Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

11.3 miles, 3,081 feet, 3 hours 38 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including from the top down the steps through Deerbolts Woods along Grasmere shore to White Moss and back up again. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds, no rain, no significant wind. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Lots of walkers on the fell; one other runner seen.

This is the second day in a row that we have had real sunshine - spoilt!

My X-talon 260 V2s have started to split - grrrrr!

[Mike T]

12.42 miles, 3,491 feet, 4 hours 6 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe clockwise from/to Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. A few minutes of sunshine. Intermittent precipitation, anything from drizzle to heavy rain. A moderately strong wind from the north west. Terrain damp/wet/saturated/streaming and slippery in places. I saw about 15 walkers on the fells, and 2 other runners.

The heaviest rain was whilst I was on the Fairfield plateau - it is a long time since I have been so wet. The Inov-8 smock I had with me helped a lot once on, though it is a shame the zip would not close.

I went on the 1st, 2nd and 4th trods to the left/west on the ascent, to the south west of Dove Crag, and stayed on the non race side of the wall, going down the rock step. An extra rock has been added at the bottom of the longest and steepest drop and it really helps.

[Mike T]

10.4 miles, 3,013 feet, 3 hours 18 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Overcast, with high fluffy clouds; some glimpses of blue sky. No rain, no significant wind. Terrain damp/wet and slippery in places. Lots of walkers on the fell - there must have been 50 people on the Pike on my second visit. One other runner seen.

The race route descent from the Pike is still enjoyable, unlike many bracken blocked paths elsewhere.

[Mike T]

12.12 miles, 3,589 feet, 4 hours: Ambleside - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - Dove Crag - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Roundhill farm - Ambleside. Overcast, with confluent high fluffy clouds. A few minutes of drizzle. A lovely cool breeze from the south west. Terrain damp/wet/saturated and slippery in places. I saw 11 walkers on the fells, and 1 runner.

Not far down from the top of Red Screes a highland cow had just given birth - the calf was on its feet so presumably it was fine. A farmer was nearby on his quad bike making sure people did not get too close.

Lots of blackberries near Roundhill Farm, but they are nowhere near ready.

[Mike T]

9.1 miles, 2,495 feet, 2 hours 38 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, down to Nanny Lane and back up again, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds. No rain, no significant wind. Terrain dry/damp with mainly good grip. Quite a lot of walkers on the fell; I came across the AAC Tuesday/Friday group - there were about 10 of them - they were well below me on the descent from the Pike, and for some reason crossed from the race descent to the steps - I almost caught them at the kissing gate.

[Mike T]

9.07 miles, 3,090 feet, 3 hours 3 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 3 sides, including the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds; no rain, no significant wind. Terrain dry/damp with good grip. Not many walkers on the fell; 3 other runners seen.

[Mike T]

12.87 miles, 3,448 feet, 4 hours 4 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe clockwise from/to Ambleside, going over the tops on the way up, and over Dove Crag rather than bypassing it to the south west; then I stayed on the non race side of the wall, and went down the rock step. Overcast - I was in cloud/mist above 2,500 feet. Some patches of blue sky below this. No rain; a lovely breeze from the south which helped to combat the humidity. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. I saw about 50 walkers on the fells - yes, I was counting them - and 5 runners.

[Mike T]

10.94 miles, 3,057 feet, 3 hours 25 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the race route to the road at Hight Close, down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore, along the river to White Moss, back along the other side of the river, through Deerbolts Woods again and up the steps. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,500 feet. A moderately strong wind from the south west. About 30 seconds of drizzle. Terrain damp/wet and slippery in places. Not many walkers about; 2 other runners seen.

I was expecting the race descent to High Close to be blocked by bracken, and that I would have to retreat, but no, it was quite reasonable.

[Mike T]

8.43 miles, 2,429 feet, 2 hours 35 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including down the other side to Nanny Lane and back up again, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,200 feet. Constant drizzle/light to moderate rain. A strong wind from the south when on the top. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery in places. I saw 3 walkers and 2 runners on the fell.

[Mike T]

10.03 miles, 2,253 feet, 2 hours 54 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Bog Lane - Skelwith Bridge - Neum Crag - Loughrigg Tarn - up the steps overlooking the tarn - down the race route from the top to the road at High Close - up the steps overlooking Grasmere to the top - Lily Tarn - Fishgarths Wood - Clappersgate - Rothay Bridge. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. Some patches of blue sky. Intermittent drizzle/light rain. No significant wind at this level. Terrain wet/saturated and slippery in places. I saw perhaps 40 walkers on the fell; 7 other runners seen.