The Fellsman was a bit of an afterthought after a conversation at pilates along the lines of 'a 17 hour Fellsman will set you up well for The Bob'. My previous attempt had taken 22 hours so I figured I'd better go and do it again to give me some confidence going into the attempt at the Round.
I ordered a new pair of shoes half a size smaller which arrived on the Friday just in time for me to drive up. I was so busy worrying about my ankle I'd forgotten to prepare for the event at it was 30 mins before I twigged the route may have changed since I marked my map 3 years earlier - it hadn't so panic over and we set off up Pen-y-Gwent. Our grouping off the start didn't go to plan and leaving Dent I was on my own. Another drenching and waterproof incident was nearly my undoing as I left it late getting more layers on and had trouble opening my pack with frozen fingers. Once off the moor the weather improved and I romped across the hills for the next 4 hours enjoying the easy ground underfoot.
As I headed out round Fleetwith Moss, I caught up with a group that included Julie, the lady I'd met on my Easter recce, I guess the ultra running fraternity isn't that big but it was great to see her. We stayed together then till the finish discussing all things Bob. We came in in 16:20 and my ankle was no worse, so all set for the Bob.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Great Lakes 3 Day 1st - 4th May
The GL3D is an annual event in the Lakes covering around 25 miles a day for the 3 days.
We set off from Thornthwaite and were soon climbing GrizedalePike. I'd set off quite late in the start window and soon had the faster runners passing me. As we headed off Whitlass Pike I stayed right on the direct route down which was a very steep and technical descent. I found the new insoles had raised my foot too much and I was really struggling to stabilise my ankle on the difficult terrain at the speed we were going. As we hit the road at the bottom I was struggling already a with painful ankle. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur until which finished at a beautiful spot on the shores of Wast Water.
The next day I switched shoes and headed off over Yewbarrow at a good pace. There were 3 of us running close together when we got hit by a squall of horizontal hail, it was so painful we all stopped and put leggings on! I picked a better route than the others into the valley and got to the campsite at Thirlmere in good spirits.
Monday dawned cold and wet, so I stayed in my sleeping bag. Eventually there was a lull in the weather so I packed up and headed up Helvelyn. The weather was miserable and my ankle was sore, so it was a long day working my way back to Thornthwaite. Clearly the shoes weren't right but more importantly my ankle had swelled dramatically and made using the clutch interesting on the way home.
We set off from Thornthwaite and were soon climbing GrizedalePike. I'd set off quite late in the start window and soon had the faster runners passing me. As we headed off Whitlass Pike I stayed right on the direct route down which was a very steep and technical descent. I found the new insoles had raised my foot too much and I was really struggling to stabilise my ankle on the difficult terrain at the speed we were going. As we hit the road at the bottom I was struggling already a with painful ankle. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur until which finished at a beautiful spot on the shores of Wast Water.
The next day I switched shoes and headed off over Yewbarrow at a good pace. There were 3 of us running close together when we got hit by a squall of horizontal hail, it was so painful we all stopped and put leggings on! I picked a better route than the others into the valley and got to the campsite at Thirlmere in good spirits.
Monday dawned cold and wet, so I stayed in my sleeping bag. Eventually there was a lull in the weather so I packed up and headed up Helvelyn. The weather was miserable and my ankle was sore, so it was a long day working my way back to Thornthwaite. Clearly the shoes weren't right but more importantly my ankle had swelled dramatically and made using the clutch interesting on the way home.
The Bob - Leg 5 and Leg 4 26th April
The following weekend was back to the lakes for another recce. I was tired and hungover as I set off for Leg 5 so just did the hills skipping the road and headed back to the car as Sunday would be a long day on Leg 4 (16km, 3.5hours).
Jeff joined me again for a recce from Seathwaite to Honistor. We set in good weather and had some fun scrambling round the side of Scafell Pike rather than joining the hordes on the summit. It was a fine day so we went and had another go at Broad Stand Jeff sussed the technique after I baled and then I managed to get up unaided. We decided to go round Foxes Tarn and try again to ensure we could do it fluidly which I managed no problem. So it was then down to Wasdale and onto Yewbarrow. We skipped Steeple as it was late and headed round the rest of the leg and back to the car (32km 10 hours).
Unfortunately my new shoes, although the same size as the last pair and supposed off the same last, seemed a bit loose. With hindsight my feet has swollen after 11 hours racing and so fitted the larger shoe. Once my feet had shrunk again, I was slopping around in them. After speaking with Inov-8 I purchased some different insoles which made the shoes much snugger.
Jeff joined me again for a recce from Seathwaite to Honistor. We set in good weather and had some fun scrambling round the side of Scafell Pike rather than joining the hordes on the summit. It was a fine day so we went and had another go at Broad Stand Jeff sussed the technique after I baled and then I managed to get up unaided. We decided to go round Foxes Tarn and try again to ensure we could do it fluidly which I managed no problem. So it was then down to Wasdale and onto Yewbarrow. We skipped Steeple as it was late and headed round the rest of the leg and back to the car (32km 10 hours).
Unfortunately my new shoes, although the same size as the last pair and supposed off the same last, seemed a bit loose. With hindsight my feet has swollen after 11 hours racing and so fitted the larger shoe. Once my feet had shrunk again, I was slopping around in them. After speaking with Inov-8 I purchased some different insoles which made the shoes much snugger.
iROC - 18th April
The iROC race was new in the calender and promised to be a mental as well as physical challenge with 6 races over 2 days.
As we set off for the first fell race the pace was much faster than the plod I'd been used to and my legs were heavy by the end.
The next event was a set orienteering course which I was too slow on, I'd misunderstood the instructions and didn't realise everyone's map was correctly printed for the course they had to cover so everyone had left the start area before I got my head round it. I don't think I'd refuelled properly since the first race and was dehydrated by the finish.
Making amends for the next stage by eating and drinking lots, I placed well in the score event and was soon on my bike for the night time trial this was a blast and the downhill we'd run a few times during the day flashed by at night, the last minute change to the running order meant the fastest went off first so there was no traffic to contend with which was a relief on the narrow sections.
Part of the changes I hadn't appreciated was an extension to the last event of the day, I night fell race. It was supposed to be about 40 minutes which ordinarily I would cope with easily without food and water, I hadn't counted on it being lengthened an hour and the build up of fatigue during the day caught me out so I bonked on the second lap and struggled in completely wrecked.
Sunday was 4 timetrial on the bike which was good for me in comparison to the running events although I had a slight problem when my handlebars came loose - retightened them while riding up a fireroad was interesting (note to self, racing a bike you only picked up the previous weekend and significantly rebuilt the day before isn't recommended!). In the later stages I missed the line into a gully after overtaking someone and was slam dunked into a rock garden, thankfully the bike wasn't damaged and I was remarkably unscathed so finished the stage 6th.
Inov-8 were sponsoring the event and by popular demand brought there current range of shoes up from the warehouse on the Sunday after selling off older models on the Friday and Saturday I picked up a new pair of RocLite 315 to replace the 2 pairs I'd trashed over the previous year.
As we set off for the first fell race the pace was much faster than the plod I'd been used to and my legs were heavy by the end.
The next event was a set orienteering course which I was too slow on, I'd misunderstood the instructions and didn't realise everyone's map was correctly printed for the course they had to cover so everyone had left the start area before I got my head round it. I don't think I'd refuelled properly since the first race and was dehydrated by the finish.
Making amends for the next stage by eating and drinking lots, I placed well in the score event and was soon on my bike for the night time trial this was a blast and the downhill we'd run a few times during the day flashed by at night, the last minute change to the running order meant the fastest went off first so there was no traffic to contend with which was a relief on the narrow sections.
Part of the changes I hadn't appreciated was an extension to the last event of the day, I night fell race. It was supposed to be about 40 minutes which ordinarily I would cope with easily without food and water, I hadn't counted on it being lengthened an hour and the build up of fatigue during the day caught me out so I bonked on the second lap and struggled in completely wrecked.
Sunday was 4 timetrial on the bike which was good for me in comparison to the running events although I had a slight problem when my handlebars came loose - retightened them while riding up a fireroad was interesting (note to self, racing a bike you only picked up the previous weekend and significantly rebuilt the day before isn't recommended!). In the later stages I missed the line into a gully after overtaking someone and was slam dunked into a rock garden, thankfully the bike wasn't damaged and I was remarkably unscathed so finished the stage 6th.
Inov-8 were sponsoring the event and by popular demand brought there current range of shoes up from the warehouse on the Sunday after selling off older models on the Friday and Saturday I picked up a new pair of RocLite 315 to replace the 2 pairs I'd trashed over the previous year.
The Bob - Easter Recce
Good Friday Leg 3
Easter proved to be a challenging 3 day unsupported round, carrying camping kit and food.
I started from Dunmail Raise on Friday morning in fell shoes and a 12kg pack. The weather was cold and misty which was no problem to start with but by Bow Fell I was moving into unknown territory following advice on the best route up. I got slightly lost and cooled down rapidly as well as slipping constantly in shoes too light for the load I was carrying and not good enough for the wet rock. It stayed grim for the next 3 hours across the Central Fells but I was caught by Rick and Julie from Dark Peak who were also out reccing and were randomly starting the same time as me for their attempt. We chatted till Broad Stand which livened me up. I'd read how to do it and ditched my pack before climbing round the first step. I then pulled my pack up an set to work getting up the second - of course I now know not to attempt Broad Stand in the wet but with much slipping a dubious use of the 10 year old rope I got up. I decided it was too dangerous to haul up my pack though so had to descend Foxes Tarn and retrieve it from the first step before heading down to Wasdale for the night (27km 9:36 hours).
Saturday
Next day was better weather as I heading up Yarrowbarrow. Rick and Julie caught me up on Kirk Fell and said they'd had problems finding their way out of Lord's Rake so had been late off as well and also explained why I hadn't seen them on the summit of Scafell. They soon left me to a continue my trek to Braithwaite Campsite. It was now hot and I got to the campsite about 8pm this would have been fine if the showers weren't the best I've ever seen in a campsite and the cafe had shut when I came out! It was a long walk into Keswick to find some food so I succombed to a taxi to get me back (31km 11 hours).
Easter Sunday
I decided to leave the tent pitched and do the last day fast and light, this was good in theory but meant I didn't have the option of camping again and doing it over 4 days. For various reasons such as walking back into Keswick I didn't start till 10:30am so it was 3pm before I got to Threlkeld. I stopped for a pint and lunch as it was hot, I'd made a bad choice of socks, so my feet hurt and Clough Head wasn't appealing. Thankfully it was a still night and by 8:30pm I was heading towards Helvellyn where some hardy campers were surprised to see me. Fairfield at night was lonely although there were campers at Grisedale Tarn so I knew I wasn't totally out of range of other humans. I staggered back to the car around midnight and drove back to the chippy which was closing and gave me everything they had left in the display cabinet - grease overload :-)
Monday
I headed South and finally picked up my new bike (a Whyte 19) from Wheelbase and cycled about 17km in 2:20 which was plenty, my legs were heavy to say the least!
Easter proved to be a challenging 3 day unsupported round, carrying camping kit and food.
I started from Dunmail Raise on Friday morning in fell shoes and a 12kg pack. The weather was cold and misty which was no problem to start with but by Bow Fell I was moving into unknown territory following advice on the best route up. I got slightly lost and cooled down rapidly as well as slipping constantly in shoes too light for the load I was carrying and not good enough for the wet rock. It stayed grim for the next 3 hours across the Central Fells but I was caught by Rick and Julie from Dark Peak who were also out reccing and were randomly starting the same time as me for their attempt. We chatted till Broad Stand which livened me up. I'd read how to do it and ditched my pack before climbing round the first step. I then pulled my pack up an set to work getting up the second - of course I now know not to attempt Broad Stand in the wet but with much slipping a dubious use of the 10 year old rope I got up. I decided it was too dangerous to haul up my pack though so had to descend Foxes Tarn and retrieve it from the first step before heading down to Wasdale for the night (27km 9:36 hours).
Saturday
Next day was better weather as I heading up Yarrowbarrow. Rick and Julie caught me up on Kirk Fell and said they'd had problems finding their way out of Lord's Rake so had been late off as well and also explained why I hadn't seen them on the summit of Scafell. They soon left me to a continue my trek to Braithwaite Campsite. It was now hot and I got to the campsite about 8pm this would have been fine if the showers weren't the best I've ever seen in a campsite and the cafe had shut when I came out! It was a long walk into Keswick to find some food so I succombed to a taxi to get me back (31km 11 hours).
Easter Sunday
I decided to leave the tent pitched and do the last day fast and light, this was good in theory but meant I didn't have the option of camping again and doing it over 4 days. For various reasons such as walking back into Keswick I didn't start till 10:30am so it was 3pm before I got to Threlkeld. I stopped for a pint and lunch as it was hot, I'd made a bad choice of socks, so my feet hurt and Clough Head wasn't appealing. Thankfully it was a still night and by 8:30pm I was heading towards Helvellyn where some hardy campers were surprised to see me. Fairfield at night was lonely although there were campers at Grisedale Tarn so I knew I wasn't totally out of range of other humans. I staggered back to the car around midnight and drove back to the chippy which was closing and gave me everything they had left in the display cabinet - grease overload :-)
Monday
I headed South and finally picked up my new bike (a Whyte 19) from Wheelbase and cycled about 17km in 2:20 which was plenty, my legs were heavy to say the least!
The Bob
So on 16th Jan I decided this might be the year to attempt the Bob Graham Round as there were no expedition races in the offing and I needed a reason to start getting fit.
I then did nothing until joining Sleepmonsters/Inov 8 hours before the start of the High Peak Marathon. After being dragged off the start I found I settled well and was still strong by the end so announced my intentions later that week with a vague plan:
28th and 29th March, Leg 2 and Leg 3 Logistics unclear!
April 10th - 13th Full BGR Recce, backpacking wild camp/ Wasdale,convenient campsites
25th April and 26th Leg 4 and Leg 5
17th May Leg 1
23rd / 24th any unclear sections / local training
June 6/7th The Big Day!
Additional training
5th March Open5 (speed work;-))
18th-19th April iROC nav practice
1st -4th May GL3D
9th May Fellsman
This remained relatively unchanged and I had a fantastic few months in the hills.
Recce 1 Legs 3 & 2
Jeff PD joined me on the first recce on a snowy weekend covering legs 3 on the Saturday and 2 on the Sunday. We'd done on route studying and enjoyed a couple of days approaching hills from new angles.
The Open 5 was fast as anticipated on a warm Sunday in the Peak around all my favorite trails
I then did nothing until joining Sleepmonsters/Inov 8 hours before the start of the High Peak Marathon. After being dragged off the start I found I settled well and was still strong by the end so announced my intentions later that week with a vague plan:
28th and 29th March, Leg 2 and Leg 3 Logistics unclear!
April 10th - 13th Full BGR Recce, backpacking wild camp/ Wasdale,convenient campsites
25th April and 26th Leg 4 and Leg 5
17th May Leg 1
23rd / 24th any unclear sections / local training
June 6/7th The Big Day!
Additional training
5th March Open5 (speed work;-))
18th-19th April iROC nav practice
1st -4th May GL3D
9th May Fellsman
This remained relatively unchanged and I had a fantastic few months in the hills.
Recce 1 Legs 3 & 2
Jeff PD joined me on the first recce on a snowy weekend covering legs 3 on the Saturday and 2 on the Sunday. We'd done on route studying and enjoyed a couple of days approaching hills from new angles.
The Open 5 was fast as anticipated on a warm Sunday in the Peak around all my favorite trails
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Race Schedule for 2009
So I've been busy sending off cheques again...
GL3D
Open endurance series
iROC
Heb Challenge
Open C2C
Isle of Man End to End MTB race
Oh and did a I mention my Bob Graham round attempt?
I'd best start getting fit!
GL3D
Open endurance series
iROC
Heb Challenge
Open C2C
Isle of Man End to End MTB race
Oh and did a I mention my Bob Graham round attempt?
I'd best start getting fit!
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