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.
