Sometimes the world conspires against you when you try to train. It was rainy yesterday as I headed out for a 7 mile hilly trail run. Not a problem. However it all went downhill from there.
It took so long to get my Garmin linked to satellites I was about to head off without the damned device (after all its the run that matters) when it decided to play ball. OK I thought and headed off strong. It lost signal twice and on the second time it took about half a mile to regain signal by which time there was little point recording the run.
Then my shoes began to progressively loosen as a I ran up one of the bigger hills on the route. Odd I thought they are becoming very loose. I am used to Salomons loosening a bit on the uphill as they have a fancy tightening system that doesn't work 100% (much better with normal laces I reckon than gimmicky tighteners) but this was getting ridiculous. I stopped at the top, shoe almost flapping to see the supposedly unbreakable lace had snapped. Aagh, no way to tighten the shoe (another feature of gimmicky tightening devices) so I had to walk back to the car.
The rain then decided to turn monsoonal. I sighed slightly and tramped on like a drowned rat, shoe flapping from one foot.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Bobby Gee weekender
Distance: 30.14 miles
Time: 12hrs 45 mins
Ascent: +/- 11,500'
Fun: lots
Weather: great
Beer: some - Coniston Bitter, Jennings Bitter, some other bitter I can't remember the name of
Breakfast: full English complete with fried bread mmmm
The Bobby Gee (term nicked from the erstwhile Mr. Cunningham) or Bob Graham Round as it more formally called is a ~70 mile, 28,000' ascent long distance fell running challenge that is well described by Richard Askwith in his book 'Feet in the Clouds'. It is perhaps the classic long distance fell run in England and must be completed within 24 hours, at any point in the year you so desire. Attempts must be registered and completion is recorded on an honesty basis as attempts are usually solitary and not under typical race conditions. This is a challenge about yourself and the fell, not beating the man in front.
The Bobby Gee has been on my target for some time now and I have a sort of loose agreement with Jon Steele to give it a bash next year so this weekend just past was an opportunity to recce the route and to get some quality time on hills, serious ascent training for the UTMB. Unfortunatly Jon's son James was seriously injured so he couldn't make it (best wishes for a speedy recovery James) but I met up with two other dafties, Davie Bell (also doing UTMB) and John Millen (done the Fling in a cracking time, about to do the Devils and planning on WHWR next year) to do the route over 2 days.
Well having done it I can safely say I need more time to train on the rough ground of the fell and to recce the route to figure out the best lines where no path exists, or even where a path exists. Going from Steel Fell to Calf Raise then on to Sergeant Man was a prime example of rough ground that we took a while to get across in a definitely less than optimal line. I also need to make sure I fill up water bottles whenever I can. We made the school boy error of running out of water (all 3 of us simultaneously) just after Clough Head and so had to cope with beaming sun, sweating inclines and no water for miles until we reached the streams just above Dunmail Raise. If only we'd filled up at the base of Blencathra ...
At the top of Blencathra figuring out where to go next (Skiddaw and Great Calva behind)
Section 1 - Keswick to Threkeld
Anway we managed some sleep despite the snores emanating from the tent of Mr. Bell and set off at 7am on Saturday morning, planning to run to Langdale and sleep over in the Stickle Inn Bunkhouse. There were a few early morning clouds around but basically a fine fell running day. The path out of Keswick rose gradually towards the Skiddaw car park then became steeper as it headed up Skiddaw proper. This was my first long use of the poles which I'll use in the UTMB and they work a treat, really helping to ease the stress of climbing on the legs. I found them less useful going downhill at speed or over very tricky steep rocky ground when they took too much attention to place properly, but they were just as useful when going downhill at moderate to slow speed over moderate to easy ground.
We head through cloud to the top of Skiddaw (brrr chilly) then down the other side before heading off over rough and boggy ground down and back up to Great Calva. Quick stop then off down the rough heather clad slopes to the river crossing before slogging up the grassy slopes of Mungrisdale Common. Banter was good and we were beginning to generate a fair amount of wind between us, something that would continue to gather pace as we proceeded. Over the boggy top then up the ridge to Blencathra summit where we bumped into a 25 mile walking event. I said we weren't part of it before we learned they were serving beer to the competitors. Doh. We literally went straight down the steep, rocky and scrambly Halls Fell Ridge to end up in Threlkeld where we failed to find a shop that could quench our thirst for a nice cold coke. The thought of nice cold cokes stayed with us for the next 7 odd hours till we reached Langdale but aaaah how nice did one taste.
Section 2 - Threlkeld to Dunmail Raise
John and myself at the top of Clough Head with a glorious view
We definitely didn't take the best line from Threlkeld to the summit of Clough Head and ended up slogging through thigh and waist high sedge for about a mile before breaking through to shorter grass. We then all pretty much simultaneously ran out of water after Calfhow Pike nd got progessively more and more dehydrated as we jogged and power hiked our way south along the ridge across the Dodds to Helvellyn and beyond. We really started farting like troopers on this section which may have been related to the lack of water, who knows. The sounds and bracing smells that regailed our senses were quite something. Fart comfortable with each other for sure.
Davie and John heading up the slopes of Great Dodd
We took the strategic decision to miss a few tops and instead contour around the ridge in the interests of finding water more quickly which we eventually did, on the slopes between Nethermost Pike and Dollywagon Pike. Aaah it tasted like nectar. The ground immediately afterwards proved comical with lots of potholes and Davie doing a face plant as he went down one with one leg, unable to let go of his poles on the way down.
John and myself on the steepish descent down to Dunmail Raise (glorious day)
Section 3 - Dunmail Raise to Langdale
The climb straight up Steel Fell was pretty savage with an intermittently defined path dotted with PB stud marks (someone must have been doing the Round proper) but the views at the top ample reward. This section doesn't look far on the map and we could see the Langdale Pikes tantalisingly close but the ground was rough, bumpy and boggy with little in the way of clear paths. I ended up knee deep in muck and we continued farting our way towards the end point which we reached with a steep but pleasant descent from Stickle Tarn to the bunkhouse.
Davie and John just beyond the top of Steel Fell (Skiddaw and Blencathra in far back)
The bunkhouse and day 2
We went straight to the pub for our long desired cold cokes and ordered food right away. A 1/2lb cheeseburger and chips went down a treat for me accompanied by some good lakeland bitter after a shower and freshen up.
We slept in the next day having read the forecast for persistent rain and gusts up to 65mph on the tops (a reminder of the 2008 OMM) and waking up briefly at 6am to confirm the state of play. So day 2 a write off we ate some well earned full englishes then packed up our gear, said goodbye and headed home with some unfinished business to do.
How do I feel about the UTMB after the outing? Bring it on. The poles worked a treat and I'm looking forward to the main event now. Just a few more hill reps to go ... :-)
Time: 12hrs 45 mins
Ascent: +/- 11,500'
Fun: lots
Weather: great
Beer: some - Coniston Bitter, Jennings Bitter, some other bitter I can't remember the name of
Breakfast: full English complete with fried bread mmmm
The Bobby Gee (term nicked from the erstwhile Mr. Cunningham) or Bob Graham Round as it more formally called is a ~70 mile, 28,000' ascent long distance fell running challenge that is well described by Richard Askwith in his book 'Feet in the Clouds'. It is perhaps the classic long distance fell run in England and must be completed within 24 hours, at any point in the year you so desire. Attempts must be registered and completion is recorded on an honesty basis as attempts are usually solitary and not under typical race conditions. This is a challenge about yourself and the fell, not beating the man in front.
The Bobby Gee has been on my target for some time now and I have a sort of loose agreement with Jon Steele to give it a bash next year so this weekend just past was an opportunity to recce the route and to get some quality time on hills, serious ascent training for the UTMB. Unfortunatly Jon's son James was seriously injured so he couldn't make it (best wishes for a speedy recovery James) but I met up with two other dafties, Davie Bell (also doing UTMB) and John Millen (done the Fling in a cracking time, about to do the Devils and planning on WHWR next year) to do the route over 2 days.
Well having done it I can safely say I need more time to train on the rough ground of the fell and to recce the route to figure out the best lines where no path exists, or even where a path exists. Going from Steel Fell to Calf Raise then on to Sergeant Man was a prime example of rough ground that we took a while to get across in a definitely less than optimal line. I also need to make sure I fill up water bottles whenever I can. We made the school boy error of running out of water (all 3 of us simultaneously) just after Clough Head and so had to cope with beaming sun, sweating inclines and no water for miles until we reached the streams just above Dunmail Raise. If only we'd filled up at the base of Blencathra ...
At the top of Blencathra figuring out where to go next (Skiddaw and Great Calva behind)
Section 1 - Keswick to Threkeld
Anway we managed some sleep despite the snores emanating from the tent of Mr. Bell and set off at 7am on Saturday morning, planning to run to Langdale and sleep over in the Stickle Inn Bunkhouse. There were a few early morning clouds around but basically a fine fell running day. The path out of Keswick rose gradually towards the Skiddaw car park then became steeper as it headed up Skiddaw proper. This was my first long use of the poles which I'll use in the UTMB and they work a treat, really helping to ease the stress of climbing on the legs. I found them less useful going downhill at speed or over very tricky steep rocky ground when they took too much attention to place properly, but they were just as useful when going downhill at moderate to slow speed over moderate to easy ground.
We head through cloud to the top of Skiddaw (brrr chilly) then down the other side before heading off over rough and boggy ground down and back up to Great Calva. Quick stop then off down the rough heather clad slopes to the river crossing before slogging up the grassy slopes of Mungrisdale Common. Banter was good and we were beginning to generate a fair amount of wind between us, something that would continue to gather pace as we proceeded. Over the boggy top then up the ridge to Blencathra summit where we bumped into a 25 mile walking event. I said we weren't part of it before we learned they were serving beer to the competitors. Doh. We literally went straight down the steep, rocky and scrambly Halls Fell Ridge to end up in Threlkeld where we failed to find a shop that could quench our thirst for a nice cold coke. The thought of nice cold cokes stayed with us for the next 7 odd hours till we reached Langdale but aaaah how nice did one taste.
Section 2 - Threlkeld to Dunmail Raise
John and myself at the top of Clough Head with a glorious view
We definitely didn't take the best line from Threlkeld to the summit of Clough Head and ended up slogging through thigh and waist high sedge for about a mile before breaking through to shorter grass. We then all pretty much simultaneously ran out of water after Calfhow Pike nd got progessively more and more dehydrated as we jogged and power hiked our way south along the ridge across the Dodds to Helvellyn and beyond. We really started farting like troopers on this section which may have been related to the lack of water, who knows. The sounds and bracing smells that regailed our senses were quite something. Fart comfortable with each other for sure.
Davie and John heading up the slopes of Great Dodd
We took the strategic decision to miss a few tops and instead contour around the ridge in the interests of finding water more quickly which we eventually did, on the slopes between Nethermost Pike and Dollywagon Pike. Aaah it tasted like nectar. The ground immediately afterwards proved comical with lots of potholes and Davie doing a face plant as he went down one with one leg, unable to let go of his poles on the way down.
John and myself on the steepish descent down to Dunmail Raise (glorious day)
Section 3 - Dunmail Raise to Langdale
The climb straight up Steel Fell was pretty savage with an intermittently defined path dotted with PB stud marks (someone must have been doing the Round proper) but the views at the top ample reward. This section doesn't look far on the map and we could see the Langdale Pikes tantalisingly close but the ground was rough, bumpy and boggy with little in the way of clear paths. I ended up knee deep in muck and we continued farting our way towards the end point which we reached with a steep but pleasant descent from Stickle Tarn to the bunkhouse.
Davie and John just beyond the top of Steel Fell (Skiddaw and Blencathra in far back)
The bunkhouse and day 2
We went straight to the pub for our long desired cold cokes and ordered food right away. A 1/2lb cheeseburger and chips went down a treat for me accompanied by some good lakeland bitter after a shower and freshen up.
We slept in the next day having read the forecast for persistent rain and gusts up to 65mph on the tops (a reminder of the 2008 OMM) and waking up briefly at 6am to confirm the state of play. So day 2 a write off we ate some well earned full englishes then packed up our gear, said goodbye and headed home with some unfinished business to do.
How do I feel about the UTMB after the outing? Bring it on. The poles worked a treat and I'm looking forward to the main event now. Just a few more hill reps to go ... :-)
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Manny's Corbett run
Eating lunch with tender quads after the Bobby Gee weekend which I'll blog about later. During the run Davie Bell was talking about a lad called Manny doing an attempt on all the Corbetts (hills above 2500ft but below 3000ft in Scotland) in 70 days without motorised transport so I thought I'd follow the story up. He apparently completed his attempt on 8th July and you can read all about it here http://corbettrun.blogspot.com/.
Hat off to Manny. What an adventure!
Hat off to Manny. What an adventure!
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Back from Oz and the loom of the UTMB
Back to reality on Tuesday at 6am in Heathrow after 3 weeks in Australia. The flights back from Oz were good enough, the space on the A380-800s much better than normal and the Singapore airlines service great. Our daughter managed a reasonable amount of sleep on the 13 hour second leg from Singapore to Heathrow after a sleepless but good humoured 7.5 hours from Brisbane to Singapore. Our sleep rhythms are surprisingly back to normal after making ourselves stay awake on Tuesday although my head is pretty woolly. What surprises me most is the fact that our baby daughter took basically no re-adjusting at all. When we went to Australia she woke up at 3am for 2 hours for the first 4 nights which wasn't very pleasant at all.
The 103 mile, 10,000m ascent UTMB race is now looming. Previously it was a relatively distant thing but now that I have the course maps, profile and handbook I am beginning to feel some trepidation. The course involves going up and down and up and down and up and you get the idea. Not so easy to train for in rural Buckinghamshire so I am heading north this weekend to do the 76 mile 28,000' ascent Bob Graham Round in the Lake District over 2 days with Davie Bell, Jon Steele and John Millen. A builder, an ex-paratrooper, a mortgage consultant and an academic to make up a right motley crew on the fells. Should be great fun.
Profile of UTMB (note elevation is in metres, not feet ... erk)
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Running in tropical Cairns
I've now been in the land down under for 2.5 weeks and am thoroughly enjoying myself. I've been based with my in-laws in Nerang on the edge of the Gold Coast Hinterland which is nice and hilly so I've been getting in some great UTMB focussed training. I caught a cold in the 2nd week which put paid to running but I enjoyed myself by drinking lots of beer and wine from the wineries in the granite belt which we were visiting (try the Felsberg Tawny Port if you can get it -mmmm). In fact drinking lots of beer has been a fairly constant theme of the trip but this was to be expected, being married to a Queenslander.
I am now on the bit of the trip which is paying for my flights - a work conference in tropical Cairns where the temperature is a notch higher at 28C, high considering it is mid-winter here! It is fairly humid too so running is hot and sweaty, but good UTMB heat training I figure.
There is a 330m rainforest covered hill, Mount Whitfield, 5km from my hotel that I have been running to and running up and down like a deranged sweaty Scots man. I've spotted one or two other locals also doing reps so I'm not being totally batty.
The stairs on the way up Mount Whitfield
I ran round the 'blue arrow' trail near dusk the other day and began to get the aaaagh spiders are out to get me jitters. Then began to think about snakes and violently territorial cassowaries before reigning myself in with a 'stop it you soft git and carry on regardless eeek what's that in the bushes come on man stiff upper lip'.
Off for a catamaran trip to the outer barrier reef for some snorkelling today under bright blue cloud free 27C skies as it is the 'social' day of the conference. Ah its a hard life. :-))))))
Monday, 13 July 2009
A small remembrance for a good man, Dario Melaragni
I was shocked and saddened to learn today that Dario Melaragni had died on the top of Lochnagar from a suspected heart attack. My thoughts go to his wife and to those who tried to help him and were with him through the event.
I'll only say a little here for others knew him better and I shan't pretend to have done so. However he gave me not just one, but three shots at realising my ambition to run the West Highland Way Race. I failed on the first two but his action provided me with a measure of confidence and most importantly the opportunity. I succeeded on the third attempt and feel much bettered as a consequence.
Thank you Dario for organising the race and for providing people like me with the chance to realise their dreams and ambitions. Rest in peace.
I'll only say a little here for others knew him better and I shan't pretend to have done so. However he gave me not just one, but three shots at realising my ambition to run the West Highland Way Race. I failed on the first two but his action provided me with a measure of confidence and most importantly the opportunity. I succeeded on the third attempt and feel much bettered as a consequence.
Thank you Dario for organising the race and for providing people like me with the chance to realise their dreams and ambitions. Rest in peace.
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