Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

9.63 miles, 3,196 feet, 3 hours 3 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including the loop up to the true top that comes back along the ridge, and down the race route to the race finish. Sunshine with high clouds, some fluffy, some streaky. A strong wind from the north east. No rain. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Not many walkers about. One other runner seen - in the valley.

One cuckoo heard.

Some of the local hills are just that bit too long and/or too steep for me to run the whole way, so I run/walk/run/walk until at the top. For some time I had been thinking about run/stop/run/stop - and I did this for the first time today. What surprised me was how little rest I needed - I thought it would be much longer. I must do this more. Which particular hills this applies to will of course vary from person to person.

[Mike T]

10.21 miles, 3,078 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending/descending via Fishgarths Wood, and taking in Todd and Ivy Crags and Lily Tarn, and going down the race route to the road at High Close and back up the steps opposite Loughrigg Tarn. Overcast, with the cloud base between 1,500 and 2,000 feet. A few minutes of drizzle; there was a moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain dry/damp with good grip. Not many walkers about; one other runner seen.

One cuckoo heard, and - again - that loud woodpecker at High Close Arboretum.

The campers at Todd Crag that I mentioned a few days ago seemed to have done a decent job of cleaning up after themselves - I could find no evidence of their stay. Well done them.

[Mike T]

10.05 miles, 3,873 feet, 4 hours 22 minutes: ODG - The Band - Three Tarns - Crinkle Crags - Blisco - down to the Red Tarn/3 Shires Stone path via the 3 Shires route and back up again - ODG. Overcast, with thin high clouds, and some fluffy clouds down to about 2,000 feet. Fairly weak sunshine at times. No significant wind; no rain. Terrain damp/wet and slippery in places. I only saw 10 walkers on the fells, though I did start early; I saw 2 runners in the valley.

The car parks were fairly busy but not heaving. The pub beer gardens looked like they were doing a good trade.

Two chaps at Three Tarns asked me the way to Scafell. Oh dear.

[Mike T]

11.69 miles, 3,456 feet, 4 hours 13 minutes: Elterwater Common to Sergeant Man and back, taking in Silver How, Lang How, Swinescar Pike and Blea Rigg one or both ways. Sunshine and banks of cloud/mist at multiple levels. No rain. A lovely refreshing breeze from the south east. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Quite a few walkers on Silver How; very few elsewhere. Three other runners seen.

I have been exploring the path to Sergeant Man that branches off from the main Stickle Tarn/Blea Rigg path - it is mentioned by Wainwright. It starts about halfway up at a bend in the path in a boulder field - there is a little walled shelter just beyond the junction - easy to miss. It is interesting once on it.

[mr brightside]

Photos are a great help Mike, i look forward to checking it out a week on friday...

Couldn't find them. I'm going to freestyle it, which will probably end up with me going down the bad step.

[Mike T]

8.7 miles, 2,595 feet, 2 hours 47 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including the loop along the ridge from the true top. Overcast, with cloud/mist down to about 800 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain saturated and slippery in places, though my new X-talon 260 V2s did an excellent job. Very few people about; no other runners see.

I heard one cuckoo; I heard one yesterday as well.

[Mike T]

9.28 miles, 3,061 feet, 3 hours 15 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down to the road at High Close and back up again. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds, though initially there was mist down to about 600 feet in places. No rain; no significant wind. Terrain anything from damp to wet/saturated and slippery in places. Not many walkers on the fell; five other runners seen.

The bracken is doing its thing - soon some of the paths I was on today will be unpleasant/impractical/impossible /invisible.

Two cuckoos heard today.

[Mike T]

10 miles, 2,839 feet, 3 hours 27 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low Pike - High Pike - Dove Crag - High Pike - Low Pike - around and back up under the rock step - Low Sweden Bridge - Ambleside. Initially overcast with intermittent drizzle/light rain and a cloud base at about 1,500 feet; it slowly became sunnier/less cloudy, and the rain stopped. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain saturated and slippery. Very few walkers about; one fellow AAC runner seen, no doubt doing a race recce.

One cuckoo heard. Lots of bluebells and wild garlic.

[Mike T]

10.12 miles, 2,827 feet, 3 hours 17 minutes: Wansfell Pike from two sides, including the loop along the ridge to the true top, down to the top of Nanny Lane, and back up again. Sunshine and clouds, mainly the latter; the cloud base was initially around 1,500 feet, rather higher later. Intermittent drizzle/light rain. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain anything from dry to saturated; grip variable. I saw about 20 walkers on the fell, and no other runners.

One cuckoo heard.

I did quite a bit of run/rest/run/rest today (as opposed to run/walk/run/walk) - it is surprising what can be run up if you are rested. The rests were until my breathing just started to settle - 15 to 25 seconds.

[Mike T]

12.50 miles, 3,511 feet, 3 hours 40 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe clockwise from Rothay Bridge and back to Ambleside, going down the rock step. Sunshine and clouds - the cloud base was at about 2,000 feet. A strong quite cold wind from the north east. No rain. Terrain dry/damp/wet and slippery in places. Not many walkers on the fells.

I was overtaken by two runners - the first, descending from Hart Crag, was clutching a device with a screen in front of him; the second overtook me just above the rock step.

I took the four trods to the left of the main path on the ascent - the first and second are quicker/nicer, the third has less wind exposure and is grass all the way though I doubt it is quicker, the fourth is quicker/nicer, but of course cannot be used in the Fairfield race as it misses a checkpoint, though it can be used in the Rydal Round.