Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

14.62 miles, 3,505 feet, 4 hours 39 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe anti-clockwise from/to Rothay Bridge. I went up the rock step, and stayed on the race side of the wall until the trod south west of Dove Crag; I also took the trod to the west of Great Rigg, and went down to Alcock Tarn from the top of Heron Pike, then along the Coffin Trail and Under Loughrigg Road. Overcast, with the clouds above the high tops. Misty in the distance. No rain. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Not many walkers on the fells; 8 runners seen.

One cuckoo heard.

[Mike T]

11.05 miles, 2,879 feet, 3 hours 22 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down from Loughrigg top via the race route and Deerbolts Woods, and back up again. Overcast with the cloud base at about 800 feet, and misty below that. Intermittent drizzle. A moderate breeze from the west. Terrain damp/wet, but grip was good apart from the rocks. Lots of walkers on the fell, including several large groups. One of the AAC stars ran past me on the steps going up from Grasmere - oh to be young and fit. There were lots of parkrunners walking away from Rothay Park as I set off.

[Mike T]

10.48 miles, 3,016 feet, 3 hours 26 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top. Another cloudy/misty day; the cloud base was at about 1,000 feet. No rain, though I slowly got a bit damp in the cloud. No wind to speak of. Terrain damp/wet/slippery. Not many walkers about; no runners seen. Another cuckoo heard, and I heard one yesterday as well.

[Mike T]

10.76 miles, 3,000 feet, 3 hours 32 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route to the road at High Close, left along the road, and back up to the top via the steps overlooking Loughrigg Tarn. Mainly overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. No rain. A moderate breeze from the the north. Terrain dry/damp with good grip. Lots of walkers on the fell. I saw 6-8 runners - one pair I may have seen twice.

Another cuckoo heard.

[Mike T]

13.32 miles, 3,485 feet, 4 hours 16 minutes: Rothay Bridge to Swinescar Pike and back, taking in Loughrigg top both ways, and Lang How and Silver How on the way back. Sunshine and high clouds, a moderate breeze from the south, no rain. Terrain dry/damp with mainly good grip. Quite a few walkers about; 14 runners seen; 4 cuckoos heard.

13 of the runners were the AAC Tuesday/Friday group - they had taken the bus from Ambleside to NDG and were running back over the tops. I might have joined them except that my partner has Covid, and although I have no symptoms, as I could have it and spread it, I did not think I should be on a bus. My partner got it car sharing with someone who started to develop symptoms during the journey.

[Mike T]

11.43 miles, 3,130 feet, 3 hours 52 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,000 feet, and misty below that. A few minutes of very weak sunshine. No rain. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain mainly wet, though some of the rocks were dry; grip variable. I saw perhaps a dozen walkers on the fell, and 1 runner; 1 cuckoo heard.

[Mike T]

11.03 miles, 2,858 feet, 3 hours 36 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending via Fox Ghyll, going from the top down the race route to High Close and back up again, and descending past the old golf club. Sunshine and high clouds, some of the latter catching a few of the high tops. No rain, no significant wind, terrain mainly dry with good grip. Not many walkers about, though I was staying away from the main paths as much as possible. 2 runners seen.

[Mike T]

12.36 miles, 3,367 feet, 3 hours 59 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe clockwise from/to Ambleside. Lots of thin high clouds letting through some pleasant sunshine. No rain. A lovely breeze from the south. Terrain mainly dry with excellent grip. Not many walkers about; 2 runners seen.

Above Nab Scar I took the trods to the west around the first 2 tops, but went over Great Rigg. I then went down the race side of the wall, and down the rock step. The descent mainly on grass away from the wall is in excellent condition for the race.

[Mike T]

13.09 miles, 3,448 feet, 4 hours 10 minutes: Ambleside - Fairfield Horseshoe anti-clockwise, ascending via the rock step and the race side of the wall, descending over Great Rigg and down the Nab Scar steps, and returning to Ambleside through Rydal Park. Widespread thin high clouds resulting in attenuated sunshine. A lovely breeze from the south east. No rain. Terrain dry with good grip. Lots of walkers on the fells.

The race leaders were coming over Great Rigg as I got there, and going through Rydal Park the finishers were coming towards me - none were walking despite the heat.

[Mike T]

10.82 miles, 3,009 feet, 3 hours 42 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route from the top to the road at High Close and back up again. Overcast, with more or less uniform high cloud cover, no rain, a gentle breeze from the south. Terrain dry with good grip. Lots of walkers on the fell; I saw 7 runners, and heard 3 cuckoos.

As I was finishing some of the FW cyclists were coming towards me when they had 5 miles or so to go - they were certainly moving.