This is my final blog post before my round on Friday.
In my first blog I outlined the 4 main concerns I had so now seems like a good time to revisit them:
- Conditions on the day
- Being able to fit in the training I need to do
- My ability to traverse steep and technical terrain (especially technical descents)
- I’m also not an ultra-runner and have limited experience in running any further than marathon distance.
Still a concern, but during my training I’ve ran in gale force winds, torrential rain and horizontal snow/sleet, mist, knee deep snow, knee deep bogs, freezing conditions, roasting hot conditions. It can’t possibly be any worse on the day than what I’ve previously had to endure and I’m confident my support team have the navigational skills and experience to get me round.
I feel like I’ve pretty much nailed this, I don’t think I could or would have done anything differently or any more than what I’ve been able to achieve.
Whilst I’ll never be a natural fell runner or a good descender I feel like I’ve definitely improved enough in this area for it not to be a concern as I will be moving at a significantly slower pace than I would be in a race.
Whilst this is still true I’ve done some long training days or up to 10 hours, and 32 miles and not felt too bad at the end of any of them. I know on the day I’m going to have to more than double these figures but this does give me some confidence.
Time will tell how effective my training has been but based on what I know now I’d say the 3 most important factors are getting plenty climbing and descending in your legs, spending long periods of time on your feet and the ability to keep moving when you’re tired and sore.
Finally a few facts an figures. The official start of my BGR training was when I did leg 4 with Iain on 15th November last year. Since then I’ve :
Ran 1,517 miles
Climbed 277,641 feet
21 run in the Lake District
17 runs in the Cheviots
3 along Hadrians Wall
1 in the Pennines
1 in the Yorkshire Dales
1 in Simonside Hills
Accumulated 7 pairs of fell shoes
I’ve been round every leg of the round on numerous occasions and had some epic days in the fells, sometimes on my own and on other occasions with some great company. I’ve enjoyed training for this challenge more than I ever have for anything I’ve previously done and I can’t wait for Friday to arrive.
One of the things I’ve came to realise is how lucky I am to have the experience and support from everyone who is helping me out in my round. This absolutely makes a massive difference and I’m humbled that so many people have taken time out of their lives to be part of this journey and look forward to supporting as many of them as I can in their rounds in the future (you know who you are…).
Roll on June 23rd……..
Rob
