So, the event was a Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) event called Spring in Lakeland. Whoever named the event clearly had no idea what the weather would hold. Winter in Lakeland would have been far more appropriate! The designated route was for 22 miles and 5340ft of ascent. As I arrived in Ambleside in the Lake District the hail started. The organisers gave us instruction to avoid one section of the planned route and take lower ground instead. This, plus an additional short cut (more detail later) meant that the event was 20.6 miles, and 4225ft of ascent. Still fairly substantial, but the main ascent to the highest point in the climb was wisely removed.
Both routes are posted below; the original route, then the actual route taken. The main difference is the peak between the 8 and 12 mile mark taken out, plus another at the end.
The event began at 8am for both walkers and runners. I changed my entry to a walker due to my recovering from ITB injury. This turned out to be a wise move. I was dressed in full waterproofs and carrying a lighter backpack of just over 3 kilos. I also used my trekking poles from the beginning. The route begins with a not insubstantial 500ft ascent in the first mile. After that a descent of the same amount followed by a fairly flat route to the first Checkpoint at 4.5 miles in Elterwater. The area is very picturesque; the rendered images in my previous blog post really don't do it justice. Fortunately I packed my mobile phone and took plenty of shots. The first below is from those flats.
About 3 miles in I felt some minor pain in my knee. I was surprised, at the same time as not at this happening so early. I knew doing the event was a bit of risk so soon after an ITB flair up, but I hoped walking would minimise the risk. At the first checkpoint I was sufficient concerned to pay a visit to a little shop in Elterwater and buy some Nurofen anti-inflammatory painkillers. My logic was to reduce inflammation, take away the pain, and hopefully enjoy the day. I then left CP1 and took this shot as I made the next section of ascent.
It took about an hour for the pain killers to kick in, by which time I'd already ascended and descended another 500ft. However, kick in they did and the pain faded, for now.
This shot was taken before the next climb and just before the weather took a turn for the worse.
At the peak around 6 miles the conditions deteriorated. All the way so far there had been on and off wind and sleet. This escalated to much stronger wind and hail. This video just capture the start of the poor weather just before the next section of ascent to the 8 mile mark
Descending from the 8 mile mark I took these further shots. You can just about make out the chunks of hail that were falling (and really hurt!)
A half mile later, the heavens really opened. This coincided with the route change, where we were instructed to stay on the low ground just after "High Tilberthwaite", and not make the ascent to Coniston fells. This was a shame, as this would probably have been the highest point I would ever have climbed in England so far, but when you see the next video you'll understand why it was wise to stay low.
Shortly after the video I took the next photo, which shows the distinct wintery flavour of the course in that area.
So, we got an easy route into the town of Coniston at Checkpoint 2. I took this shot shortly before arriving.
Checkpoint 2 was at Coniston Museum at the 11 mile mark, about half distance. At this point I took one more Nurofen (I had taken 2 at CP1 6 miles earlier). My knee had started to niggle again, but was still ok. I felt relatively fresh, despite the climbing so far. I had finished off all of my 800ml of electrolyte and virtually all of my 100grams or so of mixed nibbles; dried banana, dried cranberries and cashew nuts. I figured the effort from the climbing had made me burn more calories than normal at this point, coupled with my use of trekking poles, which definitely burns more calories.
The route to the next checkpoint at 18 miles was largely uneventful, yet still accounted for 1500ft of ascent in those 8 miles. I took this shot and video at around the 16 mile mark. I did pass some tiring people over this stretch. I was walking an average of 3.5mph, not a bad pace considering the climbing and several minute stops at the checkpoints.
Lovely views throughout this whole route as you can see. I reached CP3 and applied some zinc oxide tape to the side of my heel where I thought I could feel a blister starting. This isn't an area where I normally blister, so I was a little surprised. I put it down to a change in socks and perhaps not fastening up my laces as tight as I should. A couple of miles after the checkpoint by Clappersgate the weather turned nasty again.
Just a mile and a half or so from the finish my heel suddenly screamed in pain. A large blister had suddenly sprung up when I slipped with my footing. It was so painful it was impossible to walk on. I took off my shoe, puzzled as to why the Zinc tape had not done its job to prevent the blister progressing. Two reasons, the blister was on the bottom of my heel, not the side, and also my feet were so wet the tape had come off anyway.
It was impossible to walk with the blister, so I knew I had to burst it. If I had thought about it, I had a first aid kit in my pack with a safety pin. However, I forgot about that, and simply pinched it between two fingernails. It was very tough as the blister was on very thick skin, but I succeeded in bursting it and easing the pressure. However in the process I had pushed dirt or leaf debris under the skin and I could not get it out. I put my sock and shoe back on and decided to take a shorter route back which avoided the last ascent in the original route. This short cut was offered on the instructions for the route, if you were feeling tired. I was certainly not feeling tired, but thought I was on damage limitation at this point and so took the half mile shorter route and finished ahead of the other walkers as you would expect; there were only a handful in front of me before I stopped to attend my blister anyway. I decided not to stop for the free meal at the end, and to drive straight home. I guess I was in some ways slightly ashamed not to have taken on the last few hundred feet of ascent, but I knew this was for the right reasons. Oh, I forgot to say that I ran all the way back from Clappersgate. This was because it avoided pressure on my heel, and I wanted to get back quickly and be away before anyone else got back! I guess the running of the last mile in some small way made up for missing the last hill (well maybe not quite).
So, another successful milestone - 20 odd miles with some substantial climbing. I was, and still am, a little anxious about my knee. It is still sore, as are the tendons at the back of both knees. I had been taking ibuprofen for the last couple of days, and hopefully I've done no lingering damage by popping painkillers so early in an event.
I used my poles for the whole 20 miles, another milestone. My arms did tire in the last few miles, so I got less benefit from the poles then I suspect. I only used 1 sachet of electrolyte and not the second I had packed. That probably would have carried me through, but I was happy to finish as well as I did. I finished in 6 hours and 15 minutes for the 20.6 miles; around 3.5mph for the whole event. I was happy with the time, and look forward to the next LDWA event in a month’s time. Between now and then I will concentrate on my running a little more. I need to make sure this knee is OK, and I really hope it is. It doesn't feel too bad; let’s just hope it heals quickly this week.
My story should end here but I had to make a somewhat embarrassing trip to the local nurse-run NHS drop in centre to sort out that blister. I got home and was concerned about the black patches under the skin (the trapped debris and dirt). The skin was so thick that I could not cut it away with small nail scissors, and of course the red skin underneath was very very sore to touch. I decided the only thing for it was to go to the local DIY store, buy a scalpel, cut away all the blister skin and clean it out, then apply some Friars Balsam as antiseptic. If you've never applied Friars Balsam to a wound before, can I recommend you bite down on leather first! It is a good 7 out of 10 on the pain scale.
Anyway, the DIY stores were all closed. I was concerned about infection, which would definitely have kicked in had I have left the dirt in. So, I rather sheepishly turned up at the NHS local drop-in centre. I asked the burse to cut away the skin, but he said it was better to leave what was left. He prised apart the tough skin and scraped all the debris out with tweezers, before pushing in a needle of saline solution to flush it all out. Not the most pleasant experience, but it hurt less than Friars Balsam! He then bandaged it up and sent me on my way
So, I have a very sore heal as well as sore tendons and a knee. I didn't train on Mon and Tuesday because of work, but I will either run or go to the gym tomorrow, depending on how things feel.
So, a good success this week, but some pain to show for it!
Finally, the 2007 Marathon Des Sables starts this weekend.
You can follow it with the links below, and also send a message to Alan who is competing this year, after retiring with injury last year. Send him a message for morale support! Here's the info from Alan
goto the following website:
http://www.darbaroud.com
or
http://www.darbaroud.com/index_uk.php
this is in french. you need to look (its normally near the top somewhere) for a section called:
"écrire aux concurrents / write to competitors"
only messages that start with my details as follows will get to me:
Silcock, Alan, 543
543 is my race number.
from there, you should be able to send a message if you should wish to! do not attach anything to it as the message will not be sent then - text only!! i would greatly welcome one, as anyone who has been will tell you, any message that you receive, lifts you - and trust me, you need a lot of that!!
on this site, you can also follow my progress. go to this address:
http://www.darbaroud.com/resultats/participants.php?epreuve_id=3&langue=en
this is where you can see the list of competitors. On a regular basis, the organisers update things each day, with your position / time etc, so you can see how i or anyone else is doing.
all you need to do here, is that under number is put 543 (my number) and press send (over on the right) and it will bring up my details. you will then find that you can click on my surname SILCOCK and it will bring up my details as the time passes through each checkpoint.
They also regularly update the website as the days pass too, telling you about the weather conditions and other things that have happened too. they put pictures up and some video clips too, to give you a really good feel for the whole event. eurosport on cable/satellite normally run bulletins through that week too, if you want to try and catch them!!
Good Luck Alan!
Ok, back to me again. After this weekend the countdown begins. Just a year to go, and I know it's going to fly by...
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