The Parish Walk

It was time to take on the 2nd part of our challenge just a week after we'd successfully completed our Mount Kilimanjaro trek.

I decided to break this blog down into the different parishes to try & give you an idea of how I was feeling & my thoughts at each stage.

NSC, KING GEORGE V PARK, DOUGLAS (08:00:00)
The race started from the NSCs athletic track at 8.00 a.m. on a gloriously warm & sunny day, & I was amazed by the sheer number of people queuing up to tackle this mammoth event. I was glad that we were walking with a few friends who had taken part in the event a couple of times before, giving us tips such as getting a position relatively near the start to reduce the chance of being caught up in the throngs. They also knew to not rush off too quickly, one of the lads Ste Jackson who we would spend a lot of the event walking with had devised a plan specifying walking speeds & times to reach each parish to ensure that the event could be made around in the 24 hours without burning out by going too quickly.


BRADDAN CHURCH (1.5 miles: 08:25:00)
Was the first parish/landmark on the trip & arrived quickly after only 1.5 miles, due to the large number of entrants at this stage there was no need to tag in with the electronic wrist band we'd received earlier in the week, everyone just bustled along in good spirits. Even by this stage I was aware that it was likely to be extremely hot day from start to finish, with no clouds in the sky & my vampiric "day walker" complexion, I was aware that I’d need to keep applying sun tan lotion regularly along with drinking plenty of water.


MAROWN CHURCH (4 miles: 08:40:00)
No problems by this stage, just getting into the swing of things & having a good chat with the people I’m walking with, Corkey, Tom, Pasty, Ste Jackson, Mel & Dave.

I had received a lot of texts from friends & family by this point wishing us luck for the event ahead, this genuinely helped later on in the day as I realised there was so much support & good will towards us.


SANTON CHURCH (11 miles: 10:42:22)
Thankfully we managed to walk the right way on the day, after walking about 4 miles out of our way in one of the practice walks. To be fair it would have been extremely difficult to get lost at this stage of the walk with so many people around the place!


MALEW CHURCH (15 miles: 11:40:56)
Again, no problems at this stage of the walk, we had regularly covered much longer distances than this in our weekly training walks & the fact that there was so much going on / people to talk to, made it good fun & helped take your mind off the walking.


ARBORY CHURCH (17 miles: 12:11:23)
I used to go to Arbory school as a child & lived very close by, so I knew this area of the course very well, it was a pity I was so confident with the southern part of the walk, but not the nothern section. At the start there are a lot of marshals & other entrants around to help, but I was aware that later on, in the dark, without my bearings & much local knowledge would be the tough part.


RUSHEN CHURCH (19 miles: 12:50:54)
This is one of the points along the course that a lot of people retire from the event, being the major landmark in the south of the Island. One of my good friends that had entered, Tom Sinden, retired here due to a bad back & it made me feel very glad that I wasn't feeling tired or had any health problems at this stage.

It was also amazing to see the amount of people handing out sweets / bananas / water, the community spirit & friendliness was a real surprise. I know there are a lot of events on The Isle of Man that are based around the community & I have experienced a lot of these in the past, but nothing quite the same as the Parish Walk, it's made me realise that I need to get involved with these events, even if it is just supporting the competitors.

PATRICK CHURCH(301/2 miles: 15:59:23)
The walk up the dreaded Sloc towards Patrick was relatively easy for me as we had done a lot of training over the past 6 months on this hallowed piece of road (& the nearby areas), so I knew exactly what to expect & how to tackle it. We overtook a lot of people on this part of the course & this was not on purpose, it was just that I think we naturally walk quicker uphill than a lot of people, probably something to do with being a lanky bugger along with the recent uphill Kili experience.

It was clear that a lot of entrants were struggling on this section, especially in the heat, as it is seen as one of the worst parts of the course in reasonable conditions - I’m just glad we were well prepared for it!

PEEL - ST. GERMAN’S CHURCH (32 1/2 miles: 16:25:29)
Another major landmark on the Parish Walk route, a lot of people aim to get to here & it is also the stage at which the U21's are not allowed to go past. This means that a large majority of the people who enter the race retire here or have already retired.

It is also the stage where you need to have a support car if you want to continue, along with a fluorescent top & also be a little bit insane, as I later found out!

One of our good friends, James 'Pasty' Russel, that we'd been walking with up to this stage retired at Peel due to bad blisters & this was yet another reminder that things could change quickly for any of the entrants, including myself. I also heard from one of my friends that a couple of the top contenders had already retired by this stage (admittedly they were going a lot, lot quicker than me) & must have been affected by the very hot conditions.

KIRK MICHAEL CHURCH (39 miles: 18:09:20)
To be honest, there wasn't much happening between Peel & Kirk Michael, I still wasn't feeling too bad, I had no real blister pains & although my knees were sore (which they nearly always are), I was surprised how good I was feeling, as this was longer than any of the walks I’d done in training.

By this stage my Sister, Nichola, was doing a great job as my support crew, the plan was for her to drive a mile ahead & wait for me to catch her up to help give me a target & something to aim for, along with keeping me supplied with food, drink, sun tan lotion etc etc. I remember at this stage that I was still happy to eat things & water was easy to chug down, even though I was having to go for regular wee breaks, which start to get really annoying when you have to catch up your walking partners.

BALLAUGH CHURCH (42 miles: 18:57:15)
Although I said to myself that I would try not to think of the bigger picture & just keep walking, one mile at a time, I was aware in the back of my mind that after Kirk Michael, the next few parishes were quite close together & that they would be a good thing to have under my belt, every parish we went through felt like a great achievement & showed progression.


JURBY CHURCH (45 miles: 19:50:55)
I can remember going through Jurby quite vividly, I hadn't done much walking around this section of the course previous to the actual event, but I can remember the bleak scenery & listening to an album by Tool & really, really enjoying it & making a note to listen to a specific song on the home straight or anytime I was really struggling.

My Mum & Dad turned up at this stage & it was good to have more friendly faces around the place with words of encouragement, as by this stage it was very quiet.

I also remember starting to feel sore by this point, my knees & hips were starting to be an annoyance & my head was starting to feel a little strange, I’d been wearing a hat for the majority of the day & as the sun had started to set I decided to take it off. However I still felt like I had my hat on & my head was throbbing.

This was the first time I decided to try some anti-dehydration sachets that you mix with water & I can truthfully say that it was disgusting! After nearly throwing up I managed to stomach some of it & also tried to eat some of the very nice stir fry rice my Mum had cooked up the night before, but I struggled to eat it, preferring soft, easy to eat stuff such as bananas & cake bars.

We'd been walking for a fairly long time by now & it was at this point that myself & Dave agreed to take it in turns to lead & set the pace for the other person to follow, we were more or less by ourselves, with the same few people in front & the same few people behind us, so, with our headphones plugged in we slogged on.


BRIDE CHURCH (52 1/2 miles: 21:56:11)
I remember reaching this checkpoint & being desperate for a break, my knees were sore, my hips were extremely sore & I was feeling quite down, especially in the knowledge that there was another 32.5 miles left to go, again the wrong attitude & not helpful for completing the event. Never mind, I decided I was going to have to sit down & used the excuse of changing my socks.

My Dad very kindly helped me take my shoes & socks off & rubbed more Vaseline into my feet to help reduce the chance of blisters. I was very grateful of this as I was very pleased of the rest & it can't have been a very pleasant experience for my Dad! He was very surprised at how unblistered my feet were & although they were sore I knew that there couldn't be too much wrong with them, I was very pleased with the pair of trainers I’d bought a month or so before & had worn in over my weekend training walks.

I could very easily have stopped at this point, another good thing about walking with other people is that you can help try & motivate each other through the difficult moments when you're feeling down, Dave was feeling good at this point & was keen to get going again which spurred me on to get up & stop resting, I knew that the more I sat down the less likely I was to get up again & that just was not an option.


ANDREAS CHURCH (55 1/2 miles: 22:57:56)
Another relatively close parish to the previous one which was always good for Morale. Another good thing about this church was that the painkillers my Dad had given me at Bride were starting to kick in & things were starting to get much more bearable.

Now I don't know if people would be surprised or annoyed that I took painkillers, but I can tell you that they made a massive difference, being able to walk without pain from every step!

I can remember it starting to get dark at this stage & that my feet did not enjoy the stony path up to the church check point, although they were not suffering from blisters, they were very sensitive to changes of surface & walking on even, flat surfaces started to make a real difference after a while, which is why I’d often be walking near the centre of the road, rather than on uneven pavements.


LEZAYRE CHURCH (61 1/2 miles: 00:41:14)
It was definitely dark by now, we broke out the trusty head torches that had helped us get up Kili the previous week & struggled on, one of my main memories from this section of the walk was knowing I desperately needed the toilet, but had absolutely no idea where I would be able to go.

Thankfully the excellent support cars were once again on hand & with a bit of warning they scouted ahead for us, my Dad asking one of the kindly people who were out supporting the sporadic passers by if we could use the toilet in there house. In a very strange way this sums up a big part of the event for me, random people who knew nothing about us were willing to let us into their house & give us words of encouragement as we set off on the remainder of the course.

We kept on going & seemed to be going at a quick pace at this stage & I was surprised to be passing quite a few people, this was probably to do with a few hilly sections where we were generally quicker & our awareness that we only had 24 hours to complete the event & needed to make sure we had a time buffer for the later sections.

One of the major memories of the whole event was when we passed a man who was literally screaming in anger & pain, just before the Lezayre check in. I felt incredibly sorry for him as he clearly could not walk properly & was in a lot of pain, every step he took was a struggle. I went him to him & put my arm round his shoulder & told him it wasn't far to go to the next check point (it really wasn't, perhaps 500m or so). I really wanted him to make that check point, as each one indicates a level of desire & toughness & he was so close to getting another stage down.


MAUGHOLD CHURCH (67 miles: 02:09:50)
I can honestly say that I hate Maughold... What a strange & pointless place! This section went fairly slowly for me, going up & down hills that took you away from your end goal (Douglas), every corner I took I thought we were nearly at the check point, but it never seemed to be the case. I found this quite demoralising, especially when you saw signs saying that Douglas was 11 miles away, instead we would have to walk around this desolate location & do 18+ more miles.

Once we finally did make it to the check in there were quite a few people out & about, telling us to keep going & wishing us luck, I also remember my Mum & Sister offering to get me a burger from a stall which had kept open, the inviting smell wafting through the air even at 2 in the morning, now, normally I’d be the first person in the queue, but I remember it was the last thing I wanted to do was eat anything which required effort, apparently this is a regular occurrence in the Parish & you should try & force yourself to eat, but there was no way that was going to happen, again, I just stuck to the good old bananas & cake bars!


LONAN CHURCH (78 1/2 miles: 05:38:08)
The section between Maughold & Lonan was definitely the toughest by a long, long way. It was pitch black & we'd been walking for well over 16 hours by this point, there was very little to see & do & we were in our own little worlds, just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. My painkillers had worn off by this point & the pain was starting to become an issue again, every step wearing you down a little.

Any words of encouragement at this stage make an unbelievable difference, I can remember myself & Dave getting a text from one of our team mates James 'Pasty' Russel, that nearly had me in tears! It really helped to keep us going & give us a mental boost to know that people were supporting us & these little things do make a massive difference on the day.

I also remember Jack Walton sending Dave a text to say that the completion rate of people who make it on through Maughold in the allocated time was extremely high, we had some time to spare & I was confident, that although in pain I just needed to keep going & we'd make it.

A turning point was when it started to get lighter & warmer & I could finally take my head torch & extra layers off, this definitely helped my morale & I knew that we could keep going as long as we made it to the Lonan checkpoint in time to continue. I can distinctly remember singing "Faith No Mores’" classic "Easy Like Sunday Morning" at the top of my voice as I was going through a high point, knowing that we were nearly at Lonan & were effectively 'on the home straight'.

Thankfully we did make it, after nearly going up the wrong road to the church (going on a pre-walk drive around the course was definitely a good idea). We knew that we had enough of a time buffer to be able to make it, even if we went at a slower pace than we'd been walking over the last 10 miles & although everything hurt, the end was in sight.


ONCHAN CHURCH (83 miles: 06:50:31)
The 5 miles between Lonan & Onchan went by relatively quickly, again, it's amazing what a difference your mental attitude can have on your ability to do things or even the way you perceive you are doing things. I thought we had sped up on this section but it turned out to be one of our slowest (unsurprisingly).

I recall seeing both mine & Dave's support crew standing at the turning into the church, clapping & giving us words of encouragement, along with seeing Dave's sister who had supported him through most of the walk before having to go home to organise her young children, but had come back out to help cheer us on through the last bit of the course.

I also recall three young lads that were standing at the Onchan check point & had a Parish Walk booklet that listed the names next to the numbers. They were giving enthusiastic encouragement using our real names & it was a bizarre experience, but again, really helped to motivate me.

There was no way that I wouldn't make the finish line now, even if I had to drag myself along by my hands & nails, I was going to finish this event!


FINISH (85 miles: 07:29:10)
The two miles to the finish seemed to fly by, knowing this area incredibly well we were just on autopilot. Quite a few people overtook us on this last stretch & I can clearly remember thinking 'I don't give a damn', I was just so pleased to know that I’d make it all the way round in the 24 hour period.

We got to the finish line & there was a fairly large crowd that were all clapping & giving encouragement as we hobbled up to the finishing line & crossed it together with a time of 23:29:10.

I hugged my Mum & Sister after I crossed the line & burst into tears, the emotions were just unbelievable, I think it was a mix of incredible tiredness, relief & being thankful to the selfless & amazing job my support team had given me in helping me to get around the full course. It was quite a strange experience as I’m not normally an emotional guy, but I just couldn't hold it in & i've never experienced anything like it.

One of our good friends James 'Jabba' Cadamy got up early & came down to the finish line to cheer us across & this was greatly appreciated along with everyone who helped or sent messages, there are just too many to mention, but you're all amazing people!

My mum pulled up in the car to give me a lift back to my flat, I sat down in the front passenger seat & couldn't lift my legs high enough to get into the car, it was just too painful & my legs wouldn't respond to my brains demands. Once I’d finally managed to get myself in we set off & after the 10 minute car ride my legs had seized up & I struggled to walk the 20ft from the car to my front door - hard to believe after just walking 85 miles!

Once I’d got in the first thing I did was run a cold bath & dump a massive bag of ice into it, struggling to lift my legs into the bath & then struggling even more to lower myself into the freezing water. Once I was in & had acclimatised it was a very nice feeling, although I can remember my legs were spasiming & going tense as I just sat there & looked at them. Once I’d drained the water I just sat looking at the wall, trying to get the willpower to get-up.

Thankfully I managed it & also managed to struggle through to my bed where I collapsed & went to sleep for about 10 hours. Once I woke up I still wasn't really compos mentis, I just waking up & falling asleep for vague moments, I had no appetite until half way through the next day & couldn't walk anywhere without holding on to the walls etc to stop myself falling over. Amazingly enough I had only 4 blisters & they were all on my right foot.

It took me just over a week to start walking relatively normally again & I was incredibly proud to be able to go up & collect the finishers medal at the awards ceremony & be part of such a brilliantly run community based event. I will definitely be helping out in some way from now on!

I would like to end this marathon blog post by thanking everyone who has donated to the three great charities we were walking for, along with all the friends & family who sent messages & cards & most importantly of all, both mine & Dave's family that gave up their time & brilliant efforts in the support cars.

That's both Kili & the Parish completed in two weeks, after 6 months of training, over 2 months of no alcohol or junk food.

All that's left to say is... BRING ON THE BEER & PIZZA!

Kili Tips & Tricks

Quite a few people have asked me for advice on tackling kili since I returned from my trip, so I thought i'd put some of my thoughts on this blog in case any one stumbles across it & it may provide some use.

Sleeping
• Can be quite difficult at altitude & in strange surroundings / a busy campsite & a lack of sleep can really affect you & your next days walking.

• Take earplugs that you can sleep with, the first couple of days I didn’t use/have any & then someone had a spare pair - I had some of the basic foam type ones which made such a massive difference!

• If possible take eye covers, as you will probably be getting to camp when its still light & have a few extra hours to spend, any extra sleep will help & it will make it much easier to sleep along with your earplugs.

• I had a travel pillow I took with me which I found to be very useful, you could always use a rolled up fleece etc if needed.

Drinking
• Drink very regularly, a big part of avoiding altitude sickness is drinking a little & often, aiming to have at least 3 litres & if possible 4 to 5 litres of water a day, preferrably having the majority of the water before 5pm. If you drink a lot of water after 5 you may need to go for wee's in the cold / dark of the campsite which is generally better to avoid.

• If possible take a camel water pack thing (the plastic container that can hold up to 3 litres) & 1 * 1litre metal water bottle. The camel thing makes it much easier to carry & drink the water than carrying lots of bottles. The drinking tube on the camel pack will freeze up on the ascent on the last day which is why you'll need a metal (as opposed to plastic) water container.

• Some pople on the trip were putting eloctrolytes / powder / cordials in their water. I didn't, but I don't mind the taste of water. It will be boiled every morning so it may be worth taking something to change the flavour if you're fussy on such matters.

Eating
• If possible try to eat whatever they give you & as much as you can. I was very, very surprised at how good the food was on my trek/climb, but you will be burning a lot of calories every day & it's important to try & eat a lot to help replace / keep your energy levels going.

• Salt - I don't normally put salt on anything I eat, but it's a good idea to put a fair bit of salt on your food as you will be using a lot of energy & sweating out the salt content of your body, I found when I started to put salt on my food I felt a lot better.

• Lucozade / high energy tablets are brilliant for the last day, try to save 2 packets for the ascent.

• Take quite a lot of easy to eat sweets - I made the mistake of taking hard boiled sweets as I thought they'd last longer, this was true but on the last day you're generally struggling to breathe as there is 1/6th the amount of oxygen as at sea level & they're not easy to eat on the last day although are good on the earlier days.

• Energy bars can be very good, unfortunately I bought a load of bars without trying them, basing my selection on the energy / protein provided in them (stupid I know), and didn't really like them, so make sure you try any food you're going to take with you before you go!

Other
• If possible weigh your main bag before you go out there, we had a limit of 15KG that can be taken up / carried by the porters, so if possible keep what your taking to a minimum as you will be asked to leave stuff behind / at your hotel if it is too heavy.

• Take a reasonably large daypack with you (that you will be carrying), which can fit in everything you will need for the day i.e. your water, hat, gloves, fleece, waterproofs, valuables & camera along with any sweets etc you will need for the day. You will generally start off the day wearing quite a few layers as it is quite cold & as the sun rises it will get warm very quickly & you will want to store these unneeded layers.

• Take very high factor sunscreen i.e. 40+ & apply it regularly, you're much closer to the sun so will be more likely to get burnt, plus you'll probably be sweating a fair bit depending on the weather. Pretty much everyone in my group ended up getting sunburnt at somepoint & it's very important to remember it as it can make life quite uncomfortable on the later days.

• Pretty much everyone used trekking poles, they're useful to have on the way down, I didn't find them particularly useful on the way up, but people say they're good for getting into a walking rhythm!

• If possible air your feet when you get back to camp after your days walk & wriggle your toes, I found this helped & supposedly it helps reduce blisters & problems with your feet!

• Try to do long 30 second stretches on all the muscle groups at the of the days walking, this isnt necissary but will help reduce any aches & pains & prepare the muscels for the next days walk.

• The local town is called Arusha - myself and a couple of other people from the group went in unaided & although we didn’t have any problems it is very busy & there will be a lot of people pestering you to buy things. Apparently this is one of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the world, so if possible go in with a guide or someone who knows the city & try to avoid going into it at night unless with someone.

Clothing
• Take a well worn in pair of hiking boots so that your not going to get blisters / have any surprises with your feet, you will definitely need these for support as the terrain is rough & varies widely.

• On the first day I just wore a thin pair of socks with my hiking boots & found at the end of the day that my feet were hurting, every other day I wore one thin pair of sports socks & a large pair of hiking socks & was comfortable & had no problems.

• I would also advise taking a fresh pair of sports socks for each day you will be walking & one / two pairs of the thick hiking socks for the trip as you should not need to change these as often (to help on the weight of your bag).

• If possible take one pair of warm (normal) gloves for walking & a pair of very warm i.e. skiing gloves for the ascent day.

• I am sure you will be given a list of relevant equipment to bring, but as an example, on the last day I was wearing longjohns, warm walking trousers, waterproof trousers. A skin long sleeved vest, two warm long sleeve t shirts, a fleece & a goretex jacket, warm hat, warm gloves & headtorch.

• It would be well worth keeping a set of clean clothes aside for travelling back in, I did this & was very glad! You will be surprised how quickly you go through / need new clothes on the mountain & you will be most likely packing light to try & get under the 15kg weight limit.

• You will most likely be tipping the porters at the end of your trip, we did this as a group & each ended up putting in 140 dollars each to be divided between the cooks / group leaders / porters etc. You may also want to donate any unneeded clothes / equipment to the porters at the end of the walk.

The Toilet / Washing
• Take a fair few biodegradable wet-wipes as there are no showers up there & you can also use them as toilet paper.

• Mouthwash was very handy as it was easier to use to to rise your mouth / wash out toothpase after washing your teeth as water later on or early on in the day is not so easily available unless you've planned ahead!

Money & Valuables
• It's common to tip people & when you are buying things people are bad at giving you the correct change. If possible try to get Tanzanian Shillings before you go over or exchange dollars / sterling into a mixture of denominations as soon as possible, generally get the lower denominations i.e. 5000 / 10000 notes. The same goes for dollars, I took only 10 & 20 dollar notes which were far too large & difficult to use, if possible get more lower end notes i.e. 1 & 5 dollars.

• Always keep your money/wallet/passport close by if possible, both myself & a friend had money taken out of our hotel room when I stupidly left it in my daypack when I went for lunch at the hotel bar & had 70 dollars stolen - same goes for when you're up the mountain as although I'm sure porters are trustworthy they get to camp considerably earlier than you will & your bags may be left unattended

• Negotiating - When you get to the bottom of the mountain there will be a lot of people trying to sell you things & generally trying to rip you off / pester you until you say yes. If you do want something you can generally get it a lot cheaper by bartering with them i.e. they will generally sell it at half the price they originally ask you for & there will be a lot of people selling similar things so just try & ask around.

The Ascent
• This will be a lot tougher than any of your previous days trekking. Try to be as prepared as possible in all the items listed above & remember that you CAN do it! About 2 hours into the terk I thought I couldn't go on & was really struggling, but just take it a step at a time & remember that this is a once in a life time opportunity & the reward will be great & something you can look back on forever.

You will undoubtedly get some form of altitude sickness, nearly everyone who climbs it (even the porters) do. I had headaches (near the temples) & my stomach felt ropey as did everyone in my group, but it is not permanent & as long as you try to follow the points above along with keeping your group leaders informed of how you feel & following their advice you'll be fine.

I hope this helps!

Mark

Kilimanjaro 5895m

Day 1
After a boat, taxi, train, tube, a couple of plane journeys & a hired driver we arrived at our lodge for the night & the following day while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive.

One of the most notable moments of the travelling was when the nasal voice of the pilot on one of our flights informed us that we were flying just under 18,000 feet due to turbulence, which was lower than we would be walking in approximately 5 days!

Once we'd sorted out our Visa's After driving up the bumpiest & possibly smallest, off track road in South Africa I was expecting to be dropped off in a
field with a shanty hut (and to be fair I would've been glad of anything after the travelling), but I was amazed when we pulled up at a peaceful, hidden oasis & to add to the excitement one of the first things we were told by the reception staff was to be careful to close the doors as there were monkeys in the area, woo MONKEYS!!!


Day 2
After one of the best sleeps of my life & a very tasty lunch in the hotel bar we decided to scout out the nearest town & check out some of the local sights & sounds, unfortunately we got told some slightly dubious directions i.e. left instead of right & we ended up walking through a local village / shanty town. This walk & subsequent travels around the local area made me realise just how lucky I am in my life. Although I care very little for possessions it's clear just how many advantages myself & most other people have in the west, everything from travel, clothing, accommodation. There is a pretty clear wealth divide, but the African people are very friendly & it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere.

We returned to our hotel & sat in the bar with an amazing view out across the local area & we were able to see Mount Kilimanjaro, it looked a long way away & very high up.

Later that day we met our fellow 'groupies' & they all seemed like a great group of down to earth people. We met our group leader Justaz & had the opportunity to ask some nervous questions about our upcoming ordeal & then proceeded to have a very nice meal & watch a less than enthusiastic England
performance against America, but it was a good chance to bond with everyone, especially jeering at how poor a football player Emile Heskey was - it's good to
know that no matter where you come from everyone has at least one thing in common.


Day 3
After a rushed breakfast & a last minute bag repack to ensure I would be under the weight limit we set off in a rickety bus, a feeling of anxiety & excitement was in the air as the group chatted about what we expected the tip to be like & along with general chit chat.

We arrived at the start base of our trek & as soon as we got out of the bus it immediately started to pour down, so I unpacked the waterproofs & got suited &
booted. Fortunately the rain only lasted about 30 minutes & as it turned out, would be the only rain we would experience on the trip.

After registering, filling up on our 3 litres of water & meeting our porters we set off through jungle/forrest type terrain. We were keen to see some of the local wildlife, especially monkeys, but unfortunately there were none to be seen, there was a great deal of different plant life, if that's the type of thing that floats yer boat.


A relatively easy start to the walk, with a 6 hour walk up to the first camp, where we got to see the first glimpse of the top of Kili, it looked an awfully long way away & helped to hit home what was ahead.

We were amazed at the quality of food & help fullness of the porters, and I was unamazed to be camping again, being cramped up in a tent I couldn't lie flat in, with wildly varying temperatures & sleep depriving noises took me back to the day when I vowed to try & avoid camping ever again - so much for that plan!

The first day went very well & I was glad I hadn't experienced any altitude sickness yet.


Day 4
Euughh, did I mention that I hate camping, struggling to get asleep & then once finally drifting off struggling even harder to stay in the land of nod. I couldn't lie down flat in the tent due to being a lanky bugger & with wildly varying temperatures & random noises from the campsite I was feeling over tired & a bit groggy.

We had another excellent meal & I made a point of eating & drinking as much as possible to ensure I had enough energy to last me until lunch. It was quite cold when we got up, so I got well wrapped up for the day ahead, only to take most of the clothes off in half an hour when the sun rose a bit higher.

We had been warned that today would be a steeper & tougher climb than the previous day, but that it would also be more interesting in both walking terrain &
views.

This proved to be the case with some truly amazing scenery & it was at this point that I was glad we'd decided to do the toughest route available to ensure that we would at the same time have the best views of any of the walks up the mountain. The scenery type appeared to change every hour or so, changing from jungle to long reeds, to rocky tundra. It was also the first day that we would walk above the cloud line, which was an experience in itself, with some breathtaking views.

We arrived at 'Shira Cave' camp, which after long deliberation I have decided is my second favourite part of the whole journey. We were there in plenty of time to relax & take in the unbelievable views. The clouds were rolling in over the peaks & there was just an amazing feeling of being on top of the world.

I distinctly remember thinking to myself, not many people in the world have experienced this & how lucky I was to be in a financial & physical condition to
attempt it.

We found a stick & decided that as we were 3940 odd metres high, we'd been walking & rock climbing for most of the day & there was considerably less oxygen than we were used to, that the only logical thing to do was play cricket! This is one of my fondest memories as we got the majority of the group involved & was a great way to have some fun & get to know people better. Looking back it was a little bit stupid to go running after a ball on the uneven surfaces considering how much further we had to walk, but it was great fun & I was glad we did it.

I experienced my first altitude sickness on day 4, with a rather unpleasant headache which felt like a lot of pressure on the temples are of my forehead.
I've been very fortunate to not suffer with headaches in my life (except with the occasional hangover) & this was very unpleasant, especially considering that I'd made sure I'd kept hydrated & the fact that I couldn't do anything about it other than hope it went away. Our guides suggested I eat more salt with my meals due to the high heats & potential loss from sweating, from that point on I made sure I made an effort to put salt on my meals.

I also got to use my first long drop (toilet), I wont go into too many details, but it involves a hole & a shed & some very unpleasant smells. I'd managed to avoid this delight until this point!


Day 5
Another restless nights sleep due to the high winds in the night (not Dave farting) & I was feeling extremely tired in the morning. Thankfully though the
headache had disappeared over night, apart from feeling like a zombie the body wasn't feeling too bad as I'd made a point of stretching before & after every days walking, along with feeling reasonably fit after all the training we'd put in over the last 6 months.

The majority of the walk was along very dusty rocky terrain, almost as though we were walking through a desert, with massive fields of boulders strewn as farn as the eye could see, with not much in the way of plant or wildlife. On the walking front it was getting slightly tougher the higher you went due to the reduced amount of oxygen, but it still wasn't too bad.


One of my main memories from this days walking was seeing a porter being carried down in a hurry because he was badly suffering from altitude sickness.
Later on we'd learnt that he'd been up to the top of Kilimanjaro several times & that made you realise that anyone of our group, including myself, could suffer & potentially not make it to the top.

Nearly everyone in the group had started to report some signs of altitude sickness, whether it be headaches or nausea / vomiting. I thankfully wasn't too
bad, just another headache in the same place as the previous day, but not quite as acute. Some of our group were really struggling & again it made me think
& hope that I would be able to continue all the way to the top.

We walked to a height of 4600m, a location called 'Lava Rock' which was a distinctive landmark on the horizon, had a packed lunch & then continued on, but this time heading downwards to our camp which was 3950m high. This felt a bit disappointing as we were camping 10m higher than we'd stopped at on the previous day, even though we'd been walking for so many hours. There was a plan however, as this was to help us acclimatise to the lack of oxygen & give our bodies the best possible chance of making it up to the top.

When we arrived at the Barranco or the better known 'Breakfast Wall' camp, we got a chance to see our challenge for the next day. It looked like a large sheer faced cliff, quite breathtaking to think that anyone, let alone our group would be able to navigate it.

I was really enjoying the group atmosphere when we sat down for our meals, fortunately everyone seemed to be up for a laugh & some banter & got on very well.

By now we'd had a chance to talk to everyone individually to get to know each other better & learn our motivations & reasons for doing this challenge, along
with peoples interests, likes & dislikes which helped to while away the hours walking!

After another superb meal I went to bed, but this time, there was a change (no, not my boxer shorts), but a pair of earplugs. These were AMAZING & I will forever be in debt for Chris for bringing along a spare pair & letting me have them. I slept like a baby, OK, a very cramped, lanky baby, but it was brilliant to be able to actually get to & stay asleep.

Day 6
A very early start for today's walk as we needed to get going & get up the toughest & most dangerous part of the wall before the porters set off, to avoid
people trying to pass each other on the narrow ledges.

Although terrifying to look at, it was a great experience & definitely the toughest conditions experienced so far. There were parts where you felt like you were clinging on for dear life & I was very glad that it wasn't too windy.

Once we'd got to the top of the wall we had a long days walk ahead of us, unfortunately not quite as exciting or dangerous, just trudging along dusty scenery with the snow covered peaks in clear view.

There was a feeling amongst our group that we just wanted to get to our final camp & prepare for one of the biggest challenges of our lives with the ascent to the summit.

After 7 to 8 hours walking we made it to the camp, it was noticeably colder as we sat down for our meal where we were told what clothes & equipment we would
need for the ascent. It was most of the clothes I'd taken with me & I was told I would need to have:

1 * baselayer trousers
1 * warm trousers
1 * rainproof trousers
2 * pair of thick socks
1 * baselayer shirt
2 * long t shirts
2 * normal t shirts
1 * fleece
1 * jacket
1 * gloves
1 * hat
1 * headtorch

There was a definite feeling of anticipation & nerves within the group, especially when we were told we would have just 3 hours rest before we got up at 22:30 to leave at 23:30. We retired to our tents & I was in preparation mode, making sure I had all my clothes sorted, bags packed etc.

Day 6 & a half / 7
Unfortunately I couldn't sleep, I was like a little kid at Christmas, just waiting for the time I could get up & take on the challenge. I was definitely feeling the altitude as both my stomach & head were painful & it was a struggle to force myself to eat & drink plenty at our final meal before we set-off.

We set off in the pitch black, everyone in single file & very quiet. It was tough to concentrate on where you were walking along with breathing properly due to the lack of oxygen. After a couple of hours it started to get really, really tough, so much that I was struggling to walk in a straight line & every time I took a drink from my bottle I thought I was going to die & had to take massive breaths in to compensate for the lack of oxygen. Another annoyance was my nose running like a tap, not only for the sake that I couldn't breathe properly but also I had snot running down my face for the majority of the walk (nice eh?).

I remember being incredibly glad when we stopped for the infrequent rest stops. Everything was in pitch black & it was just a non-stop trudge in the cold & darkness. I remember thinking back to something one of our group Sam had said on the first day, that he hoped it would be tough as otherwise it wouldn't be a challenge. Well he certainly got what he wished for, it was incredibly tough & you could understand how someone could very easily have given up.

Fortunately our guides were helping the people who were really struggling by either carrying their backpacks or by giving them a shoulder. I was never at that point, although I was getting that way before I was suggested to try a breathing technique by a fellow gorup member.

It made a huge difference, taking in massive breaths on every step helped to get more oxygen into the body & brain, along with concentrating on taking lots of very small steps instead of big steps made a massive difference, it made it possible to keep going. The trail just seemed to keep going & ended up playing on your mind as i seemed to be never ending, every time you looked upwards you would see lights from other groups in the distance & realise just how much further you had to go & I remember thinking we'd nearly made it to the end of the steep section at one point because I couldn't see any lights above me, but it turned out to be a ridge & there were lights miles away in the distance which just crushed your morale.

My hands, lips & nose started to freeze & I had to try & keep everything moving & covered up as much as possible to reduce the problems.

As we kept going I started to really concentrate on the walking, my breathing & the challenge I started tofeel better & knew that I was never going to stop, unfortunately this wasn't the case for the majority of the group, some of which were really struggling & I had seen stopped along the path while we carried on.

It started to get light & we were told how close we were to the top, a huge rush of emotions went through me at this point, I rushed onwards putting every bit of energy I had into getting to the hallowed sign. When I got there I just couldn't believe that we'd made it & had gutted out one of the toughest things i'd ever done in my life. I think I was on autopilot & didn't really know what was going on, but I can clearly remember the euphoric feeling & togetherness of the group as we all hugged & had our pictures taken.

We had about 20 to 30 minutes at the top, any longer & it would have been dangerous due to the lack of oxygen, so we were shooed along to make sure we started to descend.

Unfortunately this was the worst part of the trip for me as we had to go down some very steep slopes that were covered in shale. This meant that you had to slide along, bracing yourself in the attempt to not fall over, which put a lot of pressure on your knees (unfortunately i've had problems with my knees for years). The sun had come out & produced sweltering conditions that were nearly unbearable & definitely were until I took off some of the layers I had on from the ascent. I remember realyl struggling on this section as I just had no energy from the previous days walking & just wanted it all to be over with. I
was feeling the sun & the dehydration & remember feeling incredibly strange, as though I was watching myself in third person & although I was walking to people, it wasn't actually me talking.

We finally made it back to the camp we'd rested at for 3 hours the night before, where we were told we would have just 2 hours rest before continuing walking
to our final camp. I remember feeling very tired & annoyed at this point. After having no sleep the night before & completing such a tough task I just wanted to relaxe & sleep, now I understand that it was dangerous to sleep for a long period of time at that altitude but I would've given anything to sleep for a while & recharge.

Instead we set off to the final camp where I immediately went to bed & slept for about 13 hours.

Day 8
The camp we'd stayed at was 3100m high & you could really notice the difference when breathing. You had so much more energy because of the increased oxygen
levels compared to the top. We had a final meal, thanked & tipped our porters along with giving away any equipment people wanted to donate.

We set off on our final walk at a greater pace, returning to jungle type scenery with plenty of mud to traverse. We also got a chance to see MONKEYS! At
least 4 or 5 of them were jumping around above us at one point. We arrived at the end & had some local cuissine & then piled in the bus to be taken back to
the luxury of a real bed & a shower at the hotel.

Although shattered, it was a brilliant feeling to complete this challenge & I was gutted that I couldn't relaxe & have some alcohol even though 5 bottles of
champagne were bought by one of our very generous group members Derek.
Oh well, just 5 days to go until the Parish Walk & then it'll all be over!

***EDIT***
Andros, one of our group from Kili has made a brilliant video of our trip up the mountain & some of the sights we saw. I hope you enjoy it, just click on the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwZjT4JKbbc&feature=player_embedded

Say Whaaaaaat?!

Our final full week of training went well & I am very pleased to report that there are no pressing injuries or problems that I can see stopping us & that I’m feeling as fit as ever & definitely much stronger & in shape than the beginning of our training.

I also sorted out 99% of my gear this week, it’s been difficult to know exactly what I’ll need & how much of each thing to take, as you don’t want to be lugging around lots of equipment / clothes that you wont need, but in the same instance you don’t want to take too little & end up freezing your nuts off & being uncomfortable / in danger.

I’m pretty sure that I’m all sorted though, & one way I can tell this is that my bank balance is considerably less well off than it was a week ago. I would also like to thank the people who sold me a lot of this equipment who kindly regaled me with tales of people who’d recently been up to the top of Kili & turned temporarily blind & had to be airlifted down, along with the stories of people dying on recent trips up Everest – all good for morale :).

This may sound really stupid, but it’s finally struck home how close this challenge is & what we’ve got ahead of us, bringing a mix of emotions & thoughts to the surface. It was over 6 months ago that Dave & myself decided to take on this task & it always seemed to be ages away, with plenty of time to train, prepare & research… Now it’s strange to think that this time next week we’ll be half way up one of the biggest mountains in the world & in just over 2 weeks we’ll have taken on the Parish walk & it’ll all be over.

It’s been such a massive part of my life for the past 6 months that I just can’t imagine what it’ll be like to not spend nearly every night training. To being able to go out & drink alcohol & eat fast food etc. Admittedly I didn’t need to put all these restrictions in place but I felt it was necessary to really put in 100% & know that I’ve prepared myself & done everything I could with no excuses.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has donated to the charities, it really is greatly appreciated & we hope it will go a long way to help improve people’s lives. I would also like to thank everyone who has supported us over the past 6 months with advice, a kind word here or there or even going out of their way to put on fund raising events for us.

This will be my last blog for a couple of weeks, so, take it easy anyone who’s read this & I hope to see you all in the near future.

P.S. Robin Edds has done a great article on our plight which has been published in the Isle of Man Examiner – page 8.

It's how close?

Although I haven’t been reporting every bit of exercise I’ve been doing in my weekly blogs, we’ve been keeping up our usual training regime every week for the past 6 months:

- Monday (Spinning session & Gym)
- Tuesday (Smaller walk – 2 to 3 hours)
- Wednesday (College)
- Thursday (Hockey training)
- Friday (Gym)
- Saturday (Hockey game)
- Sunday (Long walk – generally 5+ hours)

For Tuesdays walk we decided to do the part of the first section of the Parish walk, starting at the NSC, through the access road to Marown church. Then on to the Mount Murray via the Newtown road, returning to the NSC, approximately 10/11 miles.

A big part of the plan has been related to hockey, which has now sadly come to an end due to the end of the season. This week we replaced the hockey training on Thursday with a welcome return to playing squash, unfortunately after a break from playing, I still suck at it!

On Saturday I went into town to scout out some of the equipment I’ll need for the Kili trip, there’s an awful lot of it, and quite a lot of the items are things that I can’t really see myself using (well, hopefully not) after the trip, such as head torches, gaiters, sleeping bag liners, trekking poles etc! It’s a good thing I haven’t been drinking or getting takeaways for the past month as I might actually be able to afford some of this stuff :).

Sundays walk was another trek down south, starting at the hallowed Sloc, walking as fast we could we travelled via Ronague via Colby & then Gansay & the back road of Port St Mary back to Port Erin, grabbing another ice cream & returning to the bottom of the Sloc.

This walk wasn’t as big as our usual efforts, concentrating more on speed & trying to keep ourselves in one shape & not pick up any injuries before we set off for our trip! It’s getting scarily close to the events now!

New Shoes?

For this weeks Tuesday session we walked from Marine drive, through the Old Castletown road, via Kewaigue, returning to Douglas head. This walk was different in two ways; the first was that we tried to go as fast as possible over the whole route (instead of the usual method of just trying to make it round a long distance in one piece).

The second change was that I got a chance to wear my new pair of trainers! After giving up on the useless Intersport to order me a pair of trainers in the right size (for the second time), I did a bit of research on the Internet & ordered a new pair of Asics that came highly recommended.

I’m very pleased to report that they were extremely comfortable & felt a lot lighter & more padded than my usual worn out set, and even better there were no blisters or aches afterwards, although I must admit I was wondering how they’d cope with a longer walk.

We went out for our usual Sunday walk, starting at Fleshwick, walking up the stupidly large hill at a fair old pace without any breaks! This makes me realise just how far I’ve come from the start of my training as I think back to the first week where I had to stop regularly & thought I might die from severe unfitness.

We then continued on around the coast line, visiting the hallowed Milner’s tower, walking from Port Erin along the promenade (getting an ice cream on route – for energy purposes, of course), up over the hills behind the marine laboratory, through the sound & Cregneash, then via Port St Mary & Port Erin to return to the car at Fleshwick – without one blisted (these are definitely the shoes for the parish).

Another bit of great news – Celts won the league by beating Saracens 3 – 1 in another closely fought game. Saracens were a very good & friendly opposition team to play against.

I’ve attached a picture of the Celts team that I’ve talked so much about in my blogs – a great bunch of people. Unfortunately I won’t be able to play in the final game of the season next week due to work commitments.

Click on the picture to see a bigger version of the image.

Woohoo, go Celts, it's your Birthday!

Now that the evenings are lighter myself & Dave have decided to start going for walks every Tuesday to supplement our weekly training regime. On our first Tuesday session we decided to walk from Ye Olde Laxey town up to the top of Snaefell.

We set off along the tram lines & I used this as another opportunity to wear the hiking boots that I’ll be using on my trek up Kili. Again I was pleased with their performance as they had to deal with all sorts or terrain on this fairly long walk, navigating over the railway sleepers & rough terrain, let alone the jumping over the big drainage gaps & dodging the mad sheep.

Saturday was a great day as we managed to beat our closest rivals Vikings Saxons in a toughly contested hockey game, the end result being 2 – 1 to the mighty Celts. This has continued our unbeaten season run & means that we need to get at least one draw from our next two games to secure the division 1 title. I also enjoyed this game as I played a full game & felt well conditioned, being able to run for the full 70 minutes without feeling too tired in very hot conditions.

On the Sunday walk we decided to complete another session in the south of the Island. Starting in Colby we walked via the Southern 100 course through to Castletown where we joined the coastal footpath, trekking from Scarlett through to Port St Mary then through Cregneash & the Sound back to Port Erin & then on to Colby. A decent distance to walk over different terrain & I’m afraid to say that it was actually reasonably enjoyable!

Raaamsey Yessir!

This week we decided to complete Parish walk completely & trek from Ramsey to Douglas. Admittedly we completed the course over 4 different walks which perhaps may not quite be in the spirit of the competition but it’s still a good feeling :).

We had a guest walker in Mr James ‘Pasty’ Russel who has also entered the Parish this year. It was good to have him along for the walk as it helped to pass the time with another person to chat with, but more importantly than that he actually knew the way!

My directional sense is pretty poor at the best of times, but this combined with my poor knowledge of the roads ‘up north yessir’ is actually quite a worry for me in the latter stages of the Parish, so James’ knowledge was greatly appreciated.

The weather varied from being sunny & hot to wet & cold over the day each making a noticeable difference to the ease of walking & the amount of layers needed, something I will have to make sure I’m prepared for by stocking my support car with everything I could possibly need.

Some people refer to this stretch of the parish as the “home straight” as it is only a mere 23.5 miles to go until you reach the finish line on Douglas promenade & this became a running joke throughout this walk, every village we passed through meant we were on the home straight & it wasn’t long until we finished (I realise any readers must be disappointed at missing out on such wit).

Fortunately (perhaps not the correct term), we also killed a few hours of the walk by playing the song name game. This consists of naming a band that ends with the previously stated bands last letter, needless to say, this game drives you mental, but it does take your mind off the walk & also made me realise how inventive Dave & James are at making up band names!

We finished the walk in a very reasonable time & although it wasn’t as far as previous efforts & my feet were sore I felt good after it & felt like I could definitely have continued on a lot further.

Amazingly enough I went a whole week without an injury, woohoo. This combined with the face that I am now on an alcohol & take away free diet until I have completed the Parish walk, should hopefully help with the month or so up to the first event!

How many roads must a man walk down...

Another decent weeks training, but unfortunately I managed to pick up another injury in my neck from a session at the gym. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as my previous back injury & didn’t hamper my training too badly, letting me complete a decent weeks training & a serious Sunday walk!

The spinning & weights session on Monday turned out to be a god send as my muscles were pretty tight from the 30 odd mile walk on the Sunday & although the last thing I wanted to do straight after work was go & ride a bike for 45 minutes I was very glad I did. I found it loosened up the muscles & made me feel much better than I had done all day (something for me to think about for the days after climbing Kili & the lead up to the parish).

The rest of the week went as usual, my college course is nearing the end & the sun is definitely starting to hang around a bit more which is a true indication that summer is on its way or may have even arrived! I'm really glad about this as not only does it make everything seem a bit easier & better, it should also help me get out for a few more walks & enjoy the outdoor training a bit more.

Thursday was the usual hockey training & coaching, it’s hard to believe that we don’t even have many hockey games left in the season & things are getting pretty close in my teams division. Although Celts (Castletowns mixed 1st team that I play for) haven’t dropped a point all season we are very close to our nearest rivals Saxons & it could go down to the wire on goal difference depending on the next time we play them.

I've talked about my team in a fair few of my blogs & they're a great group of people as are my hockey club. To see a breakdown of the league (if you’re interested) click on the link below:

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/fl/comps/cv.asp?d=21336

Saturday night ended up being the Castletown away leg of the beer pong league. It definitely seems to becoming a regular weekend fixture & although brilliant fun & very competitive, doesn’t help to avoid a hangover for my usual mammoth walk on Sunday, this week myself & the "Iron Man" Mr Frank Barker managed to become champions, winning 7 games in a row - I thought i'd post a picture of us winning the highly sought after T-shirts to help amuse you.









This week myself & Dave had entered the Firemans walk for charity, another 31+ mile trek, but this time around the north of the Island & thankfully it was covering the majority of the route the parish will take, giving us an opportunity to scout out the exact route.

For more information click on this link: http://www.iomfire.com/walk2010/saraswalk2010.htm.

It's pretty rare that I travel up to the north of the Island, but from the route I took i'm going to be controversial & say it was pretty dull in terms of sight seeing! There were plenty of straight roads & hedges with the odd prison but I think I prefer the good ole, tried & tested Sloc routes!

The walk itself was pretty tough though & I was struggling at the end of it having picked up a pretty big blister on my right foot & an extremely sore left knee which is making me struggle to walk at the moment!

A bit disheartening compared to the relative successes of last weeks walk, especially considering this was a flatter & potentially easier route & still only 30 odd miles compared to the 80+ on the actual day!

It's also made me realise I really need to sort out some decent footware as my current road walking shoes are just not upto scratch for these larger distances.

We're hoping to do the return journey i.e. Ramsey to Douglas in the upcoming weeks to make sure we're fully clued up about the parish walk & have covered it all at various stages of our training.

Although i'm dishearted I believe a lot of it was due to the dodgey knee & if I can sort out these things by stretching properly & preferrably not having a hangover it's got to be easier :)

Roll on next week!

The Sloc + 20 or so miles

After the previous weeks lack of training it was time to man up & put in a serious effort. Thankfully the back was feeling much better & I was able to do a full week’s worth of hard training with a tough goal at the end of it.

The goal was to complete the Sloc, but instead of starting at it or near abouts, we were going to complete the full 20 or so miles of the Parish walk before we got to it.

Feeling full of confidence & just glad to be back to a reasonable state of health & be able to plan such a trip we set off in the morning & managed to go the wrong way in the first half an hour, pretty impressive eh?! Unfortunately I thought we needed to carry on the TT slip road slightly further than was necessary (ahem, OK a mile or so more than needed), but needless to say after a call to our trusted guide Hayley we got back on track.

It was good to be training on the actual route from the start & prepare ourselves both mentally & physically as to what was come. However, it didn’t take too long for us to get lost again as we managed to miss our turning onto the newtown road & ended up going a mile or two out of our way & then turned back on ourselves. We even managed to find what seemed to be the longest, narrowest, oddest road on the Isle of Man, which we affectionately named ‘Murder alley’, I’m quite glad that we wont have to traverse this little gem again!

We stopped off for massive amounts of food on the only shop that appeared to be open on the Isle of Man (the Colby Spa - a massive shout out & much love) & sat in the bus shelter while we ate it. This was an extremely welcome break from the mid day sun & made me think that I will have to think carefully about breaks & the food & drink that I plan to take with me or at least have with my support car for the later parts of the race.

The Sloc turned out not to be as bad as I thought, especially after traversing the 20 or so miles before it, but again, I wouldn’t have said it was enjoyable!

I think we managed to do the walk in a fairly quick time & although I was tired & sore at the end of it I definitely could have carried on, but saying that, I was glad I didn’t have to walk back to Douglas as my parents gave us a lift back (thanks Mum!).

A good sign for the future considering this is our longest walk to date!

Oh, so 85 miles is a long way then...

This has been possibly the most infuriating week of training to date, I managed to pick up a back injury which has left me walking around like an old man. It’s infuriating to be unable to do even the basics of things like getting out of bed, putting on your coat etc without being in a lot of pain & have to think carefully about everything you do.

Thankfully something useful came out of the week as Hayley kindly agreed to sit in as a navigator and show us where we needed to go to successfully complete the Parish Walk. This was extremely scary, just realizing the sheer distance we are going to have to cover & just how long it took us to get around in a car, let alone walking!

Needless to say, it’s been a pretty poor week on the training front, especially after feeling that I really needed to put in 100% after a relatively slack week with going away on tour last week, but thankfully is starting to feel a lot better now & it’s made me feel like I really need to start stepping it up!

The Pool of Black

What a week… Unfortunately though, not for the right reasons! It was that time of year again, the Easter weekend, which can mean only one thing… Blackpool Hockey Festival!

Castletown hockey club have attended this festival for the past 4 or 5 years & it’s never disappointed in terms of being brilliant fun, or making me thinking about giving up alcohol for ever & this year turned out to be no different.

Yes, we did play 3 or 4 games each day for 3 days but I think the alcohol & bad food unfortunately may have taken the training into a bit of a decline on a usual week’s workout.

I remember warning Dave that Blackpool would not be good for training, but I think we’ve both dedicated such a large part of our life & time to our training & this mammoth task that I didn’t feel too guilty in having a break & enjoying myself.

I won’t go into too many details on the trip other than I had one of the best nights of my life on the Friday in a Karaoke bar surrounded by Blackpools finest ‘locals’, which I must admit I never thought I’d hear myself say outloud. Played in the beer pong championship of the world on the Saturday & ended up dressing as a camp caveman on the Saturday…

I’ve attached a few photos below to give you a flavor of some of the goings on! More can be seen on facebook if you're feeling adventurous!

We conquered the biggest mountain on the Isle of Man (OK - the only mountain)...

Unfortunately the knee was still very swollen & painful at the beginning of the week. I doubt I would have been able to take part in the usual spinning session but was called up last minute to help coach the Juniors of Castletown Hockey Club.

Usually I just coach the seniors (13+) on a Thursday but every now help out our excellent Junior co-ordinators & coaches – it makes me realise that I definitely couldn’t be a teacher & that I have a lot of respect for the people who take those sessions week in, week out!

The rest of the week was a bit of a write off as squash was cancelled on Wednesday, the weather was atrocious on the Thursday so only 4 people turned up to hockey training & so there was just the usual usual Friday & re-arranged Tuesday gym sessions. It was probably a good thing in reflection as my knee is still sore now & less rest would probably have prolonged the healing process!

Thankfully the knee was feeling strong enough to let me play the hockey match on Saturday & get stuck in with a walk on Sunday. This time heading up Snaefell (the only mountain on the Isle of Man). After a few directional faux pas we ended up on the mountain road & decided to dump our car at one of the many small car parks / lay bys & head up the nearest & biggest looking hill that Dave thought was Snaefell. As the whole area was covered in mist & they all looked the same it was definitely a bit of a random guess & I must admit that I had my doubts when we were half way up the slope that we were walking in the wrong place!

We continued on however, & after reaching the top of each mound decided to keep going on in the mist until we might be able to glean where we were or what direction the actual mountain was. Much to my amazement as it turned out we’d actually stumbled into the correct place & had traversed the steeper side of the mountain (it's just how we roll). Lets hope that we don’t get as confused trying to find Kilimanjaro!

I also got to test out my new hiking boots that I’ll be taking with me on my Kili trip. They were extremely comfortable, in fact more so than my usual road walking trainers & think I’ve made a good buy there & definitely need to sort out some decent road walking shoes.

Mark