Tursday 6th September: Countdown continues...2...and The Long Push route plan

First things first, it's a beautiful day this morning, and I'm hoping to get a few miles in as a last bit of training today, but what's the forecast for the weekend?

SATURDAY: AM Clouds/PM Sun 68/52F 20% chance of rain

SUNDAY: Partly Cludy 71/52F 10% chance of rain

Hmmm, the chance of rain seems to be on the increase, but as long as it doesn't go over 20% we should be OK. Would be a shame after the weather leading up to the weekend.

OK, so I'm not going to waste a beautiful morning like this sat behind a PC. Here's the breakdown of the towns that I will be pushing through on the full 100 miles of The Long Push this weekend. Later on I'll break it down into the sectors I'm using a to monitor my progress. I was going to put a full Google map up, but stuff it! You can see the route on the poster anyway! But come back tonight or tomorrow to have another look at this post to see how it's been updated.

Day 1 -Starting from McDonalds, OCEAN PLAZA, in Southport at approximately 9.00AM on SATURDAY 8th September, THE LONG PUSH 2012 - Longboarding for Autism Awareness will be going through the following towns and villages:

SOUTHPORT - TARLETON - PENWORTHAM - PRESTON - FRECKLETON - WARTON - LYTHAM - ST. ANNES - BLACKPOOL - CLEVELEYS - FLEETWOOD

Ending Day 1 at the FERRYSIDE CAFE in Fleetwood.

Day 2, Sunday 9th September - Starts from the Ferryside Cafe at approx 10.00AM and follows the reverse route:

FLEETWOOD - CLEVELEYS - BLACKPOOL - ST.ANNES - LYTHAM - WARTON - FRECKLETON - PRSTON - PENWORTHAM - TARLETON - SOUTHPORT

Ending Day 2 back at McDonalds, OCEAN PLAZA again.

On the two days, check The Long Push Facebook page or @TheLongPush on Twitter for progress reports at the various sector points, and here are the different sectors:

Day 1

Sector 1: Home via Ocean Plaza to Banks Roundabout - 8.3 miles

Sector 2: Tarleton Library - 12.8 miles

Sector 3: Roundabout at Bretherton - 16.0 miles

Sector 4: Penwortham Traffic Lights - 20.3 miles

Sector 5: McDonalds, Riversway, Preston - 22.2 miles

Sector 6: Freckleton - 27.6 miles

Sector 7: Lytham Windmill - 31.8 miles

Sector 8: St. Annes Pier - 35.4 miles

Sector 9: Blackpool Tower/Big Woody's Skateshop - 40.5 miles

Sector 10: Cleveleys - 45.0 miles

Sector 11: Ferryside Cafe, Fleetwood and end of day 1 - 50.0 miles

Day 2

Sector 12: Start from Ferryside Cafe, Fleetwood to Cleveleys - 55.0 miles

Sector 13: Blackpool Tower - 59.4 miles

Sector 14: St. Annes Pier - 64.3 miles

Sector 15: Lytham Windmill - 68.6 miles

Sector 16: Freckleton - 72.9 miles

Sector 17: McDonalds, Riversway, Preston - 78.3 miles

Sector 18: Penwortham Traffic Lights - 80.4 miles

Sector 19: Roundabout at Bretherton - 84.5 miles

Sector 20: Tarleton Library - 88.0 miles

Sector 21: Banks Roundabout 91.00 miles

Sector 22: Day 2 ends at McDonalds, Ocean Plaza, Southport.
 
Check The Long Push Facebook page or @TheLongPush on Twitter throughout the weekend for progress reports at the various sector points.

OK, with that done, by about 10.00AM this morning I got my kit together for a last bit of training on the 'Switchblade'. On my way out through Birkdale village I stopped at a Macolls store to get a bottle of water and checked the local paper, the Southport Visiter, to see if my article was in and...IT WAS!!!! Right at the top of page 6 the headline, "I'M SKATEBOARDING 100 MILES" and the photo of Nikki Skinner presenting the cheque to Carol and myself back in July. The article wasn't bad either. SEverly edited from what I gave them (which I'll post up seperately) but all the important info was in there, so all in all, a pretty good job. :o)

I skated up to and along the costal road, the 6.91 miles up to Formby. Recorded on Runkeeper. 

 The Long Push 2012 - Final Day Training

At least my dreadful phone battery managed that far! Lord only knows how I'll get on over two days, but I certainly won't be able to track my route using Runkeeper. My phone just isn't up to the job. I won't mention the brand because I'll be writing to them to see if they can offer me some kind of upgrade for future LONG PUSH sponsorship.

Back on the Coastal Road, back from Formby to Southport

I had to take the orthotic insoles out before I set off today though. Although they felt ok under my foot and were giving the foot good support, they were also lifting my heel too high on my left foot. The DC's are quite low at the heel and with the additional insoles they were starting to rub. So I took the orthotics out, but seeing as the DC's I'm using have quite a lot of arch support, I felt fine without them. I'll just have to use them in other shoes instead. I've packed a pair of gel heel pads in case of any problems over the weekend, but they are more for cushioning the heel and raising it to protect the achilees tendon than anything else. 

Just as I reached the coast road I stopped to do a bit of stretching and an oldish guy on a bike went past me on the cycle path heading in the Formby direction. I carried on doing my warm-up, ate a Snickers and drank some water and then set off. Ten minutes later I'd caught up with  the guy on the bike an...was stuck behind him on the narrow cycle path! I couldn't believe it. But the path is really narrow and I just couldn't get past for bikes coming the other way. I had to wait till the path widened at Ainsdale to scoot on past him! Anyway I met up with Rachael at Formby Cycles where she...bought a bike! Nothing like striking while the iron's hot! Alan at Formby Cycles was really helpful and interested in my board, so some Long Push flyers and Skate Further cards were left with them at the shop. I was undecided whether to skate back or not, but decided to leave it at that, rather than do too much before the weekend. Back to Southport for lunch, a baked potato (The carb loading starts now!), and then I went home to start laying my kit out and packing my bag, so that I don't forget anything...which I will, of course. More about this tomorrow.

Back-Up board. Lush Samba, Seismics and Orangatang Durians

The day ended, like it usually does with me tweaking the blog and the Facebook pages, but not before I gave my back-up board, the Lush Samba with Seismic trucks, a brief roll along the promenade, after changing wheels and putting on the purple Orangatang 'Durians' (75mm 83A). This is just in case anything breaks and I can have this board brought out to me.Hopefully I won't have to use it. I'm expecting the 'blade to handle all that gets thrown at it on the journey. Tonight it felt wierd, but of course it would, it's the polar opposite of the Landyachtz Switchblade, with a soft flex and directional shape. Wheels were fine though. Hard to remember that I did a couple of training rides on it at the beginning of this in January/February. I'm so used to the Switchblade now.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more important info about the weekend journey

Chris