Final Adjustments : 4 days to go

Training : Final Planning

With only a few days to go it seems like I've a million and one things to think about. The route itself, final adjustments like 'skirt around the top of High Raise save 400ft and so on. With one eye on the weather, op-out clauses, Seathwaite, Wythburn, skip Helvellyn, the potential variations are mind boggling.

Clearly my real mind set is imagining myself on every part of the route, moving strongly and actually completing the trip. I think this approach means half the battle, the mental one, is being started now, before I get on the hill and will give me a much better chance of success. I think the training decision to walk as much of the route as possible over the past few weeks has been really helpful, really positive and one hell of a confidence boost.

Problem is the weather looks shite for Friday night, I don't fancy walking off the edge of Helvellyn into Brown Cove in the middle of the night in thick cloud. Bought a new head torch, Black Diamond H7, bright it is for sure.

Lakeland 3000

All four 3000ft peaks in the Lake District

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Update Update

We completed the walk at 3:24 on Saturday 13th June 2009. see Lakeland 3000 for details

The Idea

The idea is to set a challenge for yourself, one that is not totally unrealistic but one that you know will stretch your endurance and determination beyond a point where you have been before and a bit more.

Why?

Why not? Well actually for many reasons:

• To have a focus and reason for getting and staying fit.
• To be sociable.
• To have something to do with spare time, other than work.

The Detail

The actual challenge is to walk the four 3000ft tops in the Lake District in one day starting at and returning to The Moot Hall in Keswick, all within 24 hours and unaided.

That's an approximate total of 46 Miles, 11,000ft of ascent.

1. Keswick Moot Hall 06:00 Friday
   
2. Skiddaw Summit
3. Keswick
4. Borrowdale
5. Seathwaite
6. Lingmell Col
   
7. Scafell Pike
8. Scafell
9. Scafell Pike
10. Broad Crag
    
11. Esk Hause
12. Angle Tarn
13. Stake Pass
14. High Raise
15. Steel End
    
16. Wythburn
17. Helvellyn
18. Thirlmere
19. Keswick Moot Hall 06:00 Saturday
    

Off Exploring's iROC Team

Off Exploring's Robert Campbell and Mark McGookin sign up for iROC

Off Exploring's Robert Campbell and Mark McGookin sign up for the iROC adventure race with attitude

The intrepid, some say insane duo, have persuaded each other and themselves that the fun thing to do on Easter weekend is run up hill for a very long way and look cool while doing it.

To look extra cool the boys have spec'd out some soft – wear, the skin tight Lycra tops they're modelling in the photo. No doubt they'll look OK until the race starts at which point no amount of man made fibre, elastic or not, is going to keep these two in-check or looking suave or cool in any sense of the word. The race is going to be a gruelling run up hill and presumably down as well, for a total of 13k and over 900 meters of ascent.

At the moment their training regime is a punishing mix of gym work and road and fell running. With only 4 weeks before the event, which is on the 18th of April, the pace of training is beginning to quicken as they realise that whatever they do it's probably not going to be enough.

Mark has the advantage, he plays Rugby for Ponteland RFC 1sts as is already up to the 'mark', pardon the ridiculous pun, while Robert is right back on the pace having only just started to do any kind of exercise at all and never run more than 200m at once in his life.

The race is being run by another North East company inov-8 who describe themselves as 'a British company that's passionate about specialist off-road and extreme sports products'. They make running shoes and other gear for mad people like these two.

The race is being run in an old cement factory and quarry, presumably so there's somewhere to bury the dead bodies that will litter the hillside before, during and after the event is over.

But hey it's bound to be a great day out, come along and support the two, there's even a family fun run, cycling and a beer tent. That sounds like a place just for me, see you there

Yours Gripp Type-Thinne.

Three of a Kind

Round the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, 9 hours, 25 miles.

The view out of the window at 7:00 in the morning was not at all promising and when combined with the events and advice from the previous evening the prospects for success were not looking good.

The evening we arrived at The Station Inn at Ribblehead there were Cave and Fell Rescue folk all over Whernside and a Sea King helicopter in the field all trying to evacuate a couple of walkers from below the summit. The two of them had fallen over 300ft on the ice and one was quite badly injured but alive.

The initial part of the route takes a path below the famous viaduct, a spectacular sight or so I'm lead to believe but in today's weather it's a mere shadow in the fog and I can't even get a photograph.

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Madness

Committed, we should be

I have signed up, along with a couple of friends and colleagues from work, to do Race 1 at this event in April. Although it's only an 8 mile race (13Km) it does include 900m of climb. I've worked out that is equivalent to doing 4 HHRa on the trot. This may be a challenge too far. We are all amateurs, never run in an event like this before and other than Mark, haven't done any endurance events at all. Mark plays rugby for Ponteland RFC and trains most days of the week.

There is a facebook group called iROC Adventure Race Weekend and looking at the other competitors we are going to be last of that there is no doubt. Never mind it's the taking part that counts isn't it?

Variations on a theme

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Variations on the theme

the discussion now seems to be whether or not to use any form of transport around the road sections of the walk. The sane amongst my friends suggest that road sections should be done by car, enlisting drivers and helpers to do the ferrying. The slightly mad would swap the cars for bicycles, I'm still thinking the challenge has to be all on foot.
46 miles in 24hrs remember so this means that the road sections will have to be jogged at least for the majority of the way and I've never been a distance runner. So I've started training.
Day 1: route from office is down hill towards the Tyne for 3/4 of a mile, then back, average incline : 20deg average state of legs afterwards : rubbery.
The immediate target is two of these a week.

The Lakes 3000'

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The Challenge

A friend of mine recently said 'set yourself a real challenge', (you know who you are now see what you've made me do!). Well I did, the trip up Scafell Pike from Langdale was challenging for a first day on the fells for over a year. Having now completed that I think I need another, The Lakes 3000ft Peaks in 24hrs sounds about enough. According to Ken Wilson's book 'The Big Walks' thats 16 to 20 hours and 46 miles and includes 11,000ft of ascent.
According to friends I'm Mad, but I'll give myself enough time to train and set a target of completing the round before this time next year.
What then....'The Bob Graham Round?'