Bleaklow Fresh Breeze

My aim for yesterday's LSD (long steady distance) was a 22-24km run, and roughly about 3hrs on my feet. Tim was joining me, and we chose a route which gave me the chance to explore a few trods (little paths frequented by runners, and sheep!) I'd never explored before, but that Tim knows very well.

The forecast was for a westerly Fresh Breeze, so appropriate clothing, spares, and emergency kit was packed. We headed out on familiar paths up onto Bleaklow and across to Higher Shelf Stones. All the time, we're conscious that the wind is on our backs...and the return leg would be much tougher. Our far point was planned as either Bleaklow Stones, or Grinah Stones. The latter would give me the ideal distance with a 24km run. Visibility was good, though we had the ever present Fresh Breeze buffeting us.

Turning roughly north from Higher Shelf trig point we bee-lined for Hern Stones and almost to Wain Stones. Tim then took me up the old Pennine Way - a more direct route to Bleaklow Head, and a good path to put in memory for future runs. A brief pause was had at the cairn to check energy levels and such, confirming I was still feeling good. Now came the fun bit. Initially we aimed for the top of Near Black Clough (a trod I'm familiar with)

but we then struck off East across to Near Bleaklow Stones and then Bleaklow Stones. The running was fairly good on this ground, much firmer and less bog trotting than on the popular path to the south of our line. The regeneration of the moorland that's been going on up on Bleaklow is really evident in this area, with very little bog sections needing to be negotiated.

At Bleaklow Stones we took the decision not to continue to Grinah. I was a little disappointed feeling I had the distance in me, but the westerly breeze would have made the additional running on the return leg really tough. There are no paths as such up there, and the ground is physically challenging to run on. Add in the wind, and the fact that it was a bitter cold wind, would have sapped my energy and risked me having to cut the run short. So, a wise decision. At times like that I always get reminded of the mountaineering saying, that the summit of a mountain is only half-way - you still have to get home.

The route we chose next took us on a southerly bearing, crossing tufty grass, rocky and boggy parts and occasionally finding the faintest of trods to follow. We headed down The Ridge, towards the Alport Valley and then turned west across The Swamp and climbed up Hern Clough to pick up the Pennine Way. (I'm not making up these names, honest!) Another chat about route choices ensued, and we decided (well I did) that we should get some pace in our running and head south on the Pennine Way then down Doctors Gate back to Glossop. It felt good that I could still run a decent pace and feel relatively strong after the rough terrain we'd crossed.

20.6km and 832m (strava clocks it at 605m?!) recorded on my ambit, in a total of 2:44:08. The average pace was 7:18min/km which I feel is really good. All my recent longer runs have been on fairly flat routes so I'm pleased with this one. Stats aside, and if I can blank out the wind we had to contend with, it was an amazing run. We saw so many grouse and mountain hares in their mixed winter-going-on-summer coats I lost count. Seeing familiar parts of Bleaklow from new angles was lovely. I couldn't help but pause frequently to admire the beauty of where we were. Not many photos taken because the cold wind meant my hands were firmly tucked up inside gloves and big windproof overmitts. I'll be heading back to the The Swamp and The Ridge so watch this space for more photos.

Brilliantly Bogtastic

I took my mudclaws out for a bog bashing session today. What I hadn't bargained on was icy conditions underfoot! But then Bleaklow is quite high up, and the wind was pretty chilly. With Montane smock and gloves on I set off....waving my lift (Tim & John+dog) goodbye as they headed onto Kinder. My route was northwards.

Icicles, bog and a bit of snow

There were a few places where the paving slabs along the Pennine Way were of no use whatsoever....ice on them making it more dangerous than bog trotting at the side. Sorry conservationists...I applaud your work (and do normally stick to the paves) but today it just wasn't safe in mudclaws to teeter along them. I turned West and across to Hern Stones - wanting to check out the trod between there and the Wain Stones. I swear I saw two walkers heading South towards Hern...never saw them again though so perhaps a bog ate them.

Random stones close to the Wain Stones...you can't quite see the ice on that bog....my feet certainly knew it was cold up there as they broke through countless ice covered bogs!

The kissing Wain Stones which offered little shelter from the blustery wind

Here's me somewhere on Bleaklow....near Wain Stones!

From Wain Stones I picked up the shooters track curving round in a vaguely Northwesterly direction to John Track Well. It was this trod that forced me become more adjusted to bog running / surfing / hopping. It's a decent trod but in such wet conditions many places are either flowing river-like or calf deep bogs. After a "hello" to 2 walkers having a picnic on the stones marking my point to head west I picked up the trod across to Torside and onwards to Glossop Low. I noticed a small trod up onto Torside, paused, then left that one for another day knowing I was already going to be out 1.5hrs+ - enough for my training today.

Here's the view looking back towards Torside, with James Thorn being the high point just right of centre.

The path from John Track Well to Glossop Low is pretty much one gigantic bog....interspersed with a few wooden board aimed at making the crossings easier. However, today they had ice on them, so their natural greasy slippery tendencies were exacerbated and left me no choice but to avoid them completely - with the exception of a couple that were crossed in comedic tottering fashion.  I've heather bashed across this area before and that isn't a great deal easier so bogs and board dodging were called for.

All these bogs I was deliberately (yes you read that right - I'm working on confident foot work) and mostly without choice bashing through were not doing any favours to my feet - they'd been cold since somewhere on the Pennine Way, and I was wishing I'd opted for my sealskin socks rather than just thick socks. It did have one advantage - it meant I was determined not to stop or they'd just go numb, at least while moving there was some chance they'd warm up. I can gauge the temperature level by how soon my gloves come off....today I kept them on for the entirety of the run - hence it was chilly.

Cock Hill Trig Point looking back towards Torside and John Track Well

At this point was feeling good, my feet had stopped being cold - perhaps they were just numb so I couldn't feel them. I ran down past the plantations and into Old Glossop feeling pretty good. I've not run this distance or duration before so I was pleased I was keeping a good pace. I know most of the run was downhill, but on the terrain it doesn't always feel easy!

Mudclaws post-run...somehow they've managed to partially clean themselves - a miracle. The double knots are interesting to undo with cold hands when all you want is to be in the hot shower!!

I ran with my osprey 5.5 rucksack today because I wanted to carry a few extra bits of warm clothes plus a full map. I can't carry the map in my bumbag (race elite 2) and didn't fancy grasping onto the map for the duration causing my hand to ache. It's niggles like that which start to annoy me after a while. What did bother me a little was the rucksack. I've not had this problem before....I just couldn't get it to sit tightly on my back no matter what combination of strap tightening and loosening I did. It always felt like it was riding up and down - perhaps it was the water bottle I had in it, instead of the water bladder? When running the waist strap rides up, however tight I have it around my pelvic bone so I normally just tighten the shoulder straps and it sits comfortably. I'll try the water bladder next time, see how that goes on a long run.

Here's my Garmin Track if you're interested. I'm very pleased with 12km in 1hr 45mins - think that's my longest duration on the fells to date.