w/e 25/4 - Teenage Kicks!

Well another week of half-decent training done, which included a smashing weekend away in the Lakes, camping for the third weekend in a row!

And it included taking part in the inaugral running of what is destined to become a classic Lakes race!! As soon as I saw that the Teenager With Altitude had got the go-ahead this year, I fancied doing it - partly because it looked like excellent BG training, but mostly because it had the makings of a classic route to add on to what is already a great race weekend.

So I entered! And planned a recce or two, which never materialised.....until last Wednesday, 3 days before the race!! Nowt like planning is there!!

So on Tuesday night, still nursing a couple of niggly injuries from last weekend's 50-miler, I headed up to the hut in Langdale, for a smashing evening - only me and one other guy there! Up early the next morning, I zoomed up to the Newlands Valley and parked where the start would be on the Saturday.

It was a glorious sunny morning, albeit with a cold breeze and a hint of frost in the air. The plan was to pretty much walk the route so that I didn't trash the legs, and I could see how tight the midway cut-off was.

And I had a splendid day - toiling up Causey Pike and being a little spooked by the scramble at the top, but knowing that on race day I wouldn't even notice it! A smashing line down and up to Outerside, a choice then to Coledale Hause and I went over the top of the crags.

There was a chill in the air as I skirted the "ridge" and headed out to Grasmoor, but I warmed up by trotting around the edge of the corrie and onto Whiteless ridge, which is absolutely spectacular...wonderful views!

On to the top of Whiteless Pike and then the bit I really wanted to see....just how steep was the direct descent off the top? In fact, for someone who doesn't like the really steep stuff, I found it to be fine and runnable - heathery and cushioned rather than awkward and bouldery. Trashes the legs though...I could tell that! From the bottom, I contoured Ard Crags and arrived at Newlands Hause 3 minutes over the cut-off time, having walked almost all of it...no problem then!

The plan was then to take it very easy and walk back down the valley....but Ard Crags beckoned and I, of course, headed up and along the ridge for a beautiful end to the day out.

And so to the weekend. We headed up on Friday night and set up the tent at Braithwaite. Saturday morning dawned with a hazy sun, as we headed down to Stair to register me for the early start...and the nerves kicked in a bit as I saw the other runners and realised I could be last for the first time ever in a race!

Soon enough, a hardy band of 58 runners were gathered in the sun, Kirsten there to see me off and take a couple of photos, looking resplendent in her Calder Valley top. And then we were soon off, toiling for 30 mins up to Causey Pike. Things went pretty well from here, taking the upper line to Coledale Hause again, a good contour line to Grasmoor, and I quite went for it on the descent off Whiteless Pike, passing a couple of others (unheard of for me on a steep descent!). Unfortunately, as I reached the bottom, I realised how trashed my legs were!! :-) Plus an adductor niggle that's bothered me all week after the Woldsman, was really kicking in on the more runnable bits.

I made the cut-off in just over 2 hours, then faced the toil up to High Snock Rigg and Robinson. The climbing legs were there though, and I passed a couple more and started to gain on the Pennine runner. Unfortunately, the top of Robinson signalled the end of my decent pace....with the faster running that is possible on the Waltz route, the adductor strain just couldn't cope and I was having to shuffle rather than run.

Still, it was fun to blend in with the later Waltzers, and I took a couple on a decent line down off Dale Head. The bit from High Spy onwards was frustrating 'cause that's my sort of fellrunning, but I wasn't flying today. One Teenager passed me, and I then played cat and mouse with a Bowland guy all the way to Catbells, only overtaking him on the descent from there for the final time.

I really wanted sub-4.30, but as I hit Catbells with less than 12 minutes to spare, and now reduced to a shuffle, I wasn't sure I could do it. I shut out the pain and pushed as hard as I could, the pounding on the final bit of tarmac road reminding me that my legs were sore. I entered the field to a surprise and very welcome "come on Richard" from Sharon and Shaun, and kept going right through the funnel to finish in 4.29.32 :-) Not the greatest run I've ever had, but I'm pleased enough.

And then I looked for Kirsten. No sign. I wasn't sure if she was ahead of me or behind me, but Sharon said she'd not come through. As time ticked over the 3.10, I was sure she hadn't had a good race - she's easily capable of sub-3 on such a course. And then she appeared, looking rather pale, but still smiling, to finish in 3.13.

And my worries were confirmed as she collapsed on the floor, looking worse for wear and feeling very sick, as she had done all race....as she had done all week to be fair. My guess is it's still the effects of running 50 miles in the sun last weekend. I know I'm still feeling it. We both had a bit of heatstroke afterwards, and combined with the exhaustion, it takes time to recover.

But the main thing was she completed, when it would have been easy to dns or dnf. Sometimes you have those races, and you take the best you can out of them. I certainly had one last year at the Haworth Hobble, when a week of sickness meant I spent most of the day with my head swimming...but I finished and looking back, it was one of the most satisfying days of last year's training. The same will apply to Kirsten as she toils around the 105 miles in a few weeks' time. There will be plenty of occasions when the head's gone, when she feels sick, when she's in pain and when she feels like she can't continue.....and having pushed on to complete the Waltz will stand her in good stead then.

We headed down to the hall to chat. I ate some stew, Kirsten threw up a couple of times :-) and then we headed back to the car. Back to the campsite where she fell asleep in the afternoon sun while I watched my legs twitch! By the time she woke up, she felt a wee bit better, and even managed most of a risotto at the Pheasant, while I demolished a fish pie :-)

After a good night's sleep, Kirsten felt much better and was up for another day on the fells. My adductor strain was tight though, so it would be a walk, with a bit of running, rather than a running day. And the weather had changed in the night....low could, heavy drizzle and a strongish wind.

Wanting to recce some BG, we headed to Keswick and set off up to Latrigg car park, then up Jenkins Hill in increasingly bad weather. We entered the cloud and, as we headed towards the top, the strong wind kicked in big-time! No stopping, straight over the top, down a bit,a right turn to cross the fence and head towards Hare Crag.

We found the trod initially, but in poor visibility, it disappeared and I needed to take a bearing...which is when we found out the compass wasn't working very well!! We followed East, which turned out to be more North-East! I finally worked out that we'd dropped off to the left slightly too early, so we faced a bit of heather-bashing to get back on course.

We crossed the Cumbria Way and headed up Calva, soon back in the cloud. It wasn't a day for stopping up there either, and we crossed the fence and dropped down to the stream as quickly as possible, Kirsten running well. We made out way up to the Cumbria Way and decided to leave Blencathra to another day. A right turn, a trudge up to Skiddaw House and then a left to take us back around the valley to Latrigg car park.

It seemed rude not to detour up to the top of Latrigg, then we cut straight down and back to the car to end a smashing day. We zoomed into town just in time to pick up cake and coffee from Pedlars cafe, then headed back to Calderdale, where a couple of pints in the Fox provided the perfect end to another fantastic weekend!

Another weekend of camping coming up as well!! Off to Coniston, although neither of us is running the race. K's off scrambling up Jack's Rake (yikes!!), I'll do a couple of BG reccies (if I can shake off this new injury) and we'll no doubt be back in the Fox to celebrate another great weekend!

Totals for the week - 42.5mls & 16,242ft!!