Map or GPS?

I'm sure you've all seen it in plenty of Facebook threads. Someone invites opinion or advice on brands of GPS and they get a regular stream of "learn to use a map" comments. Clearly, using a GPS is (a) cheating, unless everyone else has one, and (b) dangerous, because it leaves you at the mercy of the elements when it breaks down. Discuss. Well, here's my tuppence worth.

I learned to navigate when in my teens. The scale of the OS maps in use at the time was one inch to the mile; you could also get six inches to the mile, but as these were neither a practical nor economic proposition for most activities, the "one-inch" was the one everyone used. With a bit of instruction and plenty of practice in a range of areas and weathers I learned to be safe and reasonably competent. These are skills that once learned and practised, you don't forget.

Silva compasses look pretty much the same nowadays as they did fifty years ago but the maps have steadily improved. The OS 1:50,000 series (although fully metric, these were still referred to as the "one-and-a-quarter-inch" series by most people on their introduction) gave more useful detail than the one-inch, then later the 1:25,000 seemed amazing, with almost too much information for simple navigation at times. Harveys really cracked it when they started producing their 1:40,000 series, not only a perfect scale but waterproof. So no excuse for not being able to find your way around these days.

Then came GPS. At first, although you could get a hand-held version the accuracy was so poor that in most cases it was still more precise to use a map. OK for sailing your boat or flying your plane, where I guess you can plot your route so that the odd hundred yards doesn't make much difference, but not good enough to stop you walking over a cliff in the fog. But then the Berlin wall came down, the Americans took the scrambling off the satellite signals available to the masses, and  GPS can now tell you where you are  -  exactly. And that does make a difference.

I've played over the past 7 or 8 years, and come to the conclusion that wherever a GPS can take you, you could have got there equally well with a bit of steady map and compass work. And most of the time I still prefer to use a map. The screen on a GPS is pretty small, and I like the fact that the map gives you the big picture at the same time as the detail you're interested in at the moment, rather like running in daylight when you can see your surroundings as well as the next few feet compared with running at night when your vision is restricted to the pool of your headlamp. But I think there are a few situations where the GPS is worth its weight because it can save you a lot of time.

The first of these is in wild weather. When it's blowing so hard you can barely stand, the rain is torrential, the snow blizzard-like, these are the times when using a map and compass is a bit of a trial. Gettting yourself into a position where you can hold enough of the map steady to read it, transferring bearings between map and field, what to do with it as you cover the next hundred yards or so, I'm sure you've been there. Much easier with the GPS in your pocket, or held up your sleeve, pull it out, flick the light on, a quick check on where to go next, and away.

Another situation is when you are navigating across featureless ground in poor visibility. If you can see a hundred yards or so, no problem. Decide the bearing, fix your mark (rock, tree, whatever), go to it and repeat. If it's dark, depends how good your torch is.  At fifty yards visibility it's still doable, though with twice as many marks to make, and each mark brings with it a possible slight error. Once you're down to ten or fifteen yards it gets tricky.  The overall error grows and it may be hard to find useable marks. If there are two or more people you can use each other as marks, but on your own you don't have that luxury. I sometimes wonder at folk I see trying to follow a bearing by just looking at their compass needle. We all drift to one side or the other when we do this (if you don't believe me try it on a park or football pitch, see if you can walk a straight line looking only at your compass without glancing at your surroundings).  Under these conditions the only safe way to go is to aim off aggressively to reliable features, which may end up with you covering up to 50% more ground than by the optimum route, in addition to all the time taken faffing. With a GPS, just checking that you are to the right or left of your desired line is lightning fast, and you take the shortest possible route.

Finally, I like to use a GPS in forestry plantations. Forestry roads, tracks and paths often change frequently, swathes of trees are felled, etc, so what you see on your map is often not what you are faced with on the ground. A GPS will confirm changes instantly rather than your having to stop and work out what has gone on.

So to go back to the title, for me it's map and compass and GPS, use the tool most appropriate for the conditions. For what it's worth I use a Garmin etrex 30, weighs just 150g, simplicity itself to use and the standard AA batteries last all day. I don't take it on every event. In "Trail" races such as the West Highland Way or the Hardmoors and Lakeland 50/100 events you are mostly following clear trails, and on any trickier bits I think there are more than enough features to make a map at least as fast, if not faster than the GPS. But in the "mountain" type races, where you are often picking your own route over intermittent tracks or trackless ground, I think it's worth the weight in the pack.

So what about the critics? First, is using a GPS in an event "cheating"? Well, I've already said that in certain conditions I think it can save a lot of time, so if you use one and another runner doesn't, then I think you have an advantage, regardless of how good the map skills of the other guy may be. But I've also observed that some of the people who criticise the use of GPS are quite happy to go out and recce the route of an event they've signed up for. Now if using a GPS is a bit like taking a calculator into the exam with you, then a recce of the route is like seeing the exam paper well in advance; you can't have it both ways. So where I am is that if the event allows a GPS and I think it's worth it, then I take it. What actually constitutes cheating is decided by the Race Director. For a few years I'm sure there will be some traditionalists who make a point of going without a GPS (or without poles for that matter!). We've seen it a lot in the climbing world; artificial chockstones (nuts), sticky rubber boots, chalk, and numerous other developments have been seen as "cheating" by reactionaries to start with, then they get accepted and the world moves on.

Secondly, does using a GPS put you in potential danger if and when it breaks down? Well, no it doesn't, if used sensibly.  You can see from what I've said above that  I think a GPS gives you an extra club in the bag, to be used in addition to your map and compass skills, not instead of them. I believe that no-one should undertake an event in any of the UK's wilder areas until they are fully competent to navigate using a map and compass. I'm not sure that I really approve of the recent trend for marking some events, or even the use of "roadbooks", as these suggest that you can get away with not being able to navigate. I understand where this comes from. In the US and much of continental Europe, walking in the hills is different. You follow a well-marked trail until you come to a junction, where there will be a signpost. A map is hardly necessary unless you choose to go "off piste". You don't need to be able to read a map to enter an event. But that's not the UK tradition; we've (so far) been brought up to understand that when you wander off into our hills, you should be able to bring yourself safely down again, and it would be a real shame to lose that ethic.

The single most important principle of navigation is to know where you are now.  It's a rule we all break at times, often through over-confidence or laziness, and when we do we are reminded why it's so important. Because if you know that, it doesn't matter whether your next step is to pull out a GPS or a map. Either, with the right skill, will get you to where you want to go next.

Happy navigating, whatever your preference!

"Lakes in a Day"

Well, for the second weekend running I was off to the Lakes for the inaugural running of a nice looking 50 mile event. The Lakes in a Day Ultra, organised by Open Adventure, goes from Caldbeck in the far north of the district to Cartmel in the south, via Blencathra, the Helvellyn range, then lesser heights, woodland and lakeside trails to the west of Windermere. A base with facilities for camping at the Priory School in Cartmel and buses laid on to take runners from here to the start in Caldbeck makes it an easy trip logistically, so although I was still feeling a little tired from splashing around the wet 3 x 3000 the previous Saturday I was looking forward to the day.

I travelled up late Friday afternoon, registered at the school then wandered into Cartmel for a meal and a beer before bedding down in the trusty Octavia with the alarm set for 5.30am. It seemed to rain pretty steadily for most of the night, but Saturday dawned dryish if still rather grey and misty. The buses left on the dot at ten past six, getting us to Caldbeck with a few minutes to spare before the scheduled 8am start. A quick chat with Jon and Shirley Steele, the briefest of briefings, then we were off.

The first few miles were familiar ground to me, following the same route out of Caldbeck, up High Pike and down to the Lingy Hut to that taken by the Grand Tour of Skiddaw back in August.  By here the field was starting to spread out, we had had our first sharp rain shower, and we had reached cloud level.

Unlike most "mountain" ultras there were very few unmanned checkpoints ("dibber boxes")  to ensure that competitors completed the required route; instead, the course was shown on the map supplied by the organisers and each runner carried a tracking device so it could be seen whether any illegal shortcuts had been taken. The system seemed to work well, and has the added advantage that race HQ knew where everyone was at any time.

The only bit of the course which had a free route choice was from High Pike over to Blencathra summit, mainly I suppose because there are no real paths in this area. The first objective was to get down to the River Caldew. On the Tour of Skiddaw we had gone down Grains Gill to the big track to Skiddaw House, but a mile can be saved by pushing directly over Comb Head and that's what most of the field seemed to be doing. A variety of lines were taken with runners seemingly scattered fairly widely over the hillside in deep heather in the fog, but we all managed to converge on the jeep track that the map said was there for the final run down to the Caldew, where we were out of the clag and for the first time that day in some sunshine.

Thinking about the course earlier in the week and mindful that the amount of rain we'd had might make wading the river at this point "interesting", I had planned to go a mile or so upstream to the pole and fence that spans the stream just above the traditional Bob Graham crossing point, then pick up the BG trod to Blencathra, but the organisers had provided a direct option by way of a temporary bridge which seemed too good to miss, and was in any case quite a classy construction.

Bridge across the Caldew

Any hopes that this might keep feet dry were quickly dispelled however as we then had to cross a knee-deep tributary stream anyway. The next few hundred feet were tedious, trackless tussocky grass, the sort of territory where you're always convinced that everyone has picked a better line than you. As soon as the ground started to level out on the edge of Mungrisdale common I cut rightwards to pick up the BG route and things got a lot easier to the top of Blencathra. By now we were in thick mist again - the cloud level on the tops seemed to be hanging around persistently at about the 2000ft level so no views again. There were a few other runners around but in these conditions they seem to disappear into the fog when not far off.

I had my first navigational moment on Blencathra. I knew the way, I'd been there before. Up to the top, turn left onto Hall's Fell Ridge and straight down to Threlkeld, easy. Except after five or ten minutes on the ridge I suddenly realised I wasn't on a ridge at all but following a vague track down an open hillside. A bit of a pause to consult map and compass more carefully and I worked out that I'd sidled off the ridge to the right and was heading into the gulley between the ridge and Middle Tongue. I traversed horizontally back for maybe a hundred yards to get re-established and carried on down, paying a bit more attention. The path got easy just as I came down out of the mist, typical. I don't think mine was the only error, looking at the shots taken by the photographer near the bottom of the ridge, quite a proportion of the runners appear to be emerging from the lower part of the gulley so I might have been quicker just pushing on down!

Down out of the mist on Blencathra

Quickly from there down through the fields to Threlkeld and the first main checkpoint and feed station at 11.40am.  There were three of these stops on the course, at Thelkeld, Ambleside and Finsthwaite; all were indoors, warm, welcoming places with lots of good food, real oases along the way. I didn't stay long at this first one but was soon out and onto the longest stage of the day over to Ambleside.

We followed the old railway path under the main A66 and along to Newsham. The next few miles to Helvellyn would be an exact reversal of what I had done last weekend in the 3 x 3000 event. The climb up Clough Head is long and steep, but by following the BG trod just to the left of the rocks I seemed without going any faster to overtake quite a few runners who were seeking less steep ground over to the left. Once on top, that was the major effort for the stage made and I could enjoy the remainder. Easy running in now lovely sunshine over the Dodds, Raise, Whiteside and Lower Man to Helvellyn, following my now re-established regime of walking the ups and jogging everything else. By the time I got to Helvellyn I was in the last bit of mist again, so I celebrated by not paying attention to the path -  navigational moment number two  -  and realised quite soon that I was making good progress towards Wythburn rather than Grisedale Tarn. No real harm done, a contour across the hillside got me back on track with the loss of maybe five minutes at most. I should have topped up water at the tarn outflow but forgot and was running on empty by the time I got to Ambleside. Fairfield was a pull but went quickly and the long run down the "easy" side of the Fairfield horseshoe to Ambleside was pleasure all the way.

I had hoped to reach Ambleside in daylight so was pleased to trundle in a minute or two before 6pm. Pasta, pizza, tea and dry socks set me up nicely for the easier second half of the route, but which would be done mainly in the dark. I was surprised to see Jon Steele and Mark Dalton at Ambleside as they had taken off a lot faster than me from the start, but Jon said he'd found the climb up Clough Head hard and had also injured a knee so had been forced to slow down. I left on my on but expected them to catch me up.

The route from Ambleside tracks the western shore of Windermere, sometimes closely, sometimes a mile or so distant. The start was a few miles down the cinder cycle track alongside the road to Low Wreay, which apart from the steeper ups I took at a steady jog. On the half mile of tarmac up to High Wreay we lost the last of the light and I caught up with Iain, who I was to stay with for the next few miles. We made our way through the woods to the top of Claife Heights, with one pause to check that we really were in the right place  -  plantations are hard in daylight, let alone in the dark. Then the run down the easy track past Moss Eccles Tarn to Sawrey was fine on what had become a nice moonlit evening. There followed a bit of road then a twisty lakeside footpath, through fields and woods and even along bits of the lake beach at times, which was slower going. A hilly bit of road then another section of lakeside path, a bit more tortuous this time, led back to the road near the YMCA water centre.

The last couple of miles or so to the Finsthwaite checkpoint involved a stiff climb of a few hundred feet through woods up to Scott Heights, then over to High Dam. As none of the paths were marked on our maps, this was one of the few sections of the course to have been marked  -  just as well, it would have been quite tricky without, as I said woods are not easy at night. I suggested Iain carried on as I was going to stop for a minute to get my poles out.  Now alone, I made my way steadily upwards and just before the top I was caught by another headlamp, this time it was Mark. I expected him and Jon to have caught me earlier but he said Jon's knee was clicking so he'd had to slow down and told Mark to go on. Jon wasn't far away though, he turned up at Finsthwaite OK. The checkpoint was again well-appointed, soup and hot sausage rolls to see us through the eight miles to the finish. Because of the darkness in the second half,  the race seemed to acquire an atmosphere you usually associate with much longer events, where runners travelling at similar speeds congregate at the checkpoints for some mutual chat and support before setting off again into the night. One of the staff did an impressive knee strapping job on Jon, who then declared himself good to go. He was going to be accompanied by Shirley for the last stretch, so off they went. I followed a few minutes later. It was now around ten minutes past ten; I had hoped to finish before midnight, 16 hours after starting, but that looked unlikely now, I had to average over 4 miles an hour and get all the navigation right.

There was a little climb through woods again, then a steepish descent to Newby Bridge and another steady ascent out of the other side of the village. Patches of thick fog appeared from time to time, making visibility pretty poor. Not far out of Newby Bridge I saw some lights ahead in the gloom and found it was Jon and Shirley. We followed a long, muddy, narrow path over a bit of low moorland, then a short road section led up to Bigland Tarn. Just beyond here the route joined the Cumbria Coastal Way until the final road section. We hoped it might be well marked, and to start with it was good, over a little rise and across a bit of moor. Then it plunged into another plantation and things got harder. The tracks on the ground didn't really match those on the map (do they ever in plantations?)  and we'd lost the CCW signs. We caught up with another half dozen runners including Mark who were equally perplexed. Fortunately this bit of wood was relatively short and we soon stumbled out onto a road crossing barely a hundred yards from where we should have been.

Now we were on open moor again and the track relatively easy to follow, of course the CCW posts appeared to keep us company. A gentle up and over, a short wood, then we were out onto what we knew was the final couple of miles of narrow road into Cartmel. I was with Mark, slightly ahead of the others. We ought to show willing I suggested, so we broke into a jog, then a slowish run. The others followed and we all manged to keep it going to the finish, all finishing within a few minutes of each other. I lost out to most of the others, including Jon who overcame his knee pain to put on a fine effort over the last mile. I must be getting old.

Finished!

My time in the end was 16:34:53 which gave me a provisional 84th place out of 152 finishers (don't know how many starters the were).  I seemed to be the first "over 60" home by the simple tactic of being the only entrant in the age group. The overall winner's time was 10:37:21.

Finishing at the school was superb. We were treated to baked potatoes with a choice of fillings (definitely chilli for me!) and lots of tea. We sat around eating and relaxing in the warm for a while, then went off to make use of the wonderfully hot showers. I've done a lot of ultras over the years and this was without doubt one of the best organised I've done; for Open Adventure to achieve this on the first running of the event was a great performance, many thanks to the organisers and all the marshals.

There was some debate about the distance. 48 miles was on the tin, most people who had Garmins got 52-53, but then almost everyone made an error or two along the way. Race Director James has since said that the best route on the day was actually just on 50. As for the 4000m of climb, I think the jury's still out! It may be right, but I think everyone found the climbs tough, due to the steepness and the ground underfoot. Whatever, this is a great course, with a bit of everything that the Lakes has to offer. I'll definitely be back next year!

The Lakes 3x3000 UT

I entered this event way back in the year, I can't really remember what the attraction was, other than that it was in the Lake District, a beautiful area not far from where I live. However  I only cottoned on to what the "Skyrunning" series was all about fairly recently; basically they are ultras that go to the tops of hills rather than around them and need to have some technical content along the way. Had I realised this earlier I might have gone for one or two of the others, the Lakes being the third of this year's UK four race series. No matter, now we know. The Lakes 3 x 3000 does what it says. Starting and finishing at Keswick it visits three of the four 3000ft peaks in the area, Scafell Pike, Helvellyn and Skiddaw using a logical off-road course  -   50 miles, about 13,500ft of climb (including a number of subsidiary peaks) and less than a mile of tarmac in total. The other 3000ft peak Sca Fell is omitted because it was felt to be "a bit too technical" for a running race; not quite sure about that one, other events go there, but overall it looked like a good day out.

I've been training "properly" again for a month or so now but still have nowhere near enough fuel back in the tank to have a good blast at an ultra, so this was to be another event to be taken gently in my year of running very slowly. Actually, participating in races over this summer without really having the fitness to do them justice has taught me quite a lot about alternative completion strategies, so every cloud and all that, but I'm still hoping to be back in action better next year. Losing the extra half stone or so that I've put on this year might help a bit too. Anyway that's all a bit peripheral so back to the events of last weekend.

I met Carrie Craig as I checked in at the race HQ in Keswick on Friday evening. Come down to sample our part of the world I enquired, yes but I've brought some Scottish weather with me she said. She wasn't wrong, although the Lakes can do weather quite well too. The forecast had been stunningly accurate. Heavy continuous rain started as I drove into Cumbria on Friday afternoon and eventually stopped mid morning on Saturday. The 3 x 3000 course starts up the wettest valley in England and then descends the boggiest one in the district. I wondered if any of the overseas competitors knew what was going to happen.

Back at the hotel I sorted through my stuff. All OK except the shoe choice. For all this year I've been using Skechers Gorun Ultras, a great shoe from a rather unlikely manufacturer. Lots of cushioning, light and manouverable and with a nice grippy sole,  "Hokas with attitude" if you like. I had brought two pairs with me, the old ones had done about 600 miles and the heel tread was almost gone; the new ones were identical but unworn, straight out of the box, I hadn't had time since getting them to go on a checkout run to make sure the manufacturing, sizing and so on was all as it said on the tin. I thought about the course and one or two of the steep grassy descents; it would have to be the new one, I hoped they would be OK (they were).

Some suitors clearly feared the worst because of the 300 entered for the race, just 200 turned up at Crow Park for the 5am start on Saturday. Nearly everyone was wearing full waterproofs already as we huddled under the canopy of Keswick theatre for the briefing from Race Director Ian Mulvey. He told us that due to the conditions we wouldn't be going to the top of Scafell Pike but would be going directly from Sty Head up to Esk Hause. It was difficult to judge whether disappointment or relief was the predominant reaction to this, mostly everyone just looked wet. There was one guy dressed only in a vest and shorts, it's nice to see that the odd example of the traditional (crazy?) Lakeland fell runner is still around. But we all knew it would seem better once we got going, and we were off into the darkness on the dot of 5am.

Any illusions we might have harboured about conditions not being as bad as they looked were dispelled in the first half mile before we had crossed the Borrowdale road.  A hundred yards of the track was just over ankle deep in water; everyone's feet got wet at that point and stayed wet for the rest of the day. But there is always a perverse sort of enjoyment in this sort of stuff, and anyway we'd probably had it far too easy for most of the summer, time to start paying some dues. Crossing the road into Great Wood the narrow single track started to meander and rise and fall through the trees, crossing a number of streams that aren't normally there, to come out onto the narrow Watendlath road at Ashness Bridge. The water was pretty well up to the arch but the old stones have seen it many times before and didn't seem too worried. A few hundred yards up the road then off onto the footpath that follows the edge of Watendlath Beck up to the village of the same name.

Now this path is a popular afternoon stroll for families and casual walkers, pleasant easy walking and picnic spots. When the race was planned it was clearly seen as the easy warm-up bit. Early Saturday morning it was interesting. Long sections had been overrun by the now fast-flowing beck, guessing where the submerged track was or taking avoiding action on the steeper grassy banks further out was the choice. As the track crossed several tributary steams the decks of the wooden plank bridges could just about be made out by head torch, a foot or so beneath water level.  Knee and even thigh deep sections had to be negotiated carefully, I suspect watching what actually happened to the runner ahead was a tactic adopted by most.  I think we were all fairly glad to gain a bit of height in the last few yards before Watendlath, taking us clear of what was referred to later by most competitors and marshals as "the swimming section".

I was settling down near the back of a fairly strung out field as we made our way over the few hundred feet of rise up and down to Rosthwaite. Hitting the village it was just about light enough for the torch to go out, seven o'clock on a rainy, claggy day. An easy track through the fields led to Seathwaite and the first feed station. Just before crossing the road near Seatoller I passed a guy walking his dog in the fields. Not great weather for you today he remarked. I had to agree.  He looked remarkably like Billy Bland, probably because that's who it was.

Progress got a lot easier from Seathwaite up to Sty Head, the good track not affected by the rain although Stockley Bridge was impressive; the normally placid rock pools so perfect for bathing on a summer's afternoon had been replaced by a continuous raging cataract. On the climb up to Sty Head I caught up with John Vernon. I hadn't seen him at the start, he said he'd only made it with a minute or two to spare, so hadn't heard about the intention to miss out Scafell Pike. Mountain man that he is, he wasn't too happy about that. We chatted most of the way to Sty Head about the summer and future plans (John's up for the Spine in January, not my cup of tea thanks!). When we got to Sty Head the clouds had lifted quite a bit and the rain was starting to slacken off, so it would have been quite possible to take in the Pike, but I guess conditions would have been far worse for the leaders an hour and a half or so earlier, so we did as we were told by the marshal and set off up the track to Esk Hause. This short-cut took about three miles and nearly a thousand feet off the course, but at the prize-giving on Sunday Ian Mulvey said that the overall times taken by runners were pretty well spot on what had been predicted for the full course in normal conditions, so it seems that the course modification just cancelled out the conditions on the day.

I pulled away from John on the final bit of uphill to Esk Hause, then was on my own down past Angle Tarn and over to the top of Stake Pass. The route from here goes up to the top of High Raise, a climb of around a thousand feet over tussocky trackless grass. I had hoped to use a bit of local knowledge here, using a developing trod that I had discovered while doing the Lakes 10 Peaks back in June, but a feature of the Skyrunning series is that the courses are fully marked in all places where any navigational decisions had to be made, so the flags led straight from Stake Pass to the start of the trod! I'm not sure about course marking. I'm sure it makes life a bit less nervous for the organisers, it makes the events more accessible to overseas competitors less used to navigation, and it does take away any local knowledge advantage, but I do think that navigation is part of the deal for mountain races and I'm a bit sad if it's not required. I did a longish ultra in the Brecon Beacons a month ago and I have to say that part of the satisfaction of finishing in good order was navigating around an area that I had no previous knowledge of.

I caught a few runners on the way up to High Raise, so there were always a few in sight on the next section from there down to Greenup Edge then the Wythburn valley to Thirlmere. Wythburn is generally acknowledged as the boggiest valley in Lakeland. On previous trips I have taken a wide route to the south of the higher bog, but the flags led straight down the middle today, so I followed everyone else. It was ankle deep most of the way down with occasional knee-deep stretches. Deeper bits often came up unexpectedly and on one of these my momentum carried me on as one leg got stuck; I think this is where I picked up a slight quad tweak which I felt for the rest of the day. It was pretty unpleasant all the way down but you can't have the Lakes without a bog or two and eventually I was out into the final fields before Thirlmere. By now the rain had stopped and there was even a patch or two of blue sky appearing. It looked like it might turn out to be a game of two halves as they say, things were looking up. I trotted round to Wythburn Church where the second feed station and dry socks were waiting.

Just over six and a half hours from the start, not quite half way and most of the climbing still to do, but things were going to get better now. The weather was definitely on the up and I knew the ground conditions would be much better from now on, getting progressively easier to the finish. I encouraged one or two runners at the checkpoint to carry on for this reason, they said they didn't fancy a lot more of what they had just encountered and had been thinking of dropping out.

The steady climb up Helvellyn took just an hour, then it was off across the Dodds, one of the easiest sections of the day, especially as in this race you didn't have to go to any of the Dodd summits but just take the contouring path that finds the easiest way along the ridge. Apart from a sharp hailstorm near the top of Raise it was fine, a chilly wind but great views and some easy progress at last. There was a checkpoint on top of Clough Head, the only unmanned one on the course, then flags again showed the easiest way to pick up the steep trod leading to the Old Coach Road. I had a a bit of a fall down here, probably going a bit too fast due to over-confidence and managed to twist slightly the knee-that-should-not-be-twisted, but I sat still for a few seconds before trying to get up and it seemed that no damage had been done. Pay more attention!

I have normally climbed up the short but tedious section from the Coach Road down to Newsham House, either on the Lakeland 100 course when it gets you early on after the first night and you're at a bit of a low ebb, or in helping or recceing for Bob Graham Rounds, so it was a real pleasure to take it in reverse, easy running on soft grass down a nice gradient. There was an unexpected extra feed station near the start of the old railway track below Newsham, so I stopped a few minutes for a cup of tea, very welcome. After that the course again follows the Lakeland 100 in reverse, along the railway then up the hill towards Brundhome, but then branching off along a bridleway that climbs gently up to the Latrigg Carpark and the next feed station/ checkpoint.

From Latrigg the course goes up round the Glederaterra valley to Skiddaw House, on to Dash Falls then steeply up over Bakestall to Skiddaw summit and back down the tourist track to Latrigg again before finally dropping down to the finish in Keswick. Latrigg was a good place to see how the race was going. I arrived there just over 11 hours from the start, by which time the winner had finished two and a half hours previously and there was a steady flow of runners coming down from Skiddaw having already completed their "loop". A bit daunting maybe. Still, on the plus side it was a nice early evening and I had a chance now, which I couldn't have envisaged at the start of the race, of getting to Skiddaw summit in daylight.

I had decided that if I was still going OK by here I would have a go at jogging some of the gentler uphills  -  over most of the summer I have not run any uphill gradients at all in events  - so the track up and round to Skiddaw house went quite quickly. I caught and passed two or three other runners along the way, but every time I chanced to look round I could see two more some distance behind me.  I had been aware of this pair, who I had in my mind as "red jacket and blue jacket" since running over the Dodds and we seemed to have kept up a similar pace ever since. They (a man and a woman) eventually caught me on the final few yards of the downhill into the checkpoint at Dash falls. I was beginning to feel a bit like Butch Cassidy, I said to them, ah you'll get away again on the climb they said, that seems to be how it works. But I had already decided to take five at the checkpoint to get ready for Skiddaw so they set out ahead of me. I chatted to the marshal, she'd been there for hours, it was now about a quarter to six and she wouldn't leave until nine she said, although you're not really on your own with nearly 200 runners going past! All the marshals did a great job in conditions varying from nippy to very unpleasant, they all deserved our thanks. But the weather was not great again now, we'd had quite a long chilly shower around Skiddaw House, the wind was getting up and I knew it would be much colder on top. I put on another layer on top and my waterproof trousers to keep out the wind, and had a bit to eat and drink. I was tiring but going well enough and quite happy.

I finally caught red jacket and blue jacket just as we reached Skiddaw summit, but then they got away again on the downhill and I never saw them again. On Skiddaw there were grey clouds overhead but it was still clear out to sea and we were treated to a spectacular sunset. The summit marshal, huddled in his bothy inside the shelter ring wasn't bothered, he was looking the other way out of the wind. He still had a long shift to finish, another hero. My quad tweak was hurting a bit on the descents now so I kept the pace down to minimise any potential damage, jogging rather than the easy running which is normally possible on this descent. The lamp had to go on again before the final steeper descent down Jenkin Hill to Latrigg. No cup of tea this time with the finish so close, just a quick swig of coke and off. Before leaving I looked back up, there was still a succession of lights coming down the long track.

Descending a track that I've covered many times both up and down, round Latrigg then down Spooney Green Lane to the outskirts of Keswick, I was able to reflect that it had all worked out well enough. It was a far from spectacular performance but I had got round another ultra in a reasonable time, in good shape and with no major damage. Recovery seems to be progressing OK. Then I was across the park, through the town and at the end. I finished in 15 hours 10 minutes. That's OK, I would have taken that at the start. A day when we had seen and coped with a range of what the Lakes has to offer, in places and climate; a satisfying day out.

This was the first running of this event. I'm sure it will prosper, maybe become a classic, it has all the ingredients. Will I do it again? Maybe, but I'm not sure. I've made three or four trips up and down the Wythburn Valley now  -  maybe that's enough for a sane person.

Maffing About

Ever heard of MAF training? Well I hadn't until about a year ago, when I discovered and read about it. It sounded interesting and I thought maybe I'd give it a try, but then I got injured. A year of resting, walking, jogging and completing the occasional event very slowly. It's been a long road back, and with a lot more to come no doubt. Then, about three weeks ago I covered five miles in just under 40 minutes. Now this may not sound too impressive in the grand scheme of things, but at least it meant that I can now move occasionally at what might generally be accepted as "running" pace. 

The last thing I wanted though was to get back into running too many miles at too fast a pace and get injured again. I needed to take things gently. So I had another look at MAF.

Originally "MAFF" from its inventor Dr Phil Maffetone, MAF is now taken to stand for Maximum Aerobic Function. The theory is that you run lots of miles at a heart rate which is near the top of your aerobic range, but never going into anaerobic. This builds good fat burning and long distance endurance. It also means that you do your training at a relatively slow pace, perfect for my current situation; get the miles in gently.

You determine your aerobic training range first by subtracting your age from 180, for me this is 114. Then Maffetone gives four states, ranging from being virtually inactive to having trained injury-free for five years. I identified with the state of returning from longer term injury, which means I should subtract a further 5. This gives 109, but I rounded up to 110 (I just like easy figures!). The aerobic training range is then from this figure to 10bpm lower, so my range is 100-110 bpm. The theory then is that you should do all your running within this range  -  not as an average, you must be in this range all the time.

I did a bit of research on the net to see how others had got on with this. A general feeling was that most runners felt they were going very slowly and had practically to walk any uphills to keep within the range. They were also frustrated that sessions took much more time using this plan because of the slow pace. Anyway, I dug my HR monitor out of the drawer and got started.

To start with I found it really difficult to maintain the right pace to stay within the limits. I was staggered by the way that the slightest gradient up or down made a significant difference. This really seems to blow out of the water the concept of perceived effort. Running up (or down) an almost imperceptible gradient at the same speed as on the flat seems to take no more or less effort at all, yet the heart rate is very sensitive to it. One parallel I could draw is if you have an instantaneous fuel consumption readout on your car and you go along a motorway at a steady speed, you can see the consumption swing drastically with every slight up or downhill. Height loss or gain clearly has a much bigger impact on energy consumption than we are able to perceive naturally.

But after a few runs I started to get the hang of it, learning how to ease off progressively on slight rises, and speed up on downs. I quickly learned that you have to resist the temptation to compensate too quickly when you see a drift, or you quickly get into an unstable too high/too low heart rate oscillation which then takes time to get out of. I was gradually able to look at the watch less often (at the start it was every 10 seconds or less), and after a couple of weeks I bit the bullet and put the upper and lower alarms on the watch. It's not too bad now (I'm nearing the end of my third week) and on reasonably flat ground I can normally manage half a mile or so before I get a corrective beep. Strange thing is that sometimes I can't tell until I look whether it is a too high or too low warning.

Does it feel very slow? Well, it's clearly slower than normal "steady" running but I can't say that for me it feels excruciatingly slow. Steeper uphills are slow but I haven't been forced to walk yet, and it's surprising how much speed you have to put on to keep above the lower limit on steeper downhills. But I've so far confined myself to gently undulating roads, I'm sure it will get more erratic when I move onto trails with proper hills.

Does it take much too long? That depends on how far you run. If you run at a steady pace (which I guess is what most of us do on most of our training runs), then your heart rate increases gradually over time  -  the well-known phenomenon of "heart rate drift". I can remember that when I was doing more road marathons, my heart rate would go up by about 5bpm for each successive 10k run. But with MAF you don't allow your heart rate to go up so the knock-on effect is that your speed goes down over time. The other thing that effects overall time is the proportion of hilly ground; uphills slow you down and downhills speed you up, but the increase on the downs doesn't seem to compensate the decrease on the ups. I haven't worked out the maths behind that yet but I'm sure there's a reason. So for comparison, this week I have run a relatively flat 5 miles at an average pace of 8.51 (minutes per mile) and an undulating 12 miles at an average of 9.57. So I guess a minute or so per mile slower than I would "normally" run.

Maffetone reckons that if you follow this diligently you should see the speed you can maintain at your aerobic heart rate go up measurably, even over say a three month period. To check this you should perform a "MAF Test" every so often over a repeatable course. He suggests that ideally this should be done on a track - warm up then measure 3 or 4 consecutive miles. I can see why the track is sensible because only on a completely flat surface with wind effect cancelled out can you run at a steady pace near your aerobic maximum. I tried a test on my local lanes and even the very small gradients caused a big variation within the range as I compensated, so it would not be reliably repeatable. Now I've learnt that I'm going to try another base test by running two directions along the canal towpath which I think will be much better.

So that's it. I'll see how it goes from now to the end of the year, and if anything interesting comes out, I'll let you know.

An Attack of Green Lumps

Not proper hills, the Brecon Beacons, no crags and nothing even scraping 3000ft, just green lumps really, can't see what the army makes all the fuss about.  I didn't need to go there to make this judgement, I'd seen the pictures. My one fleeting acquaintance was a day-trip to run the "Brecon Beacons Ultra" which actually doesn't go onto the hills at all but rather scuttles up a wide jeep track between two of the most easily accessible summits. But I'd been really impressed with the Clif Lakes 10 Peaks back in June;  the tackling of tops rather than just trails, the freedom to choose your own route between the checkpoints, the laid-back but clearly competent nature of the organisation, so much so that I had immediately signed up for its sister event, the Brecon Beacons 10 Peaks. It had a bit less climb than the Lakes (just short of 16,000ft) but at 56 miles was nearly 10 miles further. I assumed that the going underfoot would be much easier (not entirely true in the event) but that having no knowledge of the ground I would take longer over the navigation (at least one assumption that was correct!), and that somewhere in the 18-20 hour region should get me round. I knew I would have to run a fair bit to keep up a 3 miles an hour average, but I thought I was ready for that by now.

The event describes a long flattened loop, out and back from its base at the Danywenallt YHA, situated just under the dam of the Talybont reservoir at the east end of the Beacons National Park. It has a nice camping field adjacent so I drove down on Friday afternoon, checked in and settled down as we needed to be up early. At 5am with remarkably little fanfare, 107 of us set off along the top of the dam and into the darkness. A near mile of loop along the narrow country lanes served both to avoid too much noise effect on a nearby farm and to string the field out a bit before we hit the singletrack up the fellside. The next couple of miles saw us rise from around the 650ft elevation to 2500ft on Carn Pica, a steep enough start. This was a peak, with a dibber box which we had to tag. Except it wasn't one of our ten peaks. A word or two of explanation here; a "short course" event would follow us, starting at 6am but following a shorter loop of about 35 miles. They would miss out some of the more westerly ground, but so that their course could also be a "10 Peaks", they would tag some more along the eastern part. We "long course" runners were told to dib at these also on the way out, so that if we were feeling a little frail after 15 miles or so we could transfer to the short course and still get a finishers medal. Right then, one peak done, 10 to go (the 11 peaks....).

After Carn Pica was a mile or two of easy running across a flattish moor with a vague path (this will become significant later), then a scarp edge and a long but easy grassy descent to another dam at the Neuadd Reservoir. I reached this with an ex army guy who had done the event before; he said the next uphill was "a bit unpleasant". He wasn't wrong, a very steep and often muddy seven or eight hundred feet brought us out on to the tops again at the summit trig point of Twyn Mwyalchod (2100ft), the grassy lumps were already beginning to show a bit of bite. This was another "non-peak" for us to dib (the 12 peaks, then....) but was followed by some great running, first along a flat scarp edge then a nice knife-edged ridge; I was beginning to see how the Brecons could be grassy but still offer some quite impressive terrain  -  most people wouldn't have felt too comfortable going off either side of this one. This led to one of the main junction points of the Beacons at Bwlch Duwynt just south of Corn Du, where we picked up a well-made rock and gravel path all the way down to the A470 road near Pont ar Daf and Checkpoint 1.  First checkpoint, over three hours and 10 miles in and we hadn't bagged one of "our" peaks yet! On the flip side, it was shaping up to be a wonderful sunny day and I was feeling good.

We didn't have long to wait. Peak 1 (Fan Fawr 2400ft) was waiting for us, a thousand feet up from and barely a mile beyond the checkpoint. The climb was up trackless grass, deep at times so not easy going, but it went quickly enough. From the summit a long U-shaped contour around the head of a valley was required, crossing a number of streams, gradually descending on a small track then back up again through more pathless grass to meet the long distance footpath "The Beacons Way" and follow it south for a mile or so to our second peak (Fan Llia 2070ft). On this section I was with another ex army runner for a while, but he said that this was his first ultra and he might have to default to the short course. I was going a bit faster so I left him on the final ascent to Fan Llia, from where it was another great runnable descent to the Roman Road (Sarn Helen) and Checkpoint 2. This was the decision point. The long course headed South then out West for more peaks, while the short course turned North to cut across the "loop" then homeward. I had had some doubts on the final easy uphill to Fan Llia as my calf was getting rather sore, but it seemed to handle the descent OK and the long course was what I'd come for, so I tried to forget about it and headed South.

The next leg was the easiest on the course. All runnable, first following the rocky Sarn Helen Southwards, then cutting Northwest over 4 miles or so of open moorland on a good track to Checkpoint 3, but I was taking it very easily and not running anything that was even slightly uphill  -  that will still have to wait for a month or two I think. It was a jolly scene at the checkpoint with all the crew dressed as pirates. They were offering hot pasta, so everyone around was tucking in. The girls serving said it was more fun now the slower runners were arriving, the quick guys hardly stop at all at checkpoints. I said they were now experiencing the gentlemen's end of the field.

Leaving the checkpoint, the route dropped down into a valley via some fields, and I immediately made a navigational error. Quite happy on the open fells, finding the way and avoiding crags, I'm hopeless at the agricultural stuff. I don't have the patience to work out exactly which gate or stile I should be using and which way to go across the field, I tend to burble on along the easiest looking route. I really must concentrate, this little episode added nearly two miles to my day, although it was all downhill so not a lot of extra effort involved. Then the work began again. From the bridge over the river it was a 2000ft climb up to the peaks of the Black Mountain. Although after the initial pull up through the bracken it was not too steep, it was several miles and the sun was really doing a job now so it was a sweaty business and I was glad to reach the first top (Fan Brycheiniog 2630ft) where there were a another pair of the ever-friendly marshals. From here there was an out-and-back to the furthest West point of the course, so I started seeing a few more people. Otherwise I was tending to see other runners only at checkpoints, it's always surprising how far apart runners get on a 50-60 mile course. Only about a five hundred foot dip to the col, then back up to Bannau Sir Gaer 2460ft, officially peak number 4, then back down and up again to the marshals and we were definitely heading East  -  homeward bound.

Next came another lovely long descent, first steeply down the scarp edge via a rocky path to the outflow of Llyn y Fan Fawr, then following the outflow steam across country, with traces of path at times, all the way down to a minor road by the River Tawe  -  but crossing the river with dry feet didn't prove to be an option.

The next couple of miles were for me the most arduous on the whole course. First, we had to cross a little rise for about a mile or so to the next road. The height gain was barely five hundred feet but the vegetation was deep, grass, bracken and heather, and there was no path, just occasional trods that kept petering out. Eventually though I reached the next road on which sat Checkpoint 4. That was a welcome relief, but then came what I had been looking at nervously since turning eastward on the Black Mountain. From the checkpoint to the summit of Fan Gyhirych (2380ft, peak 5) is only around 1000ft, but it happens in just over half a mile. Very steep from the road, then an easing in angle through difficult tussocky grass for the middle bit, then a final few hundred feet where a trod with steps has developed, but where I saw runners using their hands on the ground in front of them to aid progress. Just green lumps, these hills.

But after the bad normally comes the good, and the rest of the stage was a delight. Easy running off the back of Fan Gyhirych, then a smooth jeep track and more grass, a short easy ascent to the next top (Fan Nedd 2170ft, peak 6) and another great runnable descent. This soon led back to the Sarn Helen road and we were back on the same ground as the short course, followed by another short ascent on a good track to Fan Frynych (2060ft, peak 7). From here a short down and up, then another long, easy descent, following a superb contouring path high above the A470 led eventually down to the road at the Storey Arms, Checkpoint 5. I reached here without turning a light on   -   just. Five minutes at the checkpoint and it was dark.

The checkpoint was brilliant, in spite of being outdoors. Friendly as ever, with the catering being subcontracted by the race organisation to the regular burger van - a ticket from the marshal got you all you could need! I decided I better get a bit warmer as a fine day might turn into a chilly evening, so out came jacket, hat and gloves and I was on my way.

Ten miles to go. I left Checkpoint 5 with 15 hours and 45 minutes on my watch. I had covered the parallel route on the way out in three and a half hours. The return, I believed, was on better tracks, a mile shorter, and overall more downhill. I felt that 4 hours should be enough, getting me nicely inside my 20 hour target. This seemed to be working out as I cruised gently to the top of Corn Du (2860ft, not one of "our" peaks......ah, the 13 peaks then...) and on to Pen y Fan (2900ft, peak 8). There was not much wind and it was a beautiful moonlit night. But here things started to slow down. The paths up were much rockier than I expected, with big rock steps a lot of the way, not easy ground to jog down in the dark. The "little" dips that I expected between the peaks were a bit more than little. There were certainly no navigational problems but it was not so quick. Cribyn (2600ft, peak 9) seemed to take a long time to arrive, as did Fan y Big (2360ft, peak 10).

I nearly lost the plot on Fan y Big. I arrived on the summit. I knew it was the summit, it's right on the scarp edge and there was no more hill left. It's an impressive little rocky outcrop, with a "diving board" rock, like the one on Half Dome. There was even a little brass plaque to something embedded in one of the rocks. I knew it was the top. Only problem was, I couldn't find the dibber box. All the others had been so easy to spot that it got me worried. I searched every rock and crevice, but nothing. To complete these events you have to tag every required point, otherwise you're disqualified. But where was it? After about fifteen minutes I saw the light of another runner approaching. It was a guy I'd seen before as part of a pair who were going slightly faster than me. He said he'd got temporarily separated from his partner and missed this peak, but then met up with him again further on. His partner had tagged the peak, so the dibber was here somewhere. We both looked for another ten minutes or so but with no result. We just couldn't believe it. Eventually we decided that we were not going to find it, and took a photograph of the plaque in the hope that this would be accepted as proof we'd been there. He said he would get a move on to try and re-catch his partner, and ran off along the path. A hundred yards or so from the summit the path passed by a circular shelter wall. The other guy ran to the left of the shelter and on into the night. For some reason, I went to the right and there on the wall of the shelter was the dibber. I shouted him back just in time, we tagged it and he went on his way. I'd lost a good half hour. The box was actually well over a hundred yards from the summit. I never found out why, there was speculation among some runners that I talked to that because the top is a favourite tourist spot, the organisers might have worried about it getting removed. I also heard that it was in the same place last year, so a lot of runners knew, and others got the word. For those reaching the place in daylight it wouldn't have been a problem because the approach path was not too far from the departure one and they would have spotted it peripherally (and didn't need to go to the top!). The frustrating thing for me was that if I had given up earlier, I would have found it earlier. No matter, just one of those things that happens in this game. Two runners got disqualified for missing it.

With enthusiasm a little dampened I carried on along the rim of the escarpment for another mile or two, passing another short course peak at 2470ft (with an easily found dibber (!), so 14 peaks in all, getting like Snowdonia down here....) and back to the Western end of the moor above Carn Pica. The sketchy path was much more difficult to follow in the dark and a bearing or two was needed, but Carn Pica appeared eventually. Just down the way I'd come up from the dam this morning then. But there was a little sting in the tail. On autopilot, and ruminating about the time I'd lost over the final stage, I missed the gate which by-passed the original starting loop, so treated myself to nearly a mile of extra fun right at the end. Not to worry, the effort was over and it had still been a great day out.

I clocked in 20 hours and 51 minutes after starting, in 60th place. With my navigational errors and the faffing around on Fan y Big, I was clearly fit enough but not competent enough on the day to get in around 19 and a half hours, but not in 18. I'd been worked over a bit by the green lumps.

Congratulations to the organisers and marshals for providing a super experience, every bit as good as the Lakes event. I may be back.

The Grand Tour of Skiddaw

A rather grand sounding name for forty-odd miles you might think but that's how it turned out, with the lovely weather that we had on the day  -  a grand day out.

I decided against an early morning start on the Saturday but almost regretted the decision half an hour from home; the M6 on the Friday afternoon of a bank holiday wasn't much fun. It eventually cleared up north of the Blackpool turn, and things improved rapidly after that -  finding the event base at Lime House School near Dalston easily, a quick and straightforward check-in, a realisation just before dusk that the weather was set fair, then curry and beer at the local pub before turning in for the night.

With the start at 8am the morning was quite casual. Plenty of time for breakfast and coffee and to meet up with a few people I knew who were running. John Gilbert, who I'd run three sections of the recent Lakeland 100 with, John and Katrina Kynaston, and Jonny and Frances, also from Scotland who had also come down to the Lakes for last October's 100k race. I had a quick look around for Andy Robinson, also of the Chester MC, but didn't see him until the finish  -  he runs a lot faster than me! A brief briefing from Race Director Gaynor Prior, then off on the dot of 8am.

The course covers a mixture of terrain; flat riverside farmland along the Caldew to the first checkpoint in Caldbeck at about 8 miles, then a long 12 mile section over the remote but gentle northern fells via Skiddaw House to the second checkpoint at Latrigg, with a steady climb over High Pike on the way; then up the tourist track to Skiddaw summit, down via Carlside and the wonderful Longside Edge to a third checkpoint at Peterhouse Farm near Bassenthwaite village; more farmland, low fells and country lanes back to revisit Caldbeck, this time checkpoint 4, and finally back along the river to the start/finish. Nothing really technical, and all runnable by the fit!

I'd only decided to enter the event a week or so previously but the long term weather forecast had looked fair and I thought it might be a good course to get me doing a bit of running again; I had decided to move my recuperation on from "running extremely slowly" to "running very slowly", that is as well as jogging the downhills I would start jogging as much as I thought sensible of the flat bits as well, while still being careful not to re-aggravate the not-yet-fully-recovered injuries. Looking at the course on paper, I hoped that 12 hours might be possible, but would definitely aim for getting back in daylight, about 13 hours or so. But I wasn't in a hurry and decided I was happy not to rush in and out of the checkpoints too fast because they tend to be really friendly places in this sort of event.

The assembled company made its way up the hill from the start and through the school grounds, then stopped again. We all had to go through a kissing gate which permitted one at a time and there were about a hundred and twenty of us. I guess those with fast finish aspirations would have scoped this out the night before and sprinted from the start to get pole positions, but the delay didn't seem to bother most of us, and after five minutes or so I was running out the other side. Well, I say running but my interpretation was clearly different from almost everyone else's because after ten minutes or so I couldn't see anyone ahead, a situation which continued pretty well to Caldbeck. I suppose I was making 12 minute miles and walking occasionally, but it felt OK so I didn't push any harder and arrived at checkpoint 1 in I think about 110th place  -  securely in the last 10%, my normal position these days!

Coffee and biscuits were available, so after what felt like a second breakfast I set off on the long second leg. It's great countryside once you leave the last farm out of Caldbeck, and surprisingly after seeing almost no-one for an hour and a half or so, I could see a long line of runners stretched out on the ascent to High Pike. I was still clear that uphills would be walked, but I still passed half a dozen or so of them on the way up, and a few more on the way down past the Lingy Hut and down by Grains Beck to the Caldew again. Here we joined a good track alongside the river leading all the way to Skiddaw House Youth Hostel. It rises very gradually all the way but with many flat sections, so I was running about two thirds of the ground along here, which felt OK. I caught up Jonny and Frances along here and we passed and repassed each other a few times  - they were using a similar strategy but running faster and walking slower than me. From the youth hostel we carried on together for a while, but were then delayed by a flock of sheep ahead of us being driven along the same way and completely filling the narrow space between a stone wall on the left and a steep heathery hillside on the right. The farmer was apologetic but nothing could be done and it probably didn't delay us for more than five or ten minutes, and it was actually quite pleasant taking it easy for a spell. A little knot of 6 or 7 runners gathered behind the flock, but then once the way opened up again we didn't see anyone ahead again until we arrived at the Latrigg checkpoint.

The day was starting to warm up here and I think I was a bit dehydrated. I only carried one 500ml bottle between the checkpoints because I didn't expect a warm day and I could probably have done with a second one. I stayed at the checkpoint for a few minutes to top up and drink 2 or 3 mugs of coke before setting off up Skiddaw.

The first thousand feet of the track up are steep, then it eases off pleasantly to the top, and for the first time I was able to let fitness govern my speed rather than concern over injuries. I caught a few more people up here and soon reached the top, where Joe Faulkner was marshalling; I told him I'd just entered his Tour de Helvellyn in December  -  a brilliant event, I've done it twice already. It will rather different weather for that he remarked. Too true, today was just stunning; views down to Keswick then over most of the Lake District, and Skiddaw almost completely purple with heather. Then it was off down the lovely descent all the way to more or less ground level again. After the first drop, I set off up the track contouring to the right of Carl Side, but I wasn't sure if this was cheating or not so I cut back up left to the summit then back down the ridge to Longside. Once on the sharper bit of the ridge it's a great run down.  As I started down off Ullock Pike I saw two red shirts ahead, which I was fairly sure were the Kynastons. I seemed to be catching them up quite quickly, but then as the ground levelled out and the route contoured through some fields and over a couple of streams they seemed to get away again. I paused a minute to watch a red squirrel playing by the last stream, then I finally caught them just as we arrived at the Peterhouse Farm checkpoint. John and Katrina were quickly off again, but I needed to stay and re-hydrate again so was maybe five minutes longer.

The next couple of miles of the course was the only bit I didn't really enjoy. I should have read the description carefully field by field, but I didn't and was soon off track. I got back on line again but the event map wasn't really at a big enough scale to see individual features so you needed to rely more heavily on the written description and work out which was "the field corner with the ladder stile" for example, before pressing on. No complaints, just me being incompetent. I was glad to get to Orthwaite Cottage because from there to the end the route became very straightforward again. I saw no other runners between leaving Peterhouse Farm and reaching Caldbeck, but I enjoyed the gently undulating, contouring route, following alternately green fell roads and quiet country lanes. Looking at the Garmin output later, the final mile gently downhill into Caldbeck was my fastest of the day at just over 9 minutes.

The marshals were as great as ever. I stopped a while for tea and jam sandwiches, and asked where everyone else was. A bunch left a few minutes ago, I was told, and you're not doing too badly, you've gained 50 places since you went through here this morning.

So off on the way back down the river to the end. I was feeling pretty good, well you're always a bit more tired after 38 miles than you are at the start but no pains from the calf or knees so I decided to jog the remainder as continuously as I could. I walked the steep little uphills but managed to keep going on the rest, and eventually caught and passed a few more runners. 12 hours was in the bag and it looked at one point that 11 might just be on, but the 44 miles on the tin is an underestimate, most people seemed to make the course about 46 miles long. With two or three miles to go I caught John and Katrina again and chatted with them for a while, but after a really good run Katrina was taking the odd walking break now so I pushed on. In the last mile I caught a couple of French guys who had made the trip from France specially for the event; I was pleased for them that the weather had been so good. After a few hundred yards with them it seemed a bit unfriendly to push past with the finish so close, so I stayed with them until the end. I was still able to cover the section from Caldbeck to the finish a few minutes faster than on the outward trip, so I was pleased with that.

I finished in 11 hours 10 mins 47 secs. An hour or so faster than I had anticipated. Conditions had been almost perfect but I was still pleased with an average of just over 4 miles an hour for the course, and no aches and pains of any significance.  It felt like I'd made quite a good step on the road to recovery. The results show I was in 42nd place of the "solo" entrants, but I was also beaten by 4 pairs, putting me actually in 50th place at the finish, just in the top half of the field, I think that's progress.

Thanks to Gaynor and the team for putting on such a friendly and enjoyable event. There are many ultras to choose from nowadays and each has to find its niche to survive; I'm sure this one will. I think it's an ideal race for anyone who wants to step up a bit from the "long distance footpath" style of race and experience a bit more of what our hills have to offer. A bit like the Lakeland 50 in terms of challenge, the climbs are fewer but bigger, the country a bit wilder at times, the views much better, but with the gentle starting and finishing sections both warming up and getting home when you're tired are relatively easy. As I said at the start, a grand day out.

Rambling, Reviewing and Planning

Yesterday I went out for a run from our house which I know is exactly a half marathon distance and got around it in just under an hour and fifty-six minutes  -  an average of 8 minutes and 51seconds per mile. Well, not much news there, you might think, that's the sort of effort my old granddad can put in after a heavy night out. But it is all relative you see, after wondering back in March whether I would ever see a nine minute mile again, I was really quite chuffed. For the first time this year I got around to thinking that one day I just might be a runner again. How long will it take? There's the rub.

I asked the physio that question when I went to take stock a couple of weeks ago. I saw a guy new to the practice, semi retired I guess but was told (not by him) that he once worked for a premier league soccer team so should know something about getting injured bits to work again. It was an interesting session. Someone prepared to ignore the date of birth implications and just consider the collection of bones, muscles and ancilliary bits in front of him. After he'd found out practically how far things would move, what hurt and what didn't and so on, the verdict. Yes, you're still short of a lot of muscle in your right calf. And by the way, you've still got restricted movement in your right knee, your back isn't very flexible, your balance on both legs is poor, and your core strength is nowhere as good as you think it is. Yes, of course you can fix it, but you'll have to work at it and be patient. With a following wind it might still take a few months. So I have lots of exercises and a plan. By Christmas, a one fifty-six half marathon won't be anything to be proud of.

In the meantime of course, best part of the event season is on us and I do like to have a good day out at regular intervals. My strategy since June of  "running extremely slowly" has been successful in getting me through the West Highland Way, the Lakes 10 Peaks and the Lakeland 100 without affecting the overall rehabilitation process, so I decided to keep it going through the rest of the summer. I think I'm now in the transition to the next phase, "running very slowly" (ie running a few of the flat bits, not just the downhills) which should make a few more events accessible.  I enjoyed the Lakes 10 Peaks so much that I entered its sister event, the Brecon Beacons 10 Peaks on the first weekend in September and I'm really looking forward to that one. It's an area I don't know well and I won't have time to go down for a reasonable recce so it will be all new on the day. Then a few days ago I also decided to have a go at the Grand Tour of Skiddaw this coming weekend. When I was finding my way around the Wainwrights a couple of years ago, I found the areas to the north of Skiddaw and those to the west of Pillar some of the most uncrowded and unspoilt in the district  -  go there midweek in November and you can almost guarantee not seeing a soul all day  - so an event over the northern fells seemed too good to miss. I don't expect to get very far up the field in either of these events, but I'm sure I'll enjoy them.

Last weekend I was the meet leader for our climbing club's annual "Cloggy" Meet (aka Clogwyn du'r Arddu, the big cliff that you can see easily from Halfway House when you go up Snowdon from Llanberis). Well, as happens quite often, conditions weren't good enough for enjoyable climbing on the big cliff that weekend so the meet members wandered off to other things, climbing at Gogarth or round in Ogwen, or walking to various places. I chose to re-acquaint myself with the "Pen Ceunant Round" - a mountain day out that no-one outside of the Chester Mountaineering Club will have heard of because it was devised by and for club members, based on our hut in Llanberis. It takes in every worthwhile summit in the Snowdon massif while covering only a minimum of ground twice, and though only just over twenty miles in length it packs a punch with almost 10,000ft of ascent. I had done it some years ago in miserable wet conditions and hoped for a better experience this time as though the cliffs were still wet,  reasonable temperatures and a nice wind were drying out the ground underfoot. And two weeks after the Lakeland 100 I was ready for a day in the hills again. For those interested, the "round" takes the Llanberis track towards Snowdon but ignores the summit (for now) and takes off along the ridge of Crib y Ddysgl to Crib Goch; a descent of the east ridge then a bit of off piste directly down to Llyn Llyddaw, across the causeway then up and over Lliwedd; by now you've covered most of the Snowdon Horseshoe, but on reaching the Watkin Path you ignore Snowdon (again!) and turn downhill for a few hundred yards until another longer trackless section takes you to the col between the south ridge of Snowdon and Yr Aran; up and down Yr Aran (the only ground covered twice) then up the south ridge to Snowdon summit (at last, but a twenty minute queue for tea and buns in the cafe on my trip due to the huge crowds there!). The crowds diminish as you head off down the Snowdon Ranger track, and disappear completely when you leave it to follow the steeply undulating grassy ridge down to Moel Eilio, followed by a lovely grassy run back down to Llanberis. I had a great day out and was ready to join the others for food and beers at the Heights in Llanberis later that evening. The trip reminded me that compared with the Lake District, where I have spent most of my hill time in recent years, that covering ground in the Welsh mountains is, well, hard. This modest journey had my quads complaining for many days longer afterwards than either the Lakes 10 Peaks or the Lakeland 100.

But these were the hills of my formative years and it's always good to go and spend a day or two there again. Especially now, because I have an entry in for the third running of the Dragon's Back Race, due to be held in June next year. This event covers all the main mountains in Wales, from the Carneddau in the north to the Brecons in the south, in a continuous route over five days. You only get exact route details on a day by day basis, the only thing you know ahead of this is the overall direction and that very little of the ground is likely be covered on what a typical ultra runner would regard as a trail. Got to be one of the best experiences going. I was hoping to get some good "mountain marathon" type events done earlier this year as this is a gap in my CV for entry requirements, but as things turned out this wasn't to be so I just have to go with the experience I can claim so far. The event is certain to be oversubscribed and the organisers' policy is to offer half the available places to those applicants who they feel have the best qualifications, and to ballot the other half among those who have the minimum qualifications to have a chance of finishing. I was hoping to get into the former half but I doubt that I will now. We learn on 30th September if we have a place or not. It's unlikely that the next running will be before 2018 so I guess this may be my only shot at it, but time will tell.

But it's a win-win anyway, because if I don't get in to the Dragon's Back I'll be able to go and run my 9th consecutive West Highland Way race next June. I always had a hope that I might do ten in a row, so that would keep me on target!

So plenty to look forward to as I gradually work my way back to fitness. I have a couple of entries in for races this October, both in the Lakes again. One is the "3 x 3000", which starts and finishes at Keswick and takes in Scafell Pike, Helevellyn and Skiddaw with a lot of interesting ground in between, and the other is the "Lakes in a Day" which goes from Caldbeck to Cartmel taking in Blencathra, most of the Helvellyn range and Fairfield on the way which makes for a great north to south traverse of the district. I'll decide nearer the time whether to run both of them gently or whether I'm ready by then to have more of a crack at one of them.

After that, maybe a month off then the Tour of Helvellyn to get out of the final Christmas shopping in December, before starting on some proper training for next summer.

At last, enough confidence to have a plan!