Had a very enjoyable run round 'April in Ambleside' on Saturday. Haven't been to the Lakes for a long while so it was great to see the hills again in such beautiful conditions. Felt the lack of training and long runs towards the end, but good to get some decent miles in the legs. Organisation worked very well. About 120 starters with a couple going off every minute for an hour. Not ideal for proper racing, but fine for this kind of 'challenge' event.
Geoff Clarke
8.03 miles, 3,098 feet, 2 hours 39 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 3 sides. Sunshine and clouds, and that cold breeze persists, but I got down to my vest for the final descent. Terrain mainly dry and soft, though it was firm in places higher up where it had not seen the sun, with the odd patch of ice on minor streams. A few about on the fell and at Waterhead, but not as many as I was expecting.
Ventured out of Teesdale again to Eden Valley.
Start at Street, along to fell end road and then up via Fell End Clouds, carried on and straight up the fellside (considerably drier that usual) to Sand Tarn, short scramble, topping out at WILDBOAR trig. Off to Mallerstang edge and then headed SW to Swarth fell cairn, before running along the ridge and then dropped down the fence line into upper Grisedale Valley, turning back to Uldale road end, back over the 'Fell End Clouds, passing Wainwright's Lonely Tree, and return to Street after joining last section via Pennine Bridle Way.
12.09 miles, 2,644 ft, 2 hrs 51 mins.
Magnificent day of mainly wall-to-wall sunshine, heavy frost on the grass on the top slopes, cold fresh breeze, restorative heat out of the wind. Not a soul spotted, except at Uldale Farm on the way back to Street.
Am Yisrael Chai
11.01 miles, 3,057 feet, 3 hours 6 minutes: Loughrigg trails. Sunshine and clouds, a cool breeze, no precipitation - I got down to my vest for the last hour. Terrain dry and soft - lovely to run on. I should have chosen somewhere less central - it was crawling with people. There is a section of path about 1/4 of a mile long that Ivy Crag overlooks - normally it is empty, occasionally there's 1 or even 2 groups on it - today there were 6.
Another 78 miles walked in the last week.
Back to the physio yesterday who has given me the go ahead to start cycling again as long as it is on smooth roads and no steep hills which will cause me to pull on the bars and overdo the strain on the shoulder.
She also gave me the green light to start jogging
Off to Mid Wales this afternoon for a few days so no cycling but the running shoes were the first thing packed so a bit of walking/jogging in the hills is on the cards.
Onwards and Upwards
Visibility good except in Hill Fog
14.82 miles, 4,304 feet, 4 hours 43 minutes: Fairfield c/w, including down to Grisedale Tarn, and back up over Cofa Pike. Sunshine and clouds, no significant wind, no precipitation - down to my vest for the last hour or so. Terrain dry and soft. Not that many on the fell, quite a few in town. I overtook a group of runners on the other side of the wall on the descent - I think it shows how much more runnable it is on the right side rather than any descending skill on my part.
Fantastic route.
There's a bus service from my village through Glenridding/Patterdale/Kirkstone/Troutbeck, so looking forward to some linear training runs around this area.
I got my free bus pass just a week or 2 before the first lockdown, and have yet to use it. My partner recently walked from Ambleside down to Claife Heights, took the ferry over to Bowness, then the bus back to Ambleside. Ferry - £1, bus - £6; she was the only person on the bus. Pre lockdown a group of us got the bus from Kirkstone to Pooley Bridge and ran back - a good outing.
Using the bus pass from Kendal/Ambleside to Keswick or vice - versa then running back over Clough Head etc to Ambleside makes a good outing, I Particularly like boarding a bus after a good wet muddy run with well clarted up legs etc and presnting my bus pass which has often raised smile from some folk and been a coversation starter.
There are some excellent outings to be had using the bus pass which in my opinion is very enviromentally sound.
Last edited by JohnK; 14-04-2021 at 07:42 PM.
The older I get the Faster I was