A Week With Pure Grit

At the start of the year I signed up to receive a demo pair of Brooks Pure Grit 2 shoes. The Pure line of shoes are Brooks foray into the the minimalist realm of road and trail running.
Being an avid fell and trail runner, obviously I opted for their Pure Grit 2 shoe, which is their trail version. With a 5mm drop between heel and toe (21mm/16mm) it's a minimalist shoe, not 'barefoot' (zero drop) and 1mm higher than my usual shoe of choice, the NB MT110.
I've been looking for a replace for my 110's, as NB's apparent brain fart in design is hurting my shins. The outside of the shoe sits 3.5mm higher than the instep, creating a ridiculous tilt in the foot, ankle and leg! Great shoe...apart from that seemingly ridiculous feature! I have tried on some new Inov8 TrailRoc 245's, and I'm impressed with the feel from a quick try, but wanted to wait and try the Grits.
Brooks organised with a selection of vendors around the UK to host the demo's from, my local being Pete Bland Sports in Kendal, Cumbria (@peteblandsports) a main stay for any runner in Northern England.
The demo was for 7 days, and I was forced to turn up a day early due to staffing issues at work! Not an issue at the shop though as they kindly allowed me to come down on Friday 15th Feb to pick up the shoes.
I hadn't even seen the shoe previously so I was happy to see a pretty nice looking shoe, with asymmetrical lacing and what Brooks call the 'Nav Band' an elasticated band around the mid foot to provide a perfect fit for all feet.

The asymmetrical lacing and red/silver Nav Band 

The second thing I noticed was the split toe on the sole, separating the big toe from the remaining toes. Inside the shoe however the split isn't there, it is entirely on the sole of the shoe, the interior is the same as a regular running shoe. 

The 'Toe Flex' 

So now I had the shoes, time to test them out!

Putting the shoe on first time was awesome! the insole is super comfortable and the uppers are entirely seam free inside the shoe, and boy does it feel good! I generally run without socks, so an instantly comfy inner is a big thumbs up! The tongue is part of the upper down the outside edge, and free on the inside edge, creating a  wrap of the foot nicely. The Nav Band is non obstructive and barely perceptible once you are laced up, but the shoe feels great, nice and snug around the mid foot, and spacious in the toe box.

I had arranged to meet #AgentA at his house just outside Ennerdale and then we would make our way down to the lake and make one lap of the valley trail, which comes in at 15.7 miles with a little over 1000ft of ascent. It was a big ask of both of us, the furthest I had ever ran was a home made 13.2miles, and #AgentA had only ever ran 11 miles (BG leg two the week previous, see previous blog for report).

Needless to say we were both a little apprehensive, but off we went! having never ran as far we set out pretty canny, blasting out the first mile would surely haunt us later!

We ran counter clockwise around the lake in order to climb over Anglers Crag in the first 2 miles, rather than the last 2! After the crag the trail literally became a river, the recent snow melt had saturated the fell sides, and was using the trail as a quick way down to the lake! 4 very wet and pretty slow miles later we escaped the wet and got onto drier trails. The Grits had handled the wet rock and mud exceptionally well, and super comfortable on the run, my feet weren't feeling any of the rock strikes from the previous miles, so I was pretty happy!

On the run itself i couldn't get my head into it, I was worried about the distance, and worried about doing myself in! i quickly adopted the 'walk the hills' mentality and plodded on, enjoying the scenery of the Ennerdale Valley.

Pillar Rock

The turnaround at the head of the valley was a welcome sight, and its actually a little further than half way, so now there was about 7 miles to go, and although my legs were feeling it, i knew the bulk of the run back was downhill on decent trail! We finished in just under 3 hours 30 minutes, slow to some, but glad to have finished for us! Amazingly my feet felt awesome! I would never advise anyone to ever take a pair of new trainers and run 16 miles in them, but they were comfy the whole way and my feet felt fresh as a daisy, though they didn't smell it!

The next outing for the Grits was the 5.5 mile up Latrigg, over the back and home through Brundholme woods. Once again the shoes performed amazingly well. Grippy on the steep ascent, and holding their own through the mud fest of the switchbacks.

On the descent to the woods I fully expected to be sliding around, and was surprised to find a full descent without any slips. The trail through the wood was, as usual, ankle deep in the best of British mud, but besides the expected sideways squelch, there was no dodgy footing or slippages.

Tuesday brought a quick and short bimble up and down Rannerdale Knots from the Crummock end, a mere 810 feet in less than a mile...yep its that steep! Gladly the weather was absolutely stunning, the ground was soft and dry and quite possibly, for the first time ever, I ran in February in just shoes and shorts! Ridiculous but necessary as the shirt was removed after about 2 minutes! The grits were great, up and down, truly loving them by this point!

Reflections on Crummock looking toward Buttermere Fells

Red Pike, High Stile, High Crag, Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike

Looking over Crummock toward Lorton Vale

Inca Post Run with Melbreak overlooking Crummock

The final run before the Grits are returned was this evenings 9 miler around Derwentwater after work. It was baltic, no messing around it was utterly freezing! Being a man however I rocked up in the Grits, 3" split shorts, a base layer and a long sleeve running top :-D and yes, my legs were cold, but thats life!

The Derwentwater route is a mixture of hard packed trail, roads and rock strewn forest paths, and with a little over 300 ft of climb, its basically flat! Once again I found the shoes perfect, superb cushioning for a minimalist shoe, great feel around the foot and feedback from the ground is great. Running tonight with a friend from work we pottered along putting the world to rights the whole way round, coming in only 3 minutes behind my PB, and considering how easy it felt both on the legs and my breathing, I dare say that without the conversation I would be able to smash my PB.

All in all I ran 32 miles this week in the Pure Grits and I truly enjoyed every moment. Undoubtedly for heavy mud they won't stand up to the likes of Inov8 X-talon and Mudclaws, but as everyday trail shoes they are great, definitely as a replacement for the 110's I think they are perfect. 32 miles is coincidentally the biggest week i've ever had

Gutted to return them tomorrow, they're looking a bit sad drying off by the fire too ;-)

A Day Out With Bob Graham

Bob Graham. A name synonymous with fell running. A route of 42 peaks in the Lake District England, almost 70 miles and near enough 30,000ft of ascent, to be considered as completing it, you have 24 hours in which to complete it. The full route is not to be taken lightly, many people train for a long long time before attempting a full round, and I would be lying if I said I didn't have ambitions of completing it one day, though medical reasoning will probably prevent me.

Thankfully, for mere mortals such as myself, the route is dissected by roads which break it down into five individual legs, measuring 10-16 miles each. 

Myself, AgentA and our friend Hannah agreed to run the second leg on Friday. The 2nd leg begins in a small village called Threlkeld, just outside of Keswick, and runs up the front of a mountain called Clough Head.

Clough Head from the car park

The climb up is pretty hard going, starting on tarmac, turning into boggy mulch and then a steep clamber up to the summit. We set off at an easy jog, knowing we had 13.5 miles of mountains to contend with, and an unknown snow situation on top! The climb was hampered by heavy winds, and once we reached the snow line it became apparent that under 2-4" of powdery snow it was solid ice!

Hannah & I on Clough Head Summit

From Clough Head we descended briefly and then climbed back up to Great Dodd and on to Watson's Dodd, then a shallow climb up to Stybarrow Dodd. From Stybarrow you get a nice descent to Sticks Pass and then we had a slow, icy climb up to Raise, where we chatted briefly with a guy who had ran the full route in 2005, he advised us our basic approach was well founded - fast hiking the uphills and running the rest! A nice flat run out to White Side took us to our 5th summit of the day. The ridge line up to Helvellyn Lower Man was literally an ice slide working against us! We got a boost by making good ground on some hikers with ice axes and crampons on! We got a cheer from the 5 or 6 people on the plateau between Lower Man & Helvellyn, they probably didn't expect anyone to be running up there!! 

 The View to Ullswater from Helvellyn, partially frozen Red Tarn

We hit the summit of Helvellyn after about 4 hours, so a little behind schedule, but considering the conditions underfoot, and stopping to talk to a few people, we figured we were doing OK! We descended and climbed up to Nethermost Pike and continued on to Dollywagon Pike.

Descending from Dollywagon Hannah clipped a rock with her foot and took a pretty bad fall, clearing about six feet before she hit the deck. She cracked her knee off another rock on landing and just saved a head injury by getting her arms in front of her face just in time. Panic and the sick feeling hit her straight away, and we sat for 10 minutes making sure she was OK and reassuring her the sick feeling was just the shock and panic at taking a tumble. 

We continued with the mindset to complete the route and bag the last 2 peaks, but the steep decent to Grisedale Tarn in knee deep snow took its toll on Hannah's knee, and we decided to follow the Raise Beck down to Dunmail Raise to the other car.

All said and done we bagged 10 peaks, slogged out 11.6 miles and hit 4603ft of climb! Hannah is thankfully fine, a bit bruised but no damage, she was out cycling yesterday! 

Agent A on the descent to Grisedale Tarn

I took yesterday (Saturday) as a rest day, apart from work! But tonight myself and Agent A decided on a little shake out run! My legs felt pretty good considering Friday's exertion, so we rocked up to Spooney Green Lane to run Latrigg.

The initial ascent (about 1000ft in 1.75 miles) went pretty well, my legs felt about normal and no where near what i expected them to feel! At the start it was raining and as we ascended the rain turned to sleet and then to snow. When we hit the summit it was coming down pretty heavy and settling fast, also blinding us as it reflected our headlamps! Descending off the back of the fell i took a pretty ridiculous tumble, sliding on the snow covered grass, Agent A soon followed as his laughter at my misfortune ended up with him flat on his back about 10 feet behind me! Once into Brundholme wood the snow turned back to rain and the trails became a lesson in keeping your footwear attached in some serious MUD!

No one does mud like Great Britain, it sucks energy almost as well as it tries to steal shoes from your feet!! all in all we did 5 miles for about 1300ft of ascent and ran all but the 2 staircases in Brundholme Wood, not a bad shakeout!

One To Remember

I've been running regularly since April 2011, and mostly on the fells of the Lake District in England, with the odd few miles on the back roads near my house. I used to think Fell Runners were crazy people, why the hell would you take an already demanding sport, and then stick a great mountain in the way and carry on regardless! Alas in April 2011 I joined these crazy people with my first fell run, though it was more of a fast walk with intermittent running on the flatter and more downhill sections, with the odd coughing fit thrown in for good measure. I was hooked though.

One of my favourite run - come - walks is Latrigg, on the outskirts of Keswick. The route I use to the summit is a little under 2 miles, but climbs a hefty 1000ft, meaning a sustained lung buster of uphill from the outset. I've never managed to reach the summit without being reduced to a walk, it's always been a goal to achieve the summit without walking any sections, and to some extent, to be able to call myself a fell runner.

In a previous blog I've spoken about the effect the heart transplant has on me: that when I begin exercising my heart doesn't realise and plods on at about 68bpm, making any run difficult, let alone running up a mountain! Latrigg starts out on Spooney Green Lane, it dips down from the main road and then climbs gently up onto a bridge over a major road and then onto the trail. The lack of output from my heart usually has me walking by the time I reach the bridge, not really the best start! Though it has occurred to me that I regularly run steeper and longer hills without this need to walk, so what was different?

To be brutally honest, I think Latrigg had me beaten before I even started. I know its steep, really steep in parts, and I don't think I've ever believed that I could actually manage to run non stop to the top. 

A friendly 'rivalry' on twitter has brought about a Hillage Challenge - how much vertical gain you run in the month of February. There's no prize, no bestowing of greatness on the winner, just a friendly bit of banter to spice up the running for a month. Obviously living on the doorstep of 300+ mountains gives me a pretty nice advantage to hit some big ascents, and a fair chance at being near the top at the end of the month. At the end of the day it will simply help push my own limits and to get into the higher climbs more often.

So, being the first of February, I figured an ascent of Latrigg would kick off the hillage in pretty good fashion!

I finished work (where I'm on my feet for 8 hours) and headed over to the start of Spooney Green Lane. Shorts, t-shirt, lightweight smock jacket, head torch, watch, New Balance MT110's and a small waist pack with car key, phone, energy gel and spare batteries for head torch, same as any other night run. The only difference was that I was on my own, whereas a few guys from work usually come along.

I waited for my watch to find the satellite and then hit the start button and set off, down the dip onto Spooney Green Lane and into the climb up to the bridge. I hit the bridge and I was still running, my breathing wasn't particularly laboured and my legs felt pretty good, non of the usual screaming for oxygenated blood! I carried on over the bridge and up the incline to the gate at the cottages, still moving.

After the gate the trail bares its teeth with the steepest part of the route, a lung busting and leg killing stretch for maybe only a 1/3 of a mile or so, but steep! I leaned into the climb and took little steps, fully aware that I would be walking fairly shortly. A strange thing happened though, I kept running. 

A guy I used to run with in 2011 once told me the key to running uphill was to run until you felt the burn, run a bit more then change your gait or posture ever so slightly until the ache subsides, when the ache returns, change again. I've tried relentlessly over the past 2 years to this, to no avail, the burn comes, and then it worsens then I walk. 

Today the burn came, I ran some more, change my gait and lean slightly and the burn subsided! When it returned I simply changed my gait and lean until it subsided and carried on. At this point a little voice said "if you manage this steep part, you can reach the summit without walking" 

The trail eases off slightly after the steep climb, though still heads uphill! I'd beaten the 'scary' part, surely the rest was academic? Just before the first mile ticked over on my watch, my calves were burning pretty well, but I was adamant that I was going to run the whole way! I carried on up the switchbacks, firstly with a tailwind helping push me uphill, then into the wind, then the tailwind again, and back onto the main trail to the summit.

I made it to the bench below the summit and I was smiling, just one short steep climb then a pretty flat run to the summit, it was really going to happen, I was going to run non stop to the top! The steep climb between the bench and the summit seemed to roll by without much effort, and then it was there, the summit!

I'd ran, for the first time ever, non stop to the top of Latrigg!!! I was elated! I was Rocky at the top of the steps! It was my slowest ever ascent of Latrigg by 2 minutes, but I had ran the whole thing! It could have taken me 2 hours and I wouldn't of cared! 

I stood on the summit for about 60 seconds, the wind was whipping across the summit and soon chilled me, so I set off on the descent. I took it pretty easy on the descent, concentrated on form and enjoyed myself. 

When I reached the gate at the cottages near the end, I couldn't ignore the call of nature any longer and took a quick bathroom break. My breathing was relaxed, my legs weren't tired and I was feeling pretty good, and the little voice came back "reckon you can do it again?" and the voice didn't mean again tomorrow, it meant again right there and then!

15 minutes after running up there for the first time ever, I was contemplating doing it again! So I grabbed the energy gel and ate it, turned to face the steepest part again, and set off! What the hell was I doing!!

My quads were screaming on the 2nd ascent, and I did fully expect to be reduced to a walk, turn around and go back to the car.

I kept running, I embraced the pain in my legs, used it to propel me up the mountain for the second time, albeit a touch slower! I made it to the switchbacks and I was still running, surely the muddy foot grabbing nature of the switchbacks would prove too much.

I made it to the main trail, I was still running and I was grinning like a lunatic, my legs were feeling better and my breathing was still controlled and steady. I rounded the bench and started the last climb. Towards the top I was beat, I was ready to walk even though I was only 30 metres or so from the summit. Then I was over the climb and onto the relative flat to the summit.

At 6pm today I had never ran non stop to the top of Latrigg and honestly never thought I could. By 7:30pm today I had ran up it twice. 

As far as I'm concerned I can now call myself a Fell Runner.