aye...'n that's where tha can stick 'em!Originally Posted by dominion
end of story (no doubt some prat'll keep it goin)
aye...'n that's where tha can stick 'em!
end of story (no doubt some prat'll keep it goin)
Last edited by wharfeego; 17-06-2008 at 07:37 AM. Reason: spelt "prat" rong
What's that then?
Errr....
aye...'n that's where tha can stick 'em!
end of story (no doubt some pratt'll keep it goin)
Give me two mins and I'll explain it....
Quite a few runners on the fellsman used poles, don't know if they helped as some of 'em were behind me and i'm not quick!
The grand union canal race has banned them as they are as dangerous as riders shoving them in the spokes during the tour de france!
Re: Walking poles at Ennerdale
Would tend to agree with Dominion. However, I went around most of the Borrowdale course last year with a pair of Pacer poles just to see what they are like. I found that my steep ascending improved, that knees and ankles were nicely protected on descents BUT I felt generally shattered at the end maybe because I was using different/additional muscle groups . Furthermore, the messing around with unnecessary carrying must take its toll. The only way they would work for me in racing, is if a pair were left at the bottom of steep climbs and I could throw them aside at the top. So that would be a few pairs of poles and more debris on the fells that would make Go gel tabs seem like the golden age of litter.
Hiya,
Blimey - that caused a bit of a stir! Yeah, I think a bit of explanation might be in order - but it's good to have sparked an interesting debate off on this one in any case.
Running Ennerdale with poles on Saturday was basically just a training run for something else, not part of any plan to start using them in UK fell races. Because of the job I do, nowadays I live & work in the Alps for a large chunk of the year - so mostly race in France during the summer - where as several folk have mentioned, quite a lot of people use poles in the longer mountain races.
Problem is, it's quite hard finding good places to train with them in the UK, so I asked the organiser at Ennerdale if it was Ok to use them as a training run for for some of the longer continental races I've got lined up this summer (Mt Blanc Ultratrail etc) and also specifically asked to put me down as non competitive in the results if anyone minded me using them.
The organiser was fine about it & we agreed on keeping them out of the way till folk thinned out on the hill etc. Naturally we also had quite a bit of discussion going on before and after the race amongst various mates & other runners about whether they might be any use in uk races too - but having run round Ennerdale with them, I'd say the answer is a definite 'no chance they'll ever catch on!'
ie It's too rough + too many short climbs & descents in British races for it to ever be worth doing the large amount of pole training required to make any potential difference. For UK races you'd be far better off doing all your hill training without poles, than by splitting your training time between uphill pole training + pure uphill running training, which is what I do in order to train for the French races.
Using poles can make a considerable difference out there - but only in longer races and you do have to train with them a lot. ie on races where you've got long climbs, generally on a path, with a steady gradient so you can get into a proper rythmn. A lot of the runners you see using them also do ski mountaineering competitions in the winter - so they know how to use the poles efficiently & train with them year round.
So I wouldn't worry too much, it was just some wierdo on a training run - and fell running's not about to be overrun by hordes of lycra wearing continentals tripping everyone up with trekking poles! Soon as I get back in the Autumn, mine are going straight back in the cupboard so I can start doing some proper running...
See you at Langdale,
Al
PS - most common piss take on Saturday: "tha's a bloke here wi' 2 snooker cues on 'is back!" - I had 3 of them on the way round!
Hi Al - interesting comments.
Having said that he way you got over the first stile with one pole looked impressive...
That's the end of that, then?
Yeah - before I bought a pair to use out in the Alps (initially for the MB Ultratrail) - the only thing I'd noticed was that non of the winners ever seemed to use them - so I was a bit sceptical at first, but they definitely do work:
http://www.alpine-guides.com/blog/?p=115
To get the most out of them, it helps if you do a lot of this though:
http://www.alpine-guides.com/blog/?cat=27
('ski mountaineering' is basically winter fell running for Swiss people - you often see the same people winning the spanish & italian skyraces as win their ski mtneering competitions in the winter too. Can't see the clothing catching on on the fells though - but we did get Ben Bardsley into a Lycra catsuit a few times last winter!)
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