Taking on Bob

45/70 miles, 30/42 peaks, 18,000/28,000 ft. Bob may have won this round, but round two is already being planned!

OK, this is not Raj but Hannah writing this from the Team Raj base camp here in Grasmere. I have just been with Jay to see Raj off accompanied by the lovely and always up-beat Chris on the first leg of the Bob and I must admit that our man is in fine spirits. Goodness knows if the back-up team will be up to the job but the boy himself is fighting fit and mentally more than ready for the challenge.

As we passed Dunmail at just before 3am heading towards the start, we saw lights up the side of Steel Fell marking the Steel Fell gully that Raj famously missed on his first recce. Then, as we got closer we found the lay-by was a hive of activity – back-up cars with boots open, burners lit, coffee brewing, dark figures stretching and lines of socks flying like bunting.

A line of eight torches coming down off Seat Sandal was the cause of all the excitement and I have to say caused a frisson in the Team Raj car too. Raj thought that they probably would have started at midnight and have been scaling the heights of legs 1 and 2 in the dark! It was just awesome to think that if Raj does what he says he’s going to do, by the time he gets to Honister he should be right on their tails and, if they are on a 23 or 24 hour schedule, possibly even passing them.

Anyway, with a sudden realisation on my behalf at least, that this thing really was happening (yes, I know, I know!), we arrived in Keswick just as the last teenagers were staggering drunkenly homeward. Our boys however leapt up the steps of Moot Hall, set up the GPS, syncronised their watches and on the dot of 3.30am, were off.

As they streaked off into the darkness leaving Jay and I to wend our way at a rather more leisurely pace back to base camp, all I could think about was the message on my own “round” presented to me by my loving husband in the early morning darkness. The inscription reads, “Dream a little dream” because that is precisely what Raj has been doing all these months and what he has got so may of our friends and family involved in dreaming too.

And now he’s off to live it. Good luck my darling one, we’re dreaming a little dream with you.

I am getting quite a weather report junkie in anticipation of this weekend. Ideally I would have a little cloud, rain after doing the biggies of Leg 3 (so after 3pm would be perfect). Here’s the weather report as of just now from the Weatherline (the Lake District’s dedicated weather service)

Forecast for Saturday

Weather:

Most ranges will again be dry. There will be some patches of mist and low cloud at first, soon dispersing. Then a bright day with sunny spells and just a small risk of a few showers breaking out towards evening. The showers will be most likely to occur over hills to the west of Keswick and Ambleside.

Visibility:

Some patches of poor visibility at first, otherwise very good during the day with most hills in sight easily discernible.

Hill Fog:

Patches of fog down around 300M at first, soon dispersing then most hills again staying free from fog. However occasional fog will form around 900M in association with any showers.

Maximum winds above 500m:

Southerly winds will increase 20mph during the day.

Temperature:

Valleys/Low level: 8 Celsius rising to 22 Celsius.
At 900m: 10 Celsius.
Freezing level: Staying well above the summits.

I decided to do a quick check of leg 1 yesterday. I say quick check, I mean I walked it rather than ran it so it took significantly longer than it should have! And I was carrying my SLR, which means that the Halls Fell descent became all that more trickier (not to self, do not carry big camera on Saturday and also avoid big Aussie cowboy hat which needs to be held on in high winds!).

The upside of carrying my camera.

I thought that before Liza and Ahmed (who are running leg 3 with me on the day) come up to experience leg 3, I would scout it out.  Having done the ascent up Steel Fell on Friday, I thought that I would take a different route up today so that I could keep the dog off the road at the early part of the run.  She’s really good normally, but I try to keep it so that she wants to stick next to me at the point when I am running along roads, rather than me having to ask her to stay next to me.

Stunning day for it.  In fact, the beautiful weather is what tempted to take the day out and head up there.  I am trying to be completely realistic here, chances are that it will be a hot day.  Training only when its cool and overcaste really isn’t going to be me any favours!

Basic plan was to get to Steel Fell and then run in the direction of Wasdale along the BG route until I decided that I needed to head back in order to make it back before nightfall.  Not being able to set off before 2pm, I was hoping that I make it at least as far as Harrison Stickle before having to drop down to Old Dungeon Ghyll and back.

At the beginning of May we were still experiencing sub zero temps in the Lakes, however within a week or so the temperature had risen sufficiently so that my Icebreaker 180GT was just too warm.  A good friend of mine, Barney, had been waxing lyrical about the Patagonia Capilene range when we were out running in Wyoming last summer.  So I thought I would give them a shot.

I went back to my friendly suppliers of all things outdoors and found two to try.  The first was the regular Capilene 1 and the second was a sample product that they had that isn’t on their website and I can’t find on the Patagonia site either.  Its more of a structured T with panels with different wicking properties to them (Alexy, if you read this feel free to comment on this with the right name for the T!)  I was promised no warmth just wicking and cooling.

The promise was realised.  I was actually really surprised.  I have used the Capilene 1 in the gym a few times now and yep, good stuff.  The other T have used out on the fells and that was a complete revelation!  The added benefit of the two T’s was that, as they are both close fitting (for close fitting read skin tight!) there has been no chaffing at all.  The merinos, when saturated, not only weighed more but also rubbed. The upside was always that they maintained warmth, but now that isn’t such a great selling point!

The other problem (and dare I say, more sensitive issue) was one of chaffing in the groin area.  Again, it was never a problem in the winter season, but with the additional warmth and distances being covered it was really becoming an issue.  Vaseline was working to some extent and I had been recommended to always run with a small pot for emergencies.  I don’t like emergencies so wondered if there was a better solution.  My beloved wife appeared one day having visited Decathlon where she found a rather unattractive pair of “boxer briefs“. Okay here’s a picture!

The scary thing, they work.  They feel so wrong. But again special panels wick moisture away from the areas most likely to suffer and they really have made a huge difference.  Okay, no more talk of chaffing and underwear!

Okay, I have really discovered recently how much gym work helps and also how important it is to vary the sessions.

I have just got a new session going which is all about pushing yourself to the point of failure.

20 Deadlift

Push-up jumps to failure followed immediately by the same number of push-ups

20 Dumb-bell swings

Heaves to failure

Half heaves to failure

20 V-sits with weight

20 alternate v-sits with weight

2km ski

Circuit repeated 4 times.

Its interesting changing from training for strength to training for endurance.   The strength training really has helped on the fells and the circuits means that I am used to recovering while doing a different exercise.  However I was feeling that I wasn’t pushing myself to the limit enough in the gym.  Two weeks after hitting the endurance circuits my running across the fells has turned a definite corner!

Decided that today I would stretch myself out a bit by doing a short run down the valley, up Loughrigg and then back again via a couple of landmarks.

I met a couple of walkers as I was passing through a gate asking me where I was heading.  When I said up Loughrigg, they had all sorts of suggestions as to the most scenic routes. Having down Steel Fell yesterday I wasn’t keen on any of these.  I pointed up the fell. “This way looks the hardest” and off I went.  Yep, definitely the hardest route I have found up Loughrigg yet and one that I will use when I only have a short time to fit in a run.

Great views today.

Anyway there and back about 10k in 1hr 5 mins. Happy with that!

Okay, an update on the Steel Fell dream.  I did Steel Fell today after 10 miles or so and without a break before hitting it.

Needless to say, it wasn’t quite the “Five strides, ta da!”

If you look at Steel Fell from the Dunmail Road it does look bad. It does look steep and if you look at it from the side it looks pretty grim.

Before approaching Steel Fell I did a run I last did in the snow, Heron Pike, Great Rigg Man, Fairfield and then Seat Sandal (all in cloud). As I descended the wrong way down Seat Sandal (that’s why we practice these things!)  the cloud lifted and I got a good view of what was ahead of me.  That didn’t prepare me for hitting it straight on without a break. I thought that physically it would be a challenge.  I hadn’t appreciated mentally the challenge that it is.

First mistake was taking the grassy route.  Or maybe it wasn’t. Either way it didn’t feel like a great idea once three quarters up, when I found myself hanging on to the grass with my hands to stop myself falling backwards and down the fell.  It did make me wonder whether going up the more rocky cutting would be a better idea.  Yes it would be looser under foot, but if you started to fall, as long as you fell to one side or other you wouldn’t go very far.

I hadn’t realised that the fear of falling backwards would be a problem. Chris, from F2K, on hearing me say this asked why I was looking backwards.  Good point.  I won’t do it again!

The good thing was once you got to the top the slope became instantly more manageable which meant I could break straight back into a run.  Useful to know this.  Means that I can go hard up here and recover on the trot.

Oh, looking back this is what you see of Seat Sandal. Notice the pathway to the left of the picture coming around the end. That’s not how I came down. I came down to the right of the picture where you can clearly see there is no path!  Good that the cloud lifted so I could see this!

Nothing like being able to see what you are meant to do before you have to do it!

A realisation that I have had recently is how little running anywhere else other than the Lakes prepares you for running in the Lakes.  Manchester, though I love it, really doesn’t have a hill that is usable for training purposes in this respect (chip in if you think I’m wrong).

So in Manchester I have been focusing on interval training when out running.  And interval training with other people.  This may sound strange but until three weeks ago I hadn’t run with another person for about 8 years.  My normal running partner is the do; and a great, non-complaining running partner she makes too!  Anyway getting out with others to do interval training has been good as it has highlighted to me my strengths and weaknesses.  My feet aren’t fast enough at the moment and this is something that I need to work on.  Pain, none worth mentioning.