After the Lakeland 3000 rounds I did not go back to the Lakes for some years.
I did the Pennine way on my own in 2002 in 11 days. There was a history behind this in that I had started this when at medical school with Roger but we had only got as far as Malham from Edale in the week long holiday we had before we had to start hitching back down to Southampton. I had labelled it as unfinished business and finally had a spare week of holiday (with 2 weekends either side) and decided to give it a go.
I was very lucky with the weather but I had been slightly overambitious with my schedule and I found the 25 miles plus per day to be a bit too tough for comfort. I carried some kit for basic camping but relied on bed and breakfast and youth hostels. I started in Scotland and made my way down to Edale where I was collected a day later than planned and after 270 miles pretty tired. I had lost something hideous like a stone in weight during the journey and I ended that holiday triumphant but in need of a rest and some big eating.
After this I started doing more road running. I had done several marathons but hoped to improve my personal best time to below 3 hours. My best at this stage was about 3 hours 15 minutes so it demanded a substantial improvement.
Eventually in 2006 I managed to organise my training sufficiently so that I ran 2 hours 57 minutes at the Cardiff Marathon in October. It was my 4th marathon of the year and I had also had a period of cycling training in the summer when I prepared for and successfully completed the Etape du Tour. This is a mass participation event which every year allows amateurs to ride and compete over one of the tougher hill stages of the Tour de France. In 2006 the stage ended by climbing the famous Alpe d'Huez and coming across the finishing line was a great end to a wonderful experience.
All this strength and endurance training over the year allowed me to lift myself just sufficiently to acheive my long term goal of a sub 3 hour marathon and it showed me too that it is possible to acheive much more than we would normally imagine with a mixture of dedication and determination.
I was talking to my friend Roger about all this and he told me that he had a months sabbatical in 2007 and that he was planning to devote it all to training for the Bob Graham round.
I was keen to help him as much as I could but it also reminded me of this final 'work in progress' and I wondered if I too might be able to do the round. I was keen to at least have a good go at it even if that might result in an heroic failure.
I got up to the Lakes a couple of times early on in the year but I still struggled a bit on the fells - especially with the descents. Meanwhile Roger went from strength to strength and when his moment came for the round he was very well prepared. Not only had he become fit, strong and fell hardened but he had spent so much time on the route that he knew it intimately. He had bad weather with poor visibility much of the time but he rarely put a foot wrong with route finding and even though he hurt his knee on the final descent off Robinson his round was never really in doubt and he was able to walk back to Keswick, still finishing with 20 minutes to spare.
I was impressed by his effort but felt that if I could just get him to lead me round the tricky bits then I too might have a chance.
I had some holiday in August and thought if I trained hard I might be ready for an attempt during that week. I approached Roger to see whether he might be prepared to help me on the third section - coincidentally the one I had paced and load carried for him but he was not optimistic about my chances and did not want to spend his holiday on any more Bob Graham ventures. I think to be honest he had pretty much had his fill of the Bob Graham round for the time being anyway.
I went up to the Lakes for the week and did loads of reccying. By the end I had got a pretty good idea of the route and it was only then that the real size of the undertaking fully started to dawn on me. At the end of the week I did 2 sections - from Keswick to Wasdale. I felt I could have done more but I was tired from a hard week of exploring the route and so I stopped and hitched/walked back to Keswick.
This week had awakened something in me though. I had really enjoyed being in the fells and I just loved travelling over the mountains. I was really hooked on the idea of having a 'proper' determined attempt at the round.
I started looking at anything I could find on the subject - the internet was very useful. I planned food, kit and strategy. I started to develop a training plan.
Training I knew would be hard - partly because for a challenge like the BGR it has to be and partly because of my lack of access to the fells. The other difficulty was knowing how hard to push and exactly what to do - it was very much a voyage into the unknown.
I decided to start with that I should end the year by training as if I was aiming for a marathon on the roads and that then in 2008 I would some how try to convert this into 'fell hardening'.
It had been obvious from my experiences that although it was good to be fit on the roads there was definitely a missing x factor when this fitness was dumped on the mountains - the legs just didnt work in the same way. The mantra in most of the advice I had read was 'climb climb climb' and then do some more climbing!
I spent the rest of 2007 building up the road miles to 50 per week. I built up very slowly so that come January 2008 this mileage would be 'normal' and part of my routine.
This phase went according to plan and I hit the New Year feeling good and uninjured.
Socially it was a bit of a strain to fit the running in around work, family and other commitments but I felt I had got to first base and was ready for the hills.
Monday 31 December 2007
Sunday 30 December 2007
Sowing the seeds
In 1995 I first heard of the Bob Graham Round and the challenge of it was intriguing. Knowing little about it I set off one day with Roger (a friend from Portsmouth) and Mick (one of his friends from Cambridge) but both passionate about the Lakes. We were laden with huge rucksacks, sandwiches, cameras and bags of enthusiasm. We got halfway round, anticlockwise, hours behind schedule and as the sun set I bailed out into Langdale and the comfort of the pub before collecting my more determined friends at Dunmail Raise the next morning.
At the time I was living on the edge of the Lakes near Carnforth and I had ample access to the fells. However my lifestyle with a young family, a house and garden needing attention and a busy job meant that in practice I did not spend much time taking advantage of my location. Occasionally I would bomb up and down Helvellyn after work (in order to be home for tea) but it was not part of my regular routine.
In 1998 I moved to the Isle of Wight and in (I think it was) 1999 Roger and I had another 'bash' at the BGR. Roger had done loads of reccying and had put depots of food and drink at various strategic points around the route. We made some attempt to lighten the loads of our rucksacks and we knew about the schedule which had to be kept to. We were still very naive as we assessed our chances on the train journey up to Penrith and then the bus to Keswick but it was a great adventure - perhaps in many ways akin to the old pioneers of lake district rounds. I honestly can't remember if we really thought we were going to manage the round or not. Memory tells me that it was a sort of recce where we might just end up going all the way.
We had a night in a bed and breakfast in Keswick and then prepared ourselves the following day for the six oclock ish evening departure. We left our kit in the B and B as we had paid for that night too and we set off clockwise this time in beautiful evening sunshine. I was quite fit as I had been training for a road marathon and Roger was more fell hardened but slower than me at the time. It took precisely Skiddaw, Great Calva and Mungrisdale Common to expose our weaknesses and we arrived at the top of Blencathra barely on schedule and already feeling the strain. Roger was struggling to keep up and I already had massive blisters on both heels. I arrived at the top of Hall's Fell Ridge and looked down with a state of rising panic. At the time I was near phobic about heights and nothing had prepared me for the sudden exposure and steepness of the descent. I got down there as quickly as I could partly because it was getting dark, partly to get off that scary bit and partly because I wanted to do the first section at least in the time allowed. I just made it in the time and Roger was a few minutes later. I was keen to get going as soon as possible to make up time but Roger wanted to have a few minutes to change socks, eat and generally collect himself.
When we did get going it was a clear starlit night and I started to jog up Clough Head to make up a bit of time. Roger was very reluctant to go that fast and in the end we agreed that we would just go at a steady pace and enjoy ourselves.
From that moment on it was a very pleasant moonlit walk and we gently made our way over Helvellyn and to the end of section two. By now I think we were about two hours behind schedule and the sun was well up on what promised to be a beautiful day. As we came down to Dunmail Raise my mind turned to the breakfast which we had paid for at our accommodation and I suggested to Roger that hitching back might see us arrive back in time for the feast. The temptation was too much for him too and we got a lift back from two prospective BGR's who were getting ready for their own recce that day. Oh and that breakfast? - it tasted great.
It had been a great adventure and we had both learned a lot. Neither of us had given up hope of doing the BGR but we both knew that we would have to do things differently.
After that we both had goes (with Mick one year) at the Lakeland 3000 peaks round. This was an organised event with feeding stations on the way so we didnt have to carry so much stuff. We started and finished at Keswick and went up Skiddaw, Scafells and Helvellyn. It was about 40 miles, but with much less climbing as well, it turned it into a very pleasant day out. The first year we did it we finished with plenty of time to spare but the second year Roger tweaked his knee halfway round and decided to walk out via Langdale. I felt it would be safer if he had some one with him so I walked out too. I had already done the round and the descent into Langdale was a very pleasant one so I didn't mind missing out on finishing for a second time. Mick carried on determinedly and finished in fine style.
I remember on the bus back to Keswick with Roger talking about the BGR and him saying that I would never manage to do it (an omen perhaps?). I dont know if he remembers but we had a £1 sportsman's bet that I would not manage it before I turned 50.
I am still hoping to collect and plan to use that memory to help with motivation.
At the time I was living on the edge of the Lakes near Carnforth and I had ample access to the fells. However my lifestyle with a young family, a house and garden needing attention and a busy job meant that in practice I did not spend much time taking advantage of my location. Occasionally I would bomb up and down Helvellyn after work (in order to be home for tea) but it was not part of my regular routine.
In 1998 I moved to the Isle of Wight and in (I think it was) 1999 Roger and I had another 'bash' at the BGR. Roger had done loads of reccying and had put depots of food and drink at various strategic points around the route. We made some attempt to lighten the loads of our rucksacks and we knew about the schedule which had to be kept to. We were still very naive as we assessed our chances on the train journey up to Penrith and then the bus to Keswick but it was a great adventure - perhaps in many ways akin to the old pioneers of lake district rounds. I honestly can't remember if we really thought we were going to manage the round or not. Memory tells me that it was a sort of recce where we might just end up going all the way.
We had a night in a bed and breakfast in Keswick and then prepared ourselves the following day for the six oclock ish evening departure. We left our kit in the B and B as we had paid for that night too and we set off clockwise this time in beautiful evening sunshine. I was quite fit as I had been training for a road marathon and Roger was more fell hardened but slower than me at the time. It took precisely Skiddaw, Great Calva and Mungrisdale Common to expose our weaknesses and we arrived at the top of Blencathra barely on schedule and already feeling the strain. Roger was struggling to keep up and I already had massive blisters on both heels. I arrived at the top of Hall's Fell Ridge and looked down with a state of rising panic. At the time I was near phobic about heights and nothing had prepared me for the sudden exposure and steepness of the descent. I got down there as quickly as I could partly because it was getting dark, partly to get off that scary bit and partly because I wanted to do the first section at least in the time allowed. I just made it in the time and Roger was a few minutes later. I was keen to get going as soon as possible to make up time but Roger wanted to have a few minutes to change socks, eat and generally collect himself.
When we did get going it was a clear starlit night and I started to jog up Clough Head to make up a bit of time. Roger was very reluctant to go that fast and in the end we agreed that we would just go at a steady pace and enjoy ourselves.
From that moment on it was a very pleasant moonlit walk and we gently made our way over Helvellyn and to the end of section two. By now I think we were about two hours behind schedule and the sun was well up on what promised to be a beautiful day. As we came down to Dunmail Raise my mind turned to the breakfast which we had paid for at our accommodation and I suggested to Roger that hitching back might see us arrive back in time for the feast. The temptation was too much for him too and we got a lift back from two prospective BGR's who were getting ready for their own recce that day. Oh and that breakfast? - it tasted great.
It had been a great adventure and we had both learned a lot. Neither of us had given up hope of doing the BGR but we both knew that we would have to do things differently.
After that we both had goes (with Mick one year) at the Lakeland 3000 peaks round. This was an organised event with feeding stations on the way so we didnt have to carry so much stuff. We started and finished at Keswick and went up Skiddaw, Scafells and Helvellyn. It was about 40 miles, but with much less climbing as well, it turned it into a very pleasant day out. The first year we did it we finished with plenty of time to spare but the second year Roger tweaked his knee halfway round and decided to walk out via Langdale. I felt it would be safer if he had some one with him so I walked out too. I had already done the round and the descent into Langdale was a very pleasant one so I didn't mind missing out on finishing for a second time. Mick carried on determinedly and finished in fine style.
I remember on the bus back to Keswick with Roger talking about the BGR and him saying that I would never manage to do it (an omen perhaps?). I dont know if he remembers but we had a £1 sportsman's bet that I would not manage it before I turned 50.
I am still hoping to collect and plan to use that memory to help with motivation.
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