued on. The birds were starting to sing now, and this weirdly actually started to make me feel quite happy! In my head, birds meant morning was coming, and morning meant daylight and that HAD to be a good thing! I also found that when we got to 16 miles we were on the COUNTDOWN towards the finish (yes, still quite a few miles to go, but it was going in the right direction!!)

6am

About 6 am (although Im not entirely sure on the times now) we arrived at the 19 mile pit stop. At this point I was pretty goddam tired!!! My feet and legs were sore, but I now just wanted to finish! 7 miles to go and I knew that it was feasible, it was just a case of mind over matter, and kicking into auto pilot. While queuing for the loo I saw another lady pass out which was again a little scary, and reminded me to keep drinking and eating before the same thing happened to me. Lots of people were sat around in the silver foil emergency jackets trying to keep themselves warm. Again for runners the fact that im writing that might sound quite pathetic, but its amazing how much your body cools down when you stop and have a rest. I started to feel a cold from the inside every time I slowed down, but found that it soon warmed back again when we started off.

8am After the last pit stop auto pilot continued to take over, and I actually found this part of the walk the

Approaching the End!

 most straight forward depsite being uncomfortable. I definately think I am more of a daylight walker! I wanted to finish and it got to the point where i was simply putting  one foot in front of the other, plodding on slowly but surely. Having been tweeting my way through most of the walk, i put my phone away – for now I had to concentrate on simply walking! We passed a sign saying “You are doing something amazing, together we will beat cancer” – and that reminded me why I was doing this! I have raised over £500 for the charity, and this made the pain totally worth it! I put my ipod on and started to listen to some music, and that definately helped, Angela and Cheney did the same, so it didnt seem to matter that we werent being very sociable anymore. By this time, the sun had fully come up in the sky, and it was starting to get warmer again, for that I was very grateful. Angelas legs were hurting a lot, having had a slight injury in her leg before she even started, and every time we reached a curb to step up or down, we both looked at each other like “OUCH!”

When we got to the final pit stop at 23 miles we wernt going to stop, but as it was quiet we had one last loo break before powering on, finally reaching the finish mile at about 9am!

9am – the finish!

My Medal!

At about 9 am we headed towards the finish sign having walked 26.2 miles in around 10.5 hours! A few metres away, Angela turned to me and said “Weve only gone and *$!%&£* done it!!!!!” – we were in pain, tired and achey, but wed done it! We picked up our medal and goodybag and had our photo taken and were given a voucher for a free breakfast bap, before toddling over lie down and rest!! First thing i did was take my trainers off, and was amazed to see not a blister in sight!!

So how do I feel today!? Overall I feel very proud, and that proud feeling beats any kind of pain I might feel in my body! I crawled into bed at 4.30pm yesterday afternoon having travelled home to Brum, and meant to go out for dinner with my boyfriend to celebrate. That didnt go quite according to plan as I actually woke up some 14 hours (YES 14 HOURS!) later at 6.30am!! I am now therefore fully rested, and a little bit achey today, but overall I feel great!

I would like to say a big thankyou to Shine 2010 and Cancer Research UK for putting on a great event, and to all the volunteers that sacrificed their saturday night / sunday morning to marshall, blow up balloons, or clap till their hands itch to help us all out! We couldnt have done it without you.

I have read this morning that the event has raised over a million pounds which is an unbelieveable amount and I am chuffed that I got to be part of it!!

My photos are now on facebook and you can check them out in full here

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=12302141&l=85df9fc11d&id=575680077

If you havent sponsored me, and would like to, there is still time! See my fundraising page here

www.sponsormetoshine.org/loosea

Lucy xxx

Shine Manchester 2010 – This SATURDAY! April 13, 2010

Well, its walking week! I cant believe how fast this date has come round, in fact this whole year appears to be flying by!

I am now making a few last minute arrangements and hoping that everything will go smoothly on the night! The hotel is booked, although we havent managed to secure a late checkout yet – the room has to be vacated by 11am, so im hoping that I dont take more than 13 hours to complete the marathon otherwise im not quite sure what will happen to all my stuff!! lol   Fingers crossed we will get back more like 7 / 8am, which means we may even have time for a quick power nap before checkout!

I have checked out the spa facilities at the hotel and it looks gorgeous, so definately planning on packing the ol’ bikini for a bit of a soak and chillout after the walk is finished.

I havent done much walking this week at all, in fact none yet – but im planning on doing an easy 3 miles tomorrow. Then it will be packing my rucksack with all the necessities, including blister plasters, spare socks, sugary snacks, and my waterproof jacket. The weather forecast for manchester is actually looking quite good so far, so hopefully we will get to see a beautiful sunrise on the sunday morning!

My sponsorship is now approaching the £400 mark so I am really pleased that I have managed to raise a fair bit for the charity in the process. This is definately going to be one of the biggest fundraising challenges I have ever taken part in, and I cant wait to share all the photos of the night! I picked up my new camera last week which has a high ISO rating (whatever that means!) lol - which should mean that the quality of the pictures in low light should still be good – we will see I guess!

I will also be tweeting on the night (as will Angela) about our progress – you can follow our updates by following me on twitter (@loosea).

Its not too late to sponsor me if you havent already  – my page is www.sponsormetoshine.org 

Some of my other twitter friends taking part of volunteering on the night (if you want to follow them too!) are

@CRUKWalton  – doing the 26m with her husband

@Surzy – volunteering on the night in Manchester

@thornykate -  doing full marathon (I think!)

@mik_126 – doing full marathon

@Jay_Carv – doing full marathon (I think!)

@andywilliamson1 – doing the 13 miles / half marathon with his wife

Wish me luck!!!

Lucy x

Shine Manchester 2010 – 1 week to go! April 10, 2010

I cant believe that this time next week I will be at the registration desk and collecting my glow balloon ready to begin Shine 2010. I must admit, I am now starting to feel a little nervous, particuarly after todays pretty poor attempt at a walk!! We will be heading to Manchester around midday next saturday, checking into the hotel and then attempting to sleep as much as possible in our room before going to register around 8.30 ready for the walk to begin at 10pm.

I am really looking forward to meeting some of my new friends from twitter, particuarly Nancy from Walton on Thames – a fellow Cancer Research UK volunteer @CRUKWalton with whom I have been chatting on twitter since around December time. She is staying in the same hotel as us, and has arranged a “tweet up” with a few of the other fundraisers taking part on the day. Her and her husband are doing the walk together and have raised an amazing £700 in sponsorship! We have both (wisely i hope) decided to splash out and stay at the Radisson, largely because of the inhouse spa – hopefully we can treat ourselves to a jacuzzi or foot massage when we make it back to our rooms!

Todays walk didnt go quite according to plan. For a start, the weather was AMAZING! Whats wrong with that?!, you may wonder? Normally I am a definate sun worshiper, and usually cant wait to get out into the sunshine but today was a little different. After about 5 miles, I started to feel majorly hot, despite only wearing a vest top and lightweight jogging bottoms, and the midday sun was really coming down strong. We werent planning on walking for very long (which in hindsight was probably for the best), as after only 8 miles, my feet were really starting to hurt! For some reason my toes were clenching up again as if they were trying to scrunch into balls, and the only reason I can think of for this happening is that my feet were swelling because they were hot.

Struggling with 8 miles so close to the big day really doesnt fill me with confidence for the event itself, but having popped to Blacks on the way home and by picking up some more lightweight socks, I am hoping that 2moros attempt will go a lot better than todays! The weather forecast is warm again, so out will come the suntan lotion and I will try and be a bit more confident in my ability!

Tomorrow I am hoping for another half marathon at least, and although its  disappointing that i havent been able to find time to do any further than this, I guess every bit of training helps!

I have now raised over £300 towards the event, and I am really pleased. If you havent already and you would like to sponsor me – please check out my fundraising page www.sponsormetoshine.org/loosea.

Thanks

Lucy

Shine Training – 2nd Half Marathon April 2, 2010

Today, Angela, Cheney and I completed our second long training walk for Shine 2010. Shine is an overnight 26.2 mile walkathon to raise money for Cancer Research UK and is taking place on Saturday 17th April, around the streets of central Manchester. This is the first event of its kind, and as the days pass, I am getting quite excited!! With only 2 weeks to go, we have really been trying to ramp up the amount of walking we do, and I have been walking at least 3 miles every day.

Today, we decided to try and do another long walk, following on from what we thought was about 14/15 miles last weekend. Despite being a easter bank holiday and potentially the first lie in for a while, and despite rolling in at 1am last night following pre birthday drinks with work mates, myself and Angela were up and wide awake and knocking at Cheney’s door at quarter past 8 this morning!! (Thats commitment for you eh!?!)

The weather forecast was not good!! Over the last few days I had been checking the forecast on the met office every day, hoping that we would manage to avoid the rain, but clearly it wasnt going to happen!

Forecast!

We started the walk at 8.30 and having a quick glance at the canal it soon become clear that there was no way we were going to be able to follow the toepath on the same route as last week. It was already raining, and the heavy rain from the last few days had made the ground  incredibly muddy – so we made a decision to stick to the main roads this time, but still with the same aim of getting to Hatton. 

I had taken my nike plus with me, in the hope that I’d track our distance accurately, however after about ten minutes it went and turned itself off, so I gave up! As we were taking the roads this time, it was a lot easier for us to measure our distance, so I let it go, reluctantly(!) and put the iPhone away!

About half an hour in and the heavens truely opened, so much so that my hands were freezing and bright red, and I had water running down my forehead, but still we carried on, as I’ve said before, we have to get used to the idea that it might rain on the actual event, so we cant let a little moisture put us off!!

We headed off down the main warwick road to Knowle. The Warwick Road has to be one of the longest roads ever (lol) – so it felt like a very long straight run for a while. When we finally reached knowle we walked past a traditional sweet shop which I didnt even know was there! About 7 years ago I used to work in Knowle Centre on my placement year, and the shop had been something different then. I made a mental note to go and pay that shop a visit on a later date!! It had loads of jars of sweets lined up in the window, just like they used to have in Morgam News when I was little! Me and my sister always used to pop up and get a quarter of midget gems or sherbet pips! At that age, I wasnt entirely sure what a quarter even was, but it kept me quiet for a little while at least!!

By the time we reached the Herons Nest (which is where I had to stop for a wee last week!), the rain had thankfully stopped, and we were getting our stride back!

After knowle we continued on through Chadwick End, which is a very lovely little town, with beautiful houses. We passed the Orange Tree pub which is one of my favourite places to eat, and the little row of houses called Bakers Mews – me and my boyfriend had looked at one of those houses when we first moved in together in Solihull, but it was a little far out for what we wanted.

On we continued, following the roads and having to change to different sides of the road every so often (I never really understand why that happens but I find it very annoying!) lol  The sun tried to come out and it started to feel a little bit warmer. Spring is definately on its way, despite what the rain might be telling us.  There were lots of baby lambs in the fields and the daphodils are starting to pop out all over the place. They added a little sunshine to an otherwise dreary day!!

We then walked on through Wroxall, and past a town called Hazeley Knob (dont ask!) and  by this point, myself and Cheney had a feeling that we were making a lot better time than before. Not being on the toe path, it was quite hard to find our bearings, but we soon started to see signs for Rowington, and started to feel a little hopeful.

The weather started to change again and started to go colder as we headed off through shrewley towards Hatton. At one point I turned round to  check if Ang was ok and she had pulled her hood up so tightly round her face that she looked  like Kenny from South Park!!

Amazingly before we knew it, we had reached the Falcon Pub in Hatton, and were amazed at how quickly we had got there!! Cheney wasnt convinced that we had quite done the half marathon and being the stubborn souls that we are, we decided to have a quick pit stop toilet break and then carried on for another mile before turning back on ourselves and heading back to the pub for a drink and a bite to eat. 

The food at the Falcon was amazing, and I dont think thats just because I was starving. On the menu this was listed as

“Probably the Best Chicken Pie” and it actually was!! I dont think Ive ever eaten anything so fast, it was presented beautifully, and tasted amazing! Will definately going back to that restaurant again, so if ever dan decides to treat me to a nice lunch, Im glad iv found a nice little eatery on my travels!!

So the Verdict Overall?

Time taken  – started at 8.30am – finished at 12.15 – 3 hours 45 mintes.

Either this was a shorter work than the one we did last week or this week we walked a lot faster. To be fair, the ground was easier this time round, being mainly road based, so maybe the muddy paths last week did slow us down.

I feel good after this walk! I felt a lot more comfortable this time round, my feet didnt hurt really at all,other than just feeling like I had been walking for quite a long time and one very tiny weeny start of a blister on my baby toe but nothing to write home about. My legs dont ache and I had an ever so slight twinge on the left side of my back but otherwise I am feeling fine, if not just a little tired.

What I am most pleased about is that I did feel like I could have actually carried on, and if we had eaten whilst walking instead (something lighter and probably a lot less enjoyable mind) I think I could definatley have walked at least another 4 miles completely comfortably. This makes me feel a lot happier as although i know the full 26 miles is going to be a killer, the fact that i can now do a half relatively comfortably has got to help! I am glad that I have put in the practise, and feel like some of the hard work is finally starting to pay off at last!!

On Monday, our plan is to try and do the journey in reverse and make it ever so slightly longer. We have decided to get dropped of in Warwick, which is 5 miles further out, and do the journey back to Solihull. That way, we will know where we are headed, and have a better idea of when we are reaching our destination!! Nothing like a bit of change to keep us motivated as well!

Right, now if you will excuse me, I think Im off for a well deserved nap!!

If youd like to support me in my marathon walk for CRUK please see my sponsorship page here – www.sponsormetoshine.org/loosea

Lucy xxx

Shine Manchester 2010 – Training CRUK March 29, 2010

3 weeks to go until Shine Manchester 2010 for Cancer Research UK, and finally the long walk training has begun.

What is Shine?

Shine is a 26.2 mile walkathon through the streets of Manchester starting at 10pm, to raise money for Cancer Research UK. This takes place on the 17th April, and it is the first time I have taken part in this kind of event.

Training

Well, Sunday was the first “big” walk day, and the longest time period I have spent walking since I can remember! I met Cheney at 9am (on the day the clocks had gone forward) which meant that my body was telling me that I was getting up at 8am on a Sunday! Although part of me was thinking “I must be mad”, anther part was quite looking forward to getting out in the fresh air, and seeing how manageable this marathon  malarkey really was!

We aimed to do around 15 miles, but stupidly, we didn’t take anything with us that accurately measured the distance. Having walked along rhe towpath of the Grand Union Canal, I havent been able to accurately pinpoint how far we went, however we estimated that it was somewhere between 13 and 15 miles. I hope that its closer to the latter! We are aiming to do the same walk again on Friday, so I will let you know for certain later in the week!

We started off in Solihull and headed straight down to the canal. As it had been raining heavily the days before, it was fairly muddy in parts, but at least it wasnt still pouring, the day turned out to be quite lovely, with the sun shining fairly consistently throughout the day. I’d packed a little rucksack with some of the things that I thought I may need, including an icotonic drink, a bottle of coke (for the caffeine *cringe*), some fruit flakes (fruit pieces covered in yoghurt for sugar), and Cheney had made some  home-made banana cake for sustenance! I wore my trainers and joggers with a t-shirt and my new “mac in a bag” which is a great way of carrying a waterproof jacket round in the smallest size possible. Although I didn’t need it for any rain, it was a useful jacket for keeping the wind chill away.

We followed the Grand Union Canal heading towards Hatton. About an hour in, I started to need the loo - typical with me, I either drink too much water or not enough. Thankfully when we reached Knowle, we stopped at the Herons Nest for a quick toilet break before continuing on through Lapworth and Chadwick End.

 We met lots of people on the way, many of those on the canals boats waved and said hello, and there were lots of fishermen out, set up with their bait and kit as if they were set for the day. We also met lots of dog walkers, cyclists, fellow walkers and these little fellas.

After Chadwick End we continued on to a village called Rowington – by this point my geography skills had failed me and I had no idea where I was – thankfully, Cheney at least appeared to know where she was going, so we continued on, breaking out a packet of fruit flakes as a quick snack.

The furthest I had walked before this Training walk was 9 miles, and overall I had found that distance not too bad, at this point in the walk I was feeling fine, my trainers were still comfortable and apart from having to put the mac on/off, on/off due to the changes in weather and temperature, I felt that we were doing well.

Shortly after Rowintgon we arrived at the dreaded Tunnel. Being slightly claustrophobic I was a little nervous about going in, we couldn’t even see where it ended, it was quite low about our heads, and the path inside had a steep incline upwards!! It killed our legs but we finally made it out the other end, and arrived in the village of Shrewley.

(left) – This is the view looking back down the tunnel – the picture quality on my iPhone is poor, but if you look closely you can just see the downward incline of the path and where it narrows at the bottom on the entrance. I was glad it wasnt any longer!!

When we reached Shrewley, we got a little confused and weren’t quite sure if we were on the right track, but we carried on walking, running into a dog called Alfie, who really wanted us to play and throw a stick for him. We said hello but were worried that if we threw the stick, he might jump in the canal, and didn’t want that on our conscience! He lived on a canal boat with his owner, who eventually distracted him whilst we walked away!

We then headed on towards Hatton, and eventually reached a cafe where we were able to stop again for another toilet break. I have never been so grateful to see this sign before !! 

We were now very nearly at the end of our walk, the final bit was the short amble to the Hatton Locks, and then we crossed over the bridge and stopped at the Waterman pub for a light lunch and a well-earned pint of Diet Coke  . My feet were starting to hurt a little by the end of the walk, the arches of my feet were starting to become sore, and my toes had begun crunching up to compensate – I was having to make a real effort to keep my feet flat whilst taking the final few steps up the slope to the pub.

Overall we were walking for around 4.5 hours, and we estimate that the length of the walk was around 14 miles. My normal walking pace has been around 3 miles an hour, and I actually felt that id gone a lot faster than that, partly because Cheney is a lot taller than me, so I upped the pace to keep up with her longer stride length! I hope therefore that this walk is more than that, although I guess we wont know for certain until Friday when we try to complete it again. On easter friday we are likely to be joined by lots of other walkers (weather permitting of course!)

So, at least I now know I can complete a half marathon without collapsing through tiredness, 3 weeks to go till the evening of the full 26.2 miles, and I’m starting to feel a little more comfortable about completing it. I still have a long way to go, but at least im now putting in the effort!! Wish me luck all!!

If you would like to help with my fundraising for Cancer Research UK, please see my sponsorship page here:

https://www.sponsormetoshine.org/loosea