Progress?

It has been six weeks since my hamstring injury, and my butt still isn't right. Having said that, I thought I'd give an update as to where I am with it.

I had a few sessions of physio with Summit Physio at Wrightington country club, each of which was very very painful. I've been doing stretches and strengthening exercises religiously. Up until today, I've run 51.3km in total, albeit very slowly. On top of this, LAA and I have done a 10k walk each Monday when we are off together, going for a nice lunch each time. It's been really nice to enjoy some good walks and some good food together, since we are so busy the rest of the week. We also did a bit of cycling, including the Guild Wheel, as well as a mad dash home when Ben broke his wrist.

I've avoided any Board session, as well as the fingerboard. Climbing will have to wait until after the UTLD 100.

We have also had a clear out of girls' clothes- loads of nice, new, expensive, and often unworn clothes. Some of it has been thrown out, but most has been donated to people with young girls who will actually get some use out of it all. We must have cleared out thousands of pounds worth. Amazing.

Today was the Howgills Trail 26. Andrew and I drove up this morning, a little nervous since neither of us have trained anywhere near what we did last year, and my broken buttock made me nervous.  I remembered a lot of this course from last year, certainly not my favourite 26.  Toad-al Ben Stool. 

This time the 7.5k slog to the summit of the Calf felt Ok. The descent from here was a bit dull, but being technical underfoot didn't allow any respite. We went slightly wrong where a marker had clearly fallen over, but having done it before kept us on the right track. We hit the first checkpoint at 3:30 in. This left 20k, and my lack of training in the last six weeks showed. In the end, I sent Andrew off with 9k to go to chase a time, whilst I plodded at 8 minute/km pace. From the watch I finished over 6hrs 30, which was my target. However, any disappointment at not hitting the mark is alleviated by the fact I should be OK for next weekend. No details yet, I don't want to jinx proceedings.

Anyway, good day out- thanks Andrew.

What a pain in the arse

Firstly, here's the Higher Chelburn video as promised.  Lots of easy stuff, but a good few hours out.


Higher Chelburn - Eclipse Day - 20/3/2015 from GCW on Vimeo.




I had a day off on Friday and was keen to head somewhere different.  I was going to head to Roundbarn first, then Knowle Heights later but Pasty Lord was potentially available later.  I opted to hit Knowle Heights first.

When I got there it looked dry, but there was a big group of teens hanging about drinking (10:30am). This felt pretty intimidating as I'd be bouldering right next to them, so I opted to change the plan (I ran away).

I headed to Roundbarn keen for a look at Catsfoot and Whisker.  They both had water running down them, so I look at the left end first.  Second go on Leave Your Hat On using R-man's high right heel and something went pop in my right hip.  This was really sore, and I couldn't use the heel again.  I linked it soon after.  I did a few other bits here, including the 6c+ dyne which I found pretty OK (due to lank and liking dynes I guess).  Quiver Upriver was also damp, but I could get to the break fine before being slimed off the next bit.  Should be fine when dry.  I had one try at Whisker, but the top holds were streaming.

I went to look at Stanworth on my way home, only to find a new 6' green fence that seemed to go all the way round.  I didn't want to start trying to hop it, so left and went home.

Today I woke with more pain in my right hip - certainly looks like I've done something to a hamstring.  I was supposed to be doing the Buttermere to Dalemain recce for the UTLD 100 tomorrow.  I tried a short run this morning, but barely managed a mile as the pain and stiffness got worse with each step.  No way can I do 33 hill miles this weekend, so I've had to pull out of the recce.  We'll have to arrange our own at a later date.

Out on the rock

Stronstrey Bank  18/03/2015

It's been a long time since I was last climbing at Stronstrey, probably around the time I put up David Vetter etc etc.  It was very sunny and hot on Monday, and I was off for the day.  Recent videos of hard problems on the Lone Boulder whetted my appetite.  I went straight to this odd-ball boulder.  It's been a long time since I was here, my last visit was with my late father and he's been dead a good few years now.

I did Jim Reaper pretty easily via a sneaky heel-toe cam.  My own Day-Glo Man went down second go, after brushing off a load of crud - I don't think this gets much attention.  Noisy Cricket was impossible, I blame the head but me being very out of condition may not have helped.....

I did Grim Leaper, again via a naughty foot lock.  After this I had a play on the Fun Boulder, then headed home.  Need to get (a lot) stronger and then come back for a rematch.


Stronstrey 18/3/2015 from GCW on Vimeo.



Higher Chelburn  20/03/2015

I had a day off on Friday to use up annual leave.  Whilst driving over to Summit I got a decent view of the Solar Eclipse.  Good, but I think the 1999 one was better.  Once I parked up as per Robin's guide, I realised this is where Nik and I came to on our last trip together.  It took exactly 12 minutes to walk to the first area (as predicted).  I did a load of easy stuff, and Small Star which was excellent. I moved over to the next area and did a couple of problems on the big boulder - these were a bit damp, rather scrittly and felt a bit unnerving due to the pit beneath them.  I had a look at Expletive but the break was popping, so I did the easier version using the sidepull.  After this was the trio of excellent problems including Clarion Call - I flashed all three, and they are very good.

I had a look at the Chilli Burn boulder, but it was seeping (and too hard).  I picked up some finger tape and banana skins that someone had left there, rather disappointing this is happening already.  After this my skin had had enough so I left.

On my way home I dropped in at Roundbarn, which was wet, and had a wander around. Catfoot looks great so I think I'll head back this week if the weather remains dry.

Yesterday I did a new 10k route from home in my new Mudclaw 300s - got some heel rub and a blister on my right second toe.  I'll not be wearing these next weekend for the Buttermere to Dalemain rec.!!  A gentle 5k this morning was OK though.

So the plan is to get out on the rock this week - maybe Roundbarn +/- Jumbles.  I'll also get the Higher Chelburn video online once my Vimeo allowance resets.

Grizedale Ultra Trail 26. 8th February 2015

On Sunday it was the Grizedale Trail event.  Last year I did this with the Iron Man, but this year he had stuff on that clashed and precluded his involvement.  As with the Coniston - Buttermere recce, I was to miss the company.

It was a bright morning but with lots of freezing fog, the car suggesting minus four for most of the journey up.  I hoped that the sun would burn this off and the day would be clear with good views, but it wasn't to be.  After the briefing we set off on the first loop.  This is all on forest trails and isn't as interesting as the second loop.  The first "half" marathon seemed to be nearly 24k.  The mist never really cleared, there was ice underfoot and it was cold out of the sun.

Loop 2 goes over the tops to Windermere, then along the lakeside for a couple of km before a steep up to head back to Grizedale.  I finished in 6hrs 16, a lot slower than last year but the course was longer this time.  Felt fine though, even on the last steep ascents.  Next up is the Buttermere to Dalemain recce.  Gulp.

The ascent out of Near Sawrey:

UTLD Recce Number 2: Ambleside to Coniston

Andrew and I did this event tonight (technically last night due to the lateness of the hour). We were driven from Coniston to Ambleside in a scorchingly hot coach. We were both glad to get off and get running.

We made good progress on the ascent from Ambleside and along the rivers to get to the Chapel Stile checkpoint with (some) daylight left. I had some cheese and onion crisps and off we went. The next leg to Tilberthwaite was quite boggy, but my shoes did their job and my feet were ok. After the brutal ascent out of Langdale we cruised through to the Tilberthwaite checkpoint. I had my own banana supplemented with jelly babies and a cookie, and a well needed bladder decompression.

I hate the last leg. Tonight it felt better, not having done 47 miles to get to it, but it still worries me for the 100.  We pushed on this leg, nailing it in around an hour.

We both felt good on this run, and we finished in 3 hours 48 minutes. Considering we took 6 hours 11 minutes when we did the 50, that ain't bad!

Grizedale 26 next I think. Then it's the nasty recce from Buttermere to Dalemain......

Tidying up

I've been feeling a bit under the weather for the last week.  Running the Guild Wheel on Monday 12th January in blasting winds and rain probably didn't help.  35.4km according to the GPS, which is a little further than the official 21 miles.  It took 4 hours and 12 minutes, which is slower than expected but OK considering the condition.  Looking forward to the UTLD rec. next weekend, the night run from Ambleside to Coniston.





I bought Final Cut Pro recently, and had a little play around this morning.  Edited some footage I captured back in October, but I'm not used to using it yet.  I'm sure I'll get used to it fairly soon.

Had a little play on the board yesterday, feeling dreadfully weak but that's motivation to get on it more I suppose.......


Short Wilton 3 visit from GCW on Vimeo.

2014 Round Up

The end of 2014
Here we are on the eve of a new year, so it's time to look back on the last 12 months and see what has been going on.  2014 has been quite a tough year really, and I won't be too sad to see the back of it.  Various family tragedies and sadness have put a bit of a downer on the year, and I'm very much looking forward to 2015 being a year of happiness.  But let's put a happy spin on matters and see what positives 2014 gave us:

January
Quiet month, got out running a fair bit.

February
Grizedale UltraTrail 26  43.6km  1183m ascent  5:46:59
A fun day out in less than ideal conditions.

March
I grabbed a day out at Cadshaw and nailed two first ascents, Rakkety Tam (a great 6b+ dyno) and Outcast (a fun 6c/+ traverse with a really nice slopy sidepull).

April
I spent a couple of hours at Denham, did two 7as (R-man's Living Next Door to Acid and my own Snap Derision) and added a sitter to Hypno-TOad, at 7a-ish.  Very pleasing day out!
I also ran the Yorkshire 3 Peaks for fun and training:  38.6km and 1442m ascent, in 6hrs 28mins.

May
Howgills UltraTrail 26  42.5km  1153m ascent  5:58:41
UTLD Recce - Pooley Bridge to Ambleside  46.2km  2000m ascent  7:40.  Ouch.

June
Three Rings of Shap, my longest event to date.  104.5km and 2008m ascent in 20:12.  Took my feet quite a while to recover from this one.

July
UTLD 50 80.9km, 2774m ascent, 17:17:16.  Really enjoyed this one, and it felt OK.  I'm sure it won't after doing the first 55 miles of the hundred next time around.

August
Got another year older, and had two weeks in France.  Our holiday was rather disrupted by the death of my father in law and my wife's ankle injury and huge reaction to oysters, but we still managed some really good days.

September
Not a lot really.

October
Rivington Trail 26:  43km and 1229m ascent in 5:48:46, slower than last year.
The Lancashire Bouldering Guidebook arrived too, which has been long awaited and very well received.  I'm not sure it'll make my fortune or if I'll become a celeb, but it looks good and has some fantastic problems in it.

November

UTLD Recce - Coniston to Buttermere.  42.5km and  2057m ascent in just under 9 hours.  Much slower than I had wanted.

December
Had a really good day with the family, which felt very relaxed, despite another bereavement on Christmas Eve.  Best Christmas dinner ever!!  Great set of presents all round too.




Aims for 2014
So what of the aims for 2014?  Rather a mixed bag really:
 
1.  Use the board at least once a week.
Running got in the way somewhat, but for a while I was on the board regularly and feeling stronger.  Slipped a bit recently but very keen to get back on it and get stronger.

2.  Boulder 7C or harder. 
Not a chance.

3.  Reacquaint myself with Silverdale after two years of not visiting.
I didn't visit this year, and I've only been out on rock a handful of times.  Again, running has taken over.

4.  Do some trad with Nik at Work.
To my shame (and the cat eating all my trad gear), this never happened.

5.  Tick two problems from the last few years Aims For lists. 
There's a theme developing here.....

6.  Run another hill marathon or two.
Grizedale Ultra Trail 26, Howgills 26, the Three Rings of Shap 100km, the Lakeland 50, Rivington Trail 26 and UTLD recce.  6 hill marathons ticked this year.  I've run 1009.4km this year, with 18,266m of ascent.  Wow.

7.  Find some new rock and do a good FA.
No new rock yet, but 3 FAs which is pretty good.

8.  Do at least twenty new Wainwrights.  
No new Wainwrights at all this year!  I've run past a lot though.

9.  7b in Font.
Err, no.

10.  Read ten more books from the BBC Big Read top 100. 
Didn't manage ten, but I'm up to 44% read now and still trawling through Middlemarch:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie





So what of next year?
As I mentioned on UKB, I have 2 aims for 2015:
1.  Don't die trying to do the Lakeland 100.
2.  Get back to climbing after the Lakeland 100.

The UTLD 100 makes me nervous, not so much because of the distance but more that the cut off times a quite tight for a slow runner like me.
I'm looking forward to getting back on the rock, and the new Lancashire Bouldering Guidebook is there to give inspiration.

More than anything, what 2014 has shown us all is that life is precious and rather fragile.  It's too short to get up tight, and to worry about minor issues.  It should be lived to the full, taking any opportunity going and wringing all we can from it.  I'm very lucky to have a fabulous wife and step-children, and such a great home life.  Not everyone has that, and I'm realising more each day how lucky I am.

So here's to 2015 - let's make it a great year.  Happy New year everyone.