Trip diary

I have been writing up my walking trips in a diary since the late 70s when I was started walking with my Dad. This has spanned about 4 notebooks now (one of which is lost somewhere).

Each trip entry normally starts with a kit list and some practical information required en route. This could include phone numbers, bus and train times, or village early closing days. This is followed by a record of each days walk. Looking back through the pages food and weather seem to take top priority followed closely by under foot conditions. The great thing about them is looking back years later to read the details of a trip. What we had to eat in the café at the end of the trip, the names of the 2 small boys we meet at Lake Stream Hut in New Zealand, the man in the purple Vauxhall Nova who gave us a life back to The Bridge of Orchy.

There are some rules about what warrants an entry.

* No days walks
* No static camping weekends
* No Holidays in the mountains (eg Arabba 2001)

This leaves backpacking trips where at least one night is spend in a tent. bothy, hostel or B&B.

This brings me to the reason why I have been thinking about this issue. In May we are going to Crianlairch for a few days walking, returning to the same B&B each night. Does this warrant an entry? The ruthless could say “It is just a couple of day walks, one after another”.

As we hope to climb a few Munros, these need to be recorded but there are plenty of other places to record the bare facts of the achievement www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Some justification for breaking the rules include “Well I need some where to write a kit list”, “It is nice to look back and remember the small details of trips”.

I am going to use it. It is a self-imposed law so I can approve an amendment without worrying about opposition objections. Or may be I could start a blog ...

Grizzly 09 race report

For those who have not heard of it The Grizzly is a multi-terrain race of about 20 miles (the route and distance vary a bit each year), it runs between Seaton, Beer and Branscombe in East Devon. When they say multi-terrain it means stretches of road and muddy country lane, woods, pebble beach, rivers, cliff path and the infamous bog.

I set off towards the back of a field of about 1500 runners. The first mile was along the sea front at Seaton, which is a nice ankle turning slope of pebbles, about half way along I started to walk, not a good sign. My aim was to get round between 4 ½ and 5 hours, so I set my self a schedule of 12 minutes per mile for the first half and 15 minutes for the second half.

The first section after the beach loop heads up the hill out of Seaton and then down into Beer. We now reached the first bit of off road as the route follows the coastal path onto the cliff path. Down a steep track (ahh my knees) to Branscombe. We now reach the first interesting section as the route follows the course of the river, (yes in the river) across the beach to the Mason Arms. Lots of support outside the pub, no you cannot stop for a pint.

After about 10 miles I was 5 minutes ahead of schedule, but by then I had only walked up a couple of steep hills and more was to come.

At about 12 miles we reached the bog, if you did not know it was coming you can tell by the screams of disgust and delight from the runners who were already in it. People general took 2 approaches; negotiate your way around the edge trying to keep out of the deepest bits or go straight through. The second option, which I went for, guarantees mud up to thigh level and the chance of getting stuck, but people are very friendly and stop to help pull each other out. Photo on the right is courtesy of James Pyne Event Photography.

After the bog you make your way out to the coast path again and down to Brancsombe. What followed was the worst bit for me, along the beach and then up what seemed like an endless series of steps. At the top one of the many motivational signs informs you that you have just been up the “Stairway to Heaven”. I did pass a couple of people sitting on the steps looking out to sea wondering why they even stated this game.

All the way along the route there is great support from very vocal spectators, 2 pipers (both in kilts), steel band, jazz band, and folk music.

In the end I finished in 4 hours 36 minutes, happy, muddy and tired.

Would I do it again? Well I definitely would but my calves need convincing … give them time.

Thanks to Axe Valley Runners for organising a great race.

Black Mountains

We left Dorset early Saturday morning and arrived in Abergavenny at 8:30. I was delighted to see the Grecos Italian cafe was still there, the last time I visited was about 17 years ago. However Grecos was closed so we went on to the market and had a great breakfast roll and tea to set us up for the day.

We drove on to Cwmyoy, and after a bit of tour of this steep hillside village found a spot to park. Setting off up the Cwm Iau we soon reached the slopes of Hatterrall Hill and the chatting stopped. Once on the top we joined the wide path north along the ridge. This part of our walk followed Offa's Dyke path for a long way so the track was well worn and even in February we saw a few people out.

We sat down for lunch looking over into Wales and the other ridges of the Black Mountains. The day was slightly overcast and misty but we could see across to Rhos Dirion. We continued along the ridge with great views into Mercia (if we are talking in Offa terms) over Black Hill.

At Hay Bluff, the end of the ridge, we turned east and dropped to Gospel Pass. After the climb to Twmpa we started to make our way down through some rough boggy ground to Grwyne Fawr. We reached the bothy as it was getting dark and quickly made ourselves comfortable. Well as comfortable as 3 men can be in a large shed, very.

The next morning, starting in the mist, we headed down the valley. As we got past the dam patches of sunlight hit the hills around us. After the car park in the Mynydd Du Forest we climbed back over the ridge into a beautiful sky. The path down to road zigzagged through the woods and took a wrong turn ending up fighting down a disused path to get to the road below Cwmyoy.

In terms of kit I used both of my stoves; the Pocket Rocket and my new White Box stove. It was great to have two stoves in the bothy as there were 3 of us it meant we could make drinks and food at the same time However I think I need to be a bit more careful with the White box as it did not appreciate having a pan with a wet base plonked on top of it. Definitely a success but some practise needed.

Estimating finish time for the Grizzly

Method 1 - minutes per mile

On a long run (more than 10 miles) I try to achieve 12 minutes per mile so that gives me a time of 240 minutes or 4 hours

Method 2 - Double last years winning time

Last year the winning time was 2:24 so that is a time of 4:48 for me. This is probably more realistic but unfortunately gives some indication of the terrain to be expected.

Method 3 - 90th percentile

This feels like the most depressing method, by what time have 90 percent of the competitors already finished. Look at the results from last year again this gives me 4:51.

So from all this I think my target should be 5 hours.

That 3 weeks before an event feeling

As usual with only a few weeks to go till the Grizzly I look back at my training and realise I have not done enough. After a long run by myself on Sunday I went out today with the runners from work in the pouring rain.

Well you can only do what you can, last week was a bit of a wash out because of the snow (should that be snow out).

A post on PTC* Blog has convinced me that my next sac is going to be a Villain. I think it would be perfect for our trip to the Black Mountains in a couple of weeks.

First off-road route discovered

I have found a nice off-road today, through Branksome Park. Ran down to the beach and back through the park, pretty mud and rough under foot in some places. Just need to find a good way down now.

Only 6 weeks to the Grizzly now so long run at the weekend planned from Lyme Regis to West Bay. I am starting to increase the weekly mileage, might start work on core strength but might not.

Westbourne RC

Westbourne RC met at my new place of work. So this week I turned up and tried to keep up. Very friendly and knowledgeable (about routes in the area) bunch. Monday run was OK but today I struggled a bit more as the pace was a bit quicker.