A bit of sightseeing on my way to Thames Path, Woolwich parkrun this morning. Part of my last long walk (12 hours) before the race in five weeks.

Another big training week done. 2 more high mileage weeks left before a 3 week taper. Yesterday was a long 84km day at a good pace - a much needed confidence boost. I'm continuing the long walk high calorie/carb diet with 4,200 calories and 800 grams of carbohydrate consumed.

Last week I was interviewed by RunningWalker for his Canadian racewalking podcast. The podcast is available on YouTube and podcast apps. youtu.be/4yNVKsWgUuA?si…

Another 100 mile week done, & I passed 1,000 miles for the year today. Only 4 weeks to the race starts. Was planning 1 more high mileage week before a 3 week taper but I’ve got a few niggly injuries so I’m thinking of taking an easy week next week. May do 1 more long walk on Sat.

A beautiful morning for walking to work (via Hammersmith)

My training is finished. 1,746km in the last 13 weeks. Training hasn't gone as well as last year but I now have three weeks to recover from some niggly injuries and catch up on sleep so that I am 100% ready when the race starts on 20th April.

One last walk to work before we travel to France tomorrow. Race starts on Saturday.

On our 3rd visit to Vallon Pont d'Arc we thought we should do more than walk around a campground for 6 days, so this morning we went for what we thought would be a gentle 4km walk out to Pont d'Arc. Well 4km became a mountainous 7km but it was worth it when we got there.

Absolutely agree!

For those of you wanting to follow my progress over the next six days, this is the link: 6jours-de-france-gerard-cain.fr/classements-li… My minimum goal is to walk further than last year - which was good enough for the 4th best distance recorded in modern race-walking history.

The 4 English speaking walkers in the 6 day race. L to R: Bob Hearn - Last year's winner in the running race. This is his first 6 day as a walker Yolanda Holder - Women's world record holder Me - Men's Commonwealth record holder Kathy Crilley - W75 world record holder

Six hours down. Going ok. If you are looking for the online results the URL has changed. 6jours-de-france-gerard-cain.fr/classements/20…

300km done. It's been a cold and windy day but so far, so good.

Half time! 72 hours done, 72 to go. I'm 10km down on last year after losing a lot of time with serious blistering under both feet, and my toes don't look great either. But we've switched to my old orthotics and the pain has gone.

Doing it hard but finally reached 500km. Suffering from multiple injuries. Will just try to hold the lead through to the finish in 44 hours. No longer chasing 700km :(

If this was a 10k, we would now be in the final mile! Other than my right foot which hurts with every step, things are going well. 60km to the NZ M55 6 day record (probably around 1am) and then another 16km to the world M55 record. And this time tomorrow I can put my feet up :)

World record! M55 6 day race walking. . Huge thanks to Sarah for being my support crew this week, and also Ruth for all your support during the last four months, and to everyone else who has supported me in any way. 6 1/2 hour left to add some distance to that record.

Final distance was 671km - my 2nd best and my 3rd consecutive win. I picked up a total of 8 NZ M55 age group records including 2 running records - 48 hour and six day) plus the world M55 six day race walking record, so not a bad week. Photo is with Yolanda Holder, female winner.

It's hard to believe that it's already a month ago that I was in the middle of my latest 6 day race. It feels like it was just last week. I've finally written my (long) race report: richardwalkslondon.com/6-jours-de-fra…

6 1/2 hours into overnight walk with Cedric Touny