So I guess we should all meet at Snaizeholme for grouping???? Look forward to it!
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So I guess we should all meet at Snaizeholme for grouping???? Look forward to it!
Looking forward to it feeling good too. Bit of a niggle in right knee but feeling better than last year :thumbup:
I'm really looking forward to it.
Kit lists made, route planned on the map, GPS programmed, long range weather forecasts being studied and having the compulsory footwear dilemmas!!
Not really sure on how long it is going to take me with it being my first time - when I'm feeling optimistic I'm hoping for 19 hours but suspect nearer 21 hours could be more realistic. Have to see how it goes.
Emma I was like that last year. You will do fine go with something with good grip on your feet. Dont worry about navigation too much if it's clear their is always someone in sight :w00t:
I felt the urge to copy and paste the checkpoint menu from the fellsman web site. I love the food on this event :)
ROADSIDE CHECKPOINT MENU 2011
HILL INN: TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, BISCUITS
KINGSDALE: TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, FLAPJACK, BISCUITS
DENT: TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, SAUSAGE/CHEESE & ONION ROLLS, BEANS, BREAD/BUTTER, FRUIT, BISCUITS
STONEHOUSE: TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, PASTA & TOMATO SAUCE, GRATED CHEESE, BREAD/BUTTER, CAKES, JAM, RAISINS, BISCUITS
REDSHAW: TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, HOTDOGS, ONIONS, SAUCES, TOMATO SOUP, CHEESE, BANANA’S, MALT LOAF, BISCUITS
FLEET MOSS: TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, FRESH HOMEMADE VEG SOUP, BREAD/BUTTER, CHEESE, JAM, MARMITE, BISCUITS
CRAY: TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, VARIOUS SANDWICHES, SPAGHETTI HOOPS, RICE PUDDING, FRUIT SALAD, BISCUITS
PARK RASH: TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, HOT CHOCOLATE, COCKTAIL SAUSAGES, BREAD/BUTTER, CAKE, RAISINS, BISCUITS
YARNBURY TEA, COFFEE, JUICE, BISCUITS
I've highlighted all my favourites
Bang goes the weather......Quote:
Originally Posted by Dixie
I'm feeling the same Emma. I've been having all sorts of niggles and problems with my knee and so completing it is still an issue but I am hoping for under 20 hours. I'm running the Pembrokeshire Coast Path two weeks later and that is my major focus so if I feel that I'm jeopardising that on the Fellsman, I'll probably retire. I'm going to give it a bash though and I think if I take it steady I stand a chance of completing. My main worry is navigation and I will be hoping for decent weather but as Stolly says...the mention of it being clear will probably guarantee clag and rain!:rolleyes:
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Originally Posted by emma7027
The spaghetti hoops last year (at Cray?) are quite possibly the nicest thing I have ever tasted. I admit that there is an outside possibility that fatigue may have clouded my judgement.
On the whinjury front, I lost that majority of skin from the underside of my big toe doing the Highlander*, so I am praying to the skin-gods that it will regrow in time for the Fellsman.
*Yes, I realise it was careless to lose it!
A word of warning based on experience of many Ultras over the years: beware of savoury pasta on its own. It will cause your blood sugar to plummet and you will drag your sorry donkey (sorry, ass) for the next few hours wondering how you can possibly continue while contemplating retirement at the next checkpoint. It happens to me every time after Stonehouse on the Fellsman, not to mention Courmayeur on UTMB. I remember sitting down as weak as a kitten on the top of Great Knoutberry to eat my own sugary fuel after the substantial feed at Stonehouse, just to get going again. I've grown wise to it. If you have savoury pasta, chase it down with something sweet and substantial like rice pudding and peaches. Oh bum, they don't serve that at Stonehouse.
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Originally Posted by Stolly
Well I'm about as fit as I'm going to be and I'm feeling ready. No weak excuses, sorry ;) but then I'm walking not running :P
It's a bit like Christmas as a kid, the two weeks before just seem to drag...
Any advice about what to eat at the checkpoints would be very welcome BritNick, I don't have a clue and this is the longest thing I've ever done so any helpful hints would be very much appreciated.
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Originally Posted by BritNick
I ate what you wanted at the check points but kept eating cliff jelly shots on the way around + jelly babies. Plenty of orange pop on offer to put in the bottle. Got me around my first last year :thumbup:.
It maybe the pasta Is complex carbs and takes some breaking down or the qauntity . I find if I over eat at a cp I have a down time afterwards as the body pulls blood from other parts( the big muscles in the legs esp.) to digest it. Saying that it is important to eat and drink on long runs. A steady nibble with the small meal at cps works best for me. I find custard or rice pudding good. But need some savoury food as I get fed up of sweet stuff after a while. You'll eat more if its cold too. Happy experimenting he's :-)
I remember gorging myself on hotdogs and doughnuts at the lunch checkpoint on the Hobble last year – I had to walk for the next two miles as every time I tried to run I felt sick! :oQuote:
Originally Posted by old un
I’ll be trying to exercise a little restraint on the Fellsman.
Britnick has totally ruined the best meal of the entire route for me :) - the pasta just goes down so well at Stonehouse, especially so if its cold.
In the 2009 Fellsman there was an absolute deluge of rain which caught me totally exposed while I was going over Blea Moor and I became completely drenched and absolutely frozen (and with uncontrollable shivering and frozen hands had to strip off my wet clothes and put on dry plus full body cover waterproofs in the fire break in the woods coming off Blea Moor). That pasta pretty much saved my life and for sure reinstalled my resolve to carry on. To be honest I don't recall having an energy loss after eating it both times I've done the fellsman but, at the same time, my legs definitely struggled up that frigging cart track going up to Great Knoutberry both times. it might have been the pasta but I think it was simply f**ked legs :D
Never had any problems with the pasta at Stonehouses. Always flown up Arten Gill and Great Knoutberry afterwards, nor had any issues later. Must be just Nick. Just make sure you eat often and what you crave, whether that's sweet or savory. It's got me through 17 Fellsmans so can't be all bad.
I agree with Nick on this. I've always crashed badly after Stonehouse, and after the last time, I came to the conclusion that it must be the pasta. I'll definitely be skipping it this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by BritNick
Thanks for the input everyone. I guess we are all different and probably I should just listen to my body (but not too much or I'll never set off!;) ) and eat what I feel I need the most. Looks like a really well organised event and there is plenty of food on the list that I can eat and like (I'm veggie). I'm sort of looking forward to it now.:)
I did exactly the same on rotherham last year emma, i ran fast 1st half didn't eat and then crashed , gorged at drop bag cp and that was that for an hour until my body caught up again. It does us good to cock it up now again and learn a lesson or be reminded of one. I'd like to say I won't do it again but when u smell the hot food when ur hungry or cold and.............
Don't sit down for too long at checkpoints either Hes, it makes it very hard to get your stiff limbs moving again! A good strategy we found was to grab some food at the checkpoints and then slowly walk on, eating it on the move. Once it's gone down you can pick up the pace again if you want, but it did seem to keep us from stiffening up too much.
Oh, and bung a few custard creams or bit of fruit in your pockets, something to nibble on between check points if you need it.
Good luck with it.
I always like to have a bit of a look back on the night section, and see all the little groups of head torch lights strung around the course. I think the night time bit is my favourite, really.
Thanks PB, you are right, I think sitting down for me might be fatal, I'll probably never get going again.:) I'm aiming to walk and eat and then speed up again. Any stopping will just be for 'comfort breaks' and perhaps if I really need to do a few stretches. The biccies in pockets idea is great. I like to know I have a few sweets or something to look forward to. :)
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Originally Posted by plodding bear
Each to their own I suppose, but I disagree with rushing through checkpoints and grabbing some food to eat on the move. For instance, at Dent I must have had 15 minutes to make sure I had eaten properly and had some tea. Same thing at Stonehouses and Fleet Moss. Still did under 17hrs. It's false economy not to rest and fuel yourself. It's not as if most here are in with a chance of winning, so those extra minutes taken are not vital. Moreover, it will pay dividends later. Importantly, it's not what you can do in the first 10 miles, but what you can do in the last 10 !!Quote:
Originally Posted by plodding bear
Dog Breath I think things like this really depend on each individual. Whilst its definitely important to get the right amount of food and drink down, I'd argue it pays to keep on the move if you can to help reduce stiffening up or in my case getting cold.
I don't know if you did it the year of the deluge in 2009 but the tent at Cray was blown down and the best they could do at short notice was put some kind of pig truck there instead. Unfortunately it was open to the wind when I got there. I can get cold really quickly if I stop moving and to make matters worse at Cray that year I had to wait 44 minutes for a grouping and pretty much froze my nuts off. There are loads of food stops on the way round so there is plenty of opportunity to grab a snack, a drink and then move off with a couple of sandwiches or biscuits in hand. For sure at the front of the field the guys looking to finish in the 10 to 12 hour zone certainly won't be spending 5 minutes, let alone 15, at every food stop.
The 2009 Fellsman was the only one I've missed for a while. But in my 17 Fellsmans I've had some rough ones so I know what it's like. I don't usually have a problem with limbs stiffening up as I haven't gone off too hard, paced myself properly, fed & watered, and rested myself. As I said, each to their own, but it works for me.
17 fellsmans is impressive! I think the stiffening up will apply more to newbies like me that aren't used to the distance. I know that on my longer runs I do stiffen up if I don't keep moving and, whilst a rest may have to be taken now and again, I find the painfulness of setting off a bit demoralising. I'm not competing but completing (hopefully) so time isn't the issue for me. I do admire those of you that are conditioned and fit for ultras. I think I've got a few more years of hard graft before I will be!:rolleyes:
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Originally Posted by Dog Breath
for my two peneth I reckon on targeting three or four stops as 'long' ones. Get some propor food and water in you and make sure everything is still where it should be. I did that at Dent, Fleet Moss and Cray.
as someone else said it's a false economy to whizz thru in 5 minutes only for the next stage to take 20 minutes longer becuase you're knackered.
enjoy!
Read this part of the thread with interest. this will be my 6th fellsman and last year tried a new tactic of not stopping at the check points. I had two botttles put water and tab in one and the other had tea in , used my mugs for foood and ate on the move. this worked for me.
I think as it has already been said it is horses for courses and what works for one is not always the same for another due to many factors; amount of training, health and ability to suffer.
love the phrase complete rather than compete . It is a great day out and a good look at yourself.
With the fellsman in mind I tried out running in my running tights with nothing on underneath tonight, but with my Ron Hill running shorts over the top - the idea being that I don't want to wear tons of stuff but equally don't want to have to prat about putting leggings on after dark either. At the same time, I do want to make use of the pockets and pouches on my shorts for carrying snacks and bits and bobs. The look wasn't great mind - kind of like a mamby pamby mountain biker if I'm honest :)
The trouble is that wearing nothing under the running tights led to a certain amount of er... 'dingle dangling about' and I sure as heck would suffer some chaffage that way over 60 miles :D
Pants on then...
ha ha ha...yes, please keep your pants on during the Fellsman!;);)
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Originally Posted by Stolly
Dog Breath, I wasn't advocating 'rushing' through checkpoints, just a slow and leisurely refuel to avoid stiffening up too much that's all.
On the basis of just one Fellsman, I'm with the 'keep moving' advocates. I only suffered with stiffening up twice - when forced to stop for 15 minutes to have my (entire) kit checked, and when we had to stop for almost half an hour to get grouped. Other than these, my longest stop was at Dent, for 5 minutes.Quote:
Originally Posted by plodding bear
Well living just down the road from Ingleton means that I'm very attune with the local weather in the general fellsman area and you'll be pleased to know its been absolutely peeing down. And it is due to continue that way on and off for the next few days for sure, with maybe some proper heavy rain due Monday and Tuesday next week (if you believe the long range weather forecast). Certainly the usual boggy bits in the local hills are really, really nice and wet and boggy :). I don't have any pictures of Fleet Moss personally but I suspect that the peat groughs are filling up nicely. As a nice scene setter I did manage to find an apt picture of Fleet Moss on the web though:
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/9941/fleetmoss1.jpg
:) :)
That said the long range weather forecast is predicting slightly better weather for 28th, maybe even some sunshine
Im in Upper Wharfedale and that is a fair assessment of the current conditions. It's going to be soft going.
That looks lovely :thumbup: I must admit to having had a few envious thoughts reading all the recent posts about the Fellsman, wishing I was doing it. Now I'm feeling a little better about things. On my one and only Fellsman in 2010, Fleet Moss was bone dry!Quote:
Originally Posted by Stolly
yep...must remember to pack my snorkel and tie my shoelaces tightly!:w00t:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Muddy Retriever
8 days to go and I have picked up the lurgy and sent home from work today before I infect everyone else. I could hardly sit up straight with coughing and wretching fits never so god knows how next weekend will go? :mad:
Also on the 'wounded' list, I'm still limping round with the calf tear that pulled me up halfway round Gisborough Moors on Sunday.
My chances even of starting aren't looking very promising at the moment. :thunbdown:
bloody hell the excuses are starting........... only joking lads sorry to hear some of us arent 100%, ive got an ulcer giving my stomach a run for its money too but will be there even if i have to walk round, which looking at stolly's picture could well be the case in parts. that looked a bit wet and messy stolly thanks for the update :thumbup:going to get the map sorted over weekend i think :confused:
Me too tussock face, had MRI and it looks like I've managed to sustain a compression fracture of the tibia, I've yet to hear fom the consultant for the final diagnosis and outlook so still a tiny glimmer of hope
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Originally Posted by Tussockface
good luck with it protodoc.