Sunday 29 November. 19 days to go and I don't feel ready...

Another 10,000'+ week, another lack of a proper big day and another period being thwarted by atrocious weather. This week snowdonia battered me around for a bit, a week after the lakes gave me a kicking during the floods.

All in all, I don't feel as ready as I'd like to be with less than three weeks to go.

But that doesn't mean i'm not ready enough for a round. Nor does it mean that the elements won't render any amount of readiness useless in impossible conditions. Today's snow on little Moel Famau, and tales of really bad snow on the Glyderau today make me realise that the odds are much lower for Dec 18/19 2009 than they were for June 30/July 1 2007!

It's a good sign though that 10,000' feels really easy now. This probably means I'm getting no fitter but maintaining a good fitness level and hopefully a degree of hardiness. I sure this continued awful weather that is knocking me about is toughening me up for what it is getting to be an increasingly scary day.

The main thing is that I'm definately feeling strong when I run. I do feel undercooked, but perhaps I'm expecting too much.

There is still time to finish things off though, and a couple of big hill days are planned for this week which i know will help my legs and my head. I need to be happy that I can be fresh(ish) after 8 or 9 hours when the unique demands of a round, as opposed to a normal big day out, start to make themselves felt. I've only done a handful of days that long and I'm worried it's not enough, despite the fact that I've probably done more climbing in total than I did in 2007 before my summer BGR.

I was playing around with my schedule for the big day when I had a call from a friend who will be helping out on the round. He's a terrific runner, a very experienced and wise mountain man and general all round inspirational guy. He didn't realise his general "how's it going?" call did a lot to make me feel better, and boy did I need that. In a typically casual yet convincing few sentences, he made me realise that my preparation should not be measured solely in feet climbed and hours out on my feet. It's not just been four months of over 10,000' of climbing per week. Much of my preparation has been in foul weather, strong winds and poor visibility. Much of it has also been done alone. That toughens you up, physically and mentally. A winter round will be slightly harder physically than a summer one, but mentally it could be far tougher and I should feel like I HAVE prepared for that.

He's right, I have.

And this week was no exception. It was a busy week with a three day training course punching a hole in it (need to get the CV up and moving). The weather also conspired against me. I did get a couple of good off road darkness runs in with my brand new headtorch, a new Petzl Myo XP. There are bigger and brighter (and MUCH more expensive) ones out there but this was very bright and really comfortable to wear. I ran with Steve and Pete on a 7 mile, 2300' ascent route in the pitch black on Wednesday and really enjoyed it. THe paths and trods were easily picked up and i enjoyed the feeling of running in the dark. The darkness does seem to amplify slopes, small rises and distance so i must remember not to be too fazed by the fells at night - they are no bigger than during the day! I also did 6 Tattenhall railways in the dark, a new experience! Going up was ok, but coming straight down in the dark was a tough test of that torch with so many wet leaves and tree roots to potentially slip upon on that impossibly steep slope. Yeah the effort of 10,000' was covered off during the week, but they were particularly hard won.

I also had a shortened outing in Snowdonia. I arrived in Llanberis last Monday all set to do a 10,000' day but the biting wind, wet snow falling hard and saturated ground made for a risky day out on your own so I cut it short and got off with just over 3000' in the bank. I felt like i made a good decision, but was itching to stay out for longer. Frustrating.

A couple of local fellruns over familar ground and some roadruns too made for a decent week all told.

And so next week is my final full week of training before the winter BGR is finally here. It needs to go well. For my head as much as anything.

The plan is to have three days out on the hills this week, one next week and that's that, other than a few short road runs to tick over before a full week of complete rest with a massage before the day comes. Monday will see a 3000' fast run on Moel y Gamelin. Weds a day out on the bigger fells with Nick, probably about 6000'. Friday a 10 hour day in the lakes, starting in the dark, weather permitting.

Then next Monday, 11 days before the off, it's one final day out. Nice and easy paced, a steady 11 hour day over much of the round and some other lakeland fells i;ve been neglecting in the Northwestern Lakes. THen that'll be it.

Equally as important is getting the organising done and communicated. That's tomorrow's job - tables, schedules, emails, kit lists, instructions....I'm looking forward it!

So, I have a plan to take me to the end. I'm nervous and want that to turn to excitement. Couple more long days and i reckon that'll do it. Now all i need is the weather to be kind.