The final 20 mile practice

It's now less than 2 weeks till the big night...................so scary!

So this weekend I set off on my final 20 mile practice walk, and like with most of my practice walks I was going alone and had less than no motivation - but it had to be done so off I went.

The weather had no idea what it wanted to do either, one minute it was torrential rain and the next glorious sunshine!

After about 7 miles I got the most amazing text, asking if I wanted some company on the walk - of course I did!

Euan met me after about 9 miles (2hrs 5mins = 13.8mins per mile!), and was brave enough to do another 13miles with me :) So glad of the company - it really does make walking a million times better.

So for my final practice I did 22 miles, in 5hrs 35mins making it the perfect 15.2 minutes per mile :)

BRING ON THE BIG NIGHT (lets hope my feet are feeling happier before then!)

Our 22.2 mile triumph!

So with the weeks getting fewer till we take part in the Moonwalk, we decided it was time to aim for another 20 mile walk. Starting the weekend early we set out on Thursday with the sun shining and waterproofs at the ready! We had planned a 17.6 mile walk plus part of the canal that we couldn't map out. I was very pleased with how our training has come on with us not having any problems until the latter few miles.

Using iMapMyWalk iPhone App we learnt that the canal was slightly longer than expected at 4.6 miles making our total walk 22.2 miles!

We managed a sweet average of 15.5 minute miles with our total time being 5hrs 45.

This is a guest post from my fellow team mate Kirsty Pierson

4 weeks to the BIG NIGHT!

It just hit me - 4 weeks today till the big night, when somehow I have to make my legs carry me around the 26.2 mile route! SCARY STUFF!

Today I went out for a "short walk" of 11.3miles - the fact that I call this short now worries me how much I have changed since practicing for the walk - I used to think that a walk to the shop was a short walk.

I did a very similar route as I have done before, however I went the other way (the longer way) around Arthurs Seat - hence the extra 1.1miles.

Last time I did this walk it was after work and was at an average pace of 16.3min miles - today was thankfully quicker taking me 2hours 40mins and an average pace of 14.16min miles :)

Lets hope I can keep the pace up on my next walk (a 20miler with Kirsty on Thursday!)



16.3 min miles

Yet another walk.....20.8miles!

5 weeks today is the big night - so in preparation for this I set on yet another really long walk with Caroline!

We walked 16.2 miles around Edinburgh, in a time of 4hours 45mins, which is a little slow going at only 17.59mins per mile - but I am not complaining at that. It was Caroline's longest walk and she did amazing considering the discomfort she was in from about mile 8!

In addition to this was I also decided this morning that I would stupidly walk to Caroline's first, adding another 4.6 miles onto the equation, which I completed in 1hour 5mins (approx 14.1 min miles).

So all in all today I did 20.8miles, in 5hours 50mins (16.8 min miles) - so happy with that! however, all I have to show for it is some random sunburn (I must have missed some parts of my arms with the lotion!) and one small blister!

A walk of two halves

So to make up for my rubbish 5 mile walking attempt yesterday, I decided to join my friend Caroline (who is also taking part in the moonwalk this year) for a walk.

Having company on the walk was AMAZING - it is so much easier to walk and talk, as it distracts you from the distance and the walking itself.

We were a bit slower on this walk today - but I blame the heat (can't believe i'm in Edinburgh and blaming heat!), was about 18degrees today!

So with Caroline, we did 12.8miles in 3hours 30mins - so approx 16.4min per mile!

Instead of being sensible and walking straight home after this I decided I was enjoying walking so much that I would do a little more on my own.

So on top of the 12.8 miles I did with Caroline I did a further 5.2 miles, in 1 hour 20 mins (15.3 min per mile).

Now after all of this my legs are sore and I will definitely sleep tonight, but I am very happy to have completed this distance again.

Total Distance = 18miles
Total Time = 4 hours 50 mins
Approx Mile per Min = 16.11 mins

NEXT CHALLENGE - to manage 18 miles more comfortably!

I don't want to walk ... :(

So Sat 30th April - I forced myself to get up early and go for a walk.

I REALLY didn't want to go out, and I think this lack of mental motivation didn't help my physical motivation.

Every step on this walk was an effort, my foot was hurting and I was really tired and fed up :(

So sadly, I (for the first time ever) gave up and went home - only completing 5 miles around Arthurs Seat! due to this lack of energy and motivation it was also a very slow, taking me 1hour 25 mins (approx 17min per mile).

It's all about the milage.....

Back to the famous saying from last year "its all about the milage..." - this was my quote of the day, my main determination was to get around Edinburgh no matter of the time!

The weather today was awful! - very foggy, a lot of rain showers and sever VERY VERY heavy showers :(  - this did not make walking easy but its gotta be done as it may well be raining on the big night!

So the distance........ I did 19 miles in 4 hours 35 mins.....

All of this now = a lot of pain :(

........After Dinner Walk

So this weekend I had planned a (nice) long walk - around 16 - 18 miles, however instead Kirsty and I went to the lake district for the day and do no walking :(

Therefore, afterwork on Monday, we headed out for a slightly shorter walk of 10.1 miles - which is more than enough after a day working.

Sadly the walk was a little slow at 16.3 minute miles - but hey its not the end of the world :)

The route tonight was;

Can't be bothered..... :(

So today I knew I had to go out for a walk, but I really had to motivation to go out. I find it very difficult to make myself go out for a walk when its only me - but normally when i'm walking i'm happy. Today I dragged myself around Arthur Seat (5miles).

Last time I did this walk I managed it in the perfect 14minutes miles, sadly this time it was more like 17 - which to most doesn't sound too bad, but to me this is rubbish for such a short walk.

I MUST do better next time!

23 degrees + 16miles = CRAZY

On the hottest day of the year (Sunday 10th April), when Edinburgh reached an amazing 23degrees - I had stupidly promised myself that I would undertake my longest practice walk yet 16 miles.

I was ment to be doing part of this walk with my friend Caroline who is also taking part in the Moonwalk this year, however sadly she called me on Sunday morning to say she had hurt her foot - so I was on my own for this one :(

After a quick route planning I set off for one the hardest walks I have done - thank god the main walk is at night when there is no chance of it being this hot!

I struggled around Edinburgh and managed to complete my 15.8mile walk (route below) in 4hours exactly which averages out to be 15minute miles - no idea how I managed that but I was so impressed with myself :)

So impressed that I celebrated with a BBQ on the beach with my friends Jemma and James :)

An extra 2.4 mile wiggle

It was a lovely evening so Kristy and I decided that we should get the trainers on and head out for another practice walk around Edinburgh.

Our original planned route was for 7 miles;

I sadly took us on a wrong turn after the meadows - so we decided to make the walk up as we went along - resulting in us doing a 9.4 mile walk in only 2hours 15mins (another perfect 14minute mile).

Some of the highlights/places of interest on our walk this evening included;

• Arthur Seat
• Speed Bumps in the meadows to slow us down

• Quarterly treats on the walk
• Seeing Santa out for a bike ride
• Walking past the art gallery and meeting a rather unfortunate man

7.5 Miles Moonwalk Practice

Week 3 into my practice and after my rubbish week last week I started yesterday looking hopeful! Aiming for 7miles, however, Kirsty and I actually managed 7.5 (due to poor route planning!)

Sadly, our time for this walk was AWFUL! (2hrs 20mins which is approx 18.6min miles)

So why was this moonwalk practice so slow? ...........I have a lot of excuses;

• Bad cramp in my calf for the first 20mins
• The weather - it was very windy so felt like walking into a wall
• Our trip to the chippy at Portobello (we did walk while eating though)

Lets hope my next walk this week is more successful!

9 Mile Moonwalk Practice

Yesterday, I aimed for a 10mile walk around Edinburgh. However as I am still wearing my new trainers in this proved a little too far and after gaining a blister I decided it would be best to end it at 9miles so it wouldn't get any worse :(

Whilst I never completed my planned walk, I did the 9 miles shown above in 2hrs (average 13.3min miles!) which I am very happy with.

Lets hope the blister is gone my Monday for my next walking plans!


My sore feet, when I gave up at Portobello beach:

My good friend Arthur

Its Friday night but I dont feel I have done enough walking this week - so I put on my new trainers and away I went.

Feeling very tired, and having very little motivation I decided to go visit Arthur (aka Arthur Seat). The walk to, round and back home is a total of 5.2miles and I completed this is 1hr 10mins - the perfect 14mile! :)

Very happy to still be on track with my time per mile - especially with the weather today (VERY windy, especially on top of Arthur Seat).

Walking on Air

It was time to bin the old faithful trainers and get some new ones for the moonwalk!

Today Kirsty and I went to run4it in Edinburgh, where we were given expert advice on what trainers we needed for our style of walking. They video you walking you a treadmill to show you where you put extra weight and then select the best shoes for you.

I would extremely recommend that if you need trainers go there! I know feel like i'm walking on air with a spring in my step - its amazing!

13 Mile Moonwalk Practice

As it was a lovely Spring morning, we decided to head out for our first "long" moonwalk practice - 13 miles along the Water of Leith.

This time we managed to complete this walk in 3hours 20mins - which means an average of about 15min miles :)

We are very happy with this time - BUT can we improve it before the big night whilst doubling the distance? - my legs seem a little unsure of this at the moment!

Some of the highlights we saw on our walk.....

A pretty little window looking onto a small waterfall

12 and 1/4 miles into the walk - Kirsty looking a little tired

The end of the walk at Sandy :)

Just a small treat for completing the walk - a few beers in the sun :)

7 Mile Moonwalk Practice

Looks like I have caught the bug for walking again :)

Tonight my team mate (Kirsty) and I set off for a walk after work - we took in some lovely sites from Arthur Seat, met a number of toads and found one of the darkest roads in Edinburgh!

Anyway, we did 7.2 miles in 1hr 40mins, which whilst a little slow we are still happy :)

Putting the right foot forward!

Ok so you have heard that I have done very little walking since Jan..but today is the day that I started walking again!

It was a lovely sunny (yet chilly) day, so I finished work, walked home and put the trainers on! Away I went with some very cheesy music :)

Walked along to Seafield, to the shore and back up Easter Road - which is 6 miles. I completed this is 1hr 25mins which is pretty good since the training book recommends an average of 4 miles per hour :)

Lets hope I can keep this up.... maybe I need a walking plan?

Opps....

So, as you can tell I had forgotten about this blog and not updated it since Jan and now it is mid March :( to make things even worse I have also done very little walking since then!

To keep things up to date a little, I have done a few walks but nothing special...mainly just some walks at lunch, to and from work, and a couple of 5 mile walks around Arthur Seat - this is hardly anything in comparison to my plans!

Its now time to get things back on track - not long now till the big night!

.....

Scrap everything I just said! I have looked at the moonwalk official training plans AND it says we should start on the week of March the 20th :) Im actually on track!

Water of Leith Walk

Sunday 9^th of Jan marked the start of my moonwalk practice! Although this took a mixture of sheer determination and madness to go for a 13mile walk along the Water of Leith, when Edinburgh was deep in snow and ice – my 3 friends (Jemma, James and Euan) and I set off at 10am.

Highlights from the walk (excluding the great company and random chats) were;

• The dog who could not find a stick to play with so used a plank of wood instead
• Jemma as the tour guide, pointing out good chippies, Iceland, Ex’s houses etc…
• Homeless leaf men
• Jemma’s hilarious walk
• Not falling in the Water of Leith
• Staying upright when on VERY icy stairs

So the important part – we took about 4hrs 20mins for this walk, which although this is a long time, it was our first walk and the whole 13 miles was through snow and ice.

Edinburgh Moonwalk 2010

Although this blog is to follow my progress in the build up to the Edinburgh Moonwalk 2011, I thought I would initially tell you the story about how I got on last year since I never got round to blogging about it……until now that is.

Why I decided to take part in the Moonwalk

One of my friends Sophie took part in the Edinburgh Halfmoon in 2009 and loved it, she decided to volunteer in 2010, however suggested that more of us should actually take part. I was looking for a challenge and thought it would be fun, so I decided to take on the fullmoon walk in Edinburgh - 26.2miles over night was definitely a challenge for me!

Don’t worry I was not alone in doing the Moonwalk in 2010, three of my great friends Shara, Kirsty and Natalie all joined forces as team “leg’s go!”.

Practicing for the Moonwalk

We started practicing our walking from mid Feb, starting initially with short walks of about 5 miles and a nice leisurely pace steadily increasing the length and speed. Closer to the actual date we tried to do at least one/two shortish walk (around 5 to 8) miles after work and a long walk (over 13 miles) at the weekend. This seemed to work well and soon we were happily keeping to the target pace of 4 miles an hour.

The practice walks were not only a chance improving our fitness but also were good for catching up on gossip, eating lots of nice treats including Lucas ice-cream in Mussleborough, getting a suntan (well for me that means sun burnt) and of course finding new places in Edinburgh we had never seen before including the “Innocent Railway” which proved to feature in a number of our walks.

So all in all we did hundreds of practice walks, of varying sizes and times, the longest for me was 25 miles in just under 7 hours – which meant we were finally ready for the big night itself!

The Big Night

We donned our expertly decorated pink bras and headed to the “pink palace” in Inverleith Park, Edinburgh to enjoy our meal of pasta/rice and the most amazing flapjack, before getting bored, that’s right we got bored – there is a lot of sitting around if you arrive early.

Anyway, the closer it got to midnight the tension grew in the tent and everyone was getting more and more excited! Finally it was time for the warm up with Mr Motivator himself and then of we went.

The walk itself was really good, very slow for the first 8 or so miles due to the huge number of people taking part, but the atmosphere was amazing. It started to get very cold around mile 13, and mile 18-20 was pretty tough with sore legs etc L

However, we had saved our music for the end to help motivate and spur us on…. So mile 20 the music went on and we walked the faster than we had all night! Crossing the finish line in 7hrs 48minutes! (a little slower than planned) we were over the moon (excuse the pun!).

So why do the Moonwalk again in 2011

The whole experience from the Moonwalk 2010 including;

• The fun of the practice walks
• The atmosphere on the night
• Raising money for such a great cause

Has spared on us to do it all again this year, originally we wanted to take part in the London Moonwalk, but as normal we never got round to applying in time so here we are…. ready to take part for the Edinburgh Moonwalk 2011!

However, only Kirsty and I are doing the Moonwalk in 2011, so we have changed the team name a little to “What a Pear”, and are ready to start practicing J

Let the fun of the Edinburgh Moonwalk 2011 commence…..

Blog Plans

I did the Edinburgh Moonwalk last year with 3 of my friends and kept meaning to write about why we were doing it and how we were getting on with it..... but as things normally are with me, I kept getting distracted and never got round to it.

So, after Kirsty and myself recently decided to take part in the Edinburgh Moonwalk again in 2011 - I made the pledge to actually keep track of our progress this year, and here it is! :)

My plans for this blog are to post the practice routes we use in build up to the big night, with maps, times and pictures where possible. Hopefully this will let us track if we are actually getting any better and quicker with all this walking!

Lets see what happens.....