You know what it’s like – visit the outlaws before Christmas for the first festive feeding frenzy, then over to the ‘olds’ to cook a full on Yuletide spectacular for them, and then back to Kendal for a third helping of pigs in blankets, cranberries, bread sauce, chestnut stuffing – and before you know it, you are, er stuffed and in need of serious adventures and exercise to get back to your usual svelte shape. Never mind my body is a temple – by 2 January it was more like a bouncy castle!
So it’s back to work in more ways than one. On 6 January my partner Emma and I ventured out with Helm Hill Runners for the first time. I ran from home for that extra burn and got soaked in a downpour on the way to their meeting place of Kendal Leisure Centre. ‘How fast do you run and for how long do normally run for?’ we asked. ‘Oh, we’re slow’ they said, ‘about six miles in an hour’ Eight miles later and with both of us getting left behind in the cemetery off Parkside Road as we tried to extricate a nail from Emma’s shoe, we realised it was going to be a long hard road back to fitness. There certainly weren’t any concessions to newbies although the run over Kendal Fell and Cunswick Scar was more to my liking. It is one of my own ahem, training runs from home and off-road by head torch provides more of a sense of adventure than pounding Kendal streets.
So it was with a sense of renewed resolve that we set off for Grisedale Pike the following Saturday. The weather forecast was amazingly good, given that we’ve had what feels like about three years’ worth of cloud and rain in December and January. Unfortunately we picked about the cloudiest part of the whole Lake District as the Pike and surrounding high hills of the Coledale horseshoe stayed stubbornly in cloud all day. The steep pull out of Braithwaite had us puffing before too long and we were glad of the respite as we topped out over the steep shoulder of Kinn. A level section then led to the pull up onto the prominent ridge of Sleet How, aptly named on the day as this was where the thin layer of snow started.
Into the cloud now and the final push to the summit. A bunch of six fell runners came bounding down the path, all replete with Buffs, running tights and fell shoes and I looked on enviously, thinking that will be me in a few months after a few more Helm Hill run chases! A blanket of cloud greeted us on the top and was so welcoming that it stayed with us all the way down to Coledale Hause. Slices of my still deliciously moist Christmas cake fortified us for the traipse down the Coledale track back to Braithwaite. Fruit cake is a recognised hill fuel food so it’s allowed.
The following Thursday brought a six mile trail run with one of our Field Rangers, Dave Bell. After site visits to a Go Lakes Travel cycle project and an access improvement scheme, we set off after work for a run up the Troutbeck side of Garburn Pass. It felt good to be able to keep going and going, as the steeper sections are short and we reached the top of the Pass in good time. Running down is the easy part but we stoked up the leg muscles again by dropping further down into Troutbeck and climbing back out via the old Longmire Track. It’s early doors but I can see the temple in the light at the end of the tunnel, albeit in ruins!Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
