Training Log Archive: Mark3

EDIT: now I've done that, on the technical shorter legs there isn't much in it, in fact I win maybe a third of them, and on the long legs he doesn't get perfect I'm not far down. He makes more mistake but more than makes up for them with superior running speed.
Saying that, I could have managed second with doing less wrong. Looking forward to a couple more urbans later in the year!
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3rd/30, but a massive 5:30 behind Tom D so looking forward to the splits being available so I can work out why so much...

Possibly a bit of having to blow my nose every few minutes...and maybe a bit tired from yday.

Mainly good routes, some less good choices. Main issue was probably getting so much into the new multilevel mapping system that I forgot that if you could only run on one level then it's still just mapped with dots. So generally avoided anything going underneath OOB which missed a couple of optimals. I didn't think it was 5 minutes worth though.

I found it confusing that the underpass under the OOB road was mapped as canopy, but the underpass under the OOB railway was just mapped with dots. The former is massively obvious on the map; the latter is hard to spot.

Anyway, really enjoyed this; I don't seem to get to as many proper urbans as I used to, and I do really enjoy them.

22nd
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15D5vxFLu7F...

Out of 78 so not an amazing position. But 10 minutes faster than last time!
I made some bad choices (again!) and had a pretty bad cold. But vs. that, it was perfect weather this time.

First decision - was planning on going straight line again but everyone around me was three-tarns-ing so I thought I'd give that a go.
Came out ahead of someone who'd been maybe 30s ahead of me at the bottom, and I don't know if he did something wrong, but it must at least be close. I thought that it would be because you can run all the way up to 3T, but looking at Flybys he gets to near-the-summit faster and then is slowed by the terrain, whereas on the tourist path you can just keep plodding upward I guess. Conclusion: not clear cut.

Off Bowfelll I wanted to do the BG line which is clearly better, but just haven't done it for ages and so dropped straight from the top rather than going across the plateau first, and came into the rocks. Bad move. Fortunately loads of people followed me. So lost a bit of time here.

Great end the CP this year was on the W cairn, I saved a bit of time by not going to the E one first like most did.

Yet again, comedy route off Scafell. There's a massive, really obvious right hand bend in the path down to Mickledore. I turned left here - this was not correct. The better thing is to go just a bit around the corner and then head more or less straight on immediately. Surely this one will be third time lucky. Anyway one I got to the not-Broadcrag-but-smaller tarn then I got the route right; couple of rocky steps in the grassy gully to negotiate but much faster than MIckledore. But the upper section had cost me minutes.

From Foxes Tarn I took a route further to the left than I've been before, left of all the scree. There were a couple of people even further left than that though, climbing up through the rocks. It was better, I would do that in future.

Another mistake - my route to Slight Side was way too low; I pretty much successfully reproduced my Eskdale Elevation line but didn't realise how low that went. Anyway it wasn't low enough to avoid the rocks but it was so low I had to ascend again to the col, so more minutes lost here.

I thought that since it was good vis this time I'd be with someone at Slight Side, but due to the really small field I was in fact all alone and had to make the decision. I elected for due E like last time but then rather than heading for a gully over a spur to the right, went to the gully immediately ahead. This branches into two gullys pretty soon - 50/50, I thought and went for the rightmost.

Next time: go left.

It was fine actually, pretty steep/loose/narrow, but less waterfally than last time and so a bit less suicidal. But when the gullys joined and looked up at the leftmost one, it was all lovely grass - sigh. At some point I must have put my hand down on something since my hand was now bleeding in two places, but it didn't hurt it was just tedious.

After the danger section I contoured around the base of a big scrag to the right and then headed due E again into a scree run which I'd missed last time and was actually quite nice. After that it's pretty much a straight line to the river, it looks like everyone took a slightly different line here including whether they cross immediately or go through the marsh on the S side like I did. The leaders all did that but then took a straighter line immediately after the crossing. All trods then lead to crossing the next (more iffy) stream at more or less the same place though.

Everyone else (on Strava anyway) went the Stonesty route rather than the Swinsty one. Looking at the heatmaps of the people around me, my route is definitely slower. The immediate diagonal to join Stonesty at the top is the way to go. No-one replicated my worst-of-both-worlds route from last year, which is perhaps unsurprising.

Caught someone on the Pike of Blisco climb which is always nice, and nailed the descent (I don't know if it's faster in general to go due E and then Due N after the big-rocky section has finished, but it certainly feels safer and less error prone. Strava shows me I overtook someone on the section who'd been about 4 mins ahead. It looks like there's one 'nice' way though the cliffs and if you find it then it's fast, but otherwise you are screwed.

Anyway - really happy with being faster as it didn't feel like it should have been, and there's easily scope to knock loads more time off next year. It's a great race.

I thought it might be touch and go with timings getting to this, but since I was a bit faster at Great Lakes than I was expecting, and the traffic didn't materialise, I had ages. Chilled out at the Fellbaum's rented place in Portinscale for a bit and then got a lift to Honister. Two non-fell runners walked up Dale Head and I waited for Tom.

Fraser and Jack kept going from L4 and so I wasn't on my own. A quarter of the way up Dale Head Nathanael caught us with the tracker Tom had removed! Otherwise relatively uneventful. Tom was moving well (given the previous 18 hours) on the climbs but struggling going down - the bum-slide down High Snab was genuinely faster than walking. Bit cool on the tops. Jack, I think, showed me a grassy line to the left (going down) from Robinson to the col where you drop off the steep way, and then actually the steep way is grassier itself than I thought, so it probably is the best line rather than staying on the ridge.
Tom sped up on the road to easily get sub 20 and annoyingly get 8 mins faster than me. Loads of people joined for the road bit at the end. Good to chat to some new people and some I'd met before. Fun day out and glad I dragged myself out despite feeling grim this morning.

Too hot for exercise.

Edit: turns out I was 7th, whaaat. Also the dead-feeling up the hill, and last night, is explained by the massive cold that fully manifested by Saturday.
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Humid evening. Just entered this because it's a bit of a classic which always sells out so I thought I'd give it a go. And it was nice actually, tough climb at the start, single-track forest, some wide sections a bit later on and then a lovely long technical descent before some flatter fields and then a very wide but no more than knee deep river crossing.

Felt good round the 1.5 laps of the field at the start, in about 3rd or 4th place, but then the hill started and I was overtaken by many including my old nemesis Caroline Brock who was often first lady and pre-covid we finished very near each other often. But I was consistently beating her by the end so I was feeling bad that she passed me. Once we got to the top though, other than being slowed a bit on the single-track I was moving a bit better and overtook some even though there was quite a big energy penalty for doing so. Got passed C again on an easy downhill just before halfway, along with someone else, and then just after the (step or two) river crossing at Padley Gorge, another one. The section just before the big pond at Longshaw was not immediately obvious where to go so glad I could see someone ahead here. Then I think another on the technical descent which is a slightly downhill big-rocky path through the woods, demanding lots of concentration, for a really really long way! Great fun.

Passed one more down the last steep descent just before crossing the railway, but he overtook again on the flat fields and what with the fatigue of the next river crossing (easy but long) I didn't start sprinting for the line soon enough to catch him, although it was pretty close.

Looks like I finished about 45s ahead of Caroline, which I'll take. Most of the race went well but probably started a bit quick and paid for it on the climb.

Good to see my mum there. She was dehydrated (I think from racing in the heat yday evening - over-racing must be in the blood) but I think enjoyed it anyway. In 3 year's time she's going to start winning V70 prizes, but she can't compete with the 60s anymore!

Sedate run in the heat with just three of us. Felt really hard despite being slow. Combination of heat and massive steak for lunch I reckon.

Oscar's new challenge - Crag Inn to Shutlingsloe trig and back.
11:53 up
5:35 down

Scope for better route choices, didn't implement the steep way down very well and up straighter is probably better.

Still - 1st/2 so far.

Didn't fancy the group run since it was from Sutton and I don't favour it. So went to Lyme and had a look at some other Boar's Head choices: spoiler, none of them are great. Probably the corner cut to the right of both blocks of woodland before the gate to exit the park is a goer, but not between the blocks (massive depression) or over the high stile (I thought this avoids a gate but it doesn't).

Feeling ok probably due to low volume yday, although aches in some odd places probably due to speed yday.