Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

12.04 miles, 4,005 feet, 3 hours 57 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Rothay Park - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low Pike - High Pike - just below Dove Crag - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Roundhill Farm - Ambleside. Overcast and misty, the cloud base was at about 2,500 feet. A strong blustery wind from the south west. Intermittent drizzle/light rain. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Only 3 walkers seen on the fells, and no runners.

From below Dove Crag to Scandale went well, as did the ascending trod away from the wall up Red Screes. The latter path is vague at the top, and I will need to recce it again.

[Mike T]

10.18 miles, 1,053 feet, 1 hour 58 minutes: Ambleside - Bog Lane - Skelwith Bridge - Drunken Duck - Ambleside. Overcast and misty; the cloud base was at about 2,000 feet. Almost constant drizzle/light rain, though I took my waterproof top off after a couple of minutes and did not put it back on. All on bitumen, which was wet/streaming. Very few walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

I did add several out and back sections to increase the distance a bit.

[Mossdog]

10.18 miles, 1,053 feet, 1 hour 58 minutes: Ambleside - Bog Lane - Skelwith Bridge - Drunken Duck - Ambleside. Overcast and misty; the cloud base was at about 2,000 feet. Almost constant drizzle/light rain, though I took my waterproof top off after a couple of minutes and did not put it back on. All on bitumen, which was wet/streaming. Very few walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

I did add several out and back sections to increase the distance a bit.

How do you fair on bitumen Mike (re physical impact)? I avoid it like the proverbial plague as it seems to chew my calves and ankles these days. Maybe I've just grown soft and feeble in my dotage

[Mike T]

I am fine on bitumen with the right shoes - Trailfly Ultra G 300 Max - they are lovely and cushioned - I would wear them all the time if they had decent grip on fell terrain, but they don't.

[Mike T]

10.14 miles, 3,402 feet, 3 hours 16 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and along the ridge from the true top back to the Pike. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,000 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain, a moderately strong wind from the south, terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. Very few walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

[Mike T]

10.47 miles, 3,093 feet, 3 hours 42 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including up the steps overlooking Loughrigg Tarn, down the race route to the road at High Close, and up the steps overlooking Grasmere. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,500 feet. A few minutes of drizzle, no significant wind, terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. Not many walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

There has been lots of rain in the past few days - streams and puddles everywhere, though the roads are mainly OK.

[Mike T]

11.05 miles, 3,047 feet, 3 hours 27 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and down the race route to the kissing gate. Thin high clouds, with banks of mist at multiple levels below that. Occasional weak sunny spells. No rain, no significant wind. Terrain mainly wet/saturated and slippery. Not many walkers about; 3 other runners seen.

[Mike T]

12.28 miles, 2,488 feet, 3 hours 35 minutes: Rothay Bridge to Silver How and back, going out via Under Loughrigg, Rydal, Grasmere shore, and Deerblts Woods, and coming back via the steps overlooking Grasmere to Loughrigg top. Sunshine and high clouds, mainly the latter; the cloud base was at about 2,500 feet. A moderate breeze from the north. No rain. The terrain is anything from dry to wet/saturated/streaming/slippery. Not many walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

The entire Loughrigg-Silver How race route is now viable in terms of the bracken - but it is of course very slippery in places.

[Mike T]

11.58 miles, 3,540 feet, 3 hours 41 minutes: Ambleside - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Roundhill Farm - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base initially at about 800 feet, later twice that; some brief sunny spells. A few minutes of drizzle; a moderately strong wind from the south. Terrain mainly wet/saturated/streaming and slippery. I saw perhaps 8 walkers on the fells, and no runners.

It is amazing how different some paths look when the crag is down.

[Mike T]

11.46 miles, 3,030 feet, 3 hours 26 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - High Skelghyll - Skelghyll Lane - Troutbeck - Nanny Lane - Wansfell true top - Wansfell Pike - Blue Hill Woods - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base above the high tops. No rain; a moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain wet/saturated and slippery. Very few walkers about; no runners seen.