Just a bit of wind!

Another action packed weekend.

The drive to Yorkshire was the hardest I've done, with the wind buffeting my car all the way.  After Sheffield the rain started and passing trucks became really hazardous.  At one point I could see nothing but a wall of water and could only keep parallel to the truck, put my foot down and hope for the best.  I arrived with aching hands, wrists, neck and shoulders from gripping the steering wheel constantly for 5 hours.

Andrew and I did our shorter run on Saturday afternoon.  It had been raining all morning but we were lucky and managed a mostly dry run.  We arrived at the car park to find I'd left my waterproof jacket behind.  I put on my spare warm layer and was preparing to set off without the coat but the wind was blowing through the layers and I had a sudden doubt.  Andrew took me home to fetch the coat and a head torch; we were going to be a bit late.

That was the best decision we could've made.  About half an hour into the run I tripped and fell forwards into shallow water soaking my arms and legs.  I would have been very cold and miserable, and possibly in trouble without my jacket.  Later on we lost the light and the last 20 minutes or so were run with the headtorch and compass.  We had a large reservoir to aim for and were pleased when it loomed out of the gloom below us.  The ground was wet and quite boggy in places so it will have been valuable strength training for me.  I had a stiff calf and felt rotten for the whole run.  More whinging I'm afraid!

In the evening, after a warm up sitting against the radiator with a hot water bottle, we went to Ilkley for an Indian.  It was a lovely evening, the food was good, the restaurant was warm (very important for me), and I enjoyed a Bacardi & coke and a large glass of red mmm!

On Sunday we were up early and running by 8:30.  It was wet and blustery but we had a good long hilly run planned and weren't going to be put off by the weather.  We had a full set of kit and I headed up the first hill with determination not to let my stiff calf get the better of me.  I felt much so much stronger than I did on Saturday; it remains a mystery to me how my performance can vary so greatly from day to day.  However, this run was not meant to be. 

As the morning went on the wind picked up and was so strong climbing Gt Whernside that we couldn't communicate properly as we couldn't hear each other above the din.  Andrew had said something about changing the route and I'd agreed not knowing really what that meant.  On the summit he had to hold on to me.  The wind was very strong blowing from behind us, I was afraid, and had tried to duck behind a rock to avoid being blown away.   As we turned to retrace our steps (avoiding the planned ridge route) Andrew said 'now keep close and don't go running off'  I laughed as the only running I was in danger of doing was going to be backwards!  We had to force our way against the wind back down the hill. 

I became cold on the descent.  I was soaked to the skin despite wearing full waterproofs and my hands were frozen.  I asked Andrew for a plan b;  I needed to abandon the run.  We arrived in Kettlewell and paused to get food out of Andrew's rucksack, but this was enough to reduce me to a shaking fit and he agreed readily to use my emergency first aid kit money to get a takeaway hot drink.

The small cafe cum bed & breakfast across the road from the car park drew the short straw.  We arrived sodden and dripping, and shivering in my case, in the entrance lobby, and despite our wet protests we were encouraged to go in and sit down.  There were no cushions on the chairs and we were told we would do no harm.  What more of a friendly welcome could we have had?  We had tea and shared a big steaming bowl of vegetable soup.  I'd reccomend this place to anyone  http://www.kettlewelltearooms.co.uk/ .

Warmed from outside in and inside out, we set off to climb over the ridge back to Arncliffe.  The wind had not dropped but the rain had eased and we returned in good spirits despite being disappointed at losing half our run.

We still had half a day to enjoy so after another warm up by the radiator with hot water bottle we set off for shopping in Skipton (for outdoor gear of course) and fish and chips in Bizzie Lizzies (spelling?).  Did you know you can get champagne there?  It's on my list of things to do now....champagne and fish and chips in Bizzie Lizzies overlooking the canal!!!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention....we saw LAMBS hurrah!

Last week I increased my stair climbs to 15 flights and despite being really under pressure at work managed 4 days of these and three 10 mile runs.  The Monday runs in my schedule are not happening; some rescheduling is necessary there.

This week I have increased the stairs again to 20 flights, yesterday they went really well.  Today I'm not going to be able to fit them in but I'll be out for a 10 miler later on.  I got on the scales this morning, I've lost half a stone.