Staying cool

A great day out yesterday. Mark drove, Rosemary did a triathlon (on the hottest day of the year, I ask you!), and I had a fantastic time - there was so much to do. I loved the lake: lying in it to cool down, swimming, splashing and chasing after the big fish, and best of all - you can drink it. I got a bit over-excited by the crazy golf, I even managed to catch one of those little white balls, but Mark said he got fed up at my barking so he tied me up by the car. I loved seeing the other dogs (except the growly husky) and made lots of new friends; there was another collie chasing a tennis ball - why are we all so obsessed with tennis balls?

Mark's 50 at 50

Mark's asked me to post his account of his recent all day run in the Lakes. He's broken it down into sections so he can fit the pictures in.

Mark's 50 at 50 - The Challenge

In Safe Hands
My 50 at 50 Bob Graham Round 28th May 2010

The Bob Graham Round is one of the classic tough fell running challenges, established in 1932 when Bob Graham completed 42 Lakeland summits in under 24 hours. The allure of the BG and of joining the 24 hour club drives many people every year to Keswick to attempt their 42. For a few of us, 42 isn’t enough and a nice big round number looked like a great way of celebrating my 50th year. Months of preparation, a great support team in place, and I was ready.

Woke with the birds at 03:50, couldn’t sleep, mind whirring with so much to do before the start at 17:30; last minute shopping (mittens and water container), food supplies, lunchtime Keswick fish and chips, and in the afternoon carload by carload the friends (organised by Al) who would help us round arrived at our HQ camping barn. Rick Houghton, Andy Pead and I had agreed to do our BGs at the same time to share support and logistics: the plan was I’d set off 20 minutes before them for my first two (Lonscale Fell and Skiddaw Little Man) and the 3 of us met up at the top of Skiddaw; after that we’d stay together as far as possible, and if still together I’d leave them at the top of Robinson for my final six (Whiteless Pike and then along the ridge to Causey Pike). My schedule allowed me 23hrs46mins to complete the round.

Mark's 50 at 50 - Leg 1

Looking good at Moot Hall. Andy on the left, Rick in middle, and me exactly 24 hours before returning.

Set off with Alan and Michael. Michael didn’t let on he was in a lot of pain – he’d cracked a rib a few days before, but didn’t want to let me down. We gained time on the first two summits, noted at one stage I was climbing too fast (21m in a minute) and so settled to a relaxed walk up the final ascent of Skiddaw ahead of Andy and Rick. After regrouping we made up more time and reached Blencathra and Yiannis who took us straight down the Parachute Descent, saving us lots more time.

So why choose these extra 8 summits? The final 6 along the Grasmoor ridge would add another big climb to the standard 42, making it more of a personal challenge, with (in all seriousness) a significant risk of failure. The first two worked really well so that I could go round as far as possible with Andy and Rick, and were also reasonably good climbs in their own right. Another early decision was that I would complete the 50, even if it meant taking longer than 24 hours, and I made sure everyone in the team knew this. It saved a lot of discussion later on when things got tough.

Mark's 50 at 50 - Leg 2 maintaining fast pace

Half an hour up, Leg 2 started before darkness. I’d eaten well at the handover, but on the move it was taking me a long time to finish the food I brought with me. This was not a good sign, as I always tend to lose my appetite in long events, but I hoped that constant snacking would get me round. Alan stayed on and I was joined by Mark whose inch-perfect navigation brought us through the nighttime. Rick had the most energy and he was leading most of the leg, but we all stayed in one group throughout. I was running cautiously, to avoid falls and also to save my legs, which were not mountain hardened, for later. Gained more time on leg 2, but moved at a pace that made it hard for me to eat.

I’d not managed much training on the fells – only 4 visits to the Lakes in the previous 6 months – and so I’d adapted my training to strengthen my legs as much as possible in the gym. My training buddy, the indefatigable Charlie (seen here on Helvellyn in April) pulled me along (on his hands-free leash) for most of my steady running training sessions.

Mark's 50 at 50 - Leg 3 - The wheels came off

For leg 3 I was joined by Bob, and Mark stayed on. We all left Dunmail together in a big group, still half an hour up, and climbed fast up Steel Fell, but I was not keeping pace. Big effort to catch the others at the summit. Trying to stay in touch with the group. Needing to eat, but no appetite. Can’t chew anything solid. Only stuff that would go down was gels – I’d had 2 towards the end of leg 2, and had more now. This was not good. I should be keeping gels for emergencies. Stomach was in pain - tight and uncomfortable. Knew that I couldn’t go on much longer without fuel. Struggling hard to keep up at Sergeant Man. Conscious that I wasn’t in the mood to chat, that Al was running alongside to keep me company, with Mark behind to make sure I wasn’t last. The signs weren’t good. By High Raise breathing laboured, I sensed that I badly needed a rest but I couldn’t decide where, and thought I could rest at Wasdale – as this was 4½ hours away I’d clearly lost the power of thinking straight. Resting was not unusual for me: I’d slept for 90 mins in the previous year’s Lakeland 100, and for 60 mins in the Ridgeway race, and gone on to finish both. To my relief the decision was taken for me at Thunacar Knott – I was slurring my words by then. Andy, Rick and the others had waited for me, but would go on, I would walk from here with Mark and Bob until I’d eaten and regained strength. I’d been going only 10 hours..........
A common question is how do you train for these events? You don’t need to be fast. Mental stamina is the key. I think this is probably more important than physical. After several hours on the go it is harder to take rational decisions and it’s easy to get confused by emotion, fatigue, pain, delusions, and ‘why on earth am I doing this to myself’ thoughts. For the previous 6 months I’d rehearsed this mental state, and my response to it was always the same – just keep going. It was essential that I had a simple plan: stripped down to its essence, it was to take no decisions on the day, make no changes, and keep going to the end, so that (as I joked in the months leading up) they would have to peel me off the mountain if I didn’t make it. This meant that on the day I wouldn’t need to summon up new mental energy when it got hard – hard was part of the plan: it was never going to be easy, but I wasn’t going out there to make excuses.

Walked, threw up, walked some more, drank, ate a bit, drank, ate, jogged, and with Bob and Mark’s patience after 2½ hours started to find the right pace again. Sorry about there being no pretty sunrise photos here: I was grim, and so were the conditions, getting windy, with rain showers. The forecast was right, but this was normal weather for the Lakes. Bowfell at last, now in the rocky (and wet) section, lost a bit more time to Scafell, rapid descent to Wasdale down the screes, and in the car park 18 minutes behind schedule.

Mark's 50 at 50 - Damage Limitation on leg 4

Complete change of support here – joined by Sarah, Peter and Paul for leg 4. My brother Julian had driven supporters and supplies here; he’d been told by mum not to let me get too tired! thankfully he chose to disregard this piece of parental advice. By taking only half the planned break, we left Wasdale only 10 mins down on schedule, thinking that it would be tough, but achievable as long as I got to Honister in good shape. While Leg 3 may the longest, leg 4 is tougher with the big climb coming straight after the 900m descent from Scafell. Started climbing Yewbarrow too fast (altimeter read 15m/min), was sweating, reduced pace, and ascent was exactly on pace. Morale good. Sarah reminding me to eat. For me leg 4 was about damage limitation, I soon gave up caring about the schedule and found a pace that was comfortable. Along the way Paul pointed out a few extra summits that would involve a small detour. Not interested. My route was planned, and I was sticking to it. Pace dropped at Kirk Fell and Great Gable, causing a bit of worry in the team; I didn’t know at the time, but they were seeing my 24 hours slipping out of reach again. Paul navigating up front, Sarah doing a great job sticking close and keeping me focused. Green Gable done, picking up a bit of speed on the grass, stumbled, tripped, fell headlong, avoided most of the rocks, supporters worried, checked for injury, no damage apart from torn altimeter strap, but a whole minute lost. I was more worried about being told off by Sarah for not concentrating than by the fall itself. Underway again. Last summit of this leg was Grey Knotts. Paul, “it’s 14 minutes to Honister from here, 12 if you push it”; checked watch, it said 13:11, I’m still in with a chance of the 24 hours. Damage was limited, now let’s go: we came down in 12 minutes.