Emerged victorious

A long day of walking, mainly uphill, across 4 peaks left me feeling a huge sense of achievement - would never have thought I would have a day walking like today and still be in one piece at the end. Grateful for this career break opportunity.

Royal Welsh Show

Brief walk in the rain through the Elan Valley completing yesterday's task before enjoying a relaxing afternoon at the Royal Welsh Show - could not believe the exhibit that featured a batty looking older lady with two otters roaming freely inside her baggy clothing- most odd. Debuted on BBC radio Wales with a brief interview about the Walk and our efforts to raise awareness - amazing what you can do if you ask............otherwise a very enjoyable afternoon with an insight into rural life and the agricultural community. Still a long way to Cardiff and a tough day awaits tomorrow..........

A Great Day

The sun shone, we conquered two peaks from the depths of two valleys and in the evening I introduced our North American to the joys of the Wurzels and Max Boyce. 6 hours walking followed by blogging and photo uploads a lovely dinner and now off to the pub.

5 hours in

Its sunny but the climbs have been steep and very long, asking myself all the way up, as calves and hamstrings moan, why am I doing this? Luckily company is good, conversation easy and views spectacular. Will be tired tonight as still quite a way to go!!!

Rest Day

Thankful today is a rest day as we move accommodation. Thighs quite stiff after some over exuberunt climbing to find a non existant path. 5 or 6 high steps over heather had me concerned I had done some damage to the muscles so a little stiffness is a result. Tomorrow is another challenging day so will be stocking up on Kendall Mint Cake this morning and searching for a good cobbler...........

Saved by Kendall mint cake

Feel like a proper hill walker today as in my backpack I have a new waterproof backpack cover, rather than the ripped up plastic career bag I had yesterday.

Brother Paul, who kindly drove me to Wales and his children Alice and Henry left this morning for the long drive back to Winchester having walked with us (A and H in bin bag rain jackets) yesterday.

Awake to another windy, wet, and murky Welsh day so pleased we got rid of a long steep climb yesterday evening. A long day ahead though and will try and resist finishing with an ale today.

A tough start saw us lose our way, have to retrace and then slog along a barely visble track as cloud descended all around us. Very pretty slate quarry at the centre of our route, seeing it once was good , twice perhaps excessive.

Then it was a long hard slog uphill in a bog of a path. Half way up I became a little light headed. Thankfully Stacey had some KMC, which got me going again and gave me a good lesson. This is no walk in the park and I need to prepare accordingly and get emergency provisions in the bag from now on.

The bog was to get much worse later in the day. Did someone say drought?

This was a long day and we were all delighted to get to Machynlleth 7 hours after we started, where I celebrated with a small doner delighted in the knowledge that tomorrow is a rest day!!
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Day 1

Awake at 5am jet lag is inescapable whether you are walking or not. Good to see Intel had its best ever quarter.......... Sky cloudy but, as yet, dry. Last night's couple of pints at the George III over dinner leave me feeling slightly dehydrated. Good to meet the team who have already covered the worst of the terrain and the highest peaks. Hope I can keep up Andrew(Wales), Stacey(Toronto) and Dan(San Diego) will be my walking companions for the next 3 weeks. Swapping diagnosis and McArdle's incident stories meant for a very easy introduction.

Day one turned out to be very enjoyable despite the constant threat of being overtaken by a Saga tour on any uphill stretch. We went on a little further at the end of day to shorten tomorrow. Rained sporadically throughout the day and several long, and quite steep stretches were quite testing. Horse flies have a nastier bite than mosquitoes but to my knowledge no threat of disease. We finished the day in Abergynolwyn with a steep stretch to save doing it first thing tomorrow from cold.
Walking with fellow McArdleite's is much more sympathetic than usual as when one of us stops we all know why and stop as well. A good day's walking. Feel a pint coming on!!!!
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Winchester to Wales

Uneventful journey to the land of my fathers in gathering gloom. Lots of hills -too many hills. Stopped for afternoon tea at Llanfair Caereinion steam railway station just as the train pulled in. Then on to base camp for the first few days - glad tomorrow is an easy walk. Must apply more surgical spirit this evening.

As we drive into Dollgellau among rolling hills the enormity of this challenge hits me. I hate hills and heights, and would rather drive than walk..........

Ready, steady

Sunday evening and I am in the SQ lounge at Changi airport on the first leg of my journey to Wales, one of the perks of my former job - the red wine is flowing nerves though are building as I contemplate the size of the task ahead of me. Just two days ago my legs complained bitterly as I made the simple walk from car to restauarant with my wife , and brother just a little more quickly than McArdle's would allow. My calves are still sore - what will over two weeks of walking the welsh peaks do?? Its going to be a new experience for me that's for sure!!

Testing my new Thorlos walking socks

As the main event begins in Wales tomorrow i shall be trekking round macritchie reservoir here in Singapore sporting my new Thorlos walking socks - hopefully blisters will be a thing of the past now i am more properly equipped!

Walk over Wales 2nd July - 2nd August

Another rapid 11km round MacRitchie- am hoping training in this heat will help when I get to Wales - praying it won't be cold and damp!! two pairs of socks seems to have solved the blister problem while a friends advice on thorlos socks will be taken.........

Less than a month until I start - looking forward to it - i think!

Walk over Wales 2nd July - 2nd August

When in the early weeks of a career break I first heard of Andrew Wakelin's plans to Walk over Wales I was tempted to join but wary of making a commitment my body could not keep.

Now that I have committed to join from 14 July onwards I am both excited and nervous about what lies ahead. McArdle's has meant I have always shied away from a physical challenge- I was reminded today when making lunch just why - simply slicing a cut of pork into stew sized chunks required me to stop several times and left me with aching arms - since diagnosis 5 years ago i have though become much better at walking and have learnt how to pace myself.

Yesterday, as an example I walked 11km around Singapore's MacRitchie Reservoir in preparation for the WoW - slowly at first but after a sufficient time to allow energy to be sourced from the blood rather than muscle I was able to build to a fast walk. And on the second half even to attempt to run/jog up any inclines - if they were short I made the top - if longer the inevitable effect of McArdle's kicked in and I had to rest before carrying on. After plenty of stretching at the end my only problem today is an enormous blister from my new trainers!!!

One month to go - bring it on!!

My exercise prescription

I have added above the exercise prescription I received on visiting Dr Slonim in 2005 - I should emphasise that this was specifically tailored by Dr Slonim for me after a number of tests. I have changed the regime substatially since then, but crucially retain the same overall regime -ie slow warm up and then graduall increase to maximum exercise. i also now push myself in the final stages of the workout with higher pace or higher incline and then ease back before having one final push.

Cricket - my saviour??

As I have said before I am lucky in that my McArdle's is quite mild - i now believe that my lifelong passion for cricket, thanks dad!!!!!!!!!!, has had a role to play in making my battle against the disease at least possible. I recently came across some old school reports, which highlight how the game has helped me. After the first term, aged 11, my Housemaster, a lovely man, had this to say:

"He is a pleasant, courteous and willing boy, perhaps a little shy. He tries hard at rugby but it is likely that his main contributions will not be on the games field."

rugby in truth was a real challenge for me - as any McArdle's sufferer could imagine - much too physical. Cricket was a different matter. I had the advantage over many others in that i had been schooled in the game since a very early age by my father, who in another era might have played at a higher level than village cricket, where he excelled, while it is a game where reflexes and timing are as important as muscle strength, and so I was able to compete - certainly McArdles prevented me from being as good as i might have been but cricket meant i kept active and helped my self esteem no end:


After the summer term the same Housemaster had this to say:

"The advent of the cricket season has revealed a new dimension to him: enormous confidence. he has performed well in this sport both for the house and the school and i hope that it will lead to a continuation of this present exuberant attitude."

Cricket has been the one sport i have been able to hold my own in and has been the incentive to fight the disease and to keep moving. While i am not playing here in Singapore I hope to resume my career when we eventually return to the UK, as i want to play alongside my son and that is one incentive to keep exercising to prolong that possibility.

The benefits of a career break - back on track

Two weeks into a career break - a delightful opportunity to spend time with the children, lose some weight and devote the mornings to exercise, and, after having let things go in the last 6 months I am doing well. A routine is being established- morning dog walk, starting slowly, an hour in the gym, on the treadmill and then a 20 minute walk to the shops, and back if shopping is not too heavy. Twice a week my 7 year old has swimming lessons, rather than sit and watch I am getting in the pool and doing laps- dragged along eldest daughter(12) and son (10) and while the former comfortably beat me kept pace with the 10 year old and did 20 lengths - room to improve though and working exercise in to daily life is a real benefit overall. feeling good.

On the treadmill am finding that gradually increasing tempo and incline for the first 50 minutes, then dropping both for 5 allows me to then operate at a higher incline and pace for the last 5 minutes- enjoying sweating through exercise again. Have even managed to attack several flights of stairs on my shopping walks - of course i approach seizing up but stop just before and find recovery is speedy. That seems to me to be a key -know when to rest, ease up and then carry on....................................

Two questions

Does anyone famous have McArdle's?

How to we change GP protocols to get earlier diagnosis? I had several instances of rhabdo but was always sent for kidney tests- never CK levels- was I just unlucky?

Answers by comment below please.

Did not use it and lost it!!

Well it has been a busy few months and after a few weeks feeling off colour and a hectic travel schedule I slipped out of the excellent exercise regime I had set. Several months later and I have certainly regressed and find keeping up with the children more of a challenge, while wieght lost has been regained.

That's the bad news - the good news is I did make it to the gym last week and it was not as hard as I expected. In a weeks time I finish with J. P. Morgan and will take several months off. I intend to blog daily and set myself some goals for the end of March and then April - weight loss and an exercise target will be the keys - and I intend to track diet and exercise quite closely,which I hope will help others with this same condition.

Was amazed to see the number of hits to the blog when I logged in today - if yiu have found it helpful please do comment.