August in Review

Welcome one and all to the mania of working retail, in summer, in a town of 5,000 people which swells to 40,000 for 8 weeks...! Not a lot was achieved in the world of running this month! 

July saw the start of actual Bob Graham training, gone were the majority of 'filler' runs, little 5k's just to say I'd been out. I finished the month on 90.5 miles and 33,022ft of ascent, despite missing the last week or so.

August started not too badly, only 1 run in the first 7 being below a 2,000ft gain, but I was struggling for mojo, and for the desire to put a long day in. A lot of this was due to my two main running friends from being away for 4 weeks and 3 weeks each, leaving me with the majority of the month to head out solo. I used to love the solo days, it meant my own pace, no one waiting for me and no pressure, but since starting my new job, and the small running group we have within work, I found myself really struggling to get out with friends to go with. Alas with the extra ascent I've been grinding out, I'm not as hideously slow behind them, though they still get a few breathers on the up hills. My main stay in a run with friends is to set off a few minutes early, as is the nature of fell running there is generally a whacking great climb straight away, the point at which my heart doesn't really do its job, so a few minutes head start generally puts us at the top together! 

Probably the best run this month was with my good friend Byron (@byronodonnell88). He had never run Scafell Pike and despite being able to nav, he wanted to go with someone the first time out, just incase. The forecast wasn't good, but we thought we'd possibly escape the first hour. Wrong. The rain started whilst we were lacing our shoes at the car! Not to be deterred we set of through Seathwaite Farm and up to Stockly Bridge. We took the route to Styhead Tarn, and I really struggled. No shame in admitting it, I just couldn't find a rhythm, I even struggled on the relative flat up to the stretcher box. From the stretcher box we headed off on the Corridor Route, garnering a few "mad bastard" comments from three guys walking up. After the first couple climbs my legs started working a bit better, and after some careful negotiations on the bad step with the dog, we were moving quite well. I should point out that Byron was ever a runner, and I helped him turn his attention to running. Our first run around Derwentwater had me waiting for him, now on Scafell he was destroying the climbs, and me! We hit the summit about 12 minutes slower than my PB, but considering the sideways rain, high winds and super slick footing for most of the route, we were pretty happy. We didn't hang about though, visibility zero and temperatures more common with November had us moving swiftly over to Esk Hause, where we scared the crap out of a group of hikers as we shot out of the mist like sweaty bearded demons. Following Grains Gill to Stockley Bridge was a comedy of sorts, with the rocky path being so wet and slippy, and unsuspecting hikers headed up with their heads down in concentration, we were slipping, sliding and dodging our way down the path. Back at the car I was super happy to have packed a towel and dry clothes as I was soaked right through my 'waterproof' jacket. 

I put quite a few ascents of Grisedale Pike in this month. With 2200+ft in 4.4 miles on a mixture of grassy and technical terrain, it's the perfect after work blast, and on the way home!

As always threw a few Skiddaw ascents in the mix, one of which garnered a fairly horrible injury to my friends hand, as he landed on slate, cut his hand op and then pushed the flap of skin and tissue up into his finger. Cue emergency Buff bandages and a hasty retreat down Jenkins!

I also made use of the 1.5 hour lull between Azja starting work and me starting work. A warm up consisting of running to the first gate on Spooney Green Road (Latrigg) then 4 x 100ft reps, 10 breath recovery top and bottom (it's pretty steep) then the 5th rep I run until the timer hits 30 minutes (timer starts as soon as I hit SGL so includes the warm up jog). Generally hitting 700ft ascent, quick shower then work :)

Stats:

74.4 miles

25,579ft

344ft/mile

14 runs

Laters taters!

Powered by Mountain Fuel

August in Review

Welcome one and all to the mania of working retail, in summer, in a town of 5,000 people which swells to 40,000 for 8 weeks...! Not a lot was achieved in the world of running this month! 

July saw the start of actual Bob Graham training, gone were the majority of 'filler' runs, little 5k's just to say I'd been out. I finished the month on 90.5 miles and 33,022ft of ascent, despite missing the last week or so.

August started not too badly, only 1 run in the first 7 being below a 2,000ft gain, but I was struggling for mojo, and for the desire to put a long day in. A lot of this was due to my two main running friends from being away for 4 weeks and 3 weeks each, leaving me with the majority of the month to head out solo. I used to love the solo days, it meant my own pace, no one waiting for me and no pressure, but since starting my new job, and the small running group we have within work, I found myself really struggling to get out with friends to go with. Alas with the extra ascent I've been grinding out, I'm not as hideously slow behind them, though they still get a few breathers on the up hills. My main stay in a run with friends is to set off a few minutes early, as is the nature of fell running there is generally a whacking great climb straight away, the point at which my heart doesn't really do its job, so a few minutes head start generally puts us at the top together! 

Probably the best run this month was with my good friend Byron (@byronodonnell88). He had never run Scafell Pike and despite being able to nav, he wanted to go with someone the first time out, just incase. The forecast wasn't good, but we thought we'd possibly escape the first hour. Wrong. The rain started whilst we were lacing our shoes at the car! Not to be deterred we set of through Seathwaite Farm and up to Stockly Bridge. We took the route to Styhead Tarn, and I really struggled. No shame in admitting it, I just couldn't find a rhythm, I even struggled on the relative flat up to the stretcher box. From the stretcher box we headed off on the Corridor Route, garnering a few "mad bastard" comments from three guys walking up. After the first couple climbs my legs started working a bit better, and after some careful negotiations on the bad step with the dog, we were moving quite well. I should point out that Byron was ever a runner, and I helped him turn his attention to running. Our first run around Derwentwater had me waiting for him, now on Scafell he was destroying the climbs, and me! We hit the summit about 12 minutes slower than my PB, but considering the sideways rain, high winds and super slick footing for most of the route, we were pretty happy. We didn't hang about though, visibility zero and temperatures more common with November had us moving swiftly over to Esk Hause, where we scared the crap out of a group of hikers as we shot out of the mist like sweaty bearded demons. Following Grains Gill to Stockley Bridge was a comedy of sorts, with the rocky path being so wet and slippy, and unsuspecting hikers headed up with their heads down in concentration, we were slipping, sliding and dodging our way down the path. Back at the car I was super happy to have packed a towel and dry clothes as I was soaked right through my 'waterproof' jacket. 

I put quite a few ascents of Grisedale Pike in this month. With 2200+ft in 4.4 miles on a mixture of grassy and technical terrain, it's the perfect after work blast, and on the way home!

As always threw a few Skiddaw ascents in the mix, one of which garnered a fairly horrible injury to my friends hand, as he landed on slate, cut his hand op and then pushed the flap of skin and tissue up into his finger. Cue emergency Buff bandages and a hasty retreat down Jenkins!

I also made use of the 1.5 hour lull between Azja starting work and me starting work. A warm up consisting of running to the first gate on Spooney Green Road (Latrigg) then 4 x 100ft reps, 10 breath recovery top and bottom (it's pretty steep) then the 5th rep I run until the timer hits 30 minutes (timer starts as soon as I hit SGL so includes the warm up jog). Generally hitting 700ft ascent, quick shower then work :)

Stats:

74.4 miles

25,579ft

344ft/mile

14 runs

Laters taters!

Powered by Mountain Fuel

Mountain daze

After the battering we took on BGR leg 2 in the heat, I rested for 2 days. My next run was a pretty enjoyable romp up the little fell out the back of town, nothing too sinister with about 600ft in 3.5miles. The next day, and my last holiday day, I had decided on Coledale Horseshoe. However upon reaching the summit of Grisedale Pike I had zero motivation to do anything other than head straight back down to the car! I posted my 2nd fastest ascent on the climb up, but the 11,500ft of climbing in the 7 days previous to this run had my legs at their limit!

I had a new energy drink with me on Grisedale Pike, Mountain Fuel (mountainfuel.co.uk) Extreme Energy, a powder you make up into a drink, it was a good first test, a second fastest ascent on battered legs!

Speaking with the man behind Mountain Fuel, Rupert Bonnington, he said it was best to sip away at the drink before my run to allow the drink to be absorbed and to work properly. So before myself and Byron headed out after work one night, I sipped away for around 2 hours before we set off. We headed over Walla Crag to Ashness Bridge and back along Falcon Crag, a usual after work jaunt of 6miles with 1300+ft of ascent. I smashed over 6 minutes of my PB, rocket fuel!!

Further to the energy drink there is also Morning Fuel, another powder to be added to your breakfast before you run, so on my next day off I added it to my breakfast, and made up the drink in 500ml of water. The plan was a double ascent of Skiddaw from Keswick, but I had woken not feeling great, and the weather on top was awful was awful, so I stuck to one ascent! Hitting Little Man on the descent, still ok for 3077ft in less than 9 miles.

Windy at the top!

By mid afternoon I felt better and I was raring to go, so I headed out and tagged Latrigg in the sunshine, setting a faster than average ascent time.

View on the Latrigg climb

A rest day then myself and George headed out after work to reignite the 'Sunday Skiddaw' tradition. 2 days earlier I had hit the summit only 57seconds slower than my PB and gone on to run Latrigg again that night. On Sunday, after a busy day on my feet at work, I hit the summit only 20 seconds slower than my PB! Once again with the Mountain Fuel energy drink on board. We tagged little man on the descent as I had on Friday, and finished 5minutes quicker than Friday.

Another Stella Skiddaw summit in summer!

Game of Thrones- Little Man edition

Out of the clag and hammering down Jenkins Path

The long run this week would be a solo jaunt, so I decided to head to my favourite playground, Buttermere! I often run the 9 mile circuit up Red Pike and across to Fleetwith Pike and and back along the lake shore, and always wanted to add in the 3 peaks on the final leg of the BGR. 

Setting off in the opposite direction to usual I headed straight up Snockrigg, a surprising 1200ft climb in a mile to start the day.... 

Unassuming but steep!

After Snockrigg you traverse a bone chillingly cold bog and then climb up to Robinson, descend and climb Hindscarth and finally descend and climb Dale Head - the 3 summits of BGR leg 5, albeit in reverse. From Dale Head there is a fun & fast descent to Honister Slate Mine, where I made use of the facilities and had a can of coke as a wee treat! 

As you leave Honister

From the mine there is a boring stone staircase until you reach the trail headed out to Haystacks. One of my favourite fells, it encompasses running with easy scrambles, but it breaks the climbs into fun sections rather than just plodding up hill!

The view over Innonimate Tarn

Buttermere & Crummock and the last big climb 'Gamlin End'

After Haystacks there's a sharp rise upto Seat, a small drop and then you're faced with Gamlin End. Coming in at less than 400mtrs long it climbs 800ft, and after 4000ft and 9 miles already, I wasn't thrilled!. As it happened I just put my head down and put one foot infront of the other and soon enough I had crested the summit and was running again to the Comb Crag ridge. There's a small incline between high Stile and High Crag, and then onto the final summit, and my favourite- Red Pike. Atop the summit I stopped to talk to a family who were doing the C2C and left them with the last of my energy pancakes as I shot off down the 2 mile 2400ft descent into Buttermere, where I finished with a swim!

The energy pancakes are a mix of the Morning Fuel, banana, dates & cranberries made into what I would call drop scones, rather than what I call pancakes. I had one with a banana for breakfast, another climbing Dale Head, one on Haystacks and a final one on Redpike, that was all the food I ate, and they aren't big! I had miscounted the energy sachets I had though, and ended up resorting to my previous set up of water and a hydration tablet. I could feel the difference on the run, my legs were a hey much quicker, and even today they are stiffer than any previous outings when I have used the drink. I'm yet to try the other 2 products from mountain fuel, a recovery powder and a night powder, both aimed at recovery from big days out. Main reason being that I keep forgetting to pack them when I go out running!

After the Buttermere Horseshoe I went to see Rupert again to report back on my testing of Mountain Fuel, and can happily state that they are committed to being supporters of my HeartTransplant Bob Graham training and attempt! 

 

The Start Of Something Big

So in my last blog, back in May, I outlined my intention to hopefully complete a fabled Bob Graham Round on my 25th transplant anniversary in 2017. From that point I continued on with my regular running, a couple of Walla Crag ascents, a 5k and a longer run each week, not diving into big miles and big climbs immediately. Unfortunately after running the 25km route at Ennerdale I over worked a tendon in my left ankle, which led to over 2 weeks in June without so much as a jog.

Once the swelling, and pain started to dissipate I gently eased back into it with a couple of days just running 1 mile at a time, then up to a 5k and then back to Walla Crag, suitably impressed that my ankle was holding up, I made the decision to start training more towards a possible BG attempt!

25th June 

9:10am I set off up Spooney Green Lane below Latrigg to complete my first recce of the first leg of the BG. As it would be my longest proper fell run in quite a while I set off pretty easy, fast hiking to the top of the Jenkins Path zig-zags and the running to the final climb just below the summit gate. I was about 15 minutes off PB pace, but my legs still felt quite fresh, and I still had 8 miles and 2000+ ft of climbing to go!

The descent to the bottom of Calva went really well despite the expected boggy conditions, and I had gained quite a lot of time back with the speedy downhill. At the top of Gt Calva I was only about 20minutes off a 4hour schedule for the leg, which boosted my confidence. Following the fence line down too far left me way off course for Mungrisedale Common, and I had to track sideways whilst headed to the river to cross.

At the same time my colleague and friend George had set off about an hour behind me (turned out to be 54 minutes after me) and we had guesstimated that he would have caught me by the climb up Mungrisedale, and I was often looking backwards to see if he was near! Mungrisedale Common is a boring expanse of big tufts of grass on a reasonably steep incline, and it really drained me, I couldn't find a rhythm and felt like I was making no progress at all, and in fact posted my worst mile time of the day on there! Once I made it to the flattish plateau I found some more speed and then began the incline to gain the summit of Blencathra. AboIt 100mtrs from the summit George final caught me, and I was glad to see he was just as wasted as me! A quick photo on a zero visibility summit and we headed off down Halls Fell Ridge.

Coming off the summit we could see nothing and took our time picking our way down the damp and slippy ridge line until it opened out into the more runnable trail down to Threlkeld. We walked through Threlkeld, grabbed a couple of cokes and then ran back to Keswick along the railway line. I say ran, it was definitely a shuffle :-)

The next day I ran my local 'Turkey Field' 5k and felt surprisingly good, though my quads were protesting a touch, after a rest day we went out after work and hit Walla Crag where I set a new PB for the route, only really finding the steeper stuff hard on the legs.

Another rest day then myself and Matt from Lakeland Mountain Guides headed out to Loweswater for another of my favourite short routes, over Fellbarrow and Low Fell, a 5.3 mile run with 1300ft of climb, mostly in quite short but very steep inclines. I felt ok, but a little achey on the climbs.

2 days later on 1st July it was long run time again.

The heatwave had landed! 26c when we left Threlkeld car park to run the second leg of the BG, myself, George and another colleague Dan. We had decided on a 5-6hour schedule considering the heat and the sheer amount of water we all carried!

The initial climb up Cloughhead took me an age, partly due to feeling water dripping from my bag, stopping to investigate and to check my hydration bladder took me a good few minutes as I wanted to be certain that the leak wasn't more serious than the hose not being fully tightened up. After that hiccup we moved swiftly over the tops, reaching Helvellyn faster than on any of my previous outings on this range. After the long descent from Dollywagon Pike to Grisedale Tarn we dropped the bags and had a few minutes in the Tarn to cool off. We had already decided the direct approach to Fairfield up Cofa Pike, and we felt good having made good time to this point. However sheltered from the wind the sun had us at its mercy, and all 3 of us struggled to the summit under the relentless, energy sapping heat. 

Descending Fairfield and looking up to Seat Sandal was pretty depressing, my legs still felt good but I was beat from the sun all day, it was a true slog to the top, and then the final decent back to the car waiting at Dunmail Raise, where we all promptly laid on the grass verge eating & drinking the supplies we had left in the car there.

Physically I felt better after the 2nd leg recce than the first, despite eating less, being abused by the heat and the extra 2000ft of climbing. And the day after (today) apart from my body craving food all day, my legs felt fine, no DOMs no tightness and no need to walk downstairs backwards! I did however err on the side of caution and took today as a rest day, but fear not, I'll be back out there tomorrow! 

It's going to be a long journey...

Hopes & Dreams

It's Saturday, May 9th, 1992 - 23 years ago to the minute - i'm in and out of consciousness due to the cocktail of pre-op medications coursing through my body. 

A few hours earlier, at home, the phone rang. Before my mam answered it i started shaking, somehow i knew. "We have a heart, get here as soon as possible"

11:59pm - my eyes flicker open outside the operating room, and i look at the clock, then the face of my surgeon, Dr Hamilton, he smiles and shakes my limp hand. Tells my folks he'll take good care of me, and then chastises me for getting him in on his birthday, he's only had whiskey though, so his hands will be steady. 

Midnight May 9th / 10th May i'm wheeled into Surgery.

Tomorrow, May 10th 2015, will mark the 23rd anniversary of my Heart Transplant, not bad considering i was given 5 years as a good expectancy all those years ago.

My donor, who was only 12, was sadly killed when he was knocked off his bike whilst doing his paper round. His parents, despite their unimaginable grief and suffering agreed to donate his organs. Along with the heart i recieved, he gave his lungs, liver and kidneys, saving 7 people's lives that night. I think of him everyday, who he was, who he might have become, and if i make him proud, if i'm worthy to have recieved this gift from him. 

I hope my running makes him proud, and that those who take inspiration from it realise that he is a part of that inspiration. I'm not the fastest, and i can't run the furthest, but i try my best every day.

With that in mind, i have decided that on this night in 2 years time i will try something that no one would expect possible. At midnight, between May 9th & 10th 2017, the 25th anniversary of my transplant, i will attempt to complete the Bob Graham Round.

For those not familiar, The BGR is a 66 mile fell run over 42 Lake District peaks and takes in 30,000ft of ascent, often on nothing more than sheep trods and open fell.

The rules stipulate that to be recognised as having completed it, it must be undertaken in no more than 24hours. If i manage that then great, but i will be going with the intention of finishing regardless of time. Just completing in one single go.

I have 2 years to train, recce and prepare for this starting now. I will not be rushing the process, i will build slowly towards it, and health permitting, i will be ready to face it. 

Adam

March Miles

Hello & welcome one & all, a March recap if you will. The stats:

91.48 Miles

10,856ft

119ft/mile

15 runs

My biggest monthly mileage since January 2014 , and 10 miles further than January & February this year combined!

I've basically felt really good, and really enjoying the running! The 1-3 nights a week running with work have been a huge boost, hitting round 6-7 miles and 1400ft ascent each time, and as they are all faster than me i've really been trying to push myself a little bit more. 

I re-introduced speed sessions this month too, 1mile warm up, 4x400m sprints with 400m recovery then a 1mile cool down, nothing spectacular but it's a start! 

Also reintroduced a bit of distance with 3 9mile runs around Derwentwater (2of which were fasted early morning runs) a 10mile proper fell run with Byron with almost 4,000ft of ascent and a 16miler (longest since Jan 2014) around the bottom of the Ennerdale Valley. 

I had hoped to hit the 100mile mark but being under the weather the last few days had me put my health first & not kill myself for the sake of 9 miles! 

The plan had been to join work colleagues this Sunday on a 50k run (with the option to bail half way) on a loop of Borrowdale & Newlands Valley, but i'll be content with a few miles with my visiting Nephew, and a chilled afternoon watching the wrestling!

No big plans for April, would like to head back down to Ennerdale for another 16mile long run as i rebuild fitness, and do more speedwork, and hopefully with light nights now i'll be able improve on the work night fell runs and recovery runs! Weather & health allowing i would like to get back on the Bob Graham sections too!

Happy running folks!

A return to form...in a way.

Hello,

once again a big gap in blogging! working full time again, an illness for myself and a very scary 10 days of Azja being extremely ill took care of most of February!

The biggest news of the Year since my last post is the discovery of a very serious gas leak in my house, luckily we bought a new oven and it was discovered that the connection between the old oven and the gas supply was totally unsealed and 'rotten' - the gas engineer who fitted the new oven said it was the worst he had ever seen and attributed our survival (yes he thought we should all be dead and couldn't believe we werent) to the fact that we are always out of the house, and sleep directly below and open window. And we now have an oven that works too.

So the long term illness that had been plaguing me since August 2014 has pretty much cleared up, my lack of energy and desire to run has been replaced with renewed desires and energy to burn! Since starting running again in November i had struggled to hit 50 miles a month with my running, opting for little 5k runs and in February only making 38 miles, which is awful even for me! With energy back on my side i put 22 miles in for the first week of March, including a good outing over Walla Crag, a 4 mile speed session and my longest run since July 2014 with 9 miles around Derwentwater foreshore!

This week i put in a 5k shakeout yesterday and have the Ennerdale 25k/16mile route planned for tomorrow. For my long runs i've opted for an almost Maffetone Method style, but instead of measuring my HR (as it's completely mental) i run to the point of almost being out of breath, and hold it on the line. I used it for the 9 mile run around derwentwater last week, and despite being 20 minutes slower than pb, i felt stronger on the run, and definitely not as wasted at the end!

Hopefully will get back to blogging more, especially soon with reviews of the Vivo Trailfreak and the NB MT00v2!

And some exciting/daunting news to come shortly....

Grisedale Pike

Evening all,

just a quick catch up and a few pictures for you 😊

in my last post i was pissed off & upset that i'd had a few anxiety attacks whilst driving, thankfully there has been no repeat of them, despite doing the exact same drive earlier this week, happy days!

So we finally had some snow last weekend! And it was still around when i had a day off! I was pushed for time as i had to be in Manchester for 12:30 so i opted for a quick run over the first half of a popular route know as The Coledale Horseshoe.

The route starts with a 2300ft climb over 2.28 miles to the summit of Grisedale Pike. It's a tough slog, 2 steep ascents with flatter sections between, and then a mixed bag of scrambling and steep scree (talus). With snow mostly calf deep all the way up, and deeper where there were drifts.
The weather was perfect, a balmy -3c in the car park - which was frozen solid - meant microspikes were needed from the start! Looking East from the climb the sun was just rising over the Dodds and Helvellyn.

I reached the summit about 10/15 minutes slower than usual, a mixture of conditions underfoot and the fact i'm 20lbs heavier at the minute and severely unfit! As usual the wind was whipping across the summit, so i took a few snaps and took off towards Hobcarton Crag.

The route drops down and rises slightly before the start of the Crag, then you drop down onto Coledale Hause. Coledale Hause is a small col in the middle of several mountains with two valleys leading away in opposite directions, the normal horseshoe route goes straight across and up the face of Eel Crag, but as i pressed for time i took the descent down one of the valleys to Force Crag Mine, which then links up to the old mining road back to the car park.

Coming off the Hause the snow had drifted into the top of the valley, making it thigh deep in places, and making running look like a really cold snowy version of a Baywatch intro video as i tried to clamber through the snow! 

All In all it was 6.5 miles with 2464ft of ascent. More importantly it cast aside the self doubt i've been feeling since coming back to running after last years illness. Despite getting out for runs i was fooling myself a little. Sticking to a local 5k route more often than not, and making no effort to up the mileage on single runs or weekly mileage. With little confidence to hit the fells.

As i said earlier i'm a ways heavier than i was pre illness, but now with a bit more confidence back in the arsenal, i will try to push the distances weekly and the weight will hopefully fall off!

Loving the VivoBarefoot Trailfreaks on every run since Christmas & paired with Kahtoola MicroSpikes they were awesome on the run! 

As always Nathan Vaporwrap carried spare hat & gloves, Leki poles, Montane primaloft jacket, hydration & phone.

Tubthumping

Evening.

Took Azja and her sister to Manchester Airport this morning, setting off at 2am. 

Started having hot flushes and adrenaline surges after about an hour, precursors to anxiety/panic attacks. It wasn't until the 4th such episode that i said anything to Azja. No idea why they started, no idea why they stopped after 4 attacks. I do know that after almost 6 months without them they have knocked me back a bit.

I had been doing really well with them, eating out, eating at friends, visiting places without ill effect and then out of the blue hit with 4 in a row in the space of an hour.

I made it home without serious incident, but its really done me over, i can't go back to that place & start again. I Thought i was free of this affliction, to live normally - if not a little nervously.

In a few days i'll most likely feel better, and i need to try to draw strength from the fact that i did continue and make it to the airport and home again.

But if i had been planning on travelling with them, i dont think i could have managed, not today anyway.