Feet in the Clouds

It's not my line, I've taken it from Richard Askwith. But it fits well in the subject. After physical and mental recovery from Jungfrau I've had some great time on the British fells, spiced with this inspiring tale about fell running and obsession by Askwith (thanks to Tessa Hill who gave me the book). Everyone who's new on the fells should read it to get some comprehension of the history of this sport. 

A week ago Compass Sport Cup Final, that is British Clubs Orienteering Championships, was held in Teviothead in the Scottish Borders. On my way there I made a stop at Haweswater in the Lake District and went for a long run on the fells in stunning sceneries. I climbed first to Adam Seat, continued the ridge to Harter Fell, then down to Nan Bield Pass, up to Mardale Bell and further to High Street and High Raise, before heading down to the lake again along Kidsty Pike. The weather was windy but fairly clear and I could have spent a whole day on those hills if there hadn't been a race on the following day.

Next day the sunshine was gone and the weather did its best  to keep everyone away from the fells. Only sensible thing to do was to stay home but reckless orienteers went out and confronted the horizontal rain and gale force winds on open moorlands to score points for their clubs. 

Beginning of the course was worst because not only you had to beat the winds but you also needed to ascend 60m on soft marshy ground on the way to 2nd and 3rd controls. My legs felt tired from previous day's long run and I really had to fight to get anywhere. But then it gradually started to ease up and on my way to #5 I noticed that I could keep up the speed despite the climb and the wind. From #7 onwards it was more downhill and I felt like flying. I was determined to orienteer well and had almost a clean run with only a few 10sec bends on controls 7 and 11. When I passed the spectator control (#13) I heard I was in the lead and got some extra kick for the remaining legs and clocked fastest splits on them all. My first real victory here! OD came 4th in the club championship. Results Compass Sport Cup Final

A week later I found myself on the fells again, this time it was my first ever fell race in Britain: Coniston 15km trail race. It's one of the scenic trail races held in the iconic landscape of the Lake District. The course goes along bridle ways and footpaths and climbs only half way up the surrounding peaks (only 400m ascend). It was supposed be an easy start to fells.

It had been raining heavily but the race day was bright and sunny and the atmosphere was great. We gathered to the start and I felt excited. I look curiously around to see what people are wearing. Shorts and tops, of course. I'm happy I changed my long sleeve to t-shirt on the last minute. Old experienced fell runners have Walshes, younger pros are wearing light Inov-8 race shoes, newcomers who've read the instructions have some form of trail trainers and only a few lost road runners wear flat racers. After careful consideration I've chosen to wear Asics Fuji Racers.

The speaker introduces a Japanese runner, an expected winner, and gives some instructions before we start. First kilometer goes through the village and then starts the climb and we're on the trails. There's 100m ascend on the next kilometer and trail starts to get smaller and smaller. I've had an easy start and feel good. Path turns into a small rough mountain path and I catch a bunch of runners. However passing them in a narrow path is difficult. After 4km comes a section that has been described as "runnable only to agile mountain goats". I'm happy to see that I'm one them. I can fairly easily hop from stone to stone upwards while water runs downwards under my feet and between the stones. I gain several places. After a while we reach a runnable plateau (in the picture) and can properly admire the iconic scenery for a while before heading downwards.

 At the first descent I understand that descending on this scramble is not any easier than ascending, rather the opposite. I'm happy with my shoe choice. 6km and another climb ahead. I almost reach the girl on the second spot before the course turns downwards again after 8km. Rest was supposed to be easy but the next few kilometres are the most demanding part for me. Running downhill is usually easy but paths so rough and stony need 100% attention. High speed makes it much more challenging than running in terrain while orienteering. I've got the course map in my hand but there's no chance of reading it while dashing downwards. I have to watch out each step and there's barely enough time to make decision where to place your next step. One bad judgment and you're out of the game.. Those are long miles down and a few guys pass me. When we reach the 10km mark I know the worst is over. Rest of it would be nice and easy gently undulating paths and pastures.

We cross a marsh that looks like a muddy lake. I go slightly around but still wade in knee-high mud. Here O-shoes would be a better choice. A few more pastures and gates, then comes a marshal who warns about extremely sticky descent. Sticky it is, and after the mud comes streaming water and some more loose stones. It feels like running in a river. Finally we get down to the lake and the final spurt can begin. I'm feeling quite alright but notice that my legs are nearly empty after such a rough descent. This was supposed to be a nice introduction to British fells and it's taken all out. Somehow I manage to push the final kilometres and finish 5min ahead of my time goal in respectable third place (21th overall). Not a bad start to fell running. So I'm aiming at highs again!

Coniston 15km results