Considering The Lakes Sky Ultra...

Having completed my main aims for the season, detailed in other posts, I wasn't really looking to do anything else, but the Lakes Sky Ultra just kept entering my head. I had seen the adverts, been tagged in the Facebook previews by Andrew Burton, co-race director and friend, wondered about it, dismissed it as a stupid idea after everything I'd already done, but I just couldn't help myself! I needed to work out if I could actually do this. You might think that on the face of it that LSU is 'just' 50-odd km in the Lakes, but you don't have to look too closely to realise that it is way more than this! The things that concerned me about the race were:

1. Could I nav my way round the route, bearing in mind that it's the sort of event where you can spend a lot of time on your own ? No need, the route is actually flagged every 25-50m.

2. Dare I cross Striding Edge ?

3. Could I get up Pinnacle Ridge, a Grade 3 scramble? I have no idea what this means but I figured it'd be tricky for a short legged runner!

4. Was it another race that I just didn't need after a battering by the West Highland Way races?

I don't like to set myself up for failure and I have learnt from some very good friends that "failing to prepare is preparing to fail". It is also irresponsible to enter races like this lightly. On paper, I met the entry requirements but I needed to know that I could actually complete the route without putting myself or anyone else in danger. In this situation, there's only one thing to do. Ask Joe! Not only is Nav4 Joe an experienced mountain man, he was also providing the event safety cover for the LSU and I'm really priviledged to have him as my friend.

We headed out from Glennriding to have a look at 'the scary bits' and to see whether I could do them. We had glorious weather and the rock was dry underfoot as we crossed Striding Edge. There's a bit of a down climb at one point but I made it with care. Joe explained how you should be aware of what's around you and think about how and where you might fall. I see what he means but I'd rather not - fall, that is!! As we summitted Helvellyn, the views were fantastic and Joe pointed out the route the race would take.

 

 

 

 

The racing line for the descent off Nethermost Pike was not obvious but we found a lovely grassy route down to Grisedale 'road'. Suffice to say, this was far too tame for the race day version! Even getting to Pinnacle Ridge is hard work as the ascent to the bottom of it is long, steep, lung-busting and grassy. The sight of the rocky formation that is the Pinnacle did nothing to reassure me, but I decided not to think about the whole thing and just to follow Joe up, step by step. The actual climb was relatively ok, even to a novice like me. I have played about a bit on indoor walls but have never done any rock climbing. I was a bit worried at times but I just had to think about where to place my feet and hands and to be careful. For me, it's the drop off to the side that I find scary, so it's better if I just focus on myself. We didn't climb right over the pinnacles as there were climbers already on there and I think Joe probably thought it was wise to quit whilst we were ahead and not to petrify me! On race day, the plan was to have ropes that competitors could grab onto if they needed them and Joe was going to be positioned at the top, ready to help. What we had done without ropes was enough that we both knew that I could get over the top. It was a great experience for me to have checked it all out and although I wasn't confident and didn't think it was easy, I knew that I could do it and I would have the reassurance of Joe there on the day anyway.

 

 



 

We took the climber's traverse towards Patterdale, following the race route again and returned to Glenridding.
From the recce, I learnt a lot and had a number of questions to ask Andrew before I entered the race. I knew that I needed some more cushioned Innov8s to last a long day (I got some Mudclaw 300s and they were great), I knew that I could get over the rocky bits, although I wasn't looking forward to them particularly. The final concern was the length of the route and what it involved. It was a monsterous course and I knew that it encompassed part of Fairfield Horseshoe, ascending Helvellyn twice via various rocky bits (!!), a long ascent then climb over Pinnacle Ridge and back to Patterdale. And that was just HALF! The next part of the route, I didn't really know but realised during the event that I'd done a Joss Naylor recce finishing at Kirkstone. I knew the final climb, Red Screes. How long would all of that take? Did I have enough energy left to do it? I don't normally wonder and worry so much about entering races. In the end I  just had to have a go. My entry was accepted and my head was full of the Lakes Sky Ultra. I just had to hope that my body didn't mind too much!