I ended April and started May by easing back a bit so that I was feeling raring to go for the next four weeks. I planned this to be a fairly intense training before a three week(ish) tapering period. This was aiming for a date for the round of 21st June.
I was also going up to the Lakes that weekend and wanted to be able to do as much as possible to kick start this phase of training.
In the event I had a good but tiring and mixed weekend.
It is always a challenge just getting to the Lakes after a full days work, crossing the solent and then coaxing my little car through bank holiday weekend traffic. I was lucky though that I got away early and the hold ups were not on the M6 but the M1 and more traffic seemed to be heading south than north. I arrived in Keswick at 1100 and was in bed by midnight.
The next day I had the full monty English breakfast in the B and B and headed off to Dunmail raise just after 0900 planning to do section 3 and then maybe section 4 or take an easier route back to Honister and then make my way back to Keswick (possibly hitch).
As I arrived I noticed a couple of other cars parked in the BG spaces and when I looked up Seat Sandal I saw 3 guys coming down the fell in BG shuffle mode, They crossed the style and road and went to an obvious team of supporters by the cars.
I went across and found out they were 3 Macclesfield Harriers (Jon,Ross and Mike) on Bob Graham attempts and going well. One of them had done it before in under 22 hours and the other 2 were first timers. They were doing a self contained attempt - carrying their own stuff with roadside support and having a couple of pacers on legs 4 and 5 in case they started to get seperated later on.
I asked if they wanted me to keep out of their way but they were very friendly and suggested I came along with them - well this was wonderful so I said I would stay with them if I could. I didnt want to bust myself if they were flying - and I never find the old cooked breakfast is much good to run on for the first couple of hours. It is not too bad for the 3rd hour and after that hunger seems to set in again anyway.
In the event I had a great time with them. The weather started a bit grey but it cleared steadily as the day went on. Visibility was excellent and the sun came out in the afternoon. A far cry from the predicted rain, low cloud and gusting 70 mph winds although it was still a bit breezy early on.
We kept a good pace all day but nothing too uncomfortable and they showed me some great lines up some of the peaks. I particularly liked Billy Blands rake up Rossett Pike - which cut off quite a bit of distance at the expense of a modest bit of extra climbing. I nearly lost them at this point though due to a call of nature which left me about half a mile behind. I just spotted them in the distance though and was able to catch up going up hill. Generally I felt that I was struggling to maintain the pace down hill but was fine going up. My descending has improved considerably and I find it perfectly comfortable now but just not very rapid - I would definitely be useless in a fell race!
We didnt manage to find the best line up Bowfell although we didnt lose any time. We followed cairns but they just petered out and then we started to run out of room as a cliff appeared ahead of us. We ended up just climbing straight up and got up to the ridge short of the summit and not far from our intended arrival point but not on a very elegant line. I had problems before when I tried this last summer so maybe next time will be better.
We came down Scafell on some scree which was great but I was not sure the stony path after that was worth it and wondered whether the line on steep grass all the way might have been easier overall - interesting though.
We had a good stop in Wasdale - about 20 mins although I was a little late getting away as I had been messing around filling up with water from the stream. I soon caught them all up going up Yewbarrow. For this leg there were 3 pacers - two guys planning a BG on 15th June (Steve and Ian) and one of the contenders wives (Christine) who is no mean fell runner. It was a good fun section with stunning views and I was shown some good places to get water and a good line up Kirk Fell (to the left of the red gully). I have struggled before on that ascent ending up frightening myself with some dodgy rock climbing!
We had a couple of discussions on Brandreth and Grey Knotts about which exactly were the peaks (resolved by visiting them all) and I must find out which the official ones are.
When we got down to Honister I declined the offered lift back to Keswick as it was such a nice evening I thought I would carry on to Little Town over the remaining 3 fells. We used head torches coming off Robinson and it seemed better than Halls Fell in the dark so I have more or less decided to start at 0100 rather than midnight as I should get Halls Fell in the first light that way.
We had another pacer for this section (Jon) - he narrowly missed out on his BG last year when he injured his knee on Red Pike and had to make a difficult descent down into Wasdale on his own (his pacer had had problems too and had had to leave him earlier). I told him the story of Rogers knee giving out as he came off Robinson last year when fortunately he had loads of time to hobble back to Keswick and I commiserated with him. He is not sure if he will be able to have another crack at the BG as he has cartilage and arthritis problems in the knee but I think there may be more chapters to that story as he is very fit and driven!
When I got off the fell I had intended to get a lift back to Keswick as I didn't think I really needed a 5 mile road run in fell shoes. When the time came though I couldnt leave the party early and for completeness really I jogged back with them. We didnt go fast (used our full 3 hours for the section) and it was a good way to end the day. It was brilliant and emotional to see them finishing their BG's and celebrate with family and supporters. I had been very impressed that they had managed to stay together as a team even though they all went (and came through) their own tough times on the round. I was introduced to all their team and someone (jokingly I think) suggested that I should just carry on and do the last two sections to get it done. It was not my time though and so I thanked them for a wonderful 14 hour day out and made my way back to the B and B and a well earned sleep.
The next morning I was very slow and lethargic even after the full English. In retrospect I wonder if it was because I had nothing to eat the night before (it was 2330 and everywhere was closed) and then a protein breakfast left me lacking in carbohydrates. At the time I was not aware of this and decided just to do section 2 and get back to my car. It took me ages to get myself into gear and it was gone 1330 by the time I got to Threlkeld and it was raining and claggy on the tops. I felt rubbish all the way up Clough Head and in desparation I ate something even though I didnt feel at all hungry. Amazingly I suddenly felt ok again and I was able to do the rest of the section in standard time (apart from when I had to do a bit of map work coming off Dollywaggon). I picked up the car in by now torrential rain and drove back to Keswick for a celebratory night out at an Italian restaurant.
I was looking forward to the meal and to polishing off section 1 the next day before driving home but unusually for me I didnt finish my main course and didnt want pudding. I was in bed around 2300 feeling ok but about 0300 I woke up for the first of several trips to the loo with sickness and the runs. I dont know whether it was food poisoning or a viral thing but the enteral bit had settled down by the morning. I was left feeling really tired - like I couldnt get out of bed and felt feverish and headachy too. I kept hydrating all day but couldnt really manage solids. I was allowed to stay in my room until 1500 and then my hosts kindly offered me another room for as long as I wanted. I had a big day at work the next day though so I felt I ought to try to get back to the island and so I set off driving.
The next 12 hours are a bit of a blur.
I drove for about 40 minutes at a time and then stopped for a couple of hours sleep at a service station before continuing. Eventually I was somewhere around Manchester at 2200 and I woke up feeling the worst had past. I was less sweaty and my headache and achy joints had gone. From then on I was able to drive more or less all the way down to Portsmouth getting there about 0200 and eventually getting home at 0330 - very tired and relieved. That journey had been harder and more worrying than 3 sections of the BG!
I had porridge for breakfast and felt about 90% fit at work but definitely on the mend. I was on call the following night but thankfully it was quiet - some one was looking after me.
The following day I was more or less normal and taking stock of a highly eventful weekend.
Overall I was pleased with what I had done even though I had planned on doing the whole route in the 3 days.
I feel it would have been fine if I had not been ill and saturday was definitely a good day where I did more than I had planned.
Originally I had planned on 3 more hard weeks of training and then I have a weeks holiday in the Lakes where I was going to do some final (gentle) recces before tapering for 3 weeks before 20th June.
I have started wondering now though whether I should keep training this week and then taper for a couple of weeks and plan to make my attempt during my weeks holiday. This would give me a bigger weather window and there is virtually the same amount of daylight. I would lose a bit of time to hone my fitness levels but to be honest I think I probably have sufficient fitness and that things like mental factors, health, injuries, weather and other unpredictable eventualities probably play a bigger part. It would be sad to train for an extra couple of weeks only to end up injured.
On the other hand the extra reccying time, familiarising time, and time to prepare my food and kit would be useful.
Looks like I have a decision to make some time in the next week as by then I will have to commit to either training or tapering!
Week 18 28/4 - 4/5/08
Monday 18 miles x6 250m hill circuits 3hrs 0 min 1500m ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Rest
Thursday Rest
Friday Rest
Saturday 40 miles Legs 3,4,5 BGR 14 hrs 10 mins (2 stops 22 mins each) 5400m ascent
Sunday 13 miles Leg 2 BGR 4hrs 43 mins 1455m ascent
Total 3 runs, 70 miles, 8355m 27,500 feet ascent
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Monday, 28 April 2008
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
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
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
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
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
Monday, 3 March 2008
February:Holding and resting
I like the meteorologists definition of the seasons which puts March in the south of England as the beginning of spring. The astronomers won't celebrate spring until the equinox around the 21st/22nd of March but that is too long to wait for me.
Anyway psychologically I think of February as the last month of winter and I usually celebrate it by growing (at the beginning of the month) and shaving off at the end - a beard. It is good to not have to shave for a while but after a few weeks it starts to irritate me and I am ready for the big shave off. I also get fed up with being told how old I look and having to explain why I am growing it in the first place - sometimes I feel like wearing a placard round my neck but I doubt that it would deflect the questioning.
I always knew that February would be a tough month for BG training.
It is still dark although the evenings lighten a little to make running after work easier and of course still very prone to wet, windy and cold (I am basically a bit of a wuss).
I was planning to go skiing and could not work out whether the exercise involved with that would justify not doing any running that week and I knew I had quite a few work commitments which would make running difficult.
As a result I resolved that I would aim to just keep the hill climbing going - not worry too much about mileage and maybe have a rest week as well. From now on the runs I did would generally be with a 3kg pack as that is what I would be taking on my BG effort and I wanted to be completely used to it.
Week 6 4-10/2/08
Monday 12miles 16x 65m hills 2hrs 18mins 1,125m ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Rest
Thursday 8miles 4x 240m hills 1hr 28mins 960m ascent
6miles 6x65m hills 64.13 475m ascent
Friday 7 miles trail 49.31 no pack
6 miles 6x 65m hills 62mins 475m ascent
Saturday Rest
Sunday 11miles road no pack 83.23
Total x4 days run, 50 miles, 3,035m 9,940 feet ascent
Week 7 11-17/2/08
Monday 8miles 10x 65m hills 1hr 38mins 735m ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday 7 miles trail no pack 52.00
Thursday 22miles 4x 290m hilly circuits +1x 240m hill 4hr 11mins 1405m ascent
Friday Rest
Saturday Rest
Sunday 4 miles mixed terrain no pack 30mins 200m ascent
Total x4 days run, 41 miles, 2,340m 7,800 feet ascent
Week 8 18-24/2/08
Monday Rest Skiing
Tuesday Skiing
Wednesday Rest Skiing
Thursday Rest Skiing
Friday Rest Skiing
Saturday Rest Skiing
Sunday Walk /jog 32miles South east section of Isle of Wight coastal path Brighstone to Ryde 7hrs 35mins ?610m ascent
Total 1 run, 32miles, 610m, 2000 feet ascent
Week 9 25/2 -2/3/08
REST WEEK - no running
Anyway psychologically I think of February as the last month of winter and I usually celebrate it by growing (at the beginning of the month) and shaving off at the end - a beard. It is good to not have to shave for a while but after a few weeks it starts to irritate me and I am ready for the big shave off. I also get fed up with being told how old I look and having to explain why I am growing it in the first place - sometimes I feel like wearing a placard round my neck but I doubt that it would deflect the questioning.
I always knew that February would be a tough month for BG training.
It is still dark although the evenings lighten a little to make running after work easier and of course still very prone to wet, windy and cold (I am basically a bit of a wuss).
I was planning to go skiing and could not work out whether the exercise involved with that would justify not doing any running that week and I knew I had quite a few work commitments which would make running difficult.
As a result I resolved that I would aim to just keep the hill climbing going - not worry too much about mileage and maybe have a rest week as well. From now on the runs I did would generally be with a 3kg pack as that is what I would be taking on my BG effort and I wanted to be completely used to it.
Week 6 4-10/2/08
Monday 12miles 16x 65m hills 2hrs 18mins 1,125m ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Rest
Thursday 8miles 4x 240m hills 1hr 28mins 960m ascent
6miles 6x65m hills 64.13 475m ascent
Friday 7 miles trail 49.31 no pack
6 miles 6x 65m hills 62mins 475m ascent
Saturday Rest
Sunday 11miles road no pack 83.23
Total x4 days run, 50 miles, 3,035m 9,940 feet ascent
Week 7 11-17/2/08
Monday 8miles 10x 65m hills 1hr 38mins 735m ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday 7 miles trail no pack 52.00
Thursday 22miles 4x 290m hilly circuits +1x 240m hill 4hr 11mins 1405m ascent
Friday Rest
Saturday Rest
Sunday 4 miles mixed terrain no pack 30mins 200m ascent
Total x4 days run, 41 miles, 2,340m 7,800 feet ascent
Week 8 18-24/2/08
Monday Rest Skiing
Tuesday Skiing
Wednesday Rest Skiing
Thursday Rest Skiing
Friday Rest Skiing
Saturday Rest Skiing
Sunday Walk /jog 32miles South east section of Isle of Wight coastal path Brighstone to Ryde 7hrs 35mins ?610m ascent
Total 1 run, 32miles, 610m, 2000 feet ascent
Week 9 25/2 -2/3/08
REST WEEK - no running
Monday, 4 February 2008
January: onto the hills
I started 2008 feeling good and fit and used to doing 50 road miles per week.
During January I aimed to keep a good high mileage and steadily increase the amount of climbing I did up to the hallowed 10,000 feet per week.
Finding hills to climb on the Isle of Wight is not a problem but by Lake District standards they are only small hills which means, to get the required amount of ascending - lots of laps. There is a hill at the back of my house which has 65 metres of ascent and descent and is a 1 kilometre circuit. I felt a bit like a hamster in a wheel as I did 12 or more of these laps.
Another favourite is a seven mile mainly off road circuit that has 250m of ascent and descent. In order to simulate the ruggedness of the Lakes I tended to concentrate on the steepest routes where the most climbing and descending came in the shortest distance.
The best for this is Bonchurch Down which is 240m high but can be accessed from Monks Bay on the coast (at sea level). Straight up and down is about 2 miles but there is a better loop which is 3 miles long and has 250m of ascent and descent. A longer version is 5 miles and has about 300m of ascent and descent.
I always find it hard to train in January as it can be so dark and the weather wet and cold. I just kept reminding myself that however hard it was then, it would make life seem easier when it came to the Bob Graham in the summer. Sometimes I would trick myself outside by promising that I would only do a small amount - but of course once I was out there I would generally carry on until the session was completed.
By the end of the month I had got used to 10,000 feet of ascent per week, mainly converted from the road to off road running, was starting to get used to the feel of fell shoes (in my case Walshes) and the feel of a pack on my back and had pretty much kept my mileage at around 50 miles per week. I did all the runs at an easy pace - walking uphill and jogging down or on the flat.
This is how the training was broken down:
Week 1 31(12)-6/1/08
Monday: 5 miles mixed terrain, 100m ascent 48.30
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 16 miles Including 12x 65 metre hill plus 5 miles on road 865m ascent 2 hours 44 mins with 3kg pack.
Saturday 5 miles road 40.27
Sunday Club X country race 5 miles 35.04 plus 2mile warm up and cool down plus 6 mile jog (49.25) on road in afternoon. 100m ascent
Total: 4 runs, 39 miles, 1065m 3595 feet ascent
Week 2 7-13/1/08
Monday: 9 miles off road 1 hour 25min, 400m ascent 3kg pack
Tuesday 7 miles trail 52.16
Wednesday: 7 miles road 55.00
Thursday: 15 miles off road 2 hours 32 mins, 3 kg pack 980m ascent
Friday: Rest
Saturday Rest
Sunday Stubbington 10k road race 38.48
Total 45 miles, 5 runs, 1430m 4700 feet ascent
Week 3 14-20/1/08
Monday 4 miles Bonchurch Down x2 70.00 3kg pack 480m ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday: 7 miles Trail 47.02
Thursday: 11 miles 14x 65m 2 hrs 14min 3 kg pack 995m ascent
Friday: Rest
Saturday Lateral thigh trainer 60.00 7 miles equivalent
Sunday 20 miles off road 3 kg pack 3hrs 13 mins 985m ascent
Total 5 runs , 49miles , 2460m 8070 feet ascent
Week4 21-27/1/08
Monday Rest
Tuesday 5 miles x5 65m hills 3kg pack 55.56 410m ascent
Wednesday 6miles x6 65m hills 3kg pack 68.24 475m ascent
Thursday 12miles x16 65m ascent 3kg pack 2hrs 24mins 1,125m ascent
Friday Rest
Saturday 15miles x3 290m ascent 3kg pack 3hrs 32mins 870m ascent
Sunday 12miles mixed road and trail 3kg pack 1hr 34mins 250m ascent
Total 5 runs, 50miles, 3130m 10,269 feet ascent
Week 5 28/1-3/2/08
Monday 12miles x16 65m hills 3kg pack 2hrs 26mins 1,125m ascent
Tuesday 5 miles x5 65m hills 3kg pack 51.42 410m ascent
Wednesday Rest
Thursday Rest
Friday Rest
Saturday 20miles x4 290m loops 3kg pack 3hrs 42mins 1165m ascent
Sunday Ryde 10 mile road race 67.30 140m ascent
Total 4 runs, 48 miles, 2840m 9,320 feet ascent
During January I aimed to keep a good high mileage and steadily increase the amount of climbing I did up to the hallowed 10,000 feet per week.
Finding hills to climb on the Isle of Wight is not a problem but by Lake District standards they are only small hills which means, to get the required amount of ascending - lots of laps. There is a hill at the back of my house which has 65 metres of ascent and descent and is a 1 kilometre circuit. I felt a bit like a hamster in a wheel as I did 12 or more of these laps.
Another favourite is a seven mile mainly off road circuit that has 250m of ascent and descent. In order to simulate the ruggedness of the Lakes I tended to concentrate on the steepest routes where the most climbing and descending came in the shortest distance.
The best for this is Bonchurch Down which is 240m high but can be accessed from Monks Bay on the coast (at sea level). Straight up and down is about 2 miles but there is a better loop which is 3 miles long and has 250m of ascent and descent. A longer version is 5 miles and has about 300m of ascent and descent.
I always find it hard to train in January as it can be so dark and the weather wet and cold. I just kept reminding myself that however hard it was then, it would make life seem easier when it came to the Bob Graham in the summer. Sometimes I would trick myself outside by promising that I would only do a small amount - but of course once I was out there I would generally carry on until the session was completed.
By the end of the month I had got used to 10,000 feet of ascent per week, mainly converted from the road to off road running, was starting to get used to the feel of fell shoes (in my case Walshes) and the feel of a pack on my back and had pretty much kept my mileage at around 50 miles per week. I did all the runs at an easy pace - walking uphill and jogging down or on the flat.
This is how the training was broken down:
Week 1 31(12)-6/1/08
Monday: 5 miles mixed terrain, 100m ascent 48.30
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 16 miles Including 12x 65 metre hill plus 5 miles on road 865m ascent 2 hours 44 mins with 3kg pack.
Saturday 5 miles road 40.27
Sunday Club X country race 5 miles 35.04 plus 2mile warm up and cool down plus 6 mile jog (49.25) on road in afternoon. 100m ascent
Total: 4 runs, 39 miles, 1065m 3595 feet ascent
Week 2 7-13/1/08
Monday: 9 miles off road 1 hour 25min, 400m ascent 3kg pack
Tuesday 7 miles trail 52.16
Wednesday: 7 miles road 55.00
Thursday: 15 miles off road 2 hours 32 mins, 3 kg pack 980m ascent
Friday: Rest
Saturday Rest
Sunday Stubbington 10k road race 38.48
Total 45 miles, 5 runs, 1430m 4700 feet ascent
Week 3 14-20/1/08
Monday 4 miles Bonchurch Down x2 70.00 3kg pack 480m ascent
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday: 7 miles Trail 47.02
Thursday: 11 miles 14x 65m 2 hrs 14min 3 kg pack 995m ascent
Friday: Rest
Saturday Lateral thigh trainer 60.00 7 miles equivalent
Sunday 20 miles off road 3 kg pack 3hrs 13 mins 985m ascent
Total 5 runs , 49miles , 2460m 8070 feet ascent
Week4 21-27/1/08
Monday Rest
Tuesday 5 miles x5 65m hills 3kg pack 55.56 410m ascent
Wednesday 6miles x6 65m hills 3kg pack 68.24 475m ascent
Thursday 12miles x16 65m ascent 3kg pack 2hrs 24mins 1,125m ascent
Friday Rest
Saturday 15miles x3 290m ascent 3kg pack 3hrs 32mins 870m ascent
Sunday 12miles mixed road and trail 3kg pack 1hr 34mins 250m ascent
Total 5 runs, 50miles, 3130m 10,269 feet ascent
Week 5 28/1-3/2/08
Monday 12miles x16 65m hills 3kg pack 2hrs 26mins 1,125m ascent
Tuesday 5 miles x5 65m hills 3kg pack 51.42 410m ascent
Wednesday Rest
Thursday Rest
Friday Rest
Saturday 20miles x4 290m loops 3kg pack 3hrs 42mins 1165m ascent
Sunday Ryde 10 mile road race 67.30 140m ascent
Total 4 runs, 48 miles, 2840m 9,320 feet ascent
Monday, 31 December 2007
Rediscovering the challenge
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.
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.
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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