w/c 19th March - Back with a bang!

Hmmm...funny how you lose faith suddenly to find it completely and defiantly restored!

I started this week feeling low after a poor run at Edale. I knew it was down to illness and that I should have been happy to get round in such bad conditions, but i was not happy and felt that i was just not the kind of guy that could race well on the fells. To add to that, my calves were tight as anything after completing that race in very lightweight fellshoes (Innov8 Rocklite 285s) which offer very little support (even less than Walshes). Not good.

So, I rested Monday, had a short run up Moel Famau after work on Tuesday before the club AGM . This was painful and i worried that the calves would 'go' at any moment. Soooo frustrating - maybe the BGR is a pipe dream and I'm wasting everyone's time. I was still sore on Weds so backed off then too.

And so it was that on Thursday evening I found myself driving up to the Lakes with sore calves and a dip in confidence. I met Nick and Paul, we had food and few beers in Rosthwaite and we each hoped for some fine weather. I hoped more than anything that i would not get injured and tear a calf again...

Well I needn't have worried. It's not as if i was flying or anything, but throughout the whole weekend I felt like my legs were just able to keep steadily moving. Provided I went at no more than slightly quicker than BGR pace, I felt as good after six hours as I did after one. This, of course, is the idea and it was reassuring that i was able to just keep moving at a good pace all day.

Friday started nervously, with a tight right calf and a stiff climb up Yewbarrow with Paul and Nick. As we moved over those leg 4 peaks in wonderful weather i felt the calf actually easing and gained more and more confidence. By the time we reached Kirk Fell, and were joined there by Steve and Sarah, I felt great and the 4,500' of climbing done to that point seemed easy. We ran on to Great Gable and over to the end of leg four at Honister. As we sat having some welcome food, i felt fresh and despite the calf (which still hurt), confident too. As we set off up the long pull up Dale Head, i felt like the day had just started - a strange feeling given the amount we had just done. Steve, Sarah and Nick left Paul and I at the summit of Dale Head for their run down to the valley. Paul and I carried on through leg five and i really started to enjoy myself. Descending towards Robinson from Hindsarth, I felt a real flush of confidence. It wasn;t a surge of energy or anything, and I didn't start sprinting all of a sudden - in fact the pace stayed the same - but I felt that moving steadily and consistently in the mountains for long periods was something I could do. This won't win me any races, but it just seemed like my legs were able to cope with climbing and descending on the fells time and again - which of course is just as well.

By the time we reached the road head at Newlands and the 5.5 mile run into Keswick on the road, I felt a bit weary for the first time, and the calf was still tight. We didn;t have road shoes available as we will do on the day, and so it was either running those lanes in fell shoes or bare feet. That was the toughest part of the whole weekend, those 5.5 miles seeming to go on for ever. I'm seriously hoping that the road section will actually be easier on the BGR itself given that i'll have road shoes on i'll have no rucksack. Paul had better shoes on and seemed far more comfortable. As it was, we walked the uphill bits and jogged the rest. With about half a mile to go to Keswick, my right calf really started to hurt and so we walked in. As it was we were still well under the schedule for that section and well over an hour up across legs four and five, and this was at a really easy pace. Chips with Paul and then a pub meal with Paul and Nick (who awaited us in Keswick) made for a good evening, despite only managing one pint.

Friday's stats - 23 miles, 9500' ascent.

Saturday saw the addition of Dave Sykes and Andrew Gooda to our number for today's objective - completion of legs 1 and 2. This meant running with fit lads with fresh legs which did worry me a little. I think Paul and Nick were similarly worried as there was plenty of talk, rightly so, about "taking it easy" and "reigning them in"!!! I was concerned about how my legs were going to be after such a mammoth day yesterday.

As it was, we ascended Skiddaw in regulation time, which included a couple of little stops. The weather was terrific. We met a BGR-finisher up there who offered some advice and was a very decent chap. He did his night section over the Dodds, neccesitating a 6pm start which i'm not convinced about, esp as he said he lost half an hour! Still, food for thought...

Nick left us atop of Skiddaw as he was in danger of exceeding the terms and conditions of his weekend pass out. He had to return to the valley to buy Alison some shoes. I had a good laugh to myself at that as we descended towards Calva, finding the Hare Crag trod with no diffculty. I must do that section in the dark soon to practice finding it then... We caught (and passed) another BGR aspirant out on a recce on top of Calva and picked our way down through the heather towards the Caldew. Paul seemed to be struggling with his knee and was already contemplating binning things after leg one when disaster struck. He turned his ankle quite badly and was forced to limp back to Keswick to shop. Paul and I are thinking of merging our BGR ambitions and so I felt his frustration as he limped off, consoleing myself that ankle turns can heal quickly and always seem worse than they really are.

That left the fresh-legged Andrew and Dave plus myself to slog up Blencathra, which we did on a great line at a pretty decent pace. Despite a 10 min stop for Paul, we were inside the 23-hour schedule on that section. I started to find it hard to hang onto those two but not to move at the pace i knew was required so i was happy to let them go. I was pleased with the confidence and self-knowledge that doing this demonstrates - it started to feel like it was coming together.

A quick butty on the summit of Blencathra and we bumped down the Hall's Fell ridge to Threlkeld. Andrew was v strong on the technial ground and Dave was quick on the grassier slopes. I was fair to middling at both, desceding at the right rate throughout. We breezed through Threlkeld without a break and moved onto leg 2 and Clough Head.

Moving from the sunny south slopes on Blencathra to the cool and breezy northern slopes of Clough Head (a favourite of paragliders) marked a change in mood and some degree, conditions. It seemed darker and felt colder and breezier. It is a slog at the best of times and today felt no different. We all quietened down a little, donned windproofs (even brass-monkey Sykes) and plodded on. I was OK though and easily reconciled the change in vibe by the fact that it was far worse when Peter and I came this way in November, and it wasn't much cop during my last visit with Paul. I was rejoicing in the blue skies and perfect visibility.

From Clough Head onwards I felt comfortable. If i could get this far today without feeling bad after a big day like yesterday, then there would be no problems. The sun got lower and the light looked fabulous - I would not have wanted to have been anywhere else. As we moved towards Helvellyn over its many subsidiary tops, Andrew and Dave started to slow. It occurred to me that I have the motivation to bang out days like this, but these guys were supporting me and would probably crack before I did. Each of these lads had their own targets, e.g. Andrew's impending London Marathon and Dave's three-peaks, and I didn;t want to scupper those. I also knew that they would be reluctant to back out umprompted so casually suggested to Andrew on Raise that I would knock the last few peaks off on my tod if he and Dave wanted to get down to the car early (and warm it up for me!). Andrew said he'd see how he felt, and Dave bit my hand off, making Andrew's choice easier. So, when we reached Grisedale Tarn, I set off up that long and loose climb up Fairfield on my own, wondering how i would cope. I was very grateful for their support, which amounted to 25 miles and 10,000' - not bad going without the BGR training i've doing, and without the motivation and self-interest I had in putting in a long day.

I felt very good when climbing FF - it seemed daunting to start with but you just ease into these big climbs and they soon fly by. I could not get "Put your hands up for Detroit...I love this city"...out of my head, despite the fact that it is shite. I guess it was something to do with the cadence of my uphill plod, perhaps, or maybe tiredness-induced dilerium. Eitherway, it helped and FF appeared 4 mins inside schedule time from Dollywaggon and all was well in the world.I turned west and descended into a low sun, with the peaks of Lakeland silhouetted in front of me - it was a stunning sight. I felt bouyant as I crammed a handful of yoghurt coated peanuts and raisins in and ran down towards Seat Sandal, the final peak of the day.

I got up and down that with no drama (still went a bit too right like i did when with Paul) and was feeling so very pleased after 2 big days. I felt hungry and really wanted chips. As a lovely touch to end a great day, Andrew walked from the car to come and carry my rucksack for me for the last few yards - a small gesture perhaps, but a very thoughtful one which given the big day just completed, went down very well.

The chips, sausage and gravy (plus tea!) was greasy and great - it barely touched the sides. Andrew and Dave left Paul and I to get showered, get out, eact more grub and drink 3 lovely pints to end a great day - for me at least. Next morning would tell us how Paul's ankle would be...

Saturday's stats - 29 miles and 11,500' ascent

Sunday and a bad start. Paul's ankle was purple and yellow, and twice its normal size. No way he was going to be able to manage what remained of the BGR that weekend - i.e. leg three. Now was not the time to be selfish either, so we hatched a plan where Paul could take an easy walk back to the car and I could cover the second half (bit more actually). So, we bused into Langdale and I picked up leg three where i left it when i was last up in February, i.e. top of Bowfell.

I got up Bowfell from Langdale in just over an hour, and felt bloody good despite two big days out. As expected, this section was hard to run on and i found it much harder to beat the schedule despite feeling good. I climbed well but descended so poorly, often at a walk on the very rocky and bouldery ground. I need to remember that this section is not a place to look to pick up time and not to be surprised if i lose a little around here. Apart from time lost in going round via Foxes Tarn, i was pretty much slightly ahead of schedule up to Great End, on Schedule to Scafell PIke and a bit slow on the descent from Scafell, which was the first time i;d ever gone that way to Wasdale. Still, a good four hours out and a great end to a brilliant weekend, esp when Paul arrived at the cars 10 mins after me in good health.

Sunday stats - 10 miles, 5400' ascent

Monday morning - Legs aren;t sore, just a little tired. I bet DOMS is in the post though!

Week summary - 65 miles; 27000' ascent

w/c 12th March - Running on empty

What a truly frustrating week.

I've been laid low from Tuesday to Saturday with a nasty little stomach bug, which basically meant that I absorbed hardly anything from the food I ate, with most of it coming, well, straight back out! Alan at work described my reason for absence from work on Wednesday to all enquirers as being 'a case of the raging sh*ts', which unfortunately sums it up nicely. Well, perhaps not 'nicely'.

I tried to stay hydrated, and used Diarolylte to get some salts in. One slight silver lining is that some have recommended useing Diarolylte during the BGR if it's hot, and at least now I know I can tolerate it! But I lost 4 lbs in weight (my wedding ring kept falling off on thursday!) and it clearly affected my running at the weekend too.

Here's how the week panned (!) out...

Monday - Ran up Moel Famau after work. Felt great! Straight up from Cilcain, the steep way and ran every step very strongly. Came down the Clywdian Hills route - 40 mins all in.

Tuesday - Started feeling tired and poorly Tuesday morning and spent most of the evening on the loo. Not good at all.

Weds - Off work sick, terrible stomach cramps and just shattered.

Thurs - Still not quite right, but a little better? Went for a 3M potter around Rossett and just about got back in time - silly boy...

Fri - No, still not well, stomach still awful so decided to fast for 24 hours to kill this bug off.

Sat - Felt better and contemplated Edale. Decided to do an hour on Moel Famau as a 'test'. If i could do that easily, i would run. Set off from Cilcain and did an hour circuit of about 6M and 1500' climbing at an easy pace. Felt very easy and ran the climbs well. Appetite returned, starting eating again at about 3pm. Had evening out with Cath and friends, still felt a bit rough.

Sunday - 21M 4500' - Edale Skyline. What an EPIC! The weather was extremely poor - with very high winds, freezing temperatures, blizzards (blizzards i ask you!) and some very near sounding thunder. Ran something like 4.15 (not sure exactly) - well down on last year. I actually started well, although felt a bit sick for the first hour. Despite the wind, i got to Mam Nick in 2 hours dead, 15 mins ahead of last year. After that though, the wheels gradually loosened before coming off at Jacobs Ladder, with some distance still to go. Dave caught me up soon enough and although we ran together for what must have been an hour, he pulled away when i had used up the fumes and was running on willpower only.

The last 5 miles of running was a strange sensation because my legs we not heavy or sore, but there was just no fuel. I took gels and some lucozade, but it's clear that my body was missing that base that loading up in advance gives you.

Other lessons from that day - OMM waterproof very good, wear a tight hat, not one with a 'turn up' as it comes down and you can't see - oh and wear really thick gloves on days with strong wind and rain/snow even if they seem at odds with all your lightweight gear. I started showing signs of frostnip on my thumb and middle finger at times and had to keep massaging them as i ran. Horrible.

Monday morning and feeling tired now...

Summary - 35 miles, @7,300' ascent

w/c 5th March - a hard, easy week!

I'd like to have been able to look back at this week and say that I backed off to provide a little recovery before returning strongly and training harder still. The truth I did less milage, ran less frequently and did less climbing than in previous weeks and am sat here on a Monday lunchtime stiff and sore. How?! Well, the answer, and the lesson concerns cross training. On Saturday I played some squash and badminton, things I rarely do, and made the usual runner's assumption that being fit for the fells and the roads makes you fit and strong for anything physical. If i can knock off a stage of the BGR and feel as fresh as a daisy, what harm is an hours squash and an hours badminton going to do..?

Imagine my chagrin when I awoke on Sunday morning at 6.30 to go out and run on the fells to find that my hamstrings and glutes registered a soreness that i recognised only from having run the London marathon or the Jura fellrace! Quads and calves were fine but still I walked like Douglas Barder after a night on the pop. Strangely, I ran OK on Sunday - as if the bits of my body that did running were fine and the bits that did hurt weren't made any worse.

Considering how sore my calves were last Monday and Tuesday (and still a bit on Thursday) after the half marathon last Sunday, it seems that this week holds a lesson - training for running on the fells makes you good at running on the fells.

Here's how this reduced week's activity actually shaped up...

Monday - Rested, legs tired from Haweswater half

Tuesday - 8M, easy run out with the club, calves VERY tight. Was worried about getting injured so I let the group so the efforts and pootled round on my own.

Weds - Rest, plus some stretching

Thursday - 9M, including 2 1.2km efforts and 6 400m efforts. Worked hard and calves tightened up towards the end. Ran well and was at the head of the group. 400m efforts were tough.

Fri - rested

Sat - 3M run after 2 hours of badminton, squash and probably an hour's cycling.

Sun 8M, 2500' - Run on Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crags. Initial heather slope was a tough to get any rhythm on, so much so that I descended to the valley and climbed a different slope. Ran well once on the top. Didn't feel too pushed at all. Out for 2 hours - but had to get back to group. Weather windy and misty but dry. Felt a bit dissatsified afterwards.

Totals - 28M, @3100'?

Will do better next week, honest...

w/c 26th February - progressing nicely

This was a good week, showing the benefit of an easier week before it. It also shows that you do need to endure a couple of week's tiredness before moving through to a higher level of fitness.

It's been a mixed week in terms of activity. Fellrunning, road efforts on the hills and flat and to cap it all, an impromptu road race.

Also learned a few things about food and route choices on the BGR.

Monday - 7M slow - up the hill to Llay and back - felt very slow to start with and picked up toward the end - a proper recovery run.

Tuesday - 9M - club session. 2 Burwardsley figure of 8's. Always a tough workout, esp on tired legs. Ran hard and well, couldn't hold AG who ran very well, but he was not too far ahead all the way round and i think i even gained on him on the 2nd effort - good endurance.

Weds - 7M pace run with A - ran at A's marathon race pace (7.30/mile) at Wrexham IE. Boring and neither of us could be arsed, but gets me out on a Weds and it's good to help Alison out given that i'm always buggering off to do fellruns.

Thurs - 9M - club session. 12 * 300m (!) ran well, with speed of all reps very consistent and at about 5.30 pace. Again, no holding Andrew or Peter - they were off! Then 3 efforts of about a mile of or so which were hard and I was a little off the pace, but felt good at the end.

Fri - Rest - up to Center Parcs

Sat - 15M and 5300' ascent, BGR leg one with Paul Miller. Starting at the Moot hall, I went the 'normal' way and Paul went up via Carl Side to see which was quickest. We both went at an easy BGR-esque pace. I got to the top in 79 mins without breaking sweat and moving very easily to find Paul had been there 5 mins! His route was just under a mile shorter acc to our GPSs but his was steeper and he said he had to work hard whereas I didn't. So, is the 5 mins or so worth it? Given i was still 7 mins under A 23 hour schedule and was 2 mins inside a 22 hour schedule it mighth be that the extra effort Paul had to endure on the steeper slopes might have cost him later on. We stayed together after that and did Calva 7 mins under and Blencathra 6 mins under. A bitty descent off Halls Fell was done about on schedule. This resulted in a leg one time of 3:44, which is exactly on 22 hour schedule (thuis included some stopping to check routes). It felt easy and i was fresh - so no worries there.

Foodwise - dried mangos (fair trade ones from Somerfield) were brilliant.

Sun - Haweswater Half Marathon - 1:28:58. Rain , rain and tired legs at the start means that although this was not a pb, it was still a respectable run. Happy to get under 1:30 with this week in my legs! Turns out there was nearly 1000' climbing in this race acc to Runners' World so very happy with time considering state of legs and weather - a real confidence booster.

Totals - 61 miles, probably about 7500'