Training in the Peaks

Wow, another two weeks have flown by.  I'm still getting the hang of my new Suunto Ambit2 GPS watch.  I might need to go on a training course to learn all the features.  I like the fact that the displays can be customised to show the information you want.  My one gripe about the watch is that it is quite bulky for my skinny wrist and it either rattles around and bruises my wrist at the head of my ulna, or I have to wear it with the strap uncomfortably tight, which is slightly preferable.

The previous weekend I managed two longish runs along the undulating Roman Road, just 13 miles on Saturday and 16 miles on Sunday.  Both days were scorching hot.  I had decided it would be a back-off week in terms of mileage.

Last weekend I headed up to the Peak District Saturday morning with Ruth.  We parked in the village of Hope, which is near Castleton.  I'd love to be able to say that I lived in Hope!  Just for the amusement factor, the fact that it is surrounded by amazing countryside and big hills is a bonus.

I left Ruth to go off and do about a 7 mile walk whilst I aimed for a 20 mile run.  From Hope I headed along the near flat of the valley to Castleton, then through the high street and on up past the three cave entrances of Speedwell, Treak Cliff and Blue John Cavern.  It was 11.30am when I set off from Hope, and what should have been just a fairly modest uphill run past all the caverns was already feeling like a gruelling workout, and I still had all the big hills to come.

Path heading out of Castleton towards Speedwell Cavern

 A short way past the caverns I was headed towards the chain of four hills that were to be my aim for the day.  I started to see a fair few walkers at this point, all heading up to the popular view point of Mam Tor.  From the bottom of Mam Tor I headed west up to Lord's Seat, where there were a handful of walkers and several paragliders.

Heading up to Lord's Seat with a few paragliders floating in the distance

From the top of Lord's Seat I had a great view back along the ridge line of hills that I'd be running along.

View from Lord's Seat towards Mam Tor and Lose Hill

I had a great time running back down Lord's Seat the way I had just come.  It made the hard slog of getting to the top worthwhile and I was really pleased with how well I could run down the hill at speed.  It definitely takes a degree of courage to disengage the brain and run down a hill fast, letting gravity do the work.

The slog up to Mam Tor then seemed fairly short.  Just so you're under no illusions, I did have to walk up a considerable part of the hills.  Some sections were just to steep to run up.  However, as I neared the top of Mam Tor the gradient flattened out enough so that I could run the final stretch to the summit, just as the hordes of day trippers were coming into view, hopefully leaving them with the impression that I had run all the way up.  Once again I stopped long enough to admire the views and take a photo.

On Mam Tor with Lose Hill in the background.

Continuing along the ridge to Lose Hill was like running on a motorway.  This was clearly the popular walk to do in the area, and also where I expected to bump into Ruth.  I flew down Mam Tor towards Hollins Hill having to dodge the countless walkers as well as watch out for my footing.  I have to say it felt like great fun.  I then slogged up Hollins Hill and stopped to look back to Mam Tor and Lord's Seat.  This would then be the last photo I'd take, possibly because afterwards I started to feel completely knackered, despite only being 7 miles into my run.

Looking back along the path to Mam Tor in the distance and Lord's Seat to the right.

From Hollins Hill I ran the next mile to Lose Hill, passing Ruth on the way.  Lose Hill was so crowded with people I decided not to hang around.  The initial rocky path leading from the summit towards Hope was a little hard on my legs.  This is where I definitely felt that I didn't have the downhill skills of a fully fledged fell runner, and I took my time a little.  But once on to the grassy path I let myself fly, passing many walkers on their way up.

I had then intended to head off towards Ladybower Reservoir, which would have meant another steep climb over a another hill, but on the start of the ascent my legs really felt that they couldn't go on much further.  I'd only run about 9 miles at this stage. I had never slumped so quickly on a run before. I had to put it down to the heat.  I sat in the shade, had something to eat and drink and then considered my next move.  Given that we were also due to drive to see some friends just outside Manchester, and that I had also planned to run the following day, I decided to cut the run short.  I phoned Ruth to inform her.  I also believed I told Ruth to cut her walk short, but that message didn't get through.  I headed back to Castleton sticking to the lower slopes of the hills I had just been running over.  Once in Castleton I phoned to check where Ruth was.  She was still coming down Mam Tor as she hadn't shortened her walk.  So I continued up to Treak Cliff Cavern on the path I'd run earlier in the day to meet her.  I got to the cavern before Ruth so I treated myself to an ice cream whilst I waited for her. 

By this point I had now run 13 miles.  The shortest route back to our car in Hope was 3 miles, which Ruth still had to walk.  I decided to go a slightly longer route back, which would add an additional 5 miles to my run.  So by the end of the day I had run 18 miles and climbed a total of about 800m, not as much as I would have liked, but still not too shabby.

After a quick sandwich we drove off to see our friends in Tintwistle, where a barbecue was waiting.

The next morning I set off for a run up to the ominous sounding Black Hill which is on the Pennine Way.  Once again, I took a few photos on the first third of the run and then nothing afterwards.  From my friends' house I run alongside a number of reservoirs to reach the Pennine Way and the route up to Black Hill.

Crossing a dam between two of the reservoirs on my route to Black Hill.

The run up to Black Hill was a long hard slog, but with fantastic scenery and not a soul in sight.  I met one walker at the trig point at the top of the hill.  We had a little chat and I discovered his name was Andy and that he was getting back in to walking after a 30 year break in order to take on the three peaks challenge, which he will be doing on August 17th, the same day as the Swiss Ultra Mountain Marathon.  We said we'd think of each other on the day.  Good luck to you, Andy!

Views on the route up to Black Hill on the Pennine Way

 

From the top of Black Hill I continued along the Pennine Way and down the other side.  I then turned around and headed back up.  Back at the trig point I turned away from the Pennine Way to follow another route down, which is shown as a path on OS maps, but it is not visible from the very top of the hill.  Black Hill is a very large flat plateau, and somewhat uninspiring, which is probably why I don't have any photos.  The top is also a massive peat bog with a maze of boggy peat beds and grassy hillocks.  It is impossible to navigate a straight line from the summit.  After several minutes of stumbling and zig-zagging around I reached a grassy area and started to feel as if I was eventually moving down.  Every now and again I reached what seemed to be a path, only for it to fizzle out after a few metres, but as the gradient really started to steepen I could see a very clear path below me.  Once on the path I had a fairly good run all the way back to the reservoirs and on back to my friends' house, where lunch was waiting.  I'd run (if you can call it that!) just a little under 20 miles and it had taken about 4.5 hours.  

Once again, running over really hilly terrain has helped me appreciate just how hard the 50 mile Swiss ultra marathon is going to be.  I do now realise that it is going to be more of a walk than a run, and I'm sure the walking sticks I've bought will come in very handy.

Next up is the 24 hour Thunder Run, which I have definitely lowered my expectations for.  I'm going to treat it as more of a training run than an event.  My initial plans to break 100 miles have been scrapped.  This would be fine if the Thunder Run were my main summer objective, but with the Swiss ultra marathon just three weeks later I don't won't to completely knacker myself.