Nice to see someone's paying attentionOriginally Posted by Ady In Accy
Was it free ale at the New Inn this weekend then Stolly?. For what its worth, my car was parked out of town in Ingleton but had money in it!
I'm glad we've cleared that miniscule of detail up
Race #11
17th May 2008 - The Fairfield Horseshoe - 10 Miles and 3,000 ft of Ascent
OS Explore Route
My preparation for this race wasn't quite ideal, with me driving pretty much for 12 hours and 500 miles the day before, so I turned up feeling more than a bit groggy and tired. Mind you it was a glorious day for a run and walking from the car parking field (for the best part of 3/4 of a mile) to register at Rydal Hall and then back again, with some stunning lakeland scenery all around me, soon started to sort me out. I said hello to Hopey, Manhar and Merrylegs in the car park and, having put my gear on, wandered back up the track again for the start, with Mudlugger saying hello just before the off.
Then we were off, heading up a lane and a stoney track before then going completely off piste so as to climb up to the top of Nab Scar the hard way. Its hard not to imagine the bright spark who 'invented' this race what 41 years ago looking at the contours here and picking out the stupidest and steepest route up.... because we all know that any fell race must have at least one long, sheer, ball breaker of a climb in it to count.
Steep ups are really the thing I'm least good at, maybe because, other than in races, I normally run rather than walk the 'ups' and never practice or train for steep walking. Running really wasn't an option on this climb unfortunately and maybe as many as 40 people (including ML) went past me going up. Once on the tops though, things started to suit me better and I started to hold my ground and then make up some, as much of the route became more runnable. I could even manage a smile..... although the Keighley and Craveners seemed to be having less fun:
The weather was bright and clear with only a little clag down for the final half a mile up to the summit of Fairfield itself. If the clag hadn't been there, it'd have looked like this:
Mind you this last claggy ascent up to the top of Fairfield was all runnable and I felt I was hitting my stride now, hitting the turn at the top after 1 hour and 3 minutes. Now things started to speed up and we came out of the clag for a short while before going back into it for Dove Crag. Somewhere in the mix at this point was a really rocky scramble but after that we came out of the clag and rocks with a brilliant view of Windermere and the hills surrounding, all tinged a surreal blue..... and maybe the last 4 miles to the finish all one fantastic and brilliant (lunatic in places) descent.
I now managed to make up even more ground and, after High Pike, was pleased to spot Merrylegs 100 metres in front and even more pleased when I started to gain on him. I was following two other runners (Darwin Dashers I think) and ML was in front of them but, with ML maybe only 50 metres away not far below Low Pike, he branched left while the two Darwin Dashers went straight on, still following the most obvious path. In a quandry I decided to follow the Dashers but this was a massive mistake as, when the paths converged again, I was 200 metres behind Merrylegs. Looking at the race map after the event, I definitely took the wrong line here, which included an almost Big Step like scramble down some rocks and a stile or two.
We were nearing the finish now and finally broke out of a small wood adjacent to the car park field and just had to slog up the track to Rydal Hall for the finish. I felt strong at the end with a time of 1:51. Bloody annoyed not to have at least given ML a race for the finish though.
A fabulous race all the same with a fantastic 4 mile descent to cap it all.
Results
Last edited by Stolly; 20-05-2008 at 06:26 AM.
Well done, Stolly, that Silk Cut 20 mins before the start, buggered up my descendingThat view of Windemere was stunning, could have stopped and drunk it in all day. Wife hasn't been to the lakes since she was a nipper, said she could live there, roll on retirement
From work, not fell running
Well done, Stolly, that Silk Cut 20 mins before the start, buggered up my descending
On the running front, I may have to include puffing on a Silk Cut to my pre race rituals.
24th May 2008 - Pen y Ghent from Horton - 5.5 miles and 1650 ft of Ascent
OS Explore Route
Last year this little run was one of my bog standard, twice a monthers but, strangely, I don't think I've run it at all this year. I was planning of running something more challenging to be honest but my right knee was giving me jip and I settled for a steady trot out instead.
Mind you going up was anything but steady with the strong wind being head on all the way up, making the all of the climb a full on work out. Coming down was easier going, albeit my knee was now feeling worse by the second. I stepped in a rabbit scrape running in the wilds on Wednesday night and hurt my left knee and right ankle doing that but, gradually, ever since Thursday morning my right knee has been hurting more and more. It feels like the inner (medial?) ligament strain to me.
Anyway I finished ok in 1 hour and 4 minutes - which is slow for me but not too bad. Unfortunately my knee now feels worse today and I'm getting a bit worried, what with Duddon planned for next week and hopefully the Wharfedale off road marathon the week after. A couple of on-line sports injury sites talk about 3 weeks for such knee problems rest but sod that - I'll try a twelve miler tomorrow and see what happens
26th May 2008 – The Settle ‘Scar’ Run – 12 Miles and 2000 ft of Ascent
OS Explore Route
I had an ice pack on my right knee most of yesterday evening and this morning it felt marginally better; good enough for a steady run I thought anyway and a good tester to see whether Duddon was a possibilty for Saturday next. Kelly my eldest daughter also ran with me today and we decided to try a new route out from Settle.
Going north out of Settle along the Ribble Valley there is a ridge to the west that rises onto a limestone plastered plateau with Giggleswick Scar providing a shear drop off on the non-Ribble side and Smearsett Scar, a shark fin shaped hill, finally standing at the highest point before the ridge drops down to the Helwith Bridge to Austwick road. Beyond that road a new ridge rises that eventually turns into the first buttresses of Ingleborough towering over Clapham to the west. To the right of the Ribble, is an L shaped ridge with the bottom of the L stretching to Kirby Fell above Malham and the upright running parallel with the Ribble and eventually becoming part of Pen y Ghent to the north.
Our plan was to run up the left ridge, climb to the trig at Smearsett Scar, drop down to Stainforth, climb up past Catrigg Force heading towards Langcliffe Scar before running down through Attermire Scar, around High Hill and dropping down into Settle from the east. 12 miles in all which would be a pretty tough run for Kels… and me also what with a semi crocked knee to contend with. What with everything being named the something-or-other scar it seemed right to call this route our ‘scar’ run.
I was feeling somewhat worried about my knee before the off and, in a moment of weakness, decided to dig out my old blue elasticated knee support; the kind of support most often seen being worn by most competitors at the ultra slow end of most road runs I’ve ever been on; often on both knees in fact of obviously over weight and out of their depth, aging joggers. Initially as we ran through Settle on the roads I was finding it painful to run and hard not to limp so I guess the knee support did give me some extra confidence……. I'm not sure the confidence compensated though for the prat I'm sure I looked to any discerning anybody that we passed along the way!
Anyway we soon went off road, following the Ribble itself before heading up the fell side at Stackhouse. The climb here is comfortably gradual through various cow and sheep laden fields but thankfully, for Kel’s sake, we soon rose above the ‘cow line’ where she could then stop panicking about cow attacks. After a bit of off path meandering we reached Smearsett and climbed up one of the steep flanks to the wind battered top. Mind you most everywhere was wind battered today but, on top of Smearsett, it was incredibly strong such that we had to lean forward at 45 degrees to make progress. We then dropped off the front side of Smearsett, took the wrong path at the bottom, and generally made our way down to Stainforth by pointing ourselves in roughly the right direction and climbing what ever obstacles appeared in our way.
Smearsett trig from the side that we ran down:
In the valley we then hit civilisation at Little Stainforth, ran down the lane past Stainforth Force (a smallish waterfall and summer swimming hole) before heading up the other side, crossing the Horton road, and running up through Stainforth itself.
The shark fin of Smearsett Scar from above Stainforth:
After about half a mile of generally uphill running we passed Catrigg Force (about 100 metres off the path to our left in a wooded valley). This waterfall is just stunning (although less so today with a bare trickle of water).
The little valley it lies in is beautiful too and, as it’s a bit off the beaten track, there are usually few other tourists around. Lots of wild garlic hereabouts too:
After Catrigg we followed the path a while longer before going off piste, more or less pointing ourselves slightly to the right of Langcliffe Scar on the horizon before us. The terrain was all tussocky grass and limestone and felt quite punishing on my poor old knee, which underneath my knee support was now also sweating like a frigging pig on a stick! We crossed the Langcliffe to Malham road and after a bit more wandering finally came to ground we knew well at Jubilee Cave and Attermire.
My knee was now hurting quite a lot and I decided to take off the embarrassing knee support, allowing the cool wind to carress away the stabbing pains from my hot and sweaty knee. Incredibly it did feel better without the support and, after what had been a very slow and steady run so far, I finally felt confident enough to speed up a little. We both raced through Attermire Scar and around High Hill, dropping back down to Settle on the Pennine Bridleway and finishing quite strong after 2 hours and 17 minutes. Not my fastest run by a long chalk but, although my knee stiffened up this afternoon, its feeling much better tonight than it did last night (touch wood) and Duddon Valley could still be a goer. Kelly did the run easy too which was impressive.
A lovely run and I can't wait to do it with both knees present and correct.
Last edited by Stolly; 26-05-2008 at 11:23 PM.
OUT OF ORDER
A repair man has been called.
What up stolly?
Sounds like you've the same as me.
Stabbing pains in your knee on the front????
Its the inside of my right knee where I get my stabbing painsWhat up stolly?
Sounds like you've the same as me.
Stabbing pains in your knee on the front????
On the positive side I could barely walk early last week, I managed to run 100 yards on Saturday (although it bleeding hurt) and increased that to a massive 300 yards last night. Its fine for walking now but still stabs me when I run.
Last edited by Stolly; 04-06-2008 at 09:24 AM.
well am impressed.....especially the lack of blood and how clean your scalpel is
I'm guessing you've tried the usual ice malarchy and 34 ibuprofen tabs a day?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
