Friday, 27 May 2016

A spring of PB’s and short courses

I’ve been writing this blog post on and off for a while with a view to sticking it up after Beverley, but in the light of Trafford being declared short, it got a bit of a last minute rewrite…

The starting point for this (overly long and self-indulgent) post was my surprise at the amount of friends who wanted to know what I’d been doing differently to make a reasonably big jump at Trafford.

Clearly, the answer was to pick a race near Manchester that hadn’t been measured properly. For all I jest, I will say that despite the measurement issues, I’ll be back at Trafford next year (assuming it runs) as it will still be a very fast course even with an extra 100 m – it’s basically completely flat with no sharp turns at all. I’m fairly certain that anyone expecting Trafford to suddenly get much slower will likely be disappointed (though obviously won’t produce quite so many PBs).

All said though, how much does it matter? Of course, having a PB you’re proud of scratched off like that is unpleasant. On the other hand, I firmly believe that the series of good runs I’ve had this spring, particularly at the National 12 and Beverley, were the direct result of me believing that I was in 33 low 10 k shape rather that the ~33:3x that Trafford would have most likely been.

Going back to the initial questions and reason for this blog, my initial reaction to the questioning was to try and laugh it off as (a) I’m really not that quick and (b) I don’t do anything special – the limitations of work, family and a body that’s creaking round the edges means I get as much fitted in as I can but it’s not as much as I’d like to.

The more I thought about it though, the more I wondered whether there was some merit in looking back at the 20 weeks preceding Beverley, both to show there’s nothing ground-breaking (or particularly interesting) in what I did, but more importantly to me, to see how well what I did stacks up against what I tell people to do when I’m coaching.

For those that, understandably, don’t want to be bored to tears by the analysis, the brief overview is this:
Consistently run as much as you can. Eat well and lose a bit of weight if it’s there to be lost. Run your easy runs easy, your hard runs hard and stay out of the grey zone between these paces. Improve how you run.

For the rest of you (probably just me) I’ve gone through each of the 8 principals that I try to use with the athletes I coach and compared my training to them. For brevity, some of these principals are grouped together.

I’d be the first to admit that this list contains nothing special and is probably not in keeping with the latest findings of sports science. However, as I am dealing with runners, myself included, who are not anywhere near elite, I believe that focussing attention on attempting to maximise the uninteresting 95% first rather than the last 5% allows the biggest developments in the medium term (and lays the foundations for someone better qualified than me to be able to get you something out of the last 5% when you get to that point).

The 8 principals are (in no particular order):

1.    Build an aerobic base through as much  easy and steady running as you can fit in
2.    Develop your resistance to discomfort through running some faster sessions
3.    Roughly split your total training time as around 80% easy running, and 20% faster running.
4.    Consistency wins out in the end

Well points 1-4 are all blindingly obvious, and make up the bulk of the vast majority of training guides for the last 50+ years (Lydiard, Daniels, P&D, Hadd, etc.).

One thing I do emphasise though is trying to identify even small time windows to get an extra few miles in. Many people will resist this, asking what the point of an easy 30 minutes is. Well, if that’s all the time you have available it’s a damn site better than not running, particularly if you can carve out 2 (or more!) of these slots into your day. Is a 4/4 double as beneficial as doing 8 in one hit? Probably not. Is it better than doing 4 (or nothing)? Of course it is.

The other thing included in this is pace. I spend most of my time coaching telling people to run their (easy) runs slower. Whilst pace itself isn’t always a great guideline, it often acts as a useful guide, particularly when used alongside HR.

Logically, since the aim of your easy runs is aerobic development, and we know that the marathon is 99% aerobic, if your easy / long runs are at or near marathon pace then either (a) they are too fast and not optimally developing your aerobic system or (b) that’s not your marathon pace. Look at your runs, use some common sense and leave the ego at home for your easy running.

By running your easy runs easy, it allows you to recover better. This allows for increased mileage before getting overwhelmed with niggles and a higher level of quality in your hard sessions. As these two things are the biggest drivers towards improving performance, the question is why wouldn’t you train this way?

So what did I do?

The simplest place to start my analysis was the raw numbers. In the 20 weeks before Beverley, I ran 887.3 miles, equating to 44.4 miles per week at an average pace of 7:55 minutes per mile. This is not big mileage in real terms, but as it was building up post injury, I’m happy with it.

I was also pleased to see the level of consistency of doing something productive most days. With Sam, it’s often hard to find time for many longer runs, but short runs, and especially short doubles, have kept the aerobic development ticking along. My log from Fetch doesn’t show the doubles, but does show the consistency.


 Fetch log-Red is running, Black is XT, Green is Cycling and grey is a mixture

The next step was to look at the breakdown of my running paces over this period. To do this, I established the number of miles run at each of 8 pace groups. The groups broadly correspond to 3k, 5-10k, HM, “grey paces” then three aerobic groups and a catch all for recoveries, drill sessions and the like when the watch is still running.

The “grey” paces (6:20-7:00) generally correspond to the sort of paces that (on a flat road at least) are not really providing a significant boost to aerobic development, nor are they providing much of a stimulus to develop my faster running. That said, pace alone doesn’t tell the full story as some of these runs will have been sessions off road, or on downhill stretches of aerobic runs, pace making, or in some cases just a bit of ego creeping in, and simple pace judgments does not differentiate between them (sadly the HR data I have for this block is patchy at best).


So what did the breakdown of these paces look like? Overall, fast running (HM or quicker) equated for 15.2%, the grey paces 7.3%, and the aerobic running 77.5% of the total. Certainly, this was not too far away from the 80:20 split I attempt to coach to. A further breakdown of these paces can be seen in the graph.


With the data, I then wondered what the progression of my faster sessions was over the period. To have a look, I split the training block down to 5 4 week blocks (mostly to reduce the effects of illness and races from individual weeks), and plotted the average mileage for each block with a breakdown of the miles run at each pace.

As can be seen from the graph, in the first block I averaged 30 mpw with minimal quality as I was building back up after some ITB issues. The next 4 blocks all fluctuate between 40 and 50 MPW, but with the quality hitting a peak in block 3 (which included the build up to Trafford) and then lowering slightly as I tried to manage my peak through the 12 stage and on to Beverley.



Overall, from looking back at my training logs, it’s reasonably clear that I’ve achieved the majority of these 4 targets during this period, so I would say that I’ve done pretty well against them.

5.    Recovery is important
Your body needs to adapt to the training load you put it under. It does this by resting. Resting doesn’t have to mean do nothing – some people feel better for a gentle half hour run, but make sure you learn to listen to your body when it’s telling you that you need a day off.

How did I do?

These days, I don’t schedule rest days, but take them when I need them. Looking at my log, in the 20 weeks building up to Beverley, I had 13 days off. Of those 4 were due to a cold, and the remainder were from listening to my body. From that, I’d say I achieved this one.

6.    Incorporate running drills into your week to improve muscle patterns, and develop room for optimal movement
Drill sessions can easily be disregarded as icing on the cake, and less beneficial than going for a run. I would suggest, however, that improving your running specific mobility will help you run better. Incorporating drills into your week allows better movement patterns to be slowly ingrained into your running.

How did I do?

As I incorporate drills into Mondays and Thursdays, it becomes routine for me to do them, so in that respect, it was an easy tick for this one. I’m pleased, though, that I also went through drills before races and Wednesday track sessions, reinforcing the patterns and allowing me to warm up well before quality work.

7.    Incorporate mobility, strength and conditioning into your training.
This isn’t about becoming a bodybuilder, rather ensuring that you have enough strength to hold form and run well. Bodyweight circuits are a good place to start.

How did I do?

This was a bit of a mixed bag this time around. Thursday night circuits mean that I usually get at least one S&C session into my week. This is good. Less good was fitting in a second session at the gym each week (around 1 in every 2 weeks discounting taper weeks), and even worse was me becoming more sporadic with my mobility work that I find helps me keep on top of little niggles. Overall then, some good things, but could do a lot better.

8.    Lose some weight if it’s there to lose.
This is a difficult issue, and the last thing I want to promote is eating disorders. However, if you are carrying a bit more than you would like to, then losing weight in small, sustainable, incremental amounts will make you quicker. With this one, the slower the loss the better really – starving yourself is not sustainable and highly likely to hinder performance. As a rough guide, this is a good article on the topic. http://www.bodyforwife.com/the-caloric-deficit-cheat-sheet/

How did I do?

I had some to lose. I’ve lost it sustainably. Objective achieved.

Conclusions

Looking back at it, over the spring, I’ve managed to hit most of my targets. This has been due to being relentlessly consistent with getting off my arse and doing something most days. Within this, I’ve had a good balance of easy and hard running, and have reaped the rewards of that.

I’ve also managed to listen to my body, and through this, drills, and mobility work, I’ve managed to rack up a decent block of training at moderate mileage without getting particularly niggled or injured. Finally, losing some timber has undoubtedly helped me go faster.

So overall then, this block has been positive, and I’ve managed to do mostly what I tell others to do and have seen the benefits. The obvious question is what next? The plan now calls for a concerted 7 week block to get sharp for Doncaster, then try and ease the mileage up a bit more through the summer to lay the foundations for hopefully a strong autumn of PB chasing.

I wanted to end this with a quote from “once a runner” because it’s a fair summation of how I see training, and because it’s well worth a read if you haven’t read it.

What was the secret, they all wanted to know in a thousand different ways the secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as it did with that most unprofound process and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough soles of his running shoes.


Saturday, 21 May 2016

East Yorkshire Highest to Lowest

Inspired by the writing of SJC, and particularly by this blog post, I got to plotting several, slightly random, runs across East Yorkshire. Until today, all of these runs have remained in my imagination and on my laptop due to me failing to make the time to do any of them. Today though, I took advantage of a last minute free(ish) Saturday caused by a rearrangement of a BG I was due to be supporting to move one to the “done” pile.

All of the runs are based loosely around two things, a tenuous theme and a chance to see bits of the world I’ve not been to before. The aim of today’s run was simple in principle – to run from the highest point in the county to the lowest.

It’s easy to find the highest point as there’s a list on Wikipedia, for East Yorks it’s Bishop Wilton wold. The lowest point is tougher to locate, I suspect that someone will correct me and identify somewhere that’s sub sea level near Spurn, but in the end I settled for the obvious answer – The sea.

Having plotted a run between the two, the plan was relatively simple – Early start, drive to Bishop Wilton, Run to Bridlington, then get a bus and taxi back. Simple right? Er No. Having got up bleary eyed at 4 am, I drove 98% of the way to the start (45 minutes away), realised I’d left my running shoes at home, drove home, got shoes, drove back, and eventually ended up in Bishop Wilton a little over 90 minutes behind schedule.

Despite my incompetence, I did eventually get underway, and set off to the top of the wold to locate the summit. Having had a good look around, I concluded that nothing around me was higher than I was (a view backed up by the spot heights on both Garmins), concluded I was at the start, then set off trundling towards Bridlington. The plan was simple – take it steady, enjoy the scenery, eat and drink regularly. I did all of these well, so there’s not much exciting to mention. Instead I thought a bit of a photo log would be preferable.


 The Start


 Bishop Wilton Wold, The highest point in East Yorkshire on a dreary morning


Wold House Farm


Disturbing a few sleepy cows


Holm Field


Sledmere monument


Sledmere Estate


Kilham Church


First glimpse of the sea


The end of the line
Full route details on Strava 

Having arrived at the sea, I glanced at the time and realised I’d missed the bus I was planning to get back to Pocklington. Never mind I thought, a quick check of google suggested I could take a train / bus combo to save half an hour to Pocklington. This all worked well, but upon reaching Pocklington, it started to unravel (again). Eventually I managed to get a taxi (I’d ended up in Pocklington at the prime time for people heading to York) and finally ended up back in Bishop Wilton rather later than planned, but with the satisfaction of a job (reasonably) well done.


Sunday, 7 September 2014

BG leg 5 - This should be a doddle now

As I said, I’d decided that I was having a very fast stop at Honister partly because I was getting interested in finishing time, but mostly that I rather fancied hanging around for a while to say thank you to my wonderful supporters. In retrospect, I should have advised my leg 5 supporters, Paul, Adnan, Jenny and Craig, as they seemed a little unprepared as I had a quick drink before declaring that I was off.

The slog up Dale Head was surprisingly straightforward, though the jam sandwich I was trying to eat proved impossible and half was eventually discarded. Clearly, “real” food was now a no go so it’d have to be gels, snakes and the sports drink to keep me moving.


Soon enough, we were ticking off the last major climb of the round inside schedule and I started to dream, was sub 23 now possible? Certainly if I could hold my schedule I should be close. Halfway to Hindscarth, I had another little wobble, and, after a couple of snakes and another talking to, I vowed to keep taking this one bit at a time and we continued up to Hindscarth bang on schedule.

Running down towards the final climb, Robinson, the reality that this was going to happen hit home and I may have got a little grit in my eyes. After I stopped being soft, we cruised up to the 42nd peak, and soon I was at the top inside schedule. After allowing myself a little smile, posing for a couple of pictures (including this special celery based one for Andy!) and surveying the whole BG route in front of me (it looked a bloody long way!), it was time to first get to the road and then to Keswick.


In good spirits, I started to jog off the summit plateau but after about 100 meters I became aware of some serious pain brewing on the inside of my legs. As ever I tried to ignore it, but the first time I needed to move laterally I was suddenly at the edge of being sick with the pain. All of a sudden, my straightforward victory jog to Keswick had become a rather more serious affair. Still, at least the views were good.


Having struggled down the ridge from Robinson, I was, eventually, onto High Snab Bank. At this point, I established that running in straight lines was just about manageable, and came   to the agreement with my support crew that I’d try and run anything that I could in a straight line and pick through anything laterally. This approach at least got me to the road, but it was now going to be tight for time unless I got moving again.

After changing into my road shoes, we set off on the bit less than 5 miles to the Moot Hall. I don’t remember masses about this section, other than (a) it hurt, (b) all of my landmarks on route seemed to take ages to arrive, (c) my coaching advice of drive your arms back to make your legs move does seem to work no matter how tired you are, and (d) it hurt.

Eventually, I reached the mini-horde that was waiting for me at the end of the path along the Greta. Suitably cheered up, we turned on the road, over the bridge, past the Saddleback (where I was planning to eat the menu the following morning), and up to the island. At the island, I had a glance at the watch and realised it was at least possible to go sub 23:30 if I got a wriggle on.

Deciding that I wanted this done quickly, I took off at a rate that may have shocked some of my support, took in a few more cheers as I ran up the high street, had a little bit of pain related shouting and didn’t stop until I hit that green door.

I looked down at my watch, it was 8:27.

23 hours and 27 minutes after I’d set off, it was done.
  


Splits for interest (Scheduled times in brackets)
Dale Head                    34        (35)
Hindscarth                   18        (18)
Robinson                     25        (25)
Keswick Moot Hall     115      (85)

Wednesday, 3 September 2014

BG Leg 4 – just a little bit further

The support point at Wasdale was cause for my first sit down in a little over 15 hours. I’d deliberately avoided sitting down before now as I didn’t want to stiffen up, but now it was time to give my ever suffering wife the opportunity to swap my shoes and clean and regrease my feet – I certainly know how to treat a lady!

Having chosen the least comfortable looking option, much to the annoyance of my crew who had laid everything out next to a comfy chair, I swapped my shoes and socks, had another bowl of corned beef hash and popped down a couple of ibuprofen. With all my support needs covered, it was onto my feet and time to leave.


Leaving Wasdale with my entourage of Rich, Nigel, Adnan (who had supported a paddy the day before), Paul and Ryan, we headed towards the gate at the foot of Yewbarrow. I’d deliberately tried to avoid looking at this climb until I got there as it has a reputation for being a brute, but, for once, the steep face didn’t look too bad. The climb itself was predictably tough, but Rich’s constant reassurance that it was okay to stop and look at the view periodically got me through, and soon enough we were at the summit just inside the generous schedule.

From Yewbarrow, the route descends a short way before climbing up to Red Pike, and this climb is often described as the worst bit about Yewbarrow. With sun on my back and good company, progress was reasonable, and we hit the summit more or less on schedule. Trotting off Red Pike towards steeple, I noticed that the pain in my hip flexors had lessened and decided to enjoy it until the drugs wore off.

With slightly looser legs, Steeple was ticked off ahead of schedule, with the views from the top being truly outstanding looking into ennerdale. Back along the ridge and on towards Pillar where I enjoyed climbing for the first time in a good fee hours, and hit the reasonably busy top inside the schedule.

After a couple of good peaks, and moving well, I allowed my mind to wander to how doable this now was. As it happens, this was a very bad move as I had a huge bad patch going up Kirk Fell that caused me to start on the gels for the first time on the round. 2 gels and some sweets on the climb dragged me to the top 7 minutes down on this leg, and my mind was soon refocused on just how much work was still to do.


Another gel and most of a packet of snakes was forced down on the way to Great Gable, and all that food and a renewed focus on taking one peak at a time powered me up Great Gable 5 minutes ahead of schedule. After taking in the majestic views from my favourite Lakeland mountain, we trotted on towards the remaining peaks on the leg.

Green Gable, Brandreth and Grey Knotts were ticked off more or less on schedule, and as we descended to Honister, I reflected on how far I’d come, and how well I’d come through my bad patch on Kirk Fell. As we were more or less back on schedule at this point, and my legs were feeling a little better, I couldn’t help but wonder about how quick I might be able to complete the round from here.

As I descended to the large mob that now passed for my support crew, I was clear that I was going to have a very fast stop since I didn’t want to get sucked into gossiping with my entourage. It was time to get this finished.



Times for interest (scheduled times in brackets)
Yewbarrow      47        (48)
Red Pike         49        (48)
Steeple            18        (21)
Pillar                31        (33)
Kirkfell             55        (48)
Great Gable    40        (45)
Green Gable   17        (18)
Brandreth        16        (17)
Grey Knotts     10        (8)
Honister           13        (13)
Leg Time         4:56     (4:59)

Monday, 1 September 2014

BG Leg 3 - A new day

After a quick feed and a change of tops, my new support crew of Brian, Ryan, Kev and Paul set off up the steep slopes of Steel Fell in the lovely soft light of a mountain dawn. After a couple of minutes, I became aware of a commotion below as Adam (apparently) had decided he’d try and sprint up steel fell with the jam sandwich I’d left at the cars. Unsurprisingly, his sprinting was short lived and I decided that I had enough food in the supporters’ packs, had a little laugh and trudged on upwards.

About halfway up the climb, the cramps returned yet again to my hip flexors, but after a brief pause, we were soon cresting the top of the slope and were cruising towards the summit, with a couple of minutes gained on schedule.

The next few peaks were all ticked off more or less on or above the scheduled pace, with only the occasional pause to admire the stunning dawn. On this section, my legs seemed to perk up a little and I was taking little chunks out of the schedule, was eating well and most happily wasn’t cramping. As such I tried to make a little hay while the sun shone, and had taken 6 minutes back out of my schedule to this point.



After Pike of Stickle, I noticed that I’d stopped chatting and it was getting a lot tougher. It was around here that I discovered the truth in many completers accounts of this section being where things got serious and the enormity of the remaining task became clear. No matter, just worry about the next peak and keep the legs moving.

By simply worrying about putting one foot in front of the other we were on top of Rossett Pike, took a moment to enjoy the magnificent view down towards the Langdales. From Rossett, it was down and soon back up the precipitous sloped that make up the direct route up Bowfell.  Once again, as the ground steepened, my hip flexors started to hurt again, and progress was slowed a little, but soon enough we crested the summit plateau and headed up to Bowfell.

With Bowfell comes the rockiest tops of the round, and despite plenty of effort over the last few years, I’m still poor on this terrain. As a result, the schedule was very generous for this section (for most!) but I managed to stick more or less with it to Scafell Pike. It was on this section that I saw the first few people (that weren’t supporting me!) in 13 odd hours.

It was on the steep bits of this section that I realised that the cramps appeared to be passing. This was good, but left in their wake some serious stiffness and a bit of pain from the affected hip flexors. This was bad. Still, it just gave me something slightly different to worry about while I carried on regardless. It was around this point I committed to taking drugs at Wasdale if it didn’t ease.  


Leaving the only slightly busy Scafell Pike, we trotted down to the stretcher box at Mickledore before heading down to the entrance of Lords Rake. Despite the legs occasionally requiring my arms to lift them to them up the larger steps of the rakes as my hip flexors were really not happy, the rakes were reasonably enjoyable, and the views were simply stunning from the rakes.



Soon enough, we were reaching the summit of Scafell only 3 minutes down on my leg 3 schedule. All of that time, and a couple more minutes were found as I persuaded my now rather pained legs into an easy trot down the 3000 foot descent to Wasdale. On this descent, Brian was brilliant and managed to come down slowly enough to act as a sensible hare for me, but still got me moving again at a moderate lick.





As we crossed the river and descended towards Brackenclose, it was time to slalom around the bank holiday crowds going up and headed to my wonderful support crew, this time of Kate, Helen, Mum, Dad and Pete. Unbeknown to me, they’d all been plotting on the Saturday while I’d been trying to rest and had arranged a banner for the support car that did a fine job of cheering me up just before the now standard super smooth pit stop and lunch.


Splits for interest (Schedule in brackets)

Steel Fell                     21        (24)     
Calf Crag                    21        (19)     
Sergeant Man              33        (34)     
High Raise                   9          (9)       
Thunacar Knott           12        (15)     
Harrison Stickle           9          (10)     
Pike o Stickle              14        (12)     
Rossett Pike                45        (44)     
Bowfell                       39        (37)     
Esk Pike                     26        (26)     
Great End                   29        (26)     
Ill Crag                       17        (18)     
Broad Crag                12        (14)     
Scafell Pike                14        (14)     
Scafell                        42        (38)     
Wasdale                     30        (35)     
Leg Time                   6:13     (6:15)
  
More of Brian’s excellent photos can be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16716009@N03/sets/72157646842288345/

Saturday, 30 August 2014

BG leg 2 - Getting tougher now

After a feed and encouragement from my support crew, I set off on leg 2 with Adam, Helen and Steve who was doubling up legs 1 and 2. As we climbed up the road and then the base of Clough Head, my legs were easing and the cramping had eased. Soon enough though, we were on the steep bit of Clough Head, and the occasional twinges returned to my quads.

Soon enough we crested the ridge, and my legs started to ease with the shallower gradient. Predictably though, the ridge line greeted us with a face full of mist. In spite of this, we managed to make decent progress along the first few peaks of Clough Head, Great Dodd and Watson’s Dodd.

Sadly on Stybarrow, we made the first small error of the leg and managed to skirt the unseen cairn and were soon descending without having visited the true top. No matter, a quick about turn and the four of us fanning out soon located the top and we were back on track.

As we trundled towards Raise, at about 3 am, I started to have my first real bad patch of the round. Nothing I could eat was sitting at all well and I started to feel very flat. Fortunately (in a way) this is something that I’ve had every time I’ve ever run through the night and was comfortable it would pass at some point between now and dawn.

As can be seen by the splits, this section was all over the place compared to the schedule, and I suspect most of this is due to alternating between a trudge and a quicker trot to try and warm back up on the very cold ridge. Aside from picking up the bonus top of High Crag, the nav was spot on and we were soon descending to Grizedale tarn.


As I descended the tarn, a triple whammy of getting warmer, waking up slightly and being able to get a mars bar down meant that I was feeling cracking as I reached the col before Fairfield. Leaving Helen and Steve at the col, and shouting my food requirements to Adam, I set off up the path at a decent clip. Fortunately, about halfway up I realised that I was working very hard (which probably explains why Adam was struggling to bridge the gap!) I limited the damage by stopping, waiting for my food and drink and letting my heart rate return from the stratosphere.


Disaster averted, I tagged the summit and returned back to the col, before heading straight up Seat Sandal, which came a little easier than usual, though the cramps returned on the steep section. Over the top, we started descending on the grassy run down to the steep bit. As it steepened, the cramps were coming thick and fast, though fortunately none stopped me in my tracks.

Soon enough, we could see the cars at Dunmail and headed towards them. The descent was mostly uneventful, though the unplanned transition from following the trod with a high powered beam, to seeing it in the pre-dawn light as the batteries ran out was a something of a challenge for my eyes. Once adjusted, there was no damage done, and I continued on my merry way to the cars and my breakfast.

Once again, my support crew, this time of Kate, Roger, Jenny and Craig, were ready and waiting to deliver a super smooth change, only slowed by me forgetting essential items (like a new pair of gloves) until just before I was trying to leave.


Splits for the interested (Scheduled times in brackets)

Clough Head                50        (55)
Great Dodd                  32        (29)
Watson's Dodd            12        (9)
Stybarrow Dodd          14        (9)
Raise                            21        (17)
White Side                   11        (8)
Helvellyn Lower Man   15        (17)
Helvellyn                      7          (6)
Nethermost Pike          13        (10)
Dollywaggon Pike        15        (12)
Fairfield                       41        (41)
Seat Sandal                 20        (24)
Dunmail Raise              25        (22)
Leg Time                   4:36     (4:19)

BG Leg 1 - into the night

At 8:45 pm on Saturday, I was enjoying the conversations with my support crew and, even as someone who is rather introverted, enjoying taking centre stage. By 8:50 however, I was a bag of nerves and a series of questions kept popping into my head: Why did you pick late August; A long night stint is a daft idea; Are you really ready for this; How will Kate cope with looking after the road support teams having never done this before. After driving myself mad for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only two minutes, I realised I needed to take myself off and sort my head out before the off.

When I did, the answers were crystal clear.
Why did you pick late August? It was the timing that best suited *me* and allowed me to get the training in that I wanted to beforehand without feeling rushed for time.
A long night stint is a daft idea; You have two excellent headtorches, one for each leg. You even enjoy running at night. Man up
Are you really ready for this? Yes, you’ve put the work in now go and enjoy your day like you said you were going to.
How will Kate cope with looking after the road support teams? Brilliantly, she knows what’s needed at each one and what I’ll likely be after to eat and drink. All the others at each point will be more than willing (and able) to do a sterling job.

Having convinced myself that it was simply paranoia, I came back from my quiet moment in a completely different mindset. Rather than questions, I now only had thoughts that would help - namely put one foot in front of the other, keep eating and drinking, think only of the next peak and try to have a brilliant day out with my mates. I was ready.

After a little more waiting, it was time for the off (well I was still waiting for my watch to tick towards 9 when Kate (whose watch was the “official” start / finish timer) pointed out that it was 9 and “shouldn't you be going?” At which point my 4 pacers, Greg Martin, Bill, and Steve accompanied me down Keswick high street and towards the fells.



Having left the town centre, it was a simple case of settling into a rhythm as we crossed the Greta and cruised through fitz park before joining the track up the flanks of Latrigg before heading up the motorway to the top of Skiddaw. Despite a brief moment of ineptitude from me when I stopped at the shelter rather than the trig, a very comfortable trip up Skiddaw was complete more or less on schedule.

Dropping off Skiddaw, we headed a fraction south of the desired line, so started descending the rock rather than the grass to the fence post. No matter as this was quickly rectified and we were soon heading to the very boggy valley floor and across the path to Skiddaw house before heading up the flanks of Great Calva. At the summit we were close enough to the schedule that there was no concern and headed back towards the fence crossing where Bill was helpfully lighting the way.

Not wanting to do anything daft in the dark, we took the safety first approach of following the fence line down the descent to reach the gate before following the trod towards the Caldew. It was somewhere on this section that I was attacked on the shin by a bear.* I was rather nervous of looking at the damage as it felt like it might be a serious gash, and the concern in Greg’s voice was noticeable at this point. Fortunately though, it was just a lumpy bruise and a graze.

Panic averted we headed to cross the Caldew, which was only knee deep (for me at least) and set off up the trudge over Mungrisdale common towards Blencathra. I passed the time on the climb by eating, drinking and worrying as I started to feel the first twinges of cramp in my calves and hip flexors. As this hadn’t occurred on any of my previous recces, I was rather surprised but thought I may as well get on with it and trudged on up.

As the top was approaching, the mist rolled in and a minor bout of summit wandering ensued, no bother though as the top was reached more or less on schedule and my thoughts turned to the corned beef hash and warm welcome that hopefully was awaiting me in Threlkeld.

Having enjoyed wandering in the mist so much on the way up, I thought I’d add a little bit more unnecessary rambling, but that was soon rectified and we were off on the correct route down Doddick fell. The descent felt reasonably sensible, but chatting to my supporters it may not have felt that sedate for some. J

As we reached the path at the bottom of Doddick, the cramps were coming with more regularity, and upon a little bracken bashing to try and reach the gate, both hip flexors locked in pain. At this point I may have sworn. As the cramps eased I knew I needed to move, but more pertinently, I knew that at that moment I had to make a firm choice in my head to keep going no matter how bad the cramps may get until it either passed or I reached the end. Decision made, and fully focused on the job at hand, I then hobbled my way towards Threlkeld.

As we crossed the A66 and headed to the care of my waiting support crew of Kate, Roger, and my mum and dad, the last of my concerns vanished as I was treated to a formula 1 standard pit-stop where I was fed, watered, and exchanged some kit in a super smooth fashion and was soon ready for the off.

Splits for interest (Scheduled times in brackets)

Skiddaw                     81        (82)
Great Calva                46        (44)
Blencathra                   70        (68)
Arrive Threlkeld          34        (35)
Leg time                     3:51     (3:49)


*rather than a bear, it may actually have been a pointy rock in a hole that I stupidly fell into.