w/e 13/6 - Waiting in my Corner, Waiting on the Bell...........

Another solid week of training, upping it slowly but surely to ensure I hit peak fitness at the right time. There's no doubt that over the last couple of years, I've hit the training too hard too early and ending up peaking somewhere around April/May and then be past my best by June/July. This time, I hope I'm getting it right.

The body's holding up. Or at least I'm putting to the back of my mind all the niggles and aches and pains which would normally worry me and affect my running.

This week was a good one. It started out with a Tuesday club run on tired legs, which turned into more of a run/walk as I stayed with Kirsten who was suffering with a right knee problem (thankfully now diagnosed to be not too serious).

On Wednesday, I watched the rain lashing down against the windows at home....and decided to head out!! A 9.5 mile run up onto a wild and windy Midgley Moor, as far as High Brown Knoll, getting soaked and windswept in the process. I'm determined to head out in rough weather now...let's face it, it could be like that on the day!! The run ended on a slightly down note as I tweaked the ankle coming down towards Midgley. But in the current spirit of things, I'm ignoring the pain from that!!

Friday saw me head over to Stoodley for the first time in ages and do 3 reps, saving myself for the weekend. The twingy ITB was there, but I still felt I climbed ok.

Saturday was the big day of the week. Another weekend in the Lakes, and the Achille Ratti hut was a bit quieter than the last few weekends up there!! At 10.30, I met up with Andy Kitts and the legendary Bob Wightman....the man who provides the facts and figures and information which inspire so many of us to give the BG a go.

Kirsten dropped us in Keswick and we set off on Leg 1. The pace was steady, the weather warmish but nice. Skiddaw was reached in 81 minutes of "running"time (there were a few short clothing etc stops, but I stopped the watch on these). The descent over HAre Crag was obvious, the climb up Calva as fun as ever, and the top reached in 40 minutes without pushing it....allowance is 50!

From there, Bob led us a direct route through the heather to cross the Caldew and climb. I think I'll stick to the fence route, there's a path and it's easier underfoot although a little longer. We climbed steadily to the scree beneath Blencathra and then across it to the summit, which was reached in under 69 leisurely minutes.

From there we went down Doddick, which Bob hadn't done before. Conditions were perfect, with a little bit of give in the ground and, again, without pushing too hard, I was down to the car in under 27 minutes against a 31 minute allowance. Overall, our running time on the leg had been 3.38 and it was all at a pace sustainable on the day. Good stuff!!

At this point, Andy and Bob headed off for Yorkshire, but I carried on over Leg 2, steadily climbing Clough Head in 50 minutes, 25 minutes to Great Dodd (which is the best I've done yet), then picking up a few more minutes on schedule as far as Raise, at which point I doubled back then down Sticks Pass to the waiting Kirsten at Stanah. All told, 5.51 of running, 22 miles and 8,400ft.....a great day.

A big confidence boost as well. I hadn't felt liked I'd been climbing the steeper slopes well recently, but the times up Skiddaw, Blencathra and Clough Head in particular showed that I am climbing well. This, as I said, was sustainable pace. That's pleasing.

On Sunday, the weather changed!! Having packed up, we drove up to Dunmail Raise and sat in the car contemplating heading out into the rain and wind....we almost didn't!! But we're tougher than that, oh yes!! ;-) We got out and headed up Raise Gill, soaked through by the time we got to Grisedale Tarn.

From there, we were up the wall and onto the Helvellyn ridge, out to Nethermost, then back taking in Dollywagon. It was cold, wet and miserable up there...no views to be had!! From Dollywagon, we dropped down through the zig-zags to the tarn then, undecided whether to go on, decided to head straight up the front path on Fairfield,as the mist started to clear a little. It's a steep, great path that brings you out just to the west of Cofa Pike.

A little scramble out onto the pike, then back up to Fairfield, where it seemed much warmer. A slide down the scree escalator to the hause, then a scramble up to Seat Sandal...before dropping down on the clear BG trod to the corner above Dunmail Raise then shooting down through the bracken to the car. A smashing day in the end, and we were both pleased with ourselves for getting out of the car on a foul weather day and pushing on regardless. Smashing!!

Kirsten's knee was bothering her on the descents, but on the plus side, she climbed really well. My knee was twingy, but never really affected me, so all is good there. All in all, it was a real confidence-boosting, excellent weekend.

Total for the week - 48.5mls & 16,649ft

A quick look through the figures, and the last 4 weeks has seen me do 214mls & 55,865ft!! That's good, with more to come. I have to be a wee bit careful not to overdo it, but resting up during the week more and pushing it at the weekends should see me ok. In some ways, I feel ready for it now, and with decent weather forecast this week, I was partly regretting not going for it this weekend after all. But the hills will still be the same in July, I'll be a wee bit more rested for the couple of weeks beforehand, and the head will be in the right place.