Happy to lend a hand...

a big shout to all those who took part in the 2nd Penrith Triathlon yesterday. I was able to help for a couple of hours only - as had to collect Gill from the airport - however it was a great privelege as well as an amazing insight into how complex even fairly small events are to run.

Gill is now safely back at home from the Turkey trek - much to the delight of the cats!! Having looked at her photo's it does look quite aweswome - so much of the world I need to see...

The benefits of more than one sport...

Coach Ilg always emphasises that specialisation is for insects. Today was a clear cut example of where I agree with him and why I undertake a wide variety of outdoor pursuits. I had not slept well or long enough and when Felix hopped up on the bed for a cuddle and snooze I was seriously tempted to join him.

I finally made it back to my flat having decided to ride to Keswick via the Coach Road and back via the Tour of Blencathra. Setting off into a strong headwind and in the rain and with my knee hurting I just couldn't summon up any enthusiasm for the task at hand. Coach also says that "character is what you are when no-one is around" however I think I am just bored of mountain biking - especially in the North Lakes where I have trained for the last three months. Reflecting on this now I suspect this mental disorder helped cause my crash on the Whinlatter on Thurs as I was trying to "spice up" the ride in order to find something new; it was also probably why I SO enjoyed the ride on the Garburn Pass on Tuesday.

I actually managed to digest this fact quite well; so went home had some lunch and then drove to Keswick with my trail running shoes. The circuit along the railway and then over Latrigg is about 5 miles and having danced round in 50mins I am not 100% convinced that trail shoes were the correct choice - with a very steep and muddy descent. Having said that, running along the old railway in fell shoes would not be ideal either - maybe I should take both pairs!!

Anyway; felt a lot better for the run and now have a quiet day tomorrow when I collect Gill and then will do it all again on Monday - I fancy a long fell run to be honest or some time on the road bike - although the weather forecast is not great, typical bank holiday weather.

Back on the Arnica...

having finished one lot of Arnica to help the rib heal I have gone to buy some more for the knee.

In all honesty it is not too bad; a little stiff at first but ok once it gets going, I'll be off riding tomorrow before I go and get Gill from the airport on Sunday. Monday is a bank holiday so I expect either a walk/bike ride depending on the weather before the new job starts on Tuesday - weird.

Have managed to acquire a bike bag via e-bay which is good; another piece in the holiday puzzle taken care of...

falling off the bike... - again..

a training ride to Whinlatter; trying to ride an obstacle that I usually walk around and whoosh...over the handlebars I go..

not to much damage at all luckily; just some cut up knees...will post more with pix later :-)

The Garburn Pass...

yes it probably is the best descent in the Lakes; at least the Troutbeck side.

The descent to Kentmere might be doable on a full suss bike with conditions a little bit drier; however this way also enables one to experience the descent to Kentmere Church from the Bridleway from Ings...if only one had a couple of tame walkers to open the gates it would be SERIOUSLY good fun...

Felt quite tired today actually on the bike; yesterday evenings ride was quite a tough one and the speed was pretty good on a lovely evening - which it is now. It is hard to believe that the last forecast I saw for tomorrow was terrible; ho hum we shall get what we get....

A pain free run....

with extra hill for good measure!

Have decided to go to the Garburn Pass tomorrow to do what is supposed to be the best descent in the Lakes - so elected to go for a run instead today. Delighted to get round the 4 1/2 miles with no pain in the knees; so delighted I then decided to run up the next street to Fell Lane - a nice few hundred metres of uphill to close the run....

all this and the weather is good as well...amazing!

This is not one of the many photo's that one of the party, Gav, took on the ride down Bowderdale, however it does give some flavour as to the kind of terrain. I can safely say that this was one of the most enjoyable and technical rides I have ever done and one which I enjoyed immensely despite being considerably slower going down than everything else.

Regrettably this did not surprise me too much; however I was pleased that once the ascent got off the mega steep and onto the long grind I was climbing very strongly, also not much of a surprise given the amount of training I have been doing for this!! I was also quite pleased that I seemed ok at the end - obviously the distances will be much greater in Morocco, however I am hoping that the climbs are of the long grind variety reminscent of the Alps rather than the shorter steeper climbs we often get in the UK...as the former enable you to get into a groove and just grind away.

Glorious weather helped too; a little windy on top but no rain, which was just as well given there was a fair amount of mud but not too much. All in all a great training ride and a circuit I'd recommend.

Yesterday was spent doing some tidying of Gill's and just chilling out. Will definetly go out on the road later - I should really head up to Whinlatter for a couple of circuits as well if time allows.

Mountain biking in the Howgills...

27 miles; 1100 metres of ascent; a bit of a tricky descent and 7 miles of some of the best singletrack this side of paradise.....yesterday was some day!

Suffice to say that Marvin took a bit of cleaning!

Even better news is that the forecast for tomorrow is pretty decent so should get two sessions in; one on Whinlatter and one on the roads tomorrow night.

Will post more details with photo's later

This is taken on the top of the red route on the South side of the Whinlatter pass. Not much a shot perhaps but I was playing with the helmet camera as it can take "normal" photo's as well as video's....

...speaking of which; I taped the whole descent of the red 8 mins 15 secs of it; including a couple of wussy walky bits; one time where Marvin was going sideways at about 20mph and I thought I was off and some SERIOUSLY fast bits as well. It was the second time round; I was climbing well too which was encouraging. To be honest, I felt pretty strong and would have gone round again but am hoping to do a big ride tomorrow.

I'll edit the video over the next week, may well add some music and will post it on Vimeo in due course....

What we did NOT see yesterday...

Or much else to be honest!!

Things look like they are settling down for the weekend however and the long range forecast for next week looks ok at the moment. Most of the kit is now dry and I am looking forward to heading back out on the bike over the next two days; have got a big ride booked in for Saturday with one of the Monday night cyclists and her hardcore gang of mtbers!! Not so sure what I will do tomorrow but do quite fancy another trip to the Whinlatter - can do the south side red route and some good footage with the helmet camera. The big advantage of the south red is that it features a long, slightly technical and pretty sustained climb. A couple of circuits of this and you know you've had a good workout.

More good news in that I managed to hang on the finger board for a little bit - might even get a bit of climbing in on Sunday although may wait until bank holiday monday..

A soaking in the Lakes..

Well, a long and damp day which was also a lot of fun. Mum and Peter came over and we met up for breakfast followed by doing a bit of work in the flat.

Having got ourselves down to Haweswater we started walking up the ascent of the Nan Bield pass. This was a day that promised some interest for me; the chance to go to a valley I had not been to for many years (Kentmere) as well as checking out what is rumoured to be one the best mtb descents in the Lakes. Having had a quick bite to eat on the Nan Bield we descended and the rain started - coupled with a good breeze it made the walk interesting to say the least. The descent is very long and quite rocky in parts; not really rideable.

This is interesting as I wonder what the Garburn descent will be like - which is pretty much accepted as the best pass descent around.

Back on the walk, the rain continued incessantly but the wind dropped for the majority of the walk. Over to Sadgill and then down into Longsleddale followed by a VERY long ascent over the Gatesgarth. Descending the lower part of the Gatesgarth pass my knee started to ache quite a lot and so I was unable to ascertain how rideable this might be - the top section looks ok at least.

There are times that I wish the High Atlas trip was a walking traverse rather than cycling as I felt strong walking all day and climbed well - not sure I can say the same about the bike!!

Anyhow; looks like I might have some company in bed tonight - Cusco is definetly pining for his mum and has fallen asleep on one of Gill's bags!!!!

Bottle cage failure..

As the weather has now turned gorgeous I decided to go back to Gill's to hang the washing out...so I hopped on Arjuna and cycled there. The outward leg via Langwathby (and an extra 1 mile by going via Edenhall) was fast, over 20mph which is good for me. Coming back I went up the big hill to Cliburn for the first time and found it surprisingly easy; could still do with getting a compact fitted to the bike though if I want to try the big hills of the Alps.

Anyhow, was coming back along the road from Cliburn to the A6, focusing on breathing well as I was going into a stiff headwind and suddenly looked down to see my drink bottle make a bid for freedom! It seems that both the bottle cages have given up the ghost, they must have got damaged somehow in the car...Luckily they are quite cheap really so off to get some more!!

The Iron Temple..

The gym at the sports centre in Penrith is pretty good actually. It could do with a dip machine however it has pretty much everything else that I use to do the workouts.

Did the first gym session involving weights in a while...still pretty limited in terms of upper body work; however my lower body weights felt quite easy which is good. Forecast is terrible tomorrow but I think that Newlands needs to be done - followed by a walk with Mum and Peter on Wed and then a long bike ride on thurs....

A quietish weekend...

on the training front with taking Gill to the airport yesterday and going into Keswick to get the final things for her trip on Saturday. I did get a quick fell run in though and am going back into training this week having had a quiet week off.

Still got tons to do around the flat and other areas of my life as well - not to mention cat-sitting so don't think I'll be bored these two weeks...

A couple of resting days...

on the excercise front at least - have been busy around the flat and other things. Am going to do something tomorrow; it will depend a bit on the weather before taking Gill to the airport on Sunday. I quite fancy running the Newlands Horseshoe...

Healing in time..?

I went for a swim test this morning to see if I can do the Bassenthwaite Tri. The rib is better than last week; however I think that 1500m in open water has come a week too early. Given how well I ran on tuesday this is a bit of a bummer to put it mildly as its the third event I have missed this year due to injury. Next year, with luck, I will be focussing on some good races as the main goal of next summer, as it stands, will be the Tibet trek with Gill. The Garburn Pass half-marathon will certainly be on the agenda as at least one big road bike challenge.

This week has been a semi-rest week training wise as I crack on with doing some stuff around the flat and trying to decide a little as to which directions to go re accomodation and other things...however, the sun is out and I think a little trip to the Whinlatter with video camera is in order....

The rewards for determination...

"Character", Coach Ilg once wrote, "is what you are when no-one is around". This was a mantra I repeated to me as I slogged up the final climb of High Pike towards the summit (in the photo). I made sure that I ran every step - although I suspect some of the very steep sections after the quarry track it was probably faster to walk! 26 mins of torture from the gate over the Fellside car-park to the summit. I was REALLY pleased to have run all the way and was VERY pleased indeed when I finished the run and discovered I had taken 1hr 27minutes - totally destroying my personal best.

On a serious note, it does seem that I was fitter than I thought although it must be said that this was the first time I had done the circuit in summer conditions (although it's probably best in deep winter when frozen solid!!!)

With luck I may get the leak in the roof fixed tomorrow as well; the downside is that it will stop me from swimming in the morning - will have to go thurs to decide whether I can do the Tri or not....

Trying to prioritise...

despite the fact that I don't start work until the 1st September it seems that there is still so much to do....

as well as trying to train for the Atlas trip in October - and I still feel worried about whether I am going to fit enough for day after day of long rides - I am trying to sort the flat out and do some painting, as it is getting valued on Friday. This is good as it will at least give some information as to where I am and allow me to review my options in the next two weeks when I am cat-minding for Gill when she is in Turkey.

The rib is still giving me a lot of cause for concern in that it is getting no better at all - or at least seems not to be. It does hurt a bit less when I sneeze though which is good...

Anyway, did the Tour of Skiddaw on Friday (or at least my 34km version of it) and got round in under 2 1/2 hours which was quite encouraging. I do still feel quite tired climbing however, although I do seem to be able to recover quite fast after the climbs which is encouraging; and I descended better than I have on this route before. This was probably down the new wider tyres I have fitted on Marvin which I will use in Morocco.

Saturday was more a chill out day, with a lie-in and then doing some painting at the flat and listening to the football - groan- on the radio. I rode back to Gill's on the road bike; who I am really going to use a lot more of next year when the Morocco trip is done..

Sunday saw the last training walk for Gill before she goes to Turkey to climb Mt. Arrat (amongst other things). So, we used both cars and decided to go over Cross Fell and its satellite peaks before descending to Dufton where lots of food and beer would be had in the Stag Inn. This plan went very well for the first part of the walk...up Cross Fell, over Little Dun and Great Dun Fells (the latter with the utter disfigurements on top that make one yearn for gunpowder) and onto to Knock Old Man. However from there things went a little awry and we found ourselves descending into Knock not Dufton...oops. The upshot was a 1 mile road jog for me in walking boots to get the car...however I could say hand on heart the Chocolate Fudge Cake for pudding had been earned!!

Back on the road bike for the second time in two days. Having checked out some of the Bassenthwaite Tri cycle route (although I still have no idea if I will be doing it yet); I managed a quick hour of so today in glorious weather.

As well as being shattered as did not sleep at all well last night and having some painting to do I deliberately took it fairly easy today as am hoping to do a big mountain bike ride tomorrow; over Helvelyn.

At least the flat is starting to resemble the end of the ceasefire in Kabul now; with some painting being done and things been chucked or moved to shelves...

Preparing for a triathlon..

it does probably help to read the website some time; which is when you discover that the swim is not 750m as I thought but actually 1500m - oh dear. I am going to have to get some serious swim training in - starting with the open water session this weekend with Stuart and the Tri club.

My serious goal for this race will be to avoid coming last -I am going quite well on the bike and hopefully that will be enough to be overhaul some people and hang on during the run. The other goal is not to damage myself too much with the run - even 25mins on the treadmill at the gym caused an aching in the ribs; although I was able to keep a good speed without much trouble which is good.

Am going to recce the 40km cycle route for the Tri in a minute. I am not going to use Tri bars although will probably my fancy deep set front wheel for this one (in the race itself at least..).

Am a little sick of having these little constant niggles really - would be nice to go to Morocco injury free.

Have made a video of a descent off Cross Fell - can be found here: http://www.vimeo.com/5937401

The art of resting..

Coach Steve Ilg always stresses the importance of rest. After 4 or 5 days off with the rib injury and being away last weekend I am trying to get back in the swing of training.

On a wet Saturday morning I begin to see that humans have a lot to learn from cats...especially in the art of resting. After all, if there is nothing to do; do nothing!!

This was one of the views yesterday in the Lakes. Gill and I (the boys decided not to come in the end!!) climbed Grizedale Pike having ascended via Coledale Hause. This was a different means of ascent than I had done before and was very enjoyable. A nice 4 hour round with views over most of the Lakes.

Saturday was a bit different as I attempted a run of around 7 miles or so - including a couple of trips up the hill that links Temple Sowerby to Culgaith. The knee did start to hurt a bit at the end - and ached a bit yesterday as well. I have been, to be honest, a bit lax on my excercises recently and this was a bit of a wake up call - need to get back to them.

Friday was less good in that I felt really tired after the double session on thurs and made it about 1/2 way up Cross Fell before a 3 min 30 descent nearly involving me going into the air again! Managed to hold it this time and have some great footage which will probably make its way onto Vimeo at some stage too. However the lack of fitness is really concerning with the Morocco trip looming and the rib is still causing me concern. I seem to be able to do most things on it (although I can't rock-climb) yet it is still painful first thing and I am probably taking it a bit easier than I would like trying to subconciously protect it. It also hinders Yoga which is not good either....