Thursday walk

Tracey & I walked 10 miles tonight in 2 hrs 22, although we think it may have been more than ten, as it went really well. We walked at a good pace, but some miles seemed a lot longer or shorter than others! Think it may be my car ( no, I wasn't cheating, I mean when I planned & drove the route!!) so, am going to drive it again in hubby's car over the weekend.
We know that it's not a race (crikey, far from it!!) but need to have as exact distance as poss in readiness for the longer ones, so that we know how much to add on. I also like to know that I am keeping my pace to a good average per mile.
I enjoyed tonight much more than Sunday, so I think Sunday was purely because of my crap week! I wore my gloves & tried to do my power walking arms more, but still ended up with swollen fingers, more so on my left hand (again, wedding ring off, sorry Rob xx), I will have to get that sorted.
Poor Trace is still having foot problems, so her & Dons are walking 6 milers together. Hope she gets better soon as am looking forward to us all being able to walk together for the first time! Much gossiping will occur!!
Tracey & I will be walking again on Sunday evening, hopefully with slim fingers.....!!

XX
ps. Thought I'd posted this last night (Thurs) but was obviously so tired (or my age, more likely) that I only saved it to draft! So, please be advised that I am actually working!!

Sausage fingers........

No, not some food for the walk............
Personal trainer, Dons & myself set off on our ten miler this afternoon. Weather stayed fine although temperature definitely dropped towards the end. Luckily we finished before the rain as well. We walked the new route & did it in 2hours 16 minutes!! How fantastic is that?! That's a whole ten minutes off my ten miler last Sunday. BUT.............................
Dons was suffering badly with hip pain towards the end, but as this was only her second training walk (both being ten milers as well) I think she was a real star & really strode out towards home. It's amazing how we can pick it up when the end is in sight......hope that happens in May! I have to admit though that I found the walk very hard going at times today. I haven't felt 100% all week & am not sure if part of it was because I hadn't walked since last Sunday. Anyway, with 2 miles to go, personal trainer stepped up the pace & made Dons & I walk faster, couldn't let her get TOO far ahead! She said we had to catch her up "to kiss her arse", well, you never know, we may reach that lovely target one day.......!!
Sausage fingers.....................
Tracey is so used to pushing her gorgeous George in his pushchair that she keeps her fingers moving. I didn't think I'd need my gloves & Dons wore hers to begin with, but five miles in, we both noticed that our fingers had swollen & were very uncomfortable. This is caused by having your arms & hands down by your sides while walking thus depleting the blood supply to your fingers (from walk the walk book) & is not very pleasant. I obviously need to wear gloves & try to do power walking arms more then!! Fingers on left hand still not 100%, can't wear wedding ring at mo (but then that is my weak arm that I have to take care with & has been prone to swelling since my op, so should have been more careful), sure will be fine in morning.
Next walk is planned for Thursday evening, another ten miler! I think I will have to have some Guinness this week to give me a much needed boost.................
XX
ps. Well done England!!
pps. Correct knickers worn...............!

Oh no, first major injury................

Not good news for the gorgeous Trace..........she has had to pull out of our 10 miler tomorrow as she has a blister under a toe nail & is having trouble walking normally, let alone 10 miles. Hopefully a visit to the foot doctor on Tuesday will resolve this, I really hope so as we need her to keep talking to us as we are walking................. I think this has bought home the reality to me that we may suffer injuries along the way & that does worry me.
So, sexy personal trainer & I wondered if the lovely Dons would fancy walking at 8am tomorrow morning instead of the afternoon..............her first word on the reply to my text led me to believe that no...........did not fancy that!! She has plans anyway, so 2.30 it is!
This will be the first time I have walked in the afternoon & am looking forward to it......honest!!
xx
ps. Bought myself some Guinness....well, it is on offer, it is 6 nations weekend (England, please just TRY to actually play well) &.........??....um........errr......it is good for me (iron!)!!!!!!
XXXXXX

Money raised....

Would you believe that, between the four of us, we have raised over £2300 in sponsorship to date!! How fantastic is that??!! A big thank you to all of you who have sponsored each of us so far.......please keep the money coming in!! I know that there is much more to follow....you know who you are...........!! Thank you xx
Unfortunately, Dons & I were unable to walk last night, but all four of us will be hitting the streets (!) on Sunday afternoon, hopefully doing a 10 miler. This will be the first time that we will all have walked together so much gossiping/laughing will take place! How far will we be able to walk & talk I wonder....... I did manage to go swimming during my lunch break yesterday, was great. It's a bit of a stress beater; this week has been very busy & have felt bit stressed at times. I did miss my walk last night so am really looking forward to Sunday.
Well, Saturday is almost here & weekly visit to gym at 8am is calling to me! Will meet personal trainer in there as usual!!
XX

The super personal trainer

Well, what can I say........this morning, Tracey did the same 10 mile walk that I did with her on Sunday night....in 2 hours 11 mins! Isn't she fantastic!! She did say how much nicer it is walking in the morning & I must admit that I loved our 8am Sunday walk the other week. I think that you just have more energy first thing, mind you, she ALWAYS seems to have energy, she is amazing! (Pay me later honey ok!)
I drove around Felixstowe at lunchtime today & have come up with a different route for tomorrow night. We are finding that walking a variety of routes makes it more interesting!
Well, I have an evening off tonight, am off to the Alex with friends...well, I feel the Guinness will give me extra energy......that's my excuse & I am sticking to it!!
XX

10 miler!!

Oh my! Trace & Dons walked 10 miles yesterday afternoon! Unfortunately they are both carrying injuries/aches but are not too bad! They did so well, especially as it was a very sunny afternoon & they had to dodge all the people out walking. Not sure if they will be able to do a walk in next few days, but, Trace can still go shopping..........SORRY Trace, you know I love you really!!
So, last night, in temperatures of 1-2 degrees & freezing fog, personal trainer & I decided to walk her 5 mile route & then come straight back, so doing 10 miles! It was VERY COLD! We managed it though, in 2 hours 26mins, very pleased with that. I have to say that it encouraged my bladder training, as I needed a wee only 3-4 miles in.......I resisted the urge to crouch somewhere....far too cold..& managed to last 9 miles until we passed Tracey's sister's house. I then felt invigorated & we walked the final mile (well, just under) in 11 mins.
Lessons to be learned then...do not have a big drink with your dinner....BUT more importantly...as I have painfully learned......ensure that you wear the correct & most comfortable pair of knickers....no more to be said, only that emails exchanged today caused much laughter on a cold Felixstowe morning!!!!!
Have just spoken to Dons, her & I planning to do a walk on Thursday evening. Had more laughs about knickers...............
XX

Costa del Sol here we come.....

If you have read the other just giving pages for my wonderful friends, you'll see that the lovely Mrs G is going to be 40 just 8 days before we do the walk! Tracey, Dons & me wanted to do something special for her birthday....so we are all going to the Costa del Sol for a four day break on 5th June.....this will also be a much needed rehabilitation break to recover from the 26.2 miles!! Oh, how hard....sitting on the beach...........sipping sangrias.....

The training continues today: Trace & Dons are doing their 9 miles this afternoon & me & Tracey hit the streets at 7 tonight so don't panic if you see 2 strange women in black hats walking along Trimley High Road, it's just us not burglars ok! It's probably going to be VERY cold!

My personal trainer continues to give me that extra incentive....she informed me yesterday that she is going to do a 10 miler during the day this week..........I suppose it's only that extra mile after the 9!! Our route for the 9 involves going up Convalescent Hill...would just like to say that first time we did it, personal trainer RAN up it, Mrs G JOGGED up it......me......I just tried to walk up it on my feet, not on my knees........it was our 8 mile marker. Well, I AM 40 already...............

XX

Post 9 miler!

After walking 6 miles for a few weeks, we decided that we needed to up the distance to help build our stamina! So, last night we walked 9 miles in 2 hrs 20 mins! We were chuffed as we had managed to keep to our average of 15 mins for a mile.
I am on holiday this week, so decided to go to body combat this morning for my sins! Managed to actually walk when I got up & although combat was hard, I think it actually helped my muscles.
Gym on Saturday at 8am & then next walk on Sunday! Bring it on, hope training continues to go well & of course, I do have my personal trainer to give me that push!

13 weeks 2 days to go...........
XX