Set off yesterday morningat 2.45 on Day 1 of my walk - I decided to get the worst bit out the way first - the northern part of the island route doesn't go anywhere near the sea for the first 40km and involves a lot of road walking on narrow, often busy lanes which is quite unnerving.I had been struggling in the past week with an ingrowing toenail on my left baby toe but thought I would manage the discomfort and just got on with it.
Aside from the dangerous road walking sections, the forest/woods sections were treacherous as a result of the recent heavy rain and there were long unbroken sections of deep mud where you had a Hobson' choice - either take your chances in the mud, or walk through brambles and stinging nettles just off the path

- I chose the former.
At about the 45 km point where we were right back on the coast I met up with a lovely couple who were doing the island walk over 7 days and we walked most of my last section together - this was really enjoyable as they were adopting a more leisurely pace and I took the opportunity to act as a tour guide, as I've walked all the sections at least once before.
I chose to call an end to day 1 at Alum Bay, after 52 km.
When I got home I set about trying to dress my toe which had got quite a bit worse from the pressure of walking, and last night thought it felt good enough to continue today.
However, when I woke this morning it took quite a while to get my boots on, and then I struggled walking down the stairs - Island 2, Paul 0

- very frustrating as I haven't even been able to take the contest to extra-time, let alone penalties!!
As much as I hate to let this thing beat me, I am going to concede defeat - I will have a go again when the weather is cooler(I had done 7 or 8 40km walks early on in the year with no issues), but I don't cope well with the heat - I have very wide feet and battle to find shoes that fit me comfortably, and when they swell up in the heat(my feet, not my shoes

) I seem to land up with all sorts of foot problems.
On the plus front, I feel I am still steadily getting stronger and am feeling very well.
I received my results from my echocardiogram a few weeks ago, which revealed that my heart had suffered more damage than I had initially thought - my EF was measured at 41% where I was hoping it would be around about 50%, but I really can't complain - it's not stopping me getting stronger and while my aerobic capacity is never going to be great I am still around and have a lot to be incredibly thankful for.
Paul G