A little short of the 2012 that had been bandied about earlier in the year, but nevertheless it is a tremendous total, and shows the support from the Manx public (and a few UK bods too) for such a tremendous event that in one way or another pretty much touches everybody on the Island.
I'm absolutely exhausted this afternoon, and it is nothing to do with the 18.5 miles I walked this morning in 3 1/2 hours. It's all the nervous excitement watching the climax to the Premier League season this afternoon, what a day. Coming down to the last game of the season and to be decided on goal difference, it reminds me of the 1989 title run in. I still wake up in a cold sweat sometimes remembering how Michael Thomas broke so many Kopites hearts that day, that must be how Man Utd fans are feeling now. With only 5 minutes added time remaining, Man U fans must have thought they were home and dry, but City had different ideas, and the rest as they say is history. Anyway, who cares about Man U and City, 8th is the new 1st - looks like there may be a new person in the queue at the Liverpool dole office.
Back to training. This week I wanted to step up the effort a little, and my initial aim was to get out 5 times. The plan started well, and my alarm went off at 5.45am on Tuesday and by 5.50 I was out of the house heading for a lap of Glen Roy. 6.5 miles and just over an hour later I was home again and feeling pretty good with myself. Wednesday night was the usual Laxey night, this time up on the Baldhoon Road doing intervals on a 1.5 mile course. Myself and Simon did 4 laps with a 2 minute rest in between. Moving time was 57 minutes, and again I felt chuffed with myself as I felt really good and the my legs were still pretty fresh. Thursday night I did a short 4 mile loop from the NSC round to the business park and back. I wasn't feeling that great, and really struggled up Vicarage Road, and only started to pick up as I turned off Cooil Road and headed back to the NSC. By the time I got back to meet the kids after hockey, I felt exhausted, but was still on target for my 5 sessions in the week.
My aim was to get up early on Friday and go for another lap round Glen Roy, however I had a relapse of the stiff neck I suffered a couple of weeks ago, and I woke up at 3am in agony again, so chose to give it a miss. I'm pleased to say that it's tons better now, and I managed to get out this morning with Simon so although not quite the 5 sessions I wanted, I did do 4 and brought my total mileage for the week to 35. We had arranged to start from the NSC at 8am and head along the Parish route to Rushen. Simon parked his car by Rushen Church yesterday and walked home so we had transport to get home again. It was near perfect conditions to start with, cool, and overcast, but by the time we had climbed to Santon we were greeted by a massive headwind which remained in our face all the way to Rushen. We chose not to do the little detours at Santon and Malew, and also didn't bother with Braddan loop at the start so by the time we reached the roundabout in Rushen we had only covered just over 16 miles so I had a great idea. Let's walk to the top of Ballakillowey and then we can turn round and come back to the church. Part way up the hill it didn't seem that much of a great idea, but as I kept saying, we would be pleased we did it in the end, and we were. We made it to the picnic area, turned on our heels and headed back down the hill. By the time we reached the church, we had covered almost 18.5 miles in 3 hours 30 minutes so a really good workout. I just hope I don't get a neck relapse again.
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| Stand up Pinocchio |
Before I sign off, I have to tell you about the Craig's Heartstrong Foundation annual charity function I went to on Friday night. What a brilliant night, and they raised over £14,000 for the charity on the night from the generous attendees who all dug really deep to bid on some fantastic auction items. Phil Thompson was the guest of honour and regaled some fantastic stories about his time as a Liverpool player and coach, before donating two of the top prizes for the auction which raised almost £6,000 between them. For those of you who don't know, the charity was set up in memory of Craig Lunt who died aged just 25 in 2005 from a previously undetected heart defect. The charity runs two heart screening weekends each year to help identify whether any of the Islands young adults suffer from anything similar to what Craig did, and give them the chance that he unfortunately didn't have. Wednesday night sees a charity football match being staged between the Corinithians winning Cowell Cup squad from 1992 and a Corinthians Select XI. Before the match, the charity will be donating a defibrillator to every football club and high school on the Island and I understand that it is their aim to place one in each sports clubhouse on the Island to include other sports such as rugby and cycling, and hopefully athletics too. For further information on a great charity, click on the link below.
http://www.craigsheartstrongfoundation.co.uk/
If you are in the vicinity of Ballafletcher on Wednesday at around 6.30pm, then pop down and I am sure you will be treated to a feast of football. There are rumours doing the rounds also, that a certain retired football referee may be donning the whistle for one last time during the match too. I can't comment at this point, but if you get down there you may see for yourself.
Right, got to go, but remember, you have less than 4 hours to sign up and you have to be in it to win it, or at least take part. After midnight tonight it seriously will be too late so don't be disappointed and get your entry in NOW.
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