Lake Ridge and Wainwright

This weekend was meant to be a long one as I’d taken Friday off; I’ve been under pressure at work since Christmas and needed a rest. I received a phone call on Wednesday for a job interview on Friday. Not only did I lose my day off as it was spent attending an interview and driving to Yorkshire, but it also added to the stress and pressure as I had a report to finish which meant I was already committed to working long hours as well as having the interview to prepare for. My training on Thursday and Friday had to be sacrificed, and I went without some sleep.

I was up at 6 on Friday morning. The interview was at 9:30 and lasted nearly two hours. I left for Yorkshire at lunch time and arrived at tea time. So much for a nice relaxing day! It felt as though the interview went well and I’m now waiting for feedback; they’re intending to make an offer today. Needless to say, I’m sitting over my phone feeling more than a little bit anxious right now! I hope it wasn’t a useless waste of time.

In the evening Andrew and I joined friends for a delicious Thai green curry dinner followed by an evening of entertainment at a local village pantomime. It was a mad dash to get there on time but I soon calmed down and settled into weekend mode after a couple of glasses of wine. I’ve never been to an event like it and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The hall was small, the stage large and the cast were clearly enjoying themselves and really connected with the audience. These Yorkshire folks know how to enjoy themselves and put on a good do!

By 10 pm I was completely shattered and had no trouble getting to sleep. When I woke up at 6 and Andrew suggested we abandon our trip to the lakes I almost agreed! We did manage to rouse ourselves though and made it to Borrowdale just in time to squeeze in our run in daylight.

We followed the route of the Lake Ridge and Wainright event which gave us about 22 miles (including getting to the start and back from the car) and 8000 feet of climb. It was a clear day and the sun came out at times, we had stunning views across hills and dales. There were two heavy but brief hail showers and one longer heavy hail/snow shower; these arrived suddenly without much warning and tested our skills at speed dressing in waterproofs!

I experienced some trouble part way round the route. As we started the descent into Buttermere I had stomach pain and felt a bit sick. I wanted to eat but we’d been eating on the ascents so I put it off. I twisted my right ankle descending on grass but recovered well; it actually felt looser and more comfortable than the left one once I’d recovered from the shock and the pain had gone. It was a lovely long runable descent which I should have enjoyed racing down, but I suddenly felt very sleepy and grumpy and although the nausea had passed I ended up walking it (dare I admit this?) in a bit of a sulk! I watched Andrew disappear down the hill with no will whatsoever to join him in the fun. He was waiting for me at the bottom wondering what could possibly be the matter, and thinking I must have twisted my ankle again!

I couldn’t explain what the problem was except to admit that I’d just become tired and grumpy. We decided I needed to eat, and after a warm never mind kind of hug I gobbled my way through an energy gel, a finger of fudge, and a couple of Jaffa cakes. By the time we’d made our way around the back of the lake I’d recovered. Valuable lesson learnt; if hungry eat immediately!

I found the next section a real challenge as I stumbled clumsily between rocks and stones. Andrew has suggested that I focus my Lakeland training to some very specific technical work including some rocky traversing and descending. I’m not looking forward to that but I know conquering this will be key to my getting round the Bob Graham Route. It was a relief to get back onto the more grassy slopes.

I’ve not seen the Honister slate mine before although I’d heard and read much about it. It was getting near to the end of our run when we arrived there. I was focusing mainly on the descent into it and the next ascent, so I didn’t really pay much attention, but I have a lasting image of gravel and dinge and memories of mechanical noise that haven’t left me. It seems to me that no effort has been made to soften the impact or make the public access areas attractive which is a real shame. It’s a place to which I would gladly never return….but for BGR purposes it will be unavoidable!

Our run finished as the sun set and it was dark when we arrived back at the car. I fell asleep on the way home and was relieved to crawl into bed after a shower, dinner of pasta, hot baguette and tomato sauce. (And a glass of Bacardi and coke of course!!!)

On Sunday we had a lazy morning then headed up the Beamsley Beacon for a few rounds; enough to bump up the weekend climb to 10,000 feet. I was surprised at how strong I felt on the hills on both days, and feel reassured that I’m still steadily gaining fitness.