25 miles and 8000ft

Plan A was to run the Patterdale Parish Boundary event, a 30 mile route covering some high peaks including Helvellyn. It was for teams of three and I only had three if I counted Scamp so I had to break open the envelope that contained plan B. 

Kayaks on Derwentwater. Blencathra, Clough Head and Gt Dodd on the Skyline

The Derwentwater watershed is a route I had ran round once before with Iain Kelly. On that day it was my longest ever run (timewise). This time it was to be my longest since the 2009 Lakeland 50. 

Looking back to Keswick and Skiddaw from the ascent up to Dalehead

We parked under the nose of Catbells which meant some fierce climbing from the outset. We simply followed the 'tourist path' South over Maiden Moor and High Spy to then drop down to Dalehead tarn for a refreshing drink of Cumbrian fellwater, followed by the stiff climb up to Dalehead.

Taken from  between Green Gable and Great Gable. Buttermere valley overlooked by Grassmoor (but dont ask me to name any others in shot)

The miles ticked by, the summits ticked off. Scamp bagged some new ones with Green and Great Gable.

IWC taking better photos than SPA

My companion this day was Ian charters. I don't know what the W stands for. He never said. Perhaps he was being enigmatic? Also, I didn't ask him!

Styhead Tarn. Blencathra far far off in the North

We ran on. Past Styhead Tarn and Sprinkling Tarn where numerous children were sat, resting with huge packs, no doubt on a school trip. Up towards Esk Hause, familiar to me from just days earlier, though much warmer and sunnier this visit.

IWC. Great Gable behind.

At Angle Tarn we began to meet a lot of pairs competing in the Saunders event. I know little of this but I gathered it to be orienteering on a huge scale with overnight camping thrown in. IWC knew many of these Saundersers and learned that Nicky Spinks, who was on a 24hr womens record peaks attempt, was due in the area imminently. So we whizzed up the short climb to Rossett Pike to await her arrival. More can be read of this on IWC's blog. From Rossett Pike we dropped a little height to reach Stake Pass. From there we contoured below High Raise to reach Greenup Edge which we then followed more or less North  over Ullscarf, past Blea Tarn to High Tove.

From somewhere along Greenup Edge we see Skiddaw, Blencathra, Clough Head and Gt Dodd (just)

At High Tove we had a board meeting. Scamp was supposed to be taking the minutes but has since mislaid them. Nonetheless, the outcome of that meeting was a decision to leave the mountains behind us and descend to Watendlath. I think this route choice added a mile or so to our day, but it also afforded us a refill of fresh water which was most welcome as we both had all but ran out. From Watendlath we used the riverside path which is very stony and rough in places. Perhaps the road which ran parallel to our choice would have been a better option but it seemed a shame to end such a great day in the fells with several miles of tarmac.

At Surprise View I noted an elderly couple sitting in foldup chairs. In my mind I formulated an hilarious sketch whereby they kept nodding off in the sun only to be surprised at what they saw before them each time they woke (Yeah, I've already go me coat)

Reaching the main road South to Borrowdale (or North to Keswick depending on where you live and whether you are going out for the day or going home from a day out), we plodded along the narrow path praying for Keswick to come soon. We were both quite tired by this time, but I was pleased to be able (and wanting) to jog rather than walk.  We reached my van eight and a half hours after starting out. All that remained now was to drive back to Catbells where IWC's car was parked, so we could begin lap 2. Because the chip shops would all be closed by the time we completed the second lap we decided to go home instead.

Like a moped or a bicycle

I want to train hard but my legs don't.

The race on Sunday went OK I suppose. It was very warm and sunny, my least favourite weather to run in (OK, yes, snow and icy wind is worse than hot sun but not by a huge margin). I took about 6 minutes longer than in 2010. The wind was into our faces for about the first hour, but when it was a tailwind we were dropping off the fellside and unable to run any faster due to the rough terrain. The course was also a minute or two longer than last year (when a diagonal line was taken to cut out a long corner). Nevertheless I think I should have ran a minute faster than I did. I felt rubbish from the very start and never felt like I was flying along eating up the road/track as I'd hoped to.

Since then I've done very little. Monday a short jog, Tuesday nothing at all, tonight another short jog

Wednesday we ran up Scafell Pike from Seathwaite. Plenty of steep walking sections on this route but interspersed with running breaks a little more often than the climb of Blencathra. I wasn't really up for this either. I allowed Stu and Steve Bennet to pull away from me as we climbed, then a quick jog to regain their heels every now and then so they knew I was still in contact.  The summit was bleak and cold but we had some tremendously atmospheric views as we descended the Corridor route back down.

Thinking ahead to the rest of 2011 I think I MAY NOT BOTHER with an autumn marathon this year.
I had decided it would be Amsterdam marathon in mid October, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with the upturn in training July through September. I will almost certainly still do Langdale marathon however, but reckon I will be able to wing it without the specific training.

And a little nearer, this weekend in fact, I have to decide between a 30 mile event on Saturday over many  many summits, or an 8 mile blast on Sunday, up just one - Skiddaw. The 30 mile event has to be entered by teams of three (for safety I presume) so if I can't get two others interested (Scamp doesn't count in the 3 - and he's got no choice anyway).



Too (tyred) tired

The mighty Blencathra is tamed

Tuesday evening straight after work we headed up Blencathra (me, Penrith Stu and Steve Bennet)
I didn't want a hard run after the previous days 10 mile effort but was keen to run up the ascents however slow. From the carpark to the summit is a long long drag and I was pleased to finally drop back down to the tarn. From there we then made a direct beeline to the summit of Bannerdale - very very steep - zero possibility of running. This was enough to see off the two young pretenders with Stu seemingly coming up with a new leg ailment for every metre he fell behind!

Bannerdale summited we had a short tussocky downhill section before the second climb to Blencathra summit via Foule crag. This I ran ALL the way up, apart from brief stops to let Steve catch me up to instruct him NOT to take the racing line across the scree (whats the point in missing some climbing out when you are training?)

As we came away from the summit plateau a Seaking search and rescue helicopter made an impressive  sight below our elevation as it flew along  the A66 corridor from the direction of Keswick/Borrowdale.

90 minutes after setting off we were back down at the vehicles and heading for home. A tough run in the bag, Good craic with Penriths 2nd and 3rd best runners, and scarcely a drop of rain. A midsummers day to remember.

Wednesday evening straight after work we headed to Rickerby (me, Scotty and Darren) and ran the 3 mile circuit in 5 reps of 3 minutes. I definitely ran faster being with other good lads than if I had done this session alone. I was tired though, My legs had nowt in them. I was pleased to manage  the 3 miles in 5:23 average pace (16:09), but I think I have made an error  in shortening the recovery on this session to just one minute.
Here's why;

I'm a long distance runner but know the importance of needing to run a fast mile to help run a fast marathon. being just 3 minutes long though, these reps are all about leg speed. So the most important thing to gain from the session is to run fast, ideally as close to 5 pace as I can get. If this means having 90 seconds rest between reps to get faster then that is what I should be doing. Short recoveries would be ideal training for someone concentrating on 5 k events.

It's not always the case of course. For  mile reps I believe it's possible to run at approx the same pace as I can in a 10k race, so a session of say 5 or 6 by a mile is about enduring that high but possibly just sustainable pace/effort level with minimum (and reducing over  weeks or months) recoveries.

Todays news - Despite a decent 3 days training my left calf feels better then it did on Sunday so Im confident it will be fine now.
Todays other news - just found out Milly won the Abbeyttown 10 mile race a couple of weekends back. well done soft lad.

Bring it on

Before I had a Garmin to measure my routes, my 10 mile circuit was shorter than it is now by about 1 minute. In other words, the Garmin said it was less than 10 miles so I extended it. I don't have a Garmin now but still stick to the new, longer route.

On the old route I once ran round in 58 minutes something, and a couple of times in a 59. There's no chance I'll repeat those times these days because I'm slower and it's further but I do like to compare my current self to my old self by knocking off that minute in my head to see just how much slower (or not) I am these days.

Yesterday (Monday) I couldn't really be bothered to train as it was quite a warm day and work had been very tiring in the afternoon. So I threw sticks in river instead of walking Scamp a long way then also waited a while longer to allow the temp to drop a bit more.

Wanting to have an easy end to this week to prepare for the tough 13 mile race coming up on Sunday, but also wanting to train hard up to midweek  I decided to run the 10 mile circuit in reps of 11 minutes hard with 4 minutes jog recovery. My (Scottys) famous session.

The fourth interval was a real test of endurance as by then I was pretty wasted and no longer running inside six minute miling. But the previous three were good enough to give my best result for a long time 10 miles in 61:18.


When I think back to only ever beating the hour on three different occasions on the old course, yesterday time, adjusted to 60:18 is pretty damn close to what I used to accomplish. I am determined to do this exact route/session again soon, hopefully in light drizzly rain. I know I can run it faster than 61 minutes on my own. Perhaps if I had someone like Scotty to train with again I would run even faster (he used to run it in less than 55 minutes!!!)

Penrith Stu said I shouldn't have blogged about my  foolish error up the fells on Sunday, but by writing about the bad stuff I feel vindication for droning on when things are going well.

Trust your instincts Luke - feel the force.

I should've heeded old Ben Kinobis advice as I descended off Blencathra summit over Mungrisedale common, toward the Caldew and Great Calva today.

Although I had ran leg one of the Bob Graham Round at least ten times before today I had only ran it anticlockwise twice before. I knew the way like the back of my hand (or so I thought) so didn't elect to take a map with me. Uhh Urrrrr (makes that noise from Family Fortunes when they guess wrong answer)

As I headed off the Summit of Blencathra I knew I had to bear to my right a bit and drop onto the path that runs through the slatey scree. This I did without a hitch and very soon I reached 'the main path' which runs over Mungrisedale common between the Caldew crossing and Foul Crag. I turned left onto this path and began following it gently downhill.

I'd decided that today I would walk the whole leg to see how long it took with out any running, and with the weather being rather poor I was soon quite cold and wet.

If I'd been running I would have covered at least twice the ground in the same time but walking not only got me cold but allowed me time to think. Thinking too much I  began to wonder if I was actually on the right path and wasn't in fact heading toward Bowscale instead of Calva. The gentle ground should have told me I wasn't going the wrong way as to get to Bowscale requires a decent drop to cross Blackhazel beck, and I hadn't been on any steep ground since Blencathra top.

If I'd had a map with me, or even a bearing in my head so I could've checked the compass I would have continued in the correct direction. But then when the path faded somewhat and I decided I MUST need to head left to gain the correct path which in my mind was a wide, dirty brown track for it's entirety.

As I rounded to my left I didn't find any other path but did soon reach a  small ravine which I now know to be Sinen Gill. From the head of the Gill I could see the Cumbrian Way below me and decided to head to it.

At the Cumbrian Way I had to decide whether to follow it up to Skiddaw House then onto Calva and/or Skiddaw, or simple turn for Keswick and cut my day short. As I still hadn't ran a step I was still quite cold and decided that this wasn't the day for a long walk after all. But rather than head back the quickest way (under Blease Fells flank) I began running and climbed up onto Lonscales flank and followed the CW again to the Gale Rd carpark. I could've then dropped over the back of Latrigg to the (old) railway line but instead opted to drop down to Derwentfolds and up to the Blencathra Centre to then enjoy the long long drop down into Threlkeld where I had parked.

I'm very annoyed at myself for making this silly error, but at least I still had a good few hours up the fells.

I timed myself up Halls Fell Ridge today. 48 minutes from the carpark S of the A66 to the trig point. Not sure if that's fast or not but I do know that I once took 45 minutes TO GET DOWN the same route in the dark at 1am on a  wet and windy day in 2009.

Due to a bit of a sore left leg I hadn't ran since Thursdays jog with dog. That's also partly why I wasn't gonna run at all today. But it seems no worse right now so I think its probably nowt bad.

City slicker shows bumpkins how to race up fells!

Monday nowt - getting to be a bad habit!!

Tuesday - 10 miles in 63:18. This is approx 30 seconds quicker than last week in very similar conditions. Tried a bit harder than last week though, especially in the final 3 miles, so the resulting time  wasn't so great really.

Wednesday - Fell race at Tebay. Wasn't feeling so grand for this event but knew it would be good training whatever the outcome so I got on with it. Plenty of good running sections where I easily caught and passed people ahead of me, but they were always interrupted by steep sections too. If it was steep uphill I managed to climb as well as the next fella but on the steep downs I struggled a bit to keep up. Luckily of course the downhills dont tend to last very long so any losses are limited.

The worst part of this route for me was the sections where it was flat or only mildly up or down but over terrible ground. Terrible as in long tussocky grass or full of holes and cut away peaty bog holes. I don't mind walking when running is impossible but I hate this type of ground where  running should be possible but it takes so much concentration to check the ground ahead that keeping up a pace is frustratingly difficult.

The final climb was a massive sided monster. Above we could see the next ten people ahead, behind, probably several dozen, although I only noticed Stu and Steve Benno Bennet. Such a steep climb as this is impossible to run up, but walking so hard as to make my legs hurt did not cause my CV system to work unduly hard at all. Thinking back, I should have included some occasional jogs to raise my heartrate significantly higher, then walked again until it dropped. If I'd done that Stu would probably have caught me back up on the 2 mile run-in though.  One aspect of the route where I did lose time was not knowing where we were going - all I could do was look to see where the people ahead were going and pick what looked like a good line to get there. Benno had some good lines already from his recce last week and that's how he ended up running with me and Stu after we had pulled steadily away from him in the early uphill section. At the finish we were all just seconds apart. Importantly though was order - Carlisle - Penrith - Penrith

If I were to race in the fells a lot more then I reckon I could improve significantly on my performance of last night - certainly in the events of up to 10 miles. It's just that I get downbeat when I can't stretch out and run fast. Or when there is such a long downhill section that I become tired of concentrating on the uneven ground/my footfalls. Or when its steep uphill cos that doesn't feel like a running race. I suppose to sum up fellracing I'd have so say then that I like the flat, smooth grounded parts best. A bit like road racing but with better views!

Today (Thursday) my legs felt pretty battered. I jogged 4 miles with Scamp but didn't even manage the distance without a few walking sections.

Final note - if taking spare dry socks ensure they are left in vehicle for after run and NOT in kit bag which goes up fell and gets wet with you - if you take them with you they become your OTHER wet socks!

Plenty doing

Thursday I jogged with Scamp in  Gelt. Very slow and with lots of stops to play in the river.
Friday again just jogging - hottest day of the year so far - about 5 miles very easy, untimed

Me and Scamp up some fell or other

Saturday I was keen to run 10 miles hard, possibly even intervals. But then a massage came through from Penrith Stu about 'garn up fells' at noon. It was a grand day up top - T shirt weather as long as you kept moving along. 2 hours we spent with scarcely a stop. Near the end I was very tired but once the final descent to the car was in sight I pushed hard to test Stu. He passed the test and even had me mildly concerned at one point. Turned out he was doing an interval though and soon had to slow up  again.

Sunday I went back to more or less the same place and ran the circuit to be followed later in June when I compete in the Day In The Lakes Triathlon. In 2010 I was second fastest runner with 1hr 31. This year I am determined to beat 1:30.

By Monday I had developed a bit of a cough and was silly to do my intervals as planned. A poor performance was guaranteed and indeed achieved.

Tuesday I decided it better NOT to train so I could get over my irritating "illness", but then by Wednesday I was keen to do some worthwhile running and tootled around the 10 mile loop in 63:50 - not a bad time considering I never "tried hard" - just a nice steady effort throughout.

Thursday was a washout. I had never planned to run as I was intending to go to Newcastle to photograph the 4000 competitors running the Blaydon Race. I couldn't get anyone to help me with this and a long tiring day at work saw me spend the evening mooching round the house instead of any training or earning.

Nick with 20  hours still to go

Friday was a BIG NIGHT OUT. No not at a pub or nightclub - that would be ridiculous. An evening of fellrunning was on the cards accompanying Nick, an Ellenborough lad who was attempting the Bob Graham Round. I'm pleased to report that he completed the round in 21hrs. I was not one of his official helpers and was just tagging along really but hopefully I made myself useful by taking some photos that will become momentoes for Nick to remind him of his great achievement.

Setting sun over Scottish Hills and Solway coast - Taken from the ascent of Blencathra

Getting home late from the fells I was in bed by about 1230 then up again at 0730 as the skip wagon arrived to deliver a skip for my old kitchen which I am having replaced. Most of the day was spent ripping things off walls and dodging the rain showers as the skip grew ever fuller. Saturday night was another late one as I helped celebrate my old mans 65th birthday with one can of guinness and 3 cups of tea.

Just 7 hours in bed and I was up to prepare for another  "fellrun". We were to visit once again the DITL run route from Pooley Bridge. I was of a mind to run this much harder this week than I had the previous Sunday. In the end it was a bit of a mixed up run with easy parts, hard parts, and even stationary parts waiting for lads to catch up. In the end it was faster than last week, but I think I may return one more time. Penrith Stu joined us for this run - I'm not sure he was too impressed about a fellrun with no fell summits visited - but possibly just as well as I think he was rather shocked by the fitness/ability/determination/ of his City cousins!