April:Plans, hill climbing and Lakeland fells

April is a lovely month. The light lasts so much longer - giving time to do things in the evenings and there are signs of spring bursting out everywhere.

Having said that this is the UK and we know to expect anything from the weather. This year we had some freezing weather and at times it seemed as winter had forgotten to leave us.

My plan for the month was to continue with more of the same. I wanted to keep 10,000 feet of ascent each week and had another trip to the Lakes planned.

I had continued to read as much as I could about the Bob Graham and spent quite a bit of time with map and route directions working out exactly how I was going to get round.

I had a date in mind of the 20th to 21st of June and was planning for a midnight or 0100 start.

I was planning to do the route on a self contained basis - carrying my own food, drink and other necessary equipment. I would have roadside support at least in the form of prepositioned depots and maybe too with a car. I felt this method was consistent with my first attempts on the route and I liked the idea of the simplicity and purity of the approach. From experiments I had done with and without packs I reckoned if I could keep my pack weight to around 3kg then it would slow me down by about 4 minutes every hour. Over the whole Bob Graham this would be something like an hour and a half. I was therefore expecting to complete the round with the kind of effort needed for a supported 22 and a half hour round. This has been done many times and I felt it was not too unreasonable to aim for.

The other point I had not decided about was whether I would be accompanied for all or part of the route. There is little doubt from my own experience and from accounts of others that having people with you does provide a substantial psychological and morale boost. This can be invaluable when the going gets tough or during a (inevitable) low point on the round. The accompanying person or people can also help with navigation and provide an important safety feature too.

As if that were not enough then they can be witnesses of each summit climbed which can allow a successful aspirant to join the coveted and (by all accounts) very sociable Bob Graham Round Club.

The drawback is that it is hard work to organise a team to be in the right place at the right time and this is definitely not my strong point. I would lose flexibility about the start time so that if there was a weather window I might not be able to utilise it fully.
Finally, although I was very happy to give up a couple of days holiday to help out Roger on his Bob Graham round last year I was not quite so ready to ask others to do the same. I don't know that many fell runners that well and it would be even harder to ask strangers especially if there was substantial doubt that I might not be able to do their efforts justice by completing the round.

I agonised over these issues without really coming to any conclusions.

The first couple of weeks of April went well. I managed over 40 miles of running and 10,000 feet of ascent with at least one run of over 3 hours duration. Generally I felt good although there were some days when I felt tired and so took a rest day.
Rest days are always difficult. In my mind I want to be tough and hard and push on regardless like a training machine but experience and my reading tell me that it might be better to back off with a rest day and come back even stronger. It really does seem for me that my fitness develops during a rest day in response to the stress of the previous high intensity days. It is very difficult to strike the balance between training and resting though and for the Bob Graham this was an especially unknown entity.
The end of the 3rd week saw me on my 2nd trip up to the Lakes for the year.
I arrived at 0100 and slept in the car as I had an early start the next day. My plan was to do legs 2 and 3 of the BGR and then stay the night in Wasdale at the Wasdale Head Inn. I set off about 0800 and made good time up Clough Head but there was a fiendish and icy cold wind.
Once I reached the summit I was exposed to its full blast and when I turned to go up Great Dodd progress was all but impossible into the wind. I ploughed on but when I got to the snow line on Stybarrow Dodd and it was icy hard and slippery I started to question the sense in carrying on.
I could see the snow ahead of me along the ridge line to Helvellyn and beyond and even running with all my kit on I was cold. The temperature was something like minus 3 degrees and with gusts of up to 70 mph wind I was imagining how long I would last up there if I twisted an ankle.
Discretion seemed to be the better part of valour and so I bailed out by descending Sticks Pass (between Stybarrow and Raise) down to the main road. I then walked back to Threlkeld and did some shopping in Keswick.
I got some new Walshes with good studs although they didn't feel quite as comfortable as my ancient ones. Hopefully they would improve with wear.
I then drove round to the Wasdale Head Inn and went for an evening run up to Blacksail Pass and back so that I had at least made something of the day.
I had a lovely evening with lots to eat and a bit of ale too so went to bed in good spirits.
The next day was still windy but much more reasonably so and it was generally warmer too.
I did leg 4 of the BGR in a reasonable time and then retraced my steps back as far as Green Gable and then over Styhead Pass and down into Wasdale. I had some great views and had a good chat with Rinaldo who I met on the way over to Steeple. He is a fell runner planning for the BGR and out on a recce to test his back after a recent injury - he looked to be going well to me so I hope it is not long before he is back to full strength.
I drove back to Keswick for the night and enjoyed fish and chips for supper feeling that I had salvaged my weekend.
The following day I did leg 1 of BGR fairly comfortably in 4hrs 1 minute although I also felt I couldnt go much faster. I caught the bus back to Keswick and drove back through awful traffic - not getting home until nearly midnight.
The week following this I took fairly easily with only a couple of runs to take me up to 10,000 feet of ascent. I was on call that following weekend at the hospital and was pretty busy with a couple of late nights. I aimed to get as much rest as I could because I would be back in the Lakes the weekend after and wanted to be ready for a big one.

Week 14 31/3 - 6/4/08

Monday Leg 1 BGR 12.5 miles + 4 miles walk 4hrs 7 mins + 1hr 1550m 5150 feet ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Rest
Thursday Rest
Friday Rest
Saturday 18 miles x6 250m hilly circuit 3hrs 7 mins 1500m
Sunday 5 miles road 40 mins no pack 50m ascent

Total 3 runs, 40 miles, 3100m 10,250 feet ascent

Week 15 7-13/4/08

Monday Rest
Tuesday 5 miles x5 65m hills 55.00 410m ascent
Wednesday 9 miles x3 250m hill circuit 1hr 25 mins 750m ascent
Thursday 12 miles x4 250m hill circuit 1hr 59 mins 1000m ascent
Friday Rest
Saturday 15 miles x3 290m hill circuit 2hrs 52 mins 870m ascent
Sunday 7 miles trail 55.16 250m ascent

Total 5 runs, 48 miles, 3280m 10,780 feet ascent

Week 16 14-20/4/08

Monday Rest
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Rest
Thursday 7 miles trail 58.30 250m ascent
Friday Rest
Saturday 13 miles BGR Leg 2 to Sticks pass and back to Threlkeld on road and paths 3hrs 33 mins 810m ascent
Wasdale Head to Blacksail pass and back 5 miles 1hr 19 mins 475m ascent
Sunday 19miles BGR leg 4 13 miles 4hrs 37 mins Honister to Green Gable and back to Wasdale via Styhead Pass 6 miles 2hrs 1 min (6hrs 38 min) 1285m ascent

Total 3 runs, 44 miles, 3915m 12800 feet ascent


Week 17 21-27/4/08

Monday 13m BGR leg 1 4hrs 1 min 1550m ascent

Tuesday Rest

Wednesday Rest

Thursday 18 miles x6 250m hill circuit 3hrs 0 min 1500m ascent

Friday Rest

Saturday Rest

Sunday 7 miles trail 53.05 240m ascent

Total 3 runs, 38 miles, 3,310m 10,870 feet ascent

March: Building to the Lakes

I had ended February with a rest week. It would have been good to say that this was planned but in reality it just seemed the sensible thing at the time.

I had enjoyed a good week skiing in France with sunny weather, good company and plenty of snow left over from big falls earlier in the season. I started the week on a snowboard as for many years I had wanted to have a go on one and it always seemed to me a very pure and elegant way of getting down the mountain (when performed by experts). I had had a go a few years earlier for one day with my son in Bulgaria but to be honest we had not done much - really just balancing on a very shallow and icy beginners slope.

Well I enjoyed the challenge of snow boarding but did find it much harder than I imagined. I was able to sideslip down the mountain on the heel edge of the board fairly well by the end of the first day although this was very hard work when going down a long green 'road' of a run such as there were several of in Les Deux Alpes. My inability to turn meant that incredible tension seemed to build up in my legs during the course of a long descent and I had no way of relieving it except by stopping (and I didnt want to be left behind).

It was obvious I had to be able to ride on the toe edge of the board as well and I also had to be able to turn. Over the next 3 days I worked hard on these things and was starting to make some decent progress - able to turn more or less fluently and get down basic blue runs at a reasonable rate. I was very prone to falling though and although I hadn't had any major crashes the number of tumbles was starting to make me feel a bit battered.

On the 4th day - either side of lunch - I had 2 heavier falls landing on hard ice on my backside with a sickening pelvis jolting crunch. The second of these in particular left me almost breathless with pain and it was all I could do to hobble back to the accomodation. I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on my bed followed by a hot bath soak. When I got out of the bath there was quite a satisfying crunching click in my lower back and pelvis area and the pain subsided quite dramatically so much so that I found myself laughing almost hysterically at the relief from pain. I was able to go out to enjoy a meal out with my family that night but it was obvious that I could not afford to take any more hits like that - I had definitely had my public warning.

I spent the rest of the week on skis (where I am much more confident) and slowly got myself moving - avoiding falling again.

When I got home I went for a long walk on the beautiful Isle of Wight coast path and although I felt fine, whenever I started to jog my pelvis felt uncomfortable and unstable.

As a result I determined to have a complete rest week to try to allow things to settle down. It has been my experience that if things are pushed too much too early then a containable injury can easily turn into a chronic one. This having been said it is not very glamorous having a rest week especially as I had not done much the previous week when I was skiing.

The following week I was on a mixture of work and holiday in Cape Town, South Africa.

I was attending the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists four yearly (like the Olympics) meeting. The meeting itself was very exciting - huge with 8000 delegates but it was also a wonderful opportunity to see a bit of this exciting and vibrant country.

The weather was positively balmy at nearly 30 degrees celsius on some days. The city is overlooked by the spectacular Table Mountain and a combination of the rest which I had had, the weather and the location meant that I was champing at the bit to get out again.

I had a really good week in which I climbed Table Mountain 5 times and also found time to get out to the Cape of Good Hope national park and had a good look around Cape town itself. A country with amazing natural resources, fantastic people but some really difficult problems with huge poverty and chronic illness - particularly AIDS.

The following week saw me back down to earth with a bump. My flight back to the UK was cancelled due to bad weather and I spent Monday trapped at the airport in Paris before finally getting back to the Island late that night. That week I was quite busy at work and I only managed three smallish runs before I went to Jersey at the weekend to see my sister and her family.

It is always good when we meet up and sadly it isnt that often as we are both busy and living on seperate islands makes travelling tricky and somewhat costly.

On the Saturday I walked round Jersey which is reckoned to be about 48 miles on the coastal path with a fair amount of ascent and descent as you travel up and down the cliffs - particularly on the north side of the island. Anually - around the time of the longest day in June - there is an organised walk on this path and it is very popular I understand. Many of the entrants complete the whole walk which is no mean acheivement considering its length and ruggedness. Anyway I had superb day with mixed weather. My brother in law joined me for some of the walk on the north side and I really enjoyed the beautiful scenary. The walk took me exactly 12 hours and I was pleased to get so much time on my feet as apart from climbing this seems to be the other key to success in the Bob Graham.

The following week I had a few days off and then had a couple of big climbing days back to back and followed by a 7 mile road race which I took fairly easily as I was quite tired.

Easter Bank holiday 2 days later I did an 8 mile mixed terrain race - the 3 hills - and was pleased that I was feeling much recovered after just one days rest. I was quite close to my strongest and I did a PB for the course whch was a real confidence booster.

I was pleased with my fitness and the way things were going but I still had no real idea how I would be on the real fells in the Lake district. I know from past experience just how tough and unforgiving they can be. I had deliberately not gone up there earlier as it is such a long way. I wanted to maximise the benefit of trips and to me that meant going up later on in the year when I hoped the weather would be better and I would be able to get more done.

I did feel nervous about how I would go when I was up there. After Easter I had the rest of the week off resting so that I would be as recovered as possible for my first long weekend staying in Keswick.

I drove up after work and had a reasonable journey - arriving just before midnight. I had the full English breakfast in the morning and then set off fully kitted up in rather rainy weather on Leg 1 clockwise of the BG.

There was a lots of snow around which made progress up Skiddaw hard work but before the top I met Dave who was a fell runner I think from Skelmersdale who turned out to be on a similar route to me. He was very friendly and we spent the rest of the walk/run together - jogging on the railway track together back to Keswick once we had descended Blencathra. He showed me a number of good routes - especially from Great Calva down to the Caldew. His route being along the fence line and then keeping above the stream, through the heather, to the big bend in the Caldew - directly across (wet feet) and then up Mungrisedale common and under the screes to the summit of Blencathra. We went off Blencathra by dropping immediately off the side to the west of Halls Fell Ridge. After contouring a bit we got back to the ridge below the scrambling bits. It was tricky in the snow - my Walshes had very little studded sole left on them and I was slithering around rather alarmingly. Overall it was a good route but I wasn't sure how easy I would find it in the dark. My feet were very cold in the snow after they got wet - I lost all sensation in them for about half an hour until they warmed up a bit when we started jogging again.

I had a great day and was reassured that I could manage the Lakeland fells albeit only just inside the time allowed for the section. It was wonderful to spend the time with Dave - such a difference from being alone - and I hope that we may meet up on the fells another time.

The next day I was a bit slow getting away but I had a good day doing the second leg of the BG.

The weather steadily improved and it ended up very cold but with wonderful views. There was loads of snow especially on the peaks around Helvellyn and at times moving through it was very hard work. Again I was not very fast but I just about managed to keep to the schedule and did not feel too bad at the end.

The following day I repeated section 1 before driving back to the Isle of Wight. I was abit slower on my own but still around the BG 23.5 hour schedule.

I ended the weekend and the month fairly satisfied that my training was on track and that I more or less had the kit I needed for my Bob Graham attempt. My back/pelvis injury seemed to have healed and certainly wasn't causing me any problem even though my right hip occasionally clicked a bit.



Week 10 3-9/3/08

Monday 6 miles road 43mins
Tuesday 4 miles Table mountain Platterklip Gorge 3 quarters up and down 1hr 400m ascent
Wednesday 5 miles Table mountain Platterklip Gorge 1 1/4 up and down 1hr 40mins 700m ascent
Thursday 10 miles Table mountain x2 up and down 3 hrs 1300m ascent
Friday 5 miles Table mountain up and down 2 hrs 650m ascent
Saturday Rest
Sunday Rest

Total 5 runs, 30 miles, 3150m 10,300 feet ascent


Week 11 10-16/3/08

Monday Rest
Tuesday 4 miles road 35.00
Wednesday 5 miles x5 65m hills 54.00 410m ascent
Thursday 2 miles 240m hill ascent
Friday Rest
Saturday Round Jersey coast path 50 miles in all, 12 hrs ?1500m ascent
Sunday Rest

Total 4 runs, 61 miles, 2150m 7150 feet ascent


Week 12 17-23/3/08

Monday Rest
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Rest
Thursday 18 miles x6 250m hills 3hrs 18 mins 1500m ascent
Friday 18 miles x6 250m hills 3hrs 16 mins 1500m ascent
Saturday 7.2 miles road race Newport- Ryde 50.30 100m ascent
Sunday Rest

Total 3 runs, 45miles, 3100m 10,200 feet ascent


Week 13 24-30/3/08

Monday 8 miles mixed terrain road race 54.51 300m ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Rest
Thursday Rest
Friday Rest
Saturday 12.5 +4 miles Leg 1 BG 3hrs 45 mins + jog back to Keswick 40 mins 1550m ascent
Sunday 13miles Leg 2 BG 4 hrs 28 mins 1800m ascent

Total 3 runs, 38 miles, 3,600m 12,000 feet ascent


31/3/08 Monday 12.5 + 4 miles walk Leg 1 BG 4hrs 7 mins 1,550m 5,150 feet ascent