It infuriates me that manufacturers of expensive equipment use cheap zips. Presumably because purchasers don't buy their kit on the quality of the zip.Originally Posted by Llani Boy
My son buys me expensive Italian cycling tops (!) which are now around £80 - the skinny zips are rubbish.
Eventually I take them to Timpsons and get fat robust YKK zips put on which costs around £35. Ridiculous!
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
10.66 miles, 3,828 feet, 3 hours 54 minutes: Loughrigg trails, taking in Fishgarths Wood, Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn and Loughrigg top. Overcast, with the cloud base just catching some of the high tops. A few minutes of drizzle; a few minutes of sunshine. A very strong but not cold wind from the south west. Terrain dry in places, but mainly wet/saturated and slippery. Lots of walkers about; 1 runner seen.
The wind was the main feature today - some of that height gain will be artifactual because of it.
10.17 miles, 3,863 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, along the ridge to the true top, and down to Hundreds Road and back up again. Mainly overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. A few brief sunny spells. No rain. If anything the wind was stronger today than yesterday - 2 people warned me about it as I was going up the steps. Terrain: very variable - dry in places, wet/saturated/slippery elsewhere. Quite a few walkers about. 2 runners seen.
I must have descended the race route 100s of times, but I still notice new things. Today it was a simple wooden cross with a fell runner's name on it. Presumably their ashes were spread nearby. What a superb spot. RIP.
11.3 miles, 3,012 feet, 3 hours 36 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including ascending via Fox Ghyll, going down the race route from the top to the road at High Close, down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore, and back up to the top via Loughrigg Terrace and the steps overlooking Grasmere. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. It slowly became sunnier as the day went on. A few minutes of drizzle. No significant wind. Terrain very variable and slippery where wet/saturated. Lots of walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen.
I was threatened by a couple of dogs on the terrace. Apparently they don't need to be on leads in the Lake District. News to me.
8.15 miles, 2,886 feet, 2 hours 53 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, taking in Stagshaw Gardens and The Champion Tree Trail, ascending the 1st time via Kelsick Scar, the 2nd from the upper part of Nanny lane, and going down the race route to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet; very misty below that. Constant drizzle/light rain. A strong cold wind from the north west. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. Not many walkers about; no runners seen.
There were some youngsters high up on the fell - it was good to see them enjoying the conditions.
10.33 miles, 2,523 feet, 3 hours 26 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending/descending via Clappersgate and Fishgarths Wood. Overcast and misty, the cloud base was at about 1,000 feet. Continuous drizzle/light rain. A moderate wind from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. Not many walkers about; 2 runners seen.
My Shakedry top is having its zip slider replaced, so I wore my Inov-8 top - it kept the wind off but my mid-layer was drenched at the end of the run.
10.25 miles, 2,274 feet, 3 hours 53 minutes: A drills/speed session in Borrans Park, then up to Wansfell Pike via Kelsick Scar, descending via the race route. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. The sun appeared briefly several times. No rain. A moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. Lots of people about, both on the fell and in the valley. 1 runner seen.
Again I did several drills, then 2.23 miles of faster running spread over 36 efforts, running in 9 different directions from the top of the park.
9 miles, 2,208 feet, 2 hours 47 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending via Clappersgate, Fishgarths Wood and Todd Crag, and descending past the old golf club. Overcast and misty, the cloud base was at about 500 feet. Almost continuous drizzle/light rain. A moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain streaming and very slippery - puddles everywhere. Despite the conditions there were quite a few walkers on the fell; 6 runners seen.
I explored some new trods and at one stage was thoroughly lost - what fun!
I have two Inov-8 Racelite Stormshell 150 tops - the older one has delaminated badly; the newer more intact one used to belong to my partner but she decided she did not like it. I wore the newer one today - it let quite a bit of water in but I did not get cold.
10 miles, 3,378 feet, 3 hours 9 minutes: Ambleside - Old Lake Road - Blue Hill Road - Blue Hill Lane - up the race route steps from the kissing gate - along the ridge to the true top - down to the upper part of Nanny Lane - back up to the Pike - High Skelghyll Farm - 3 way junction at 1,100 feet - Blue Hill Woods - back up Blue Hill Lane to the kissing gate - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base still at about 500 feet. Intermittent drizzle. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain streaming and slippery. Not many walkers on the fell; 5 runners seen.
12 miles, 3,033 feet, 3 hours 57 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - to the south west of Dove Crag - just below the top of Hart Crag - Dove Crag - back the way I came up. Initially quite sunny, though it soon became overcast - at least the clouds stayed above the high tops. A cold strong wind from the south west. Terrain dry in places, but mostly wet/saturated/streaming/slippery. Not many walkers about; 9 runners seen.
I stayed mainly on the race/east side of the wall. I suspect Fairfield recces are starting.
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