That's Life......

By the time my entry went in for The Parish Walk (PW) in March 2013 I only knew (personally) two people that had completed the whole 85 miles. Of course, I had heard of some of the winners before and I can still remember the first time I saw one of the "top walkers" on Parish day. I drove past Robbie Callister on the road to Dalby whilst the thousand year storm passed over the island in 2008. With his distinctive style and his record in the competition, he was (and still is) one of the most recognisible guys in the Isle of Man.

My work colleague Paul Corris, who had put the idea in my head to enter, was very helpful in providing an insight into his experiences of finishing the PW. It was great to be able to speak to someone so passionate about it. This obviously was born out of his rivalry with his brother and I could tell this motivation helped spur him on to want to progress year on year. The other finisher I knew was another work colleague called Sam Fletcher (I will come back to him in future blog posts.....).

One of the first things I did was work out the average speed I needed to do to complete the 85 miles. Keep above 3.5mph average for the duration and it should see me home. Simple logic. Ok, how fast had I been walking on those previous walks I was challenging myself with? On average around 15 minute miles at 4mph. That got me thinking, the pace was going to have to increase as the inevitable drop off on the day could see me timed out at one of the parishes. I had been using endomondo (tracker app on my phone) but after it drained the battery on my walk up to Ramsey, I decided to invest in a more reliable GPS watch. I could then pour over the data and plan what times I could expect to hit each parish. Getting the pace up should be relatively easy shouldn't it? Well, not quite. I remember feeling so self-conscious going out with the aim to walk faster for the first few times. What are people thinking? What would the old me think if I was driving past? You must look stupid! It's not easy going quicker is it? It's certainly tougher than what others make it look! My legs are aching! You've bitten off more than you can chew. This is when I had to start thinking about the mental side of the challenge and quickly sort it out before it derailed the training side.

Earlier in the year, I was sat on a train on the London underground where I had seen an advertisement of a book that had helped the Olympian cyclists Victoria Pendleton and Sir Chris Hoy achieve their goals. I recalled the advert had a monkey looking out of a box. After a quick look on the internet I found it and read a couple of reviews and instantly bought it. The book was The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters. What helped me in reading this book was the fact I was fully bought into it. I could picture scenarios that had happened in the past and the author presented a logical explanation of why I had felt like I had. In a nutshell it explains:

"The Chimp is rather tricky as it's the emotional machine that we all possess and if offers emotional thoughts and feelings in a very constructive OR very destructive way so it can be your best friend or worst enemy. Interestingly, you can't choose your Chimp – it was born when you were born and you need to accept it." 

I was introduced to a fine walker that had completed the PW by my auntie and after asking her for some tips to take on board she came back with (among others) this gem "where possible, cut everything negative out of your life. This includes people, as their insecurities can drag you away from your goals very easily". It struck a chord immediately. Fortunately, in my life the majority of people I have come across are very genuine and supportive. Then there are the few that can only be described as toxic. The book helped me to not only control my "chimp" but to actually start to understand others actions too. I reached the stage where I learned to use the negativity to fuel me and to drive me on towards my goal. In my mind, the thought of pissing off the couple of detractors by succeeding was now officially part of the challenge. I can't understate how powerful for my mindset the flipping of this negative into a positive was.

As Frank Sinatra sang in one my favourite songs - That's Life:

I said that's life
(That's life)
And as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks stomping on a dream
But I don't let it, let it get me down
'Cause this fine old world, it keeps spinnin' around

With the mental side being worked on, I was back on track and able to concentrate on the training and planning for the big day. I knew I was in a good place when out training a white van went past me and the passenger leaned out and shouted "Walking *anker!". I actually found that funny as it was a twist on the famous Inbetweeners tv programme scene at a bus stop. The rest of the walk had me humming "Peter Miller is a *anker, is a *anker." Recalling that incident, if that would of happened the day after my failed run across the prom I might not have found the humorous side and stopped before I had even got going.....

One of the most important things I had to sort out was finding someone to do my backup and support me on the day. I had heard the stories of tears and tantrums between walkers and other halves and opted to stay clear of that potential hot spot. I needed someone else who was reliable, committed & would have a calming influence on me when I needed it the most. Wendy Sharkey my son's godmother was my number one choice and I was delighted she said yes to my request. The bonus was she already had experience of supporting in the PW. If you haven't got your support sorted for this year do it now as a priority!

Back to the physical training. I had continued with the gym until the middle of March and then prioritised getting out on the road and walking instead and trying to push my pace up. Living in Ballabeg, I had on my doorstep the S100 course (4.5miles) for a shortish walk where I could try walk as quick as possible and I also devised a 10 miler up around Cringle to the top of Ballamodha down to cross four ways and back home. I would do a mixture of these walks 3 times during the week (usually starting at 5:30am) and at the weekends went on bigger walks to get time on feet and test out eating on the move. I also thought it would be a good idea to walk on most of the course so it wasn't going to be alien to me on the day. A memorable walk in the middle of April took me from my house over to Rushen and up the "notorious" sloc for the first time. In fact, I remember my head was going to explode going up Ballakillowey which made the sloc feel quiet pleasant in comparison! I will never forget seeing the remains of the heavy snowfall the island got back on the 26th March of that year. Which leads me to still believe to this day the top of the sloc is the coldest part of the island, unless you are walking it on a baking hot parish day with the sun on your back! I continued on to the roundtable before heading down to Dalby and getting into Glen Maye. One of my mates, Charlie, who grew up there said "the old post office hill leading up to Foxdale mines would be a good road to train on.....". So I thought yes, I'll give that a go. Injebreck is steep but the tarmac road is lovely to walk on unlike this hill. A broken road with melting ice water running down and 15 minutes to climb it. I made it up to the top and went over the cattle grids past the Foxdale mines. Turned right at the top and headed back to the roundtable before heading back home via the whiskey run track and Grenaby. Around 22 mile at an average of 4.3mph. I was happy with that due to the hills involved.

A week later I walked the first part of the PW from the NSC to Rushen to give me a good idea what the roads and terrain were like. It was also one of the first times I had walked with someone else. Paul Corris joined me and from mile one I knew it was going to be a long 18 mile in total. He popped in his earphones and told me he would meet me down the road. I had to remind myself he was on a training walk too and pushing for a good time in the PW. Although my pace was improving, when I compared it to an experienced Parish walker like Paul it was a test for my newly discovered inner chimp as he quickly disappeared off into the distance!

All in I had done approximately 250 miles training before the Parish Walk in 2013 and was hoping it was going to be enough. I had continued to lose about a stone a month up until June and in total lost just over 5 stone. I felt as fit as I have ever been and full of naive confidence. One question I had asked all the finishers who I was getting advice from was "how do you know you can walk 85 miles?". There was one week to go and I was about to find out for myself......

Change of Heart

"I ****ING HATE THE PARISH WALK!". Okay, this might not be the opening line you would expect from this blog but let me explain.

I have lived just off the course in Ballabeg for 20 years now and my first impression of The Parish Walk (PW) was for one Saturday in June every year, to be a nightmare to get to Douglas between the hours of 11am - 1pm. The naughties saw the participating numbers starting to swell which brought more support cars and hassle that made me squawk the opening line. I wince when I write this because it's the truth. I have a right to moan I thought, I am Manx! Then in 2010 the first seed was about to be sown. My wife Hannah and her good friend Wendy decided to enter the PW and targeted the 32.5 miles to Peel. On the day, I went up to the Round Table (cut up through Ronague to avoid the Sloc traffic) to give some encouragement before heading into Peel, to my parents, where I would wait for them to text to say they were a few miles out. What I didn't realise was that it was a tradition of my parents and auntie to go and sit in the church grounds, overlooking the Town Hall, to cheer the walkers coming in for a few hours. I thought okay and went down with my boy Sean. We were too late for the faster walkers but there was a steady stream coming through. I had a seconds thought of what time did I think I could get into Peel. It can't be that hard I thought but then again the furthest I had ever walked before was the 10 miles on the old railway line to Douglas. The pair of them came in just after 5pm and had walked over 9 hours. I remember feeling chuffed that they had achieved what they set out to do. There was no more mention or thoughts of the PW till 2013.....

I had played football for my home "city" of Peel (the Motherland) through the junior levels. After breaking my leg playing at 13 I was able to fully recover and achieved a long term ambition to play for the first team in the early 90s. I picked up a knee injury after a few seasons which I struggled to shake off and I decided to curb the football. This led to an increase in "socialising" which had replaced the regular exercise and inevitably the weight started to slowly but surely pile on over the years. Fast-forward to December 2012 and after talking about it for so long I enrolled in a football refereeing course so I could get back into the football. Shortly after passing the refereeing course, I was in a packed NSC pool just before xmas with Sean and out of nowhere he asked loudly "Dad, why are you so fat?". I chuckled, sucked up my pride and sunk under the water. A few days passed and the balls starting rolling around in my head "is that what my son thinks of me?". Okay, I will probably lose some weight when I do some officiating in early January. The idea was to enjoy the festive season and then get out onto the pitch but first I needed to dust off the trainers. After the first day back at work in January I had decided I would go for a run across the prom. I started opposite the former site of Summerland and did some half arsed stretches before putting in the ear phones, pressing play and heading off. The Empress hotel is where I got to before I was grabbing the railings and bent over nearly throwing up. The first song - "Wild Boys by Duran Duran" hadn't even finished. This song recently came on the car radio and instantly took me back to that moment. Tail between my legs, I walked off towards the Sea Terminal and then turned around and walked back to the car. During that walk the light switch moment had certainly arrived. If I can't run more than a few minutes how can I expect to run 90 minutes in a football match? It was a shock to the ego and a massive wake up call.

I put the refereeing on hold from the fear of embarrassing myself and contacted a friend, that had lost a significant amount of weight a few years before, for some advice. He told me "you need three things; a gym membership, myfitnesspal app and the rest of it is in your heart". So the next day I went to Carrefour got enrolled and set about trying to get fitter. I knew the first month or so were going to be tough but was dedicated enough to hit the gym for an hour each weekday morning at 7am before work. I also took a more healthy approach towards my food & alcohol intake. In the gym I hid away in the dark cardio room and hit the treadmill for the first few weeks. Running was proving particularly tough on my ankles due to my 17 stone frame and I can remember limping into work trying my best to mask the discomfort I was in. I then noticed one of the girls in the gym would walk a mile and then run a mile. I thought that is a good idea to save my ankles until I build some strength up. At the weekends I started to challenge myself to getting out in the fresh air and walking distances out of my comfort zone. The first walk was a 10 miler on a Sunday morning from my home in Ballabeg, up to the Round Table, then down into Dalby and onto Peel to finish at my parents. It was pouring down and cold when I set off and it didn't let up for the whole of the walk. I got to Peel with my joints starting to stiffen plus the onset of cramp in my calves. My parents had actually gone out which resulted in me sat on the doorstep in the rain until Hannah came to pick me up in the car. However, this didn't dampen my spirits as I was now starting to learn about the endorphin's and the feel good factor it was bringing to me. I found I was getting hooked on this new found life style. I would weigh myself on the last Friday of each month at the gym and was genuinely shocked after the first month a stone in weight had been dropped.

The next significant walk was when Hannah was playing hockey at Ramsey Grammar one Saturday afternoon in February. I thought it would be a bit of an adventure if I was to set off from home to walk up through the middle of the island and meet her up there so she could drive me home. I stocked up on food and some juice and headed out not entirely sure of the route to get onto the West Baldwin road up behind Crosby. Sure enough I took the wrong turn and ended up having to get directions from a farmer who instructed me to go across his field (part of the Millenium Way) which got me back on track. Heading up over the near vertical Injebreck and down through Druisdale towards Sulby Reservoir, I got blasted by a snowy winter shower as I was helping myself to my jam sandwiches I had rewarded myself. I still had about 7 miles to go and thought this is insane but the buzz I got literally had me laughing. The laughter was cut short as cramp in my calves was starting to set in big time when I got to Sulby Claddaghs. Then I nearly burst into tears as my phone ran out of battery and realised the whole journey wouldn't be tracked on endomondo! I was now about 30 minutes behind my estimated time to negotiate the 25+ miles. I crawled from Ginger Hall to Ramsey Grammar and collapsed at the car as the players were coming off the pitch. On the journey home, I was feeling good about myself and was thinking that I needed to research into making sure I wasn't cramping up next time. I started to realise these weekend walks were giving me a goal after the training I was doing in the gym each day. Paul Corris who has completed the PW a few times heard about the walk next day at work and said "if you enjoyed that, you should try the Parish". My initial reaction was to think no way, I enjoyed it because I was out by myself and not surrounded by loads of people. It took me a couple of days to realise that excuse was a cop out. I promised myself if I was going to enter, I would attempt to go the full distance. The entry went in and my thirst for knowledge about The Parish Walk began........

Until next week - keep safe out there.