Local walking

Energy levels have returned, not to my ‘normal’ levels but much, much better than before! I’m also feeling very unfit (probably more mind than matter this one). Anyways we got out for a lovely long walk up Miterdale, staying close to the river then up past Burnmoor Lodge, down the White Cross Path to the Woolpack, lunch at Dalegarth station and a nice amble through the valley woods and fields on the Eskdale Trail back home. In all I think it was about 11 miles, and did me the world of good!

Burnmoor Tarn with Wasdale Fells beyond

Harter Fell

Life change

All Change! Life is taking on a completely different challenge for us now as we will become parents in June. Things have already changed for me as I’ve been very, very tired and a bit nauseous. So I’ve had to cut back on a lot of exercise. Most things can still be done but there’s no more bouldering for me now as the risk of landing badly is too much and I’m not going to try and get back into running now either, as it all feels a bit uncomfortable and I'd have to start where I should have started recovering from the Achilles injury i.e. ½ mile runs and if all went well an increase of only 10% max. per week.

But I can still ride the bike, climb routes, do yoga and of course walk! ….when I have the energy…..

Not sure where this blog will go so we shall see.

Spain!

Just come back from a week in Southern Spain staying with friends and climbing most days. We were staying in the village of Colmenar about 40 minutes drive north of Malaga. The climbing near here was amazing and that’s not including El Chorro, the famous gorge about an hour’s drive away and the normal destination of Brits who climb in this area. We had one day at El Chorro, and also climbed at Villaneuva de Cauche, Archidona and El Torcal. It was all over to quickly but we always have free accommodation when we want it!

Dent Night Ride

Cracking night ride last Tuesday after work with a bunch of work colleagues around the Dent area, although the final long run back from Cold Fell road down Nannycatch was made a bit interesting for me as my seat post bolt broke, so I couldn’t attach my saddle. Luckily I found all the bits when it went!! Its amazing how hard even easy riding becomes with the threat of a seatpost up your rear end!! Climbing at the wall on Wednesday night in final preparation for Spain (!) as well as a really good long hard session down at Warwick wall on Sunday, while visiting my parents. I haven’t felt that tired from a wall session for a long while, lead consistently 6a-6b+ onsite which made me think their grades are a bit high!

quiet

A quiet couple of weeks, with a bit less getting done than recently. Partly as I lost my granddad and then got ill, probably due to grief more than anything else. I have done some exercise as I know it makes me feel better but it’s been tough. This has amounted to several Yoga sessions, short walks in the forest and fells at home, a couple of sessions on the wall in the garage and a couple of commute rides. Spent the weekend resting and at Kendal wall in the new bouldering room.

Pitlochry

Brilliant weekend despite the less than perfect weather. P and I had treated our selves to a self catering cottage for the weekend despite taking the van with our bikes etc in. It was just south of Pitlochry, buried up in the hills there and was brilliant for us.

On Friday it was a bit damp so we headed out from the door on our mountain bikes for a ride around the estate land to the east of the cottage. Lovely riding, nothing technical but lots of tracks, double track and single track, not to muddy and boggy and found this amazing bothy.

On Saturday, again it was wet so we rode from Pitlochry town centre up and over the shoulder of Ben Vrackie in the clag, and down to drop under the A9 and back to the town. Some good riding again, and nothing like what I’ve got used to recently.

On Sunday the forecast promised at worst a fleeting shower and at best some sunshine, so we drove to Weem to check out the climbing there. Unfortunately as we arrived at the crag the heavens opened soaking the crag! It was not to be. We dallied a while but it was not going to dry up quickly so after a must do stop at the Watermill Bookshop we headed southwards finding drier conditions near Stirling so stopped and checked out the bouldering at a scrotty little quarry. The climbing was OK, at least to provide some exercise and was very fingery – definitely a locals place. 

Scotland here we come!

Started the week well with a couple of days commute on the bike, but nothing today. We’re off to the Pitlochry area for a long weekend to celebrate our first wedding anniversary so a. I need a rest after the last 10 days or so, b. have got packing and sorting to do. Excited!

decent weekend

Saturday we went bouldering indoors at Kendal as the weather was poor and today got out for a local mountain bike ride round the tracks n trails of Eskdale and the coast. 

busy busy...

Busy week: Monday, Tuesday and Friday commuted to work and back on the bike, on Tuesday this was on the Santa Cruz as P and I joined up with some mates for an after work ride. Got some climbing in on Wednesday evening at a local crag and a good Yoga session in on Thursday. Time to rest at the weekend?  Probably not….

damn those cleggs!

The last 2 days of the working week were busy but rode to work and back. On Thursday evening I got the bit between my teeth to finish painting the garage before the winter – it was still lovely and warm outside – perfect for the paint to dry. It being warm I donned shorts and flip flops and against all H&S advice proceeded to go up and down a step ladder painting the back wall of the garage. Now this isn’t going where you think… I didn’t come off the ladder, stub my toe, etc, but I did get a very nasty clegg bite on the top of my right foot, which by Friday evening had swollen up (maybe I shouldn’t have ridden to work on it?!). so the weekend was wasted as I couldn't run or ride on my foot, and there was no way it was going in a climbing boot either. Damn those cleggs…

Mid-week climbing

The weather just proved too good and tempting not to take a day off mid-week and find some nice warm rock to play on. The forecast was for strong blustery winds high up so we decided to stick near valley level (as had others we saw at the crag) and so we found ourselves at Raven crag in Langdale. Dare I say it but it was almost too hot, on a south facing crag in full sun, cloudless skies and a warm wind!! Still it was utterly beautiful and lovely to be properly warm in this country!! We stuck to the single pitch routes on East Raven crag as we'd not been there before. Not amazing routes, not necessarily worth the stars they all get, not always got the most gear, but still pleasant. And definitely better than being couped up at work.

Looking down Langdale Valley

Lingmoor and Pike O'Blisco

Back to Trad

The weather this weekend was not overly conducive to climbing, but I think on reflection we climbed every minute we could have this weekend without actually doing too much in the rain. The wet stuff took longer to clear on Saturday than we thought, but we were at Shepherds crag in Borrowdale as it stopped raining. Consequently it was all a bit damp and lunchtime had long been and gone, but we got two multi-pitch routes in - Finale (HVS) and Ardus (MVS), before dark arrived.

On Sunday the rain was coming in in the afternoon, but we were out on the local Brantrake crag ticking virtually all the worthwhile routes on it before the rain came. Nice to be out on rock again, and along with the cycling, its making it more bearable to be not running.

Week 2

No much different to report from week 1! Lots and lots and lots of heel drops, no running and 4 days on the bike... 92 miles.

Weekend 1

 No Three Shires for me this year, but I wasn't too disappointed, the weather was certainly horrendous at home, and I’m sure was fairly wet in Little Langdale. P and I went to the wall in Kendal on Saturday to rest the legs a wee bit.

On Sunday we headed out on road bikes for a reasonable ride, out over Birker Fell, Broughton in Furness, along Consiton Lake on the back of the lake road, and back over Wyrnose and Hard Knott Passes. Lovely ride, and we escaped the showers.

Week 1

No running and 4 commute rides – total mileage 92 miles.

On yer bike

 Well I finally bit the bullet on my Achilles and went to see my physio – something I should have done back in the New Year. I got a telling off, then some reassurance and then the bad (but expected) news…. No running for at least 6 weeks (!!) and lots of exercises. I am allowed to ride though. So time to readjust…. 

Off colour

The day after my longer commute I felt tired. I put it down to a combination of a tough week at work, racing and the slightly longer ride, and had a nice rest on Friday. On Saturday I was planning to rest as it was the Lake District Mountain Trial on Sunday and I’d entered the Classic (was the men’s route). I won the women’s last year and had really been looking forward to it this year. But:

• They announced it was to be from Mungrisdale – cue lots of tussock and bog
• The forecast was appalling
• I felt exhausted and nauseous
• My Achilles was giving me more pains than normal.

So on Saturday I made the call that I was not going to race. I find it a hard decision to make, not turning up to a race and giving it a go, despite knowing that it is the best decision! I made arrangements with a friend to return the trophy and let the day pass. On Sunday, the forecasted weather did not quite get going although it wasn’t that pleasant out, and I felt a little better. Enough for P to persuade me that some exercise would be good for me, so we went out locally from the house for 17 miles of muddy tracks and trails, including a visit to the sea at Ravenglass where the route was flooded. We ended up riding through the sea (something we’ve done before on a night ride in the dark!). I felt better for the fresh air but more exhausted than I should have done for such a meagre mileage and slow pace. 

Different Commute

This week I’ve been working away from my normal office, but still within easy cycling distance 15.5 miles one way instead of 11.5. So on Thursday I got out of the house early and rode in, not used to having to carry full clothing and shoes on my back. The route was also different and involved a large amount on the main road – reminding me of old bike commutes into Manchester, but with considerably better views! Luckily despite the heavy showers flopping around I managed to stay dry both on the way in and one the way home. 

Gosforth 10k 2011

I had a plan for this race, it was not to race. I wanted to run with better style, and I wanted to go off at a sensible pace, not at my usual unsustainable mad rush. It was a warm but windy and dull afternoon and it had rained through the day, with showers still around. I took myself off up the village to warm up, and spent a reasonable time doing so, but was slightly concerned that my legs felt dead. Still, on the line I knew the adrenaline would start flowing. The start was very sudden and I think many were caught off guard by it, but off we set. I had a pace I wanted to run at and it felt so slow, but I made myself ignore the women around me, ignore the men around me and settle into a rhythm at my target pace. I managed this fairly well, and also settled in behind a couple of lads as wind breaks.

At 2 and a bit miles the route turns off the main road, and the wind came onto our backs, but the route losses its overall downhill line and starts climbing suitably, this was where it started to hurt me more. After 3 miles I’d intended on trying to pick the pace up, seeing as how I had run much slower that I normally do in the first half, but all I could manage was a matched pace with the first half, until the last mile that is when I slowed and started really running in my usual bad style! The most amazing this was that after all this it seemed I was actually in first place and came in first lady – not what I was expecting and nearly 2 minutes slower than last year!!

More of the same

The week just gone has not seen much running at all, with work getting in the way a bit but also just a lack of focus. I have had 2 days on the bike to work and back, an indoor bouldering session (which left me with massively pumped forearms!), one run up the valley to Stanley Force which was impressive as it was in spate after all the rain, and a nice walk on the fells in late summer sunshine. We headed up the nose of Kirkfell, down Joss’s gully, over Pillar, Red Pike and down the Dorehead Screes. 

Kirkfell and Great Gable from slopes of Red Pike

Long weekend in the Peak... again

We made a long weekend of the long weekend and headed down to the Peak for 4 days. On Friday we had a lunch planned with P’s wonderful 93 year old Grandad who is still going strong. I nipped out in the morning for a short half hour run. I had wanted a bit of rest during the week, but after one day I got frustrated and so rode to work 2 days in a row and put in a run straight after the second ride of 5 miles. I think I was trying to make myself suffer after Sunday.

On Saturday we rode down the Tissington Trail and back along the High Peak trail with P’s parents. We must have looked a pretty motley crew as they were on a hardtail old fashioned mountain bike and a hybrid, and we were on our full-susses! We managed to all but miss the large heavy showers which were flopping around.

The next two days were ours and we got two full days on the grit in. Sunday was forecast very strong westerlies and showers so we headed to Ramshaw rocks. It was really quite sheltered there and we only caught the edge of one sharp shower, which wetted everything and then the wind dried it all off again. I’d forgotten how much I don’t like rounded Grit thou!! On Monday we headed to Stanage with friends Kevin and Alice, an old running friend of mine from years back Clare, and their friend Jo, in slightly less windy conditions, and again the rain missed us until 4-ish. I would never normally head somewhere like Stanage on an August Bank Holiday, but with the weather as it was pretty quiet!! 

Getting a grip!

Having just re-read my previous post, I realise just how much I must have thrown my toys out the pram on Sunday at Sedbergh! To be honest in the cold light of day I’m being more realistic and more pragmatic. Its not like I’m a honed athlete and I don’t take this as seriously as it sounds like I do in that post!! I don’t Train with a big T, although I am continually looking to get fitter and faster I do have more to my life than running and realistically I’m not prepared to give up all that!

Still doing worse than expected does lead to a bit of navel gazing and I have been doing that. I’m not sure what the outcome will be but in the short term I’m just going to enjoy the next few weeks, the LDMT is in mid-September, I might do a local 10k race before that, and see what else comes my way! Its then into the longer dark nights and I always find this allows me to refocus and I will probably end up doing a bit of Training with a big T!

Sedbergh Hills - a race to forget or learn from

I have just started to come to terms with Sunday’s race and my appalling performance. I finished outside the points so have no long counter for the English Championships. I am bitterly disappointed. In the cold light of the day after I can make a few excuses, but also I can see that I have taken my eye off the ball, so to speak as well as loosing out on a split second decision.

This started well enough and although I knew I wasn’t up there I was doing OK, it’s a tough route so I knew I’d benefit from being strong in the latter stages. This meant I didn’t panic and set off too fast, and true enough on the off path part between checkpoints 3 and 4 I started to pick people off, and make up ground. I kept this up on the climb up the Calf and that was where it all went really wrong. The mist was down and I didn’t concentrate hard enough and managed to cut the wrong corner off coming off the Calf. By the time I realised (and I took another lass with me who followed) it meant we’d lost a fair amount of height and in gaining the route again with height, the wind went completely out of my sails. I started feeling very tired, and to be honest hadn’t probably eaten enough either. So all in all looking at the results I lost over 10 minutes from this one stupid error.

Once back on the right route, I struggled to keep any pace up as I knew that it was over. I managed some effort but there was too much lost, and finished well down the field feeling angry and upset. I have started to get over it and maybe it will give me a kick up the ass to re-focus, but for now I have sore legs, and feel tired and deflated. 

Quiet week

With Sedbergh Hills coming up this weekend I’ve had a fairly quiet week, riding to work and back on Tuesday, and short runs Wednesday and Thursday, and a rest today although actually that’s more down to seeing the Osteo again. Luckily some progress is being made with my back and the soreness is reducing.

So looking to Sedbergh – it is going to be my only long counter as I DNF’d at Duddon. I’m not keen on Sunday races as I feel restricted in what I can do on the Saturday, if the race is important and long or hard that is. I’ve recced the route in clear visibility, but there’s a chance that it will be cloudy on the higher summits at least on Sunday. I’m not where I want to be fitness wise, but then again, I never will be and I’m not unfit either. So we shall see.

Wallowbarrow Trad

P felt sufficiently revived to go trad climbing at Wallowbarrow this evening. We just prayed for some wind to keep the wee midges at bay. We had a lovely evening ticking Thomas, S, Paradise VS, and Western Wall, MVS. But that was all as the wind died and the midges came out in force and we retreated speedily to the car.

No Plans, then Plan A, then Plan B then...

The week felt very short this week having had Monday and Tuesday off. Wednesday was a very wet day and I was drenched when I got to work on the bike. So much so I had to stand in the shower to get my outer layers off and left a trail of wet footprints across the office floor, despite having towelled myself down! Thursday disappeared without a run or a ride as I had an osteopath appointment. My back has been getting stiffer recently and I have apparently a very rigid upper spine. Needless to say after 30 minutes or so with the Osteo I felt 12 inches taller!

At the weekend, our first with no plans for a long, long while, we headed out on the mountain bikes for a local ride. Originally we were going to head to the Duddon or Coniston area but I needed to do a few bits of fettling with my bike, and time ticked on. So we settled on the tracks and trails close to home including a stop at the pump track in Seascale. I’ve never been on a pump track and have to say a bunch of 8 – 14 year olds on bmx’s hanging around was daunting to me! Still I got into the groove, and was having fun. We decided to have one last burn around the track, before carrying on, and P managed to stack his bike on a jump! He came off fairly lightly with bad gravel rash but was otherwise OK. Still, this put an end to our planned route and we pootled back home via the roads.

He had managed to wrench his shoulder and neck which stiffened up quite badly overnight, so on Sunday I got a pass out to go for a run. I timed it well, waiting until after the last shower in the morning and ran up Miterdale to Burnmoor Tarn, Illgill Head, Whin Rigg and down. It was very wet underfoot which made it hard going, but I was happy as I pushed myself hard on the climbs and felt good.

Scotland Van Trip

We drove north on Friday evening to Tyndrum as we’d been invited to join a friend and his Dad on their last Monroe, just north of Bridge of Orchy. We made the By the Way campsite our base with several vans and tents rocking up along with those staying in their little camping huts. Tyndrum is one of those places I have always just driven through, maybe stopping to use the facilities at the Green Welly Shop, so it was lovely to stay there and seen a bit of the area.

Saturday dawned bright but the forecast was for rain to arrive. We were on our way from Victoria Bridge about mid morning and it was a hot, slightly midgy climb up Stob a Choire Odaire, their last Monroe. We all congregated just below the top to witness the culmination of 20 odd years work for Rich and many more for his Dad! A certain symmetry was lent to this as its neighbouring mountain Stob Ghabhar was Rich’s first Monroe many years ago. A couple of bottles of whisky were produced as well a summit cake, and the sounds of a piper came from a well placed iphone!

View from near Victoria Bridge

After all the whisky was consumed along with some truly rank lethally strong beer – if you could call it that! – we turned down for the col and then back to Victoria bridge. The first shower actually met us as we arrived back at the cars. The whisky that had been drunk was then washed down with various drinks in the not oft’ open Inveroran Hotel.

On Sunday people all went their separate ways, some back home, others headed off to the Outer Hebrides for a summer holiday, and we hung around in Tyndrum! The forecast had been for a wet day, all day, and it came as no surprise to us that that is exactly what it was! We were tired, two late nights after a very busy few weeks meant that we were pretty happy for once to chill out in the van, drink tea and read books! After a cooked brekkie that is! The forecast was for improvement on the Monday and Tuesday as well which helped the idle day pass well.

On Monday, P and I rode along the West Highland Way from Tyndrum to Glen Coe and back, stopping at the Glencoe Ski area café for a bacon buttie for lunch. I’m not normally keen on an out and back ride, and it certainly was not a very technical ride but this was great – it really is beautiful scenery, and crossing Rannoch Moor was something else. We passed a fair number of walkers, many obviously walking the whole of the WHW but saw no other bikers. Once back at the van and re-hydrated with copious amounts tea, we drove west and down the side of Loch Awe to find a kip spot, and watch a beautiful sunset illuminate the fells there in a stunning orange alpenglow.

Rannoch Moor, Glencoe in the background

The morning dawned sunny too, and we drove round to Arrochar to go climbing on the Cobbler. We had previously walked in this area a few years ago on the way home from some friends wedding in Invergarry, in very windy and wet April conditions. That day we crawled over the summit of Beinn Narhnain and Beinn Ime, and did not venture across to the Cobbler. On this day, the sun was out although the warmth was tempered by a stiff northerly breeze. We just crossed our fingers that the north peak routes would be sheltered enough, otherwise it was going to be a long walk with the climbing gear!

The walk up was dispatched in well under guide book time – and we thought Gary Latter’s times would be fairly tough! And luckily for us the route we had planned Punsters Crack was wonderfully sheltered! This is a 3 pitch Severe, which has a reputation for being good value for the grade – and I am very much in agreement with that!! The ‘step’ on the second pitch is interesting!! But the top slab was beautiful!! After returning to our packs and having some bait we left the packs hidden and walked across to the Central Peak and South Peak before heading back down to the valley and heading home, taking full advantage of the newly opened M74 extension through Glasgow, meaning we avoided queues on the M8 – Bargain!

Top slab of Punsters Crack, South Peak in the Background, The Cobbler

Ellenborough 10k

Yesterday evening evening I made the journey up to Maryport for the Ellenborough 10k. I’d ridden to work on Monday and rested on the Tuesday, more out of lack of time in the day than real proper rest. My legs felt fairly heavy warming up, as I tucked myself away before hand.

It was a warm evening again, and again I set off too quickly, but for the first 3 miles everything was good, I settled into a good pace and rhythm and enjoyed the long climb away from the town, and was happy to find myself in 2^nd place, but strangely just as the route took us down hill again, my legs started tying up and I got stitch. This meant a miserable mile 3 to 5, when I dropped down to 4^th place, and then dropped another place on the run in down the main road. In the end I was still tired from Saturday and couldn’t sustain the pace. I finished in 5^th place in a bit of a disappointing time. But looking on the bright side I finished first V35 – my first vet prize ever! I was behind a V40 and a V45 but we’ll gloss over that…! I then felt ready for a rest! It was lovely to be treated with homemade pizza at friends afterwards!

Whittle Pike English Championships Race

The week before this race, I’d ridden to work and back twice on the bike, and been for two short runs, so felt reasonably fresh for the race. It was a warm humid day although it was also quite cloudy. For me this is the worst type of conditions as I hate humidity!!

We rocked up fairly early for the race, the ladies being at 2pm, after the men’s. P was with me as we were heading south to my parents for a family gathering on the Sunday. He was going to head out on his mountain bike and check out Lee Quarry and other riding in the area, while I was racing.

It was great to watch the men’s race start and to see the front runners come in, but I did have to drag myself away to concentrate on my warm-up. I’ve been playing around with different warm-up strategies, and have finally found some things that seem to really help me, and really seems to make a difference.

At 2pm, before all the men had finished their race we were off. As usual I set off fast and soon had to reign back in a bit on the first climb. The descriptions I’d heard of the race all said something about if you’re on the flat you’ve gone wrong – and I now know why! The whole route is either up or down, often quite steeply so, but at the same time, no ascent or descent lasts very long. It was a hard run for me – I pushed hard and consequently hurt all the way around, and really suffered towards the end with knackered legs. The final climb up a very steep short gravel bank then grassy slope really made a few pay for earlier speed, and I made a few places up here!

I was neck and neck with a lass on the final run in down the tarmac, and unfortunately she had more in her legs than me for the uphill finish! I had no idea where I had come, but knew it was enough to get some championship points – so I was really surprised to find out that I’d come in 12^th – my highest ever placing in a champs race by miles!! I do know that this is more to do with quite a few better runners being absent but, hey you have to be in it to win it!!

After the race we travelled down to my parents, and before a mighty buffet lunch to celebrate my cousin's not so recent nuptuals, I trotted out for a gentle 4 miles around their town in lovely warm early morning sunshine. I probably then undid all that exercise with too much food – but what lovely food!

Grit....

Had a relatively quiet week with a couple of runs and commuting on the bike. We headed down to the Peak to stay with friends for the weekend for a couple of days on the Grit – to bring back memories! On the Saturday we all headed to the Roaches and had a great day mainly in the Skyline area, P ticked an E4, I managed a couple of easy leads and we saw a great plummet off an E4 – luckily he was absolutely fine and went on to get the second ascent of the route (yes at E4..!). Ali also made a couple of necky ascents so despite not climbing much at the moment her head is as good as ever!

On Sunday, P and Ali headed to Bamford while Si and I went out for a run over Chinley Churn and Mount Famine, bringing back memories of peak district running! I was exhausted by the end of the run, as Si is a hell of a lot fitter than I am! We then drove over to Bamford too, and met up, getting 4 routes in before the end of the day, and our drive back home. We resisted the temptation of spinach and chickpea curry at the Globe in Glossop, and a swing past our old house.

Summer.... what summer?

This weekend was my birthday weekend and what a wet one it was!! We had friends come to stay and despite plans for climbing, running or walking we didn’t really manage much of any. We took the climbing kit for a drive and walk down to St Bees, but frequent showers meant everything was too wet. We rescued to day with a damp run in the valley, taking into account people’s damaged knees and backs! P cooked up a lovely vegetarian feast for us all on Saturday night which was washed down with some very fine Corsican Rose and Cap Corse Liqueur.

On Sunday, it rained – again. I got a call from friends who were up in the Staveley area for the afternoon, so we arranged a Wilf’s café stop for afternoon tea. Before hand we went for a lovely walk in Kentmere, timing it to perfection as it stopped raining for us! Wilf’s duly provided fantastic post walk fodder and we caught up with friends, one who was imminently off on a 6 week off road bike ride across Mongolia!! 

Bodyfit 5k – too fast too soon?

The effects of Lingmell Nose were felt well into the next week, but I fancied trying the new course for the Bodyfit 5k near Cockermouth on Wednesday. I went for a walk on Monday evening after work which turned into a slow 6 mile jog on sore legs... oops! On Tuesday evening we headed to St Bees for a spot of bouldering in glorious sunshine.

I set myself the deadline of Wednesday morning to be able to walk up and down stairs without wincing and with a bit of effort succeeded, so that was that, time for something completely different!

I last ran a 5k race back in 2005, so not a speciality. I did do a fair warm up well it was more like a reminder for my legs how to run slightly fast session. The course was hilly for a 5k, almost all downhill or flat to start and then mostly uphill to finish. I set off fast as always and as it was only 5k just tried to hang on. It hurt like hell, and was not the most pleasant thing I have done recently. I finished 5^th Lady in 20:39, about half a minute outside my PB from 6 years ago. I was mildly disappointed with my time until P pointed out that I had just run Wasdale 4 days previously, and do no training what so ever for a fast run like this, so…..

Wasdale Fell Race 2011

Yesterday saw the annual joy that is the Wasdale Fell Race. I love it. I have never run as fast as I want to, as for some reason I never feel fit at this point in the year – maybe I need to re-examine that – but I always enjoy it – be it the clag and wind and rain of last year or the benign conditions of this year!

I had felt disrupted in my running in the previous few weeks with the Three Peaks Yacht Race calamity and Duddon DNF, so I decided to concentrate of just finishing. I told myself I didn’t care what time I did or where I came (although secretly I did mind!) and came up with a game plan of steady does it.

It was a warm day with some cloud around but it wasn’t threatening and the forecast was OK. I did make an effort to do some warm up and drills, to try and get my hips moving well. This is always hard to do before a long race, but the first climb is fairly tough on Wasdale and so it does make sense to be warmed up and ready.

At 11am we were off, and after an initial surge as is my want, I settled down to a very steady pace. Hazel came past me on the first climb up the corpse road, and I resisted the temptation to stick with her. I held my steady pace, and let others come past me – but it was really hard to hold to my plan! The top of Ill-Gill Head was in the clag, and for once the lead runners got a good line as the pack followed in true snake-like mode. At the top of the climb, I started to go past a few people, despite not feeling like I was speeding up, and then passed a few more on the descent to Greendale, after the first checkpoint on Whin Rigg. I think I was about 7^th Lady over Whin Rigg. I have to admit here to a bit of increased speed as I know the descent to the valley and love it so I guess its not a surprise that I passed a few.

The run across the valley is always harder than I remember as it’s not flat and it’s longer that you anticipate, still I pulled another few places on the way to Joss’s. It was then another steady climb up to Seatallan, taking my time, and actually enjoying it! I was shadowed by another lady on the climb up, and she over took me as we rounded the summit of Seatallan, and pulled away slightly down to Pots of Ashness.

About half way along the leg between Pots and the Scoat Fell Col, my speed seemed to increase compared with my fellow runners, or did they slow? Anyway I reeled in the lass in front of me and then another one passing Black Crag, and arrived at Pillar in 4^th place. I was running with my club mate Bill at this point and we snaked our way down off Pillar - a route we both know very well.

Approaching Kirkfell and Black Sail Pass, I realised my calf was showing signs of wanting to cramp, so I took on board some electrolyte at this point and with some careful running and a bit of energy too, it seemed to ware off by the time I approached Beck Head. As I started to climb up Gable, I spotted to lasses in front of me and realised they were 3^rd and 2^nd ladies, so I dug deep, with some effusive encouragement from a friend who was out supporting here, overtaking 3^rd near the bottom and finally catching 2^nd as we went over the top. Both looked tired!! Great!

I’d been recceing a good quick descent line off Gable to Sty Head Pass and it easily gave me significant distance on the lasses I’d past and I made ground on runners ahead. Taking on more food and water, I got my head down and for the first time managed to run quite a bit of the route from Sty Head to Esk Hause and onto the tops, still passing the odd runner. I have to say I felt really quite strong at this point! Onwards and over the lumps and bumps of Broad Crag and Ill Crag to the final summit of the Pike, which was slightly in the mist, and the off on the fun descent of Lingmell Nose. As always my legs felt the descent and I ended up breaking too much – I must loosen up!

I finished in a new PB of 5 hours 25 minutes, not a blinding time but considering the purposefully slow start I made, and the fact it was a pb, I’m happy and I was also 2^nd Lady!! Not bad for an easy steady start.

Lost - one climbing mojo

We were down at St Bees again last night in glorious sunshine, until a rapidly approaching front arrived. We timed it well, and had just got to the cliff top as the first rain drops fell. As much as I love being down at St Bees – it is a magical place -  it seems to be exposing a loss of climbing mojo at the moment. Not a physical loss but a mental loss. I knew that I was tired, as I’d ridden into work and back again yesterday so that had been 8 days without a rest day, but I just felt all out of sorts mentally as I had sort of done on Friday and Sunday, not being able to hold it together and concentrate when the climbing was hard even when seconding. I also had a "lovely" fall yesterday which swung me across the rock - cheese gratering my arm and leg – nice!

But its time for a rest before Wasdale and maybe a re-focussing of things coming up. Maybe the mojo will return of its own accord.

Rest, Recovery and Re-start

After the adventures of the weekend, we took a day to recover properly, and had a very lazy day pottering around at home, sorting a few things out, and generally relaxing. But then we realised we still had nearly a week before we had to go back to work and the forecast for the Lakes looked great. So a staycation was on the cards! We managed to pack a fair bit into our home holiday and living where we do I could well do it all again – given a good forecast…

On Tuesday we headed out on the fells for a run. It took a while before either of us felt actually like running so it was a slow start from Wasdale Head, up to Beck Head hugging the stream on the ascent, then basically following the Wasdale route to Brackenclose, over Great Gable, Styhead, Esk Hause, Scafell Pike, Lingmell nose and down. Not that I need to recce that part of the race route…It was beautiful clear day, warm and only a slight breeze which made a change from recent weather.

Wednesday morning we picked up our road bikes from a friends house in Whitehaven who’d been due to take them to the harbour for the race, and then drove around to Loweswater for a ride down Buttermere, over Honister, down Borrowdale to Keswick where we treated ourselves to a late lunch in the Lakeland Pedlar, then back over Whinlatter Pass to Loweswater. About 2 and a half hours riding, again in lovely conditions.

After a drizzly morning and a bit of retail therapy in Ambleside, we met up with a mate at Langdale Boulders for a solid afternoon bouldering. Didn’t feel much like a climber, but managed all the problems I can normally do and ticked one I’d never done before. Also had some half-hearted attempts at The Pocket and others, but to be honest they are too hard for me!

Friday was another stunning day and we headed to St Bees to do routes. It was beautiful down at Scabby Back, and I think we may have done more sun-bathing and chilling than climbing in the end.

During the week I’d had a text from an old climbing friend from Manchester who was attempting his BG on Saturday, and he’d found out about our adventure in the Menai straights, and therefore wondered if I was around for a bit of support on Saturday. Luckily Leg 4 was where he was lightest in fell support, so I rested up on Saturday morning and headed around to Wasdale at 2pm. It was all go at Brackenclose with the MRT dealing with two incidents needing helicopter assistance, some 3 Peakers around and other BG support as well as the gathering support for Nicky Spinks’s women’s record attempt on the 24 summit record.

Andy and his two supporters, Andy S and Chad, dropped into Wasdale off Scafell 20 minutes up on a 23 hour schedule and after a 20 minute stop we were off up Yewbarrow. Rick and I were in support. Rick had done his BG back in 2009. Andy was going just fine and was in fine fettle on most of the leg, picking up a few minutes on each split until Kirkfell and Great Gable, where he had a bit of a downer but once more chocolate had been fed into him, he was away again, and even ran the last part of the ascent to Green Gable (not far I know but takes some effort after all that has gone before!).

It was an amazing afternoon to be out on the fells, although there was some haze in the distance, the views were stupendous. It struck me as it already has done many times before how lucky I am to live in this area, and have all this on my doorstep!

Nearly 40 minutes up on schedule we dropped into Honsiter Hause and Andy’s girlfriend Claudia was waiting with pepperoni pizza – I think I ate more of it that Andy – sorry!! It went down very well. After some confusion with missing leg 5 supporters (found waiting patiently in the other car park!) Andy set off on Leg 5. I hung around for a while, as there were gathering numbers awaiting Nicky on her record attempt.

But I could only wait so long as I had to get back to Wasdale under my own steam. So I set off up the main track and Moses Trod to Beck Head. The sunset was stupendous as was the evening light on the fells, bathing Gable Crag in a warm orange glow. I dropped down off the peace and serenity of the high fells to the relative noise and hubabub of Wasdale Head in 3 Peak season. I got to the car at 10:20pm, and there were ten’s of minibuses, cars and scores of people milling around.

I heard in the morning Andy held onto that 40 minute buffer and completed in 22:20. Great effort.

Finally on Sunday, our last day of home holidaying, we headed around to Borrowdale to go climbing with friends up to support Andy on his BG. After trying for Shepherds but found no parking, then Quayfoot Buttress but it was busy, we ended up at Bowderstone Buttress, where we did Woden’s Crack, VS, Valhalla, E1, and Heaven's Gate E3. Have to say I struggled on both the last two!

So after all that I have to say going to work was for a rest, although it was such a nice day, we rode to work and back in just shorts and t-shirts!! No knee warmers, no arm warmers, no pertex…It won’t last though.

The 3 Peaks Yacht Race – over before it really began!

Well, what an adventure! Unfortunately it all ended for us after 11 hours of sailing and no running! I'll write more about this when I have caught my breath..

Preparation

Well its all getting a bit close now, tomorrow we head south to Barmouth for this year’s Three Peaks Yacht Race. We are all rookies at the event, and potentially are a bit light on the sailing side, but very experienced in the running…mmm… and really it’s a sailing race! So we shall see. Have been busy planning, sorting, packing and preparing.

Tarmac

I was working away from the office on Tuesday so took the opportunity to run in my new road shoes on some tarmac – made bearable because it was off-rode tarmac – the C2C bike route from Whitehaven to Kirkland. I started the run at Cleator Moor, and ran until the bike track meets the road near Kirkland School and then turned around and ran back again. I didn’t take my Forerunner with me, so had no idea how far it was or how fast I was running, I just kept a nice steady comfortable pace and actually enjoyed it despite it being a warm humid afternoon. I was quite surprised when I plotted it up that I ran 12 miles in 1:30, which is 7.5 minute mile pace! Not bad for a non-road runner, not trying.

Sedbergh Hills Recce, vanning and Quayfoot Buttress

Managed a commute on the bike on Friday, with strangely tired legs.

On Saturday P and I drove the van over to Sedbergh to recce the Sedburgh Hills race route as it’s the last English Championship race of the year in August. We’d been out on these fells only once before and that was a few years back, so it felt like all new terrain, especially where the race actually takes you.

The day was a showery day, with a reasonable breeze blowing from the northwest. We set off at a steady pace up the side of Winder to the first checkpoint on Arant Haw, just as a shower came in, but as we could see the other side of it we didn’t bother with putting our cags on – and then got pretty wet as it seemed to take an age to pass us by. As we set off on the first descent from Arrant Haw, P pulled up and decided to return to the van as his hamstring was feeling really tight. So I carried on by me tod, as he went and sampled the delights of Sedbergh’s tea rooms!! 

The rest of the route went well – it was a bit runnable for me as I prefer steep rocky climbs, but the middle section is tough as you cross the grain of the land before dropping steeply into Bowderdale and then the final long steady climb back up to the Calf. I took it steady all the way round, stopping every so often to either put on or take off my cag. After 3 and a half hours I dropped back into Sedbergh to the van, a quick change and dragged P back to a tea room for more (for him!) cake and tea!!

We stopped in the town for supper in a pub, before heading north to find a kip spot. In the morning we drove around to Borrowdale and climbed at Quayfoot Buttress until the rain arrived – which it did early!! We thought we’d have until at least early afternoon but it started on us nearer lunchtime, so after only two routes - Irony (HVS) and The Crypt Direct (E1) we made a hasty retreat to the Lakeland Pedlar!

Thursday Night run – White Moss and the Stone Circles

After 4 miles to work and back on Tuesday and a day off Wednesday as I was away for the day, P and I went out over the local fells for a run in the evening. We headed up Miterdale and then onto White Moss and returned via Blea Tarn, and Fell End. It’s a lovely run and I often wonder why I don’t run up there more often.

Finding 'it' again

Today after work, P and I went out up onto the fells for a run. I was hoping to find something after feeling tired all weekend. We went up Hollowstones from Wasdale Head to Lingmell Col, and then down the Corridor Route to Styhead and back down to the valley. It took the majority of the climb before I started feeling anything like OK, and all of a sudden I felt this energy flowing back into my legs! The final climb towards the col felt much better as did the descent, and by the time we headed down from Styhead I was flowing again!! Oh Joy!!!

Duddon - DNF

My third ever DNF, and all have been longs. I’m still not sure quite what went wrong but I felt more awful than normal from soon after the start. With hindsight I felt pretty flat and tired on the Friday night. We’d gone over straight after work to the Duddon to the Rucksack Club hut, High Moss, as some friends of ours were celebrating their recent marriage there for the weekend. I ate well, and kept hydrated and had an early night, and possible another sign, I slept like a log. Normally before long races I sleep fitfully as I have some pre-race nerves, but I didn’t on the Friday night.

I had a reasonable warm-up but considering it was a long race on a hot day I didn’t bust a gut, and then suddenly we were off. The first climb up past Wallowbarrow was horrible, but I’ve never enjoyed it, but I normally pick up on the run to Grassguards. This time, nothing, I just felt terrible. Still I kept on, but struggled after Grassguards too, and started going properly backwards on the steep ascent up Harter Fell. By the summit, I’d pretty much made my decision to bail at Hard Knott, but gave myself one last chance to see if I could run off the lethargy on the descent. Unfortunately I couldn’t even run downhill, so bad did everything feel. My two sore ankles were playing on my mind, as was the up and coming Three Peaks Yacht Race, so that was that.

Some friends who were racing had partners at Hard Knott Pass, and Geoff and Mandy gave me a lift down to Cockley Beck, and then after a short walk I hitched a lift with a guy who already had another DNFer Dan Duxbury from Ambleside. And so it was that I DNF’d at Duddon.

I did manage to have some fun over the weekend though with a good gathering on Saturday to celebrate Rae and Helen’s marriage. Lots of food including copious amounts of cake and other pudding goodies! We had originally planned to go climbing on Sunday but the weather broke slightly and I didn’t have any concentration so we popped back over the hill to home and went out in the afternoon on our road bikes for a steady 30 miles. I still felt pretty flat on the bike, like I had no oomph! 

3PYR Recce No. 2

Thursday after work, P, Rich and I headed over to Bowness Knott car park in Ennerdale to ride down to Whitehaven and back on the C2C route / 3PYR route. It was a lovely evening of light winds, blue skies and some warmth! It was supposed to be a pootle, it turned into a bit of a bash, but we checked the whole route out to the harbour and back. Sorted...

More Photos from Corsica

The view from the Grand Vire, Roche de Gozzi

The Grand Vire, Roche de Gozzi

Corte at night

Bavella Col

Bavella Col

Capineru

Les Iles Sanguinaires

Three Peaks Yacht Race recce

P and I checked out some of the running section of the Cumbrian leg of the Three Peaks Yacht Race on Saturday. Its not that we needed to check out the route or best lines, we know them already but what we fancied was checking out the times between points between Wasdale Head and Gillerthwaite YH. So in low cloud and a stiff breeze we set off from the Green in Wasdale over Black Sail Pass, past the hut and down to Gillerthwaite. After a short stop there for a bite to eat we turned around and head back. It stayed dry until the return leg, when it started lashing down and we climbed up and over the pass in driving hail. Not very pleasant! Now we have some decent timings to add to the ones we already know for the ascent and descent of the Pike.

After this excursion of 14 miles, we had a house full of friends for the weekend. More drinking then usual ensued which meant less exercise than normal occurred! Sunday started late with a short run and then a bouldering session at the Fisherground. On Monday we met up with some old friends from uni with their kids for a pootle through Grisedale Forest. Strange to be there without the bikes!

A Road Run

Tuesday afternoon, P went straight from work to the Bowderstone bouldering with mates, so I took the opportunity to run home mostly on the roads, just short of 10 miles. I am not a fan of road running although I don't mind it occasionally. The plan was just to trot home, not really trying to hit any pace in particular. I was pleasantly surprised to run exactly 8 minute miles for the first 8 miles before dipping just over this for the last two which have some significant hills in! Now I know it is not amazing lightening fast pace or anything special at all, but I was happy as it felt very comfy and sustainable (at least on the flat..!).

Gav's BG

I managed to slot in some short work runs on Thursday and Friday covering 8 miles in total just to keep the legs ticking over, before pacing my mate Gav on Leg 4 of his BG. It was a horrendous forecast for the Saturday afternoon, with Gav due into Wasdale at 2:35pm after a midnight start from Moot Hall. I had a call at 9am to say he was an hour up at Dunmail and still an hour up at High Raise, despite the strong winds. It was a totally different weather pattern to my BG which was exactly a year ago.

I met up with Nick, who was doing road support in Wasdale, and the two other pacers, Scott and Liz. Rich was also going to be with us, but he was coming in with Gav on Leg 3. So we all got there an hour earlier than planned and sure enough an hour ahead of schedule Gav, Jackie, and Rich appeared off Scafell and into Brackenclose. Gav was doing well, and the rain was still holding off. After a 17 minute rest (instead of his allotted 20) off we went.

We kept the pace steady up Yewbarrow knowing we had the hour in hand over the 23 hour schedule. We still managed to make 10 minutes on that climb alone, and another 10 minutes to Red Pike. It was on the descent over to Scoat Fell that the rain finally came in and was with us for the rest of the leg. Combined with the very strong winds it made for a filthy time on the fells. Still with 5 of us trogging along, (3 of us have already done the BG, one was making attempt in two weeks time, plus our contender) there was no need to use a map or a compass. The summits came and went, each split being better than the schedule. The ascent of Gable wasn’t as bad as I was expecting and we found some shelter before the summit to scoff more food before pressing on. The climb up from Wind Gap to Green Gable was the most windy, and I got blown over by a very strong gust! Liz had left us at Beck Head having already paced Gav on Leg 2 through the night, and I left them at Grey Knotts to run back to Wasdale.

It was not the nicest of run backs I’ve done into the teeth of the wind and rain. Visibility was less than 10 metres and there were three worried faces looking at me as I disappeared off Grey Knotts to reach the Moses Trod route. Luckily it’s a route I know well, so no need to navigate as such, just a requirement to pay attention and not wonder, and before long I was at Beck Head and having to fight my way down Gavel Neese to the valley. The wind was funnelling up the pass making it a tough effort to run down! Reached the car at Brackenclose after 5 hours 20 on the hill, ready for some tea and cake!

Gav had worse weather on Leg 5 than we did on Leg 4, but kept going really well to finish in 21:40 – an awesome effort, especially in those conditions! Unfortunately I can't say the same for my camera which bit the dust in all that water, so my photos are stuck on the card until I get a card reader or another camera!

Latrigg Fell Race

Another new short sharp and ‘not my thing’ race on Wednesday evening. The day after Mearly I was feeling a little battered which was a bit humbling as it was only 3.8 miles! I gave the legs a rest though and had a really good climbing session, feeling very strong after our trip! Just how long that strength will stay who knows! P and I then ran to work and back on Monday via an extended loop, covering 4.2 miles in the morning and 6.8 miles in the evening on track and fell. Despite the damp conditions it was a good run, some of it on new terrain.

This was followed by the 22m commute on the bike on Tuesday, before the Latrigg race tonight. The race heads from Fitz Park, via Briar Rigg, to the summit and back via a short very sharp ascent and descent. I set off with the same plan in mind as Mearly Clough, fast and then hold on! Again I just couldn’t sustain the initial fast pace, and after being second lady for most of the climb, dropped two places before the summit. The first of these got away too much on the descent, but the other didn’t and after catching them to be just behind as we hit the track, I put my foot down and managed to pull away. It was pretty painful keeping the speed up into the finish, but I kept third spot to come away with a Silva head torch (not sure I needed another head torch but there you go – it’ll come in handy I’m sure!). I even had a short warm down for this race too, as the descent felt like it was hammering my quads.

Post race prize giving was by Kenny Stuart (photo courtesy of Dunc Overton, Keswick AC)

Mearly Clough English Championship Race

All the short runs this week may have made very little difference to my fitness but they did get the legs working again in time for the 2^nd English Fell Championship race at Mearly Clough yesterday. At 3.5 miles or so it was not really my thing – I tend to need at least 6 miles to warm up! And the lack of running in the previous 6 weeks was not preparation in any way! Still, I tried to phsyc myself up for it and had a good warm-up running at least 4 miles up and down the fields at the beginning of the race route.

The race was a new one to me, although the summit cairn is a checkpoint on the Tour of Pendle which I ran some years ago. I don’t remember it though as it was thick mist at that point! It was also strange as I’m not used to women only fell races and it was interesting to see how this affects your running as everyone you are racing against is in your class! I set off fairly fast and just tried to keep on going. I thought I was doing pretty well, but as the climb went on and steepened my legs started screaming more and more. I was so grateful when the summit arrived. It was disappointing to see how far Julie and Cat where ahead of me, and how close Sam was behind me! But I dug in and found something in my legs to surge around the top of the clough and then just went for it on the descent. I think the couple of thunderstorm retreats we’d had in Corsica really helped my descending on this as I felt really good and passed two ladies on the steep descent and then managed to haul another two I think on the run in. Finished 25^th overall, behind the lassies I’m normally behind and ahead of ones I’m normally ahead of!

Julie commented that if I could do that well with 6 weeks off then there was probably no point in training…. I think Duddon may prove that statement wrong….

The result puts me equal 24^th in the Ladies Championship after 2 races. Duddon next, and little time to find any speed or stamina.

Back To Reality

The last week has been a shock after a month away. Its also been very busy, catching up at home and work. In order to catch up on the lack of running (I think I’ve managed about 2 hours running in the last six weeks) I’ve been running the 2 miles into work and back from where I can park. P has been coming with me too which has been nice company! So without too much effort of two days of this, plus a longer run into work and back we clocked 15 miles in the week, plus a commute on the bike and a real set to gardening as well. The garden had taken off and was resembling a jungle when we got home!

The Solent and Corsica

We have just returned from a month away, and what a fantastic time. Very little running, no biking but a few days sailing and heaps of climbing! We spent the first few days down at my aunt and uncle’s, being taught one end of a sailing yacht from another in Portsmouth Harbour. Mike (my uncle) and P hatched a plan at our wedding to do the Three Peaks Yacht Race this year, so we have a scratch ... errmmm (!) team of my uncle, Mike, my cousin, Steve, P, myself and a mate Rich. Rich and I are the runners, with P being the standby runner! It’s going to be interesting and fun. We had three days on the boat, and P and I spent a night on it on the mooring. It was great to catch up with my cousin too as it’s a long time since I’ve seen him!

P and I then headed south in the van, taking the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen-Ouistreme, driving to the Ardeche in one effort. We then drove the rest of the way to Toulon and caught another overnight ferry to Ajaccio on Corscia. We met up with our mates Kevin and Alice in their van and then had a fantastic 20 days on the island, climbing nearly every day. Crags visited included Rocher de Gozzi, U Richiusu, Restonica Valley, Bavella Col, Capineru, and a few other smaller sites.

On the way back to Cumbria, we stopped off again in the south for another couple of days on the boat, and some more sailing practice. We probably amused a fair number of people by trialling our heath robinson oars out and a set of quite hilarious runs perfecting the use of the cruising shute!

Sunset in Portsmouth Harbour

Moonlight

Corsica

Nearly time for a HOLIDAY!

The last two weeks have disappeared with not a lot of exercise. P and I are just about to head off for a month, so there’s lots of things to get done before we go, work to finish and my back and foot have been niggly. Not wanting to jeopardise our holiday it’s been very important to try and rest these niggles and recover! So I’ve had a couple of climbing sessions on the woody and ridden to work and back on a couple of days and one short local run to see how the foot was. That to be fair has left me feeling pretty tired. I also had to face the fact that I wouldn’t get to the 4th or 5th WCOC race so wouldn’t be in with a shout of winning the series again this year. 

Too tired.... and injured!

On Saturday we’d decided to go for a reasonable fell run with our mate Tom, for his birthday treat. We picked the reverse of a route P and I had run a few weeks back, from High Moss, up Walna Scar, Dow Crag, Old Man, Great Carrs, Grey Friar and back down via Seathwaite Tarn. As soon as we set off, I realised that I was feeling very tired, and slowed the lads up a fair amount heading up Walna Scar. I am normally perfectly able to trot up this at a nice pace, but today it was all going horribly wrong. It took a lot of effort just to walk up it, but I was determined that it would all be OK! That was probably a mistake.

After reaching the top of Walna Scar, we trotted along the ridge to Dow Crag and round to the Old Man of Coniston. I usually love running along this ridge but today it felt hard. Also my foot started bothering me again, so I was running with a slight limp. By the time we were on the final descent off Grey Friar, Tom and P were being very patient with me and waiting as I lurched my way down the hillside. It can’t have been a pretty sight! When we got back to the hut, it was all I could do to not crash out, feeling exhausted.

On the Sunday, the weather was not great, and we were wondering how to occupy ourselves, and then my back started hurting. Thinking about it, I was running so oddly due to my foot and as I was so tired, it’s no surprise that I’ve tweaked something! So P headed to the coast with some mates bouldering at St Bees, and I relaxed at home with a heat pad on my back!

Wallabarrow

Having spotted the end of the good weather, P and I took Friday off and headed over to the Duddon, where we were spending the weekend for a friend’s birthday, for our traditional early year visit to Wallabarrow crag. Despite having climbed almost every route there, many of them many times, I do love this crag. It was a sunny, warm day and we had a great time ticking off our old favourites. This was followed up by food and beer in the Newfield, and a good evening catching up.

Crag Fell Crawl

The third of the six race series from WCOC went from the car park on the southern side of Ennerdale Lake, up though the woods, to Grike summit, along the tops to Crag Fell and then back down to the car park. It was a lovely evening and as usual I set off fast and then suffered on the final stages of the main climb. I was leading Charlotte Watson until about ¾ of the way up, she then came past me and pulled ahead. I managed to reel her in to only a few metres as we crossed between the summits, and thought I’d finally passed her on the descent off Crag Fell, as we took very different lines, and we crossed the stile literally one after the other. However, the final part of the descent her orienteering skills on rough ground meant she pulled away again over the rough ground and I came home a few seconds behind her. I was frustrated to not get the better of her, but I wasn’t concentrating hard enough on the descent.

Worryingly as I tried to warm down, my old left foot injury was bothering me. It was really sore so I had a quick stretch and no run out, changed and headed home. 

3 times in 10 days

With P recovered from his dislocated knee, he was back into running training and fancied a trot up Middle Fell after work in the lovely spring sunshine. It was the third time in 10 days for me, each ascent being different. The first was a give it everything and see how far I could get running, the second was a race, and last night was a more interval affair, with P making me work hard with efforts both up and down. My quads were exhausted by the end!

Middle Fell Race 2011

Saturday was the Middle Fell race from Nether Wasdale. I’d recced it the weekend before so there were no surprises but it was much drier underfoot than last weekend. It was also a 'nearly' warm spring day with lovely sunshine. It isn’t a big race, and although a similar number of people turned up this year to last it seemed as though there where a lot of usual suspects missing. When we toed the line, no one seemed to want to be at the front!!

Even more telling was the fact that I was 8^th person to the fell, and although I dropped 5 places on the climb, I managed to make up 3 of them on the run in back across the valley to come 10^th overall and 1^st Lady. Even better was the fact that I’d knocked over 3 minutes off my time from last year. 

WCOC Warrior Series: Race 2

The race tonight was more like a trail race, fast running all the way over Hay and back. Kept a steady pace tracking the shoulder of another lass, but she managed to pull away on the second climb, while I developed stitch from eating too late before the race. A new route for me and it felt like a good run despite the stitch!

Weekend running

Spent the weekend at home, catching up with people and things. Got out for a couple of runs, including 7 miles speed work on Saturday and 7 miles reminding myself of the Middle Fell race route on Sunday.

WCOC Warrior Series: Race 1

Last night was the first in the local Spring Fell Race series organised by WCOC. This year's series opened with Leaps Lowp, which I ran last year as well. Had slight trouble with tight calf muscles on the climb up Low Pen which reduced me to an ungainly descending style to Knock Murton, but came home first lady, half a minute faster than last year. 

Skiddaw’s other summits

After the efforts of the weekend, including all that driving, I put my feet up on the Monday and then went for a gentle run on the Tuesday to loosen everything up. Wednesday was a day off work for me as I was seeing a Physio in the afternoon. As this was an appointment made a while ago, there was no choice in weather so it was a very breezy day with cloud on the tops and intermittent sleet and snow showers. Still I’d plotted a route to tick off the lower summits on the Skiddaw massive: Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Low Man, Carl Side, Long Side, Ullock, and Dodd.

I ran all the way to Lonscale Fell and towards Low Man before the wind really got the better of me, and in the end reduced me to crawling on hands and knees over the summit! It was certainly the strongest wind I have been in on my own on the fells. Exhilarating to say the least! No incentive to get the camera out. Total distance about 15 miles.

English Fell Championships: Long Mynd

So Sunday was a completely different experience and one I was much more at home with. It was a good hour and half drive to Church Stretton, for the first counter in the English Championships. My legs didn’t feel too heavy warming up, but I knew they’d be tired and it was just a case of going out and keeping the pace up, bearing in mind 5 of the 7 climbs are in the second half of this race. I hadn’t been to the area since I was a child so it was really all new terrain. Luckily it was a fair day with high broken cloud, and a gentle breeze.

We set off at 11 and I kept it relatively steady for the first two climbs, keeping with a few known faces, before the long undulating run along the ridge which really hurt for me. I also suffered on the long descents as they we soo fast! But luckily all the BG training meant I kept a good pace going over the last few climbs when others seemed to be going backwards. Unfortunately, near the very end I lost a couple of positions on the final descent as my quads started to tie up, but finished 22^nd lady in 2 hours 17 minutes, earning myself 10 championship points. It was a fair run after the efforts of the day before!

Inter Counties XC

Somehow I had managed to get myself on the Cumbria Team for this year’s Inter-Counties XC Team, held in Cofton Park in Birmingham. I had agreed to run a couple of months before if needed and already knew that it was the day before the first English Championship fell race at Long Mynd. It seemed like such a great idea back then, but the nearer the weekend got, the more if sounded just a little too daunting! Still I’d get a county vest and see some good runners in action.

I travelled down to my parents in Warwick on the Friday night with Sam, who was also doing the same double as me. We made good use of M&S food on the journey down, reckoning that traditional fast food is not what true athletes eat! My parents took great care of us all weekend, feeding and watering us copiously which was far better than staying in any hotel or B&B!

Saturday morning we headed to Cofton Park, and it then hit me what a big event this is! We soon found the Cumbrian Tent and got settled. It felt like no time at all before it was time to warm up. Sam and I walked the course to familiarise ourselves and then went through some warm up drills. Not something I’m that practiced at doing! It was a bit worrying that we didn’t seem to have a full team there until we actually lined up in our pens, but we started with the bare minimum of 6 to count.

After a wee false start we were off, and although I tried to stay with Sam who starts steadily and keeps an even pace I was off too fast again. It was then a case of just hanging on. In the end I was the 5^th out of our 5 finishers, so we didn’t get a team position, unfortunately. I managed a reasonable time, obviously about 7 minutes off the winning time of Charlie Purdue – but hey I’m not a flat runner!!

It was a great experience and made me realise just how good our good runners are! 

Learning to go steady

Have been trying to get my head aroound what a steady run is and how to run it! Had a lovely run in the valley on Monday evening in the last rays of sun. Flushed another deer out of the trees - its getting to the point that I think I'm going to see one on every run! 5 miles in total with 3.5 of them at a 'steady' 7 minute mile.

Duddon outing

Sunday morning, P and I made the short drive over Birker Fell to Seathwaite in the Duddon for a longer run. We parked up by the church and headed up past High Moss to Seathwaite Tarn, Grey Friar, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Old Man of Coniston, Dow Crag, and back down Walna Scar. 11.3 miles in total in sometimes warm sunshine, although the wind was a cold north-westerly, and there was fresh slushy snow on the fell tops. A lovely run and great to be out on the higher fells after a bit of an absence!

Bike ban

I have had a bit of a revelation recently in that despite being a runner who likes to ride a bike, and a runner who races running races, I tend to try and fit my running around biking to work. My commute is an undulating 23 mile round trip, which is a great distance to maintain fitness and get you fitter, but can also leave you feeling tired occasionally. I then try and fit running around these commutes. I do prefer to ride to work than to drive - I'm more awake in the morning when I get to work, and by the time I'm home I've done my exercise and can relax, as well as the eco element of just driving less! BUT....

So I've tried a week without the bike, but with more running. Great but I miss my bike! I'll just have to start introducing it again after a week or two. Still it has made me more focussed on what running I'm doing. Tuesday was a series of five 1 mile efforts, in the dark. The mile is not 'flat' either, but I managed 6:10, 6:54, 6:20, 6:52 and then 6:53 (can you tell which were up the valley and which were down?). Including warm up and down this totalled 7.5 miles.

Wednesday was two laps of a local loop one with P and one without. My legs felt tired after the previous few days but I managed a negative split for the two laps! Total 5.5 miles.

Thursday morning was a gentle run of 2 miles to work, and back then a brutal session of 5 x (6 x 10 sec on, 20 secs off) up a steep hill. I really thought my lunch was going to see the light of day again! Total 4.5 miles.