Party Time

A fairly poor week on the training front. Went for a 5 mile run on Monday evening round Douglas and there were a lot of other runners and walkers about, obviously taking advantage of the lighter evenings following the clocks going forward.

As mentioned on last week's Blog I went to Guernsey on Tuesday and Wednesday for work and stayed in a hotel called the Old Government House and I managed to pay one visit to the Gym, which had an impressive range of equipment. Having said that I only used the rowing machine, X-trainer and treadmill, but had a decent workout. Managed to get out for a brief wander around St Peter Port. Some of the guys I go walking with have been across to Guernsey for the annual Church to Church Walk, which starts in St Peter Port. They had said that the walk is fairly straightforward apart from the big hill at the start, which was described as Crellin's Hill but quite a bit longer. Having strolled up it at a very leisurely pace, I wouldn't fancy racing up it, straight from the off!

Unfortunately, with being away I missed the Walk-Talk on Tuesday and by all accounts it was well attended and a very informative event. Also, with being out of the office, work built up in my absence, so training took a back seat on Thursday evening and I was busy on Friday, so another rest day. All the more reason for a decent walk on Saturday morning.

Mike, Vinny, the two Dave's and I met up at 7.30 at the NSC with the plan to do two loops of Baldwin. We walked from West Baldwin to East Baldwin first, carrying on to the Strang Crossroads where we stopped at the shop for water. I had seen the weather forecast on the BBC the day before and there was rain over the Isle of Man, so I put on my 'storm-proof' jacket (bright orange by the way) and a thick base layer (to avoid being cold and wet). I mocked Vinny when he turned up with his sunglasses, but he had the last laugh there was glorious sunshine most of the morning and I was again overheating from too many layers!

After stocking up on fluid we re-traced our steps doing the same route in reverse. From Injebreck Reservoir back to the NSC Mike set a very high pace and on the way back towards the Strang Crossroads neither Vinny nor I could keep in touch with him, so we backed off a little and decided to carry on through Quarterbridge and down to the Prom. On the way there Vinny said he was going to have a 'paddle' in the sea to help the legs through recreating the effects of an ice bath. Reluctantly I decided I would give it a go and you only imagine my disappointment when we arrived to find a low tide!

When I arrived home it certainly felt like it had been a hard walk and I decided to have a cold bath instead but I only lasted a short period of time. Assuming you can last longer than I could, the theory/benefits are:

• Constricted blood vessels, which flushes out waste products such as lactic acid out of the affected tissues
• Decreases metabolic activity and slows down physiological processes
• Reduces swelling and tissue breakdown

Then, with re-warming, the increased blood flow speeds circulation, and in turn improves the healing process. So if you can handle the cold it is well worth it after a long walk.

Unfortunately on Saturday, my Garmin had a low battery ( I must have left it on the previous time I used it), so I'm not sure how far we walked or the mile splits in the second half of the session, as they certainly felt very quick. Richard Wild left a comment on my last Blog asking about the Garmin data for the longer walks I have done, so next Sunday I will post Saturday's splits Richard.

Saturday afternoon was spent tidying and preparing for a party at our house, which was a belated one for my 40th birthday.  I had tried to let it pass by without any fuss, but Kyley convinced me that a little get-together in fancy dress would be a good idea, with the theme being 'R'. The picture below is me in my E-Bay purchased Cockroach (Roach) outfit, with Roland Rat, which certainly kept me warm all evening. There were some cracking outfits on show, such as a Roman Gladiator, Robin Hood, Robin (from Batman and Robin), a Rabbi and a couple of Rubik's cubes, but Kyley got a surprise when she answered the door to some of my fellow walkers and their wives dressed in walking attire sporting masks with my face on them! We ended up having a really good evening, too much to drink and eat, with a corner of my kitchen/dining room being turned into a dance floor. As you have probably gathered there was no training done today, so next week I am really going to have to make up for it!!!