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
No comments:
Post a Comment