Sunday 8 November. Ups and downs, lots of them...

Mickleden from Rossett Pike at dawn during a 13 hour run over legs 3 and 4 of the BGR This picture looks much better if you click on it....

Despite the fact that the last 8 days have contained some 24,000 feet of climbing, the most I've done thus far during the lead up to this increasingly real and terrifying prospect, this week has been a test for the head more than the body.

And not before time.

Knocking out over 10,000 feet each week and reducing my times on my well established training runs has been a route back into fitness and a bedrock for the winter round, but that's not enough on its own. Now it's getting closer, it's about getting out there and getting your head right.

That means long days. It also means darkness, and bad weather. It also means keeping going when you're knackered and a bit fed up. Wednesday was all about that.

I got to Keswick on Tuesday and had a bit of time that night and so managed to do quick run up High Seat, Bleaberry Fell and Walla Crag in the dark. A good chance to test my headtorch, and it's clear I need a better one. Any excuse to buy more gear....


Keswick from Bleaberry Fell, in the dark, obviously, looking a bit like hot coles on a fire (if you squint)

As for Wednesday....I was going to do the Cumbrian Traverse, but stuff to do meant i had to get a circular route in instead as i didn't have time to faff around moving cars, getting buses etc. So, I decided to get up very early on Wednesday and start in the dark, do a circular route from Rosthwaite which took in legs 3 and 4 and then to come back to Rosthwaite on the roads. This adds up to about 13,500' of climbing and 35 miles.

I have to say that starting at 4am in the dark during heavy rain was probably the start I needed from a training point of view, but it was not the one I wanted! It was tough going, with the recent heavy rain making for slow ground conditions which included greasy, trecherous boulder fields and streams in spate to negotiate. More difficult was my mood: i was in no mood for this. I went around, eating up the peaks one by one and roughly being on or ahead of the 23 hour scehule. But it felt harder than it should have, and i got real worried about my ability to do a winter round. Thoughts of postponement started to leak in.

The wet boulders on scafell pike were a worry on my own at such an early hour. One slip and i'd vulnerable to exposure as there was noone around to help me. I had plenty of kit, but didn;t want to be alone and immobile on the mountain. I decided therefore to exercise some sound mountain judgement and omit the short detour to the summit of Broad Crag, the roughest summit in Lakeland according to Wainwright with potentially leg breaking boulders at every step. This was a wise move, and a trivial saving in effort, but i still decided to beat myself up for it - as though i was wussing out.

It wasn't the weather, a heavy pack, my speed of progress or even the darkness that creating such a glass-half-empty attitude that day. It was being on my own. It really makes things much harder, and bad patches seem to be more persistent and more difficult to shake off. I had to stay positive and didn't always succeed. For those that have done solo rounds, I salute you.

But i pushed on through a decent dawn before the rain returned with a vengence. Wasdale came and went and a brief window on Red Pike made me feel better.


Wasdale through the mist from Red Pike

Then i saw the only people i saw all day, walkers on Scoat Fell. Amazingly, I knew onw of them - Graham from Dave's BGR support team appearing out of the mist! I felt so much better after a brief chat. It's clear i'm going to need my pacers on the day to keep me going mentally as well as fed physically.

Eventually, it got dark again, and i pushed through. The hardest part was the road back to the car - seemed to drag on forever. Whilst i did well to get that long day in, i was worried about my staying power. Can i do this? It is arguable that going well when it doesn't feel good is perfect preparation. I'd like it to have gone swimmingly, but everything happens for a reason.

I'm glad to say that i wasn't even on the M6 by the time i was starting to think excitedly about my next big day out. I didn't prepare for this run enough. I was dehydrated, hungry and not that fresh after cramming over 6000' into the previous three days. I wrote my mood off to that, remembered the key fact that i actually did the run alone in that bad weather and that I didn't bail out. I also resolved to keep running hard on tired legs because that's the key to doing a round.

It was for that reason that I decided to to the Roaches Fell Race on Sunday, a 4000' rollercoaster across 15 miles of Cheshire and Staffordshire. Racing on heavy legs was going to be another test for the head as well as the legs. I was just going to have to live with the fact i wouldn't race that well. I did hope though that somehow i;d pull a cracking race out the hat!

Well, i knew within half a mile I was going to struggle. My legs were just leaden from the off. Not sore, just unresponsive. I thought that 15 miles was going to be too much and almost binned it. But, I decided to forget that it was a race and just complete the course and to bank the climbing and miles. Sure enough, it got easier as i went round. No major race performance but a good steady run, with some very handy descents. I was almost feeling like turning up the effort towards the end and then my legs went on me. The last 2 miles were a plod. I'd taken no gels or food for the race and i just got slower and slower....

Still, the climbing was banked, the milage was banked and it was done. A real up and down week!

Summary:

Monday - 1000', up and down Moel Famau, 16:30 up, not bad after 12 railways the day before
Tues - 1750', High Seat - Bleaberry Fell - Walla Crag, night run, felt good
Weds - Big day - BGR legs 3 and 4 as a circular from rosthwaite - 13500' ascent, 33 miles
Thurs, Fri, Sat - Rest
Sun - Roaches - 4000', 15 miles. 2:45 - very slow, steady, tough at the end

Totals - 20,000' ish. Not bad, not bad....