Photo of me and Dan

Woo hoo!!!!!!!!

Very exciting news!!! Dan's asked me to marry him!! I'm going to be skipping down the isle on 17th May 2008 - still can't quite belive it.

I'm sure it's becuase I've dropped two dress sizes and am a lot fitter and leaner (or he's just slightly insane) so it's certainly motivation to continue with all the good things Trail has started.

Here we are being all mushy...




Yippee skippee! Yippee skippee! Yippee skippeee!!!!
:)

Yello!!

So, I seem to be somewhat back to normal. Went for the first run in weeks today after two colds in as many weeks. Managed to go for 2.5 miles, which seemed a lot harder than the last time, but a long way from impossible.

I reckon I was feeling about 7 on the exertion scale and perhaps 7.5 for the last half mile so it's not too bad and it's a whole lot better than I did on the Scafell trip at the weekend.

Right, off to watch my garden grow.

Short but sweet....

Well, we've just had the final Trail weekend - wild camping in the Lakes.

I umm-ed and argh-ed about whether or not to go despite viral chesty cough thing and gammy toe and finally thought "Sod it. Life's too short" type thing, packed my bags and drove up to the Lakes to join Claire, Graham, Darren, Roger (mountain leader) Steve and Richard for what promised to be an excellent weekend.

Sadly, on the way up to the camp, the chest thing totally got the better of me. I just couldn't get enough air in to be anything but a drag on the whole group. When Roger had to take my rucksack off me it sunk in that I was going to have to give up and head back to the safety of the car.

I'm utterly gutted at missing out on the camping and to have been so close to Scafell Pike for the second time without making it to the summit. But, I thoroughly enjoyed what little time I spent with the team up there and Steve and Richard seem to have got as much out of the Fitness Academy as me.

Anyway, there's still another month until the official 6-months is up so this won't be the last you'll hear of me....

Mont Saleve - finally....

Ok, so here's the long awaited vid from Mont Saleve. Sorry it's taken me so long to get it on here!

Oh dear...

I really am getting a bit pants about keeping this up to date! I've got some great vids from the Alp, which was BRILLIANT and from Geneva generally. I've certainly never been to a city with quite such an incredible backdrop (although Arusha would have to come pretty close if not equal).

Here's a taster of what's to come when I finally get round to downloading all the other photos and vids:



Good news is that there's another Trail weekend in the diary. Bad news is that it's the last one! We're off wild camping in the Lakes and I have to admit to be enormously excited about it. Fingers crossed the weather will hold for another couple of weeks...

Ok, time to fess up....

Right, well, the reason for my long silence before yesterday's Alpine excitement is that I basically had a week that can only be described as shamefully lazy and beerful.

I was in an utter stomp at not having lost a single pound and, in fact, having put a couple on after my mammoth efforts on the running and climbing fronts the week before. Humph!

Still, all it took was a weekend sorting out my garden to get me back into form and some very encouraging words from forum members on my favourite sites: Trail and the Fell Runner Association.

So, I've decided that I'm focusing on the wrong things here. I've locked my scales in a cupboard and will resist those utterly demoralising monsters for now. Instead, I'm going to focus on building up my fitness and concentrate on more relevant goals like my resting heart rate. I'm also going to work harder on my running and climbing - the things that really keep me in shape for mountain exploits.

So, I ran 2.5 miles on Monday night and 3 last night. I'm horrified at how quickly I've lost some of my form and am resolute to get back to being able to do 5 miles in an hour as quickly as possible.

Tonight is climbing night so fingers crossed I won't have gone too far back on that in the two weeks since I last went.

Moral of the story - when you feel demoralised, maybe it's because you're setting the wrong goals. Have a think about what your REAL motivation is and re-align your goals accordingly.

Flea on a hot brick...

Ooooh oooh oooh..... I'm aiming for my FIRST EVER ALP this weekend - Wooo hooo!!!!! The plan is to head up Mont Saleve, a 1380m beast near Geneva.

Woo hoo!!! They tell me you can see Mont Blanc from the top too.... Woo hoo....

I'm clearly too excited to talk sense, so to give you some measure of how excited I am, here's me jumping around like a flea on a hot brick!



Woopeee doooo!!!!!!!!

I'm gettin' fitter, I'm gettin' fitter, la la la la la la la....

Woooo Hoooooo!!!! Resting heart rate has come down 10 beats a minute since Jan.

Grrrr.....

Went for a three mile run last night, but that evil little pound just refuses to budge! How irritating is that???

Tried interval training for the first time and all I can say is OUCH!!!!! Legs turned to jelly almost immediately... Think I'll have to ease myself into that one slowly.

Climbing tonight - can't wait!

Feelling sparky...

Way hey hey... Did my first hour long run last night. Really chuffed with myself!

That said, I only covered about 4.8 miles, which will give you some measure of how slowly I was going. But, I managed a sprint finish and reckon I could have kept going for at least another mile before collapsing and dying. Feeling a bit more confident about the Edinburgh 10k now.

It seems that I'm pretty OK when it comes to hills - good news for the fell run in October!

I've also learnt how important "form" is. Little things like a bad night's sleep, a pint too many or the wrong foods can really impact how well I run. Interesting to see the effects of not taking better care of myself made so abundantly clear.

I'm determined to get into good fell-running form for October though and feasting on a breakfast of strawberries, blueberries and black currant Muller Light makes "good form" impossible to resist. I'll be addicted to running before long, especially if it means I can get more peaks into a mountain day.

Can't wait to test out this improved fitness on some of what the Lakes has to offer over Easter - only 4 weeks away now!

Wk 14 - Glamping!

Wow! Week 14 already.

Been out on the first camping weekend of the year. Went down to the South Downs. Had fabulous weather and loved every minute of it. Here's the vid:

(Ok, I'm a muppet with the camera sometimes!)

Spring in my step

Full of beans this morning! Skipped off the train and into work. Had a big bowl of porridge with luscious, big, crimson strawberries – aarrghghaharrerghhghahaahh……

Got Pink Floyd on the brain. Aaaah – driving my colleagues bonkers with the same two lines over and over again.

Sun’s out, springs on the way and I'm back down to my lowest weight on the Trail programme so far.

Things are on the up and up...
x

Ticking along nicely

Went for a three mile run last night. Took me just over 30 minutes. Delighted to say that it's getting easier and easier so I'm probably doing it at a lower intensity (50-60%) than before. So, I think it's time to crack out the heart rate monitor again and take a look at how I'm doing against my goals. That'll be my job for Thursday evening then.

LOVE the new trail running shoes!! Bought me a pair of Salomon Women's XA Pro 3D XCR. What a pair of beauties!! I'll have to start building in hills now that I've got these bad boys to get me up and down them.



Still on the weight plateau, but I'm determined to beat it so fingers crossed that my new trainers will be the kick up the backside that I need.

Dan's also promised me pampering treats if I can get into my super skinny jeans by the end of April. :)

Wk 12 - Bristly Ridge/Glyder Fach Vid

Sunny start

Feeling fantastic this morning. The sun's out, I've slept like a baby and just had the sweetest peach for breakfast - days don't start much better than that.

Had one of my best climbing sessions so far last night. Managed to get up some Grade 5s so was well chuffed with myself. Of course, these weren't very elegant escapades, but at least I got to the top! It was brilliant fun. Climbing is totally the Dog's danglers. I'd love to get my teeth into some outdoor rocks now that the weather is cheering up a bit.

I've also taken my belt in another hole this morning, which I'm well chuffed about so things are all still very positive despite not really shedding many pounds. I'm still stuck on a bit of a plateau, but I'm definitely stronger, fitter and slimmer so I'm not too worried out it yet.

Bring on the weekend!

More scrambling in North Wales...

Hiiii!!!!

Had the most incredible weekend with Jess in North Wales. We spent Saturday on Tryfan and Bristly Ridge and then Sunday on Snowdon.

Saturday was AWESOME!!!! We did the North Ridge of Tryfan, but started slightly further round than last time up a wee gully. It was quite a tricky start, but once we got over the first few moves, the going was a lot easier and the view North East was fantastic!



We then headed back round to the North and ended up on the usual route again past the Canon Stone. The sun came out that that point, which was fabulous and warmed us up like toast.



The views over the Glyders were pretty stunning too.



This was Jess's introduction to scrambling in the UK and she absolutely LOVED it. Of course, once you get to the top of Tryfan, the question is always going to be "to do Bristly Ridge, or not to do Bristly Ridge?"

Last time I was up with the Mal and the Gang, they'd pointed this out as a fantastic grade 1 scramble and Mal had shown us a starting point up a wee gully that wasn't in the books.

We couldn't resist and off we went.

Bristly Ridge is absolutely top banana. Sadly, the scrambling is not quite as long as Tryfan, but it's quite the treat as scrambling goes. There's a vid, which I'll post shortly.

By the time we got to the top, the weather had changed again and we were surrounded by cloud and drizzle. Couldn't resist this shot through...



The way back down was a good lesson in how to pack a rucksack properly for a day out. Jess's hands had become wet through her gloves and were starting to get quite painful. Luckily, I'd learned from George's advice and packed a couple of spare pairs, both of which came into use to save the day. We got down to the cafe at Llyn Ogwen in no time and wrapped our mitts round big, steamy cups of hot tea.

Next stop, PUB!!



Sunday's weather was very different - lots of low cloud, higher wind and low visibility. We'd decided to go up Snowdon, but the weather meant Crib Goch was out. We marched up the Pyg Track instead and, boy!, were we pleased with that decision.

The gusts were unreal as we came around the bend from Bwylch y Moch (first hill beyond Pen y Pass) and we could only see about 50 mtrs in front of us. Up we went. Despite the weather, there were loads of voices carrying up through the mist so it was still a busy route. We passed what seemed like 300 skool kids muttering varying degrees of enjoyment from the utterly excited to the down right miserable. Good to see them enjoying the hills though.

Here I am on the top trying to stay out of the horizontal hail.... Fat chance!


So, another great weekend in Wales. Definitely planning another return before long.

This is me in another 6 months....

Ultimate porridge

Right, another pound gone again so the cloud is definitely lifting.

Plus, I've discovered the ultimate breakfast packed with goodies and colour! It's dead easy, just fling a handful of blackberries, some mixed seeds, a splash of apple juice (or smoothie is better) into your porridge and yummy, yummy, yummy!!

Bonkers, but happy again

Well, the good news is that I'm already getting back on track.

Went running last night and again at lunch today (2.5 miles each time) and am already feeling better about myself and a lot more chirpy and have re-lost 2 of those pounds that I packed back on.

The trick, methinks, is to make the most of other people if you loose your way.

So to back track, the tip for the week really should be to involve other people. Find friends who are into the same exercise as you and commit to doing your thing with them. You're less likely to back out if you have a solid agreement with another person (but if you're group gets too big, it's just as easy to back out!!).

I also find that running with someone else means I run further and faster (oh, the hidden competitive streak) and, that aside, I get less weird looks from strangers if they think my nattering is aimed at another person.

God knows what my running-buddie thinks though.....

Needing a kick in the backside...

Sooo.... End of week 11 and it's not been a very good one. I've been feeling a bit demotivated over the last couple of weeks and haven't really got my head back to normal after Snowdon. I've been lame at doing my excrsize, making bad food choices (basically too many chips!) and drinking a bit too much beer. Result - I've put loads of pounds back on!!

Oh dear, I'm a long way from the straight and narrow so it's time to kick myself in the butt and get things back to order.

First things first, WATER WATER WATER!!!

Second: I'll have to get my running shoes back on. Did a 2.5 miler yesterday and am pleased to say that I'm still feeling very fit and capable despite the temporary slide.

There is one positive to drinking too much beer though - I seem to be incapable of spending an evening in the pub without agreeing some mad challenge or another.... A couple of pints in last night and I managed to agree to do the Great Edinburgh Run 2007 in May. While it's only 10k, it's bound to have a lot of up and down bits, so I figure it'll be good training for the fell run in October (or at least that's what I'm telling myself...).

Third: - I need more mountains!! I'm back up in Snowdonia this weekend with Jess - can't wait to get my hands and feet back on the Welsh rocks. YIPPEE SKIPPEE!!!!

At least my jeans are still slack!

:)

Tip of the week: I'm not sure I'm in any position to say anything this week. I spose my challenge now is to re-establish all that motivation and I'm finding that reading Chris Bonington's I Chose to Climb is doing a grand job of it. Plus, I've got a 10 year school reunion in June and I'll be damed if I'm going to show up to that without a killer bod!!

Running for the hills

End of Week 10 and no hills on the books for me this week. However, I did go out for a 4.5 mile run cross country. It's much more interesting off pavement and having to concentrate on where the feet goes mean I spend less time thinking "Urrrgh, bored! When can I stop! Argh - I've only been going for 3 minutes.... when will this end??"

I also managed a 5a climb on the indoor wall last week (albeit rather inelegantly!). Yippee!! Got to show off my new chalk bag - my treat for making it up Snowdon.

Still, I've managed to pile on about 4 lbs in Wales so fingers crossed that what they say about muscle weighing more than fat is true.... Good news is my jeans are getting slacker and slacker despite it so I guess it's good news at any rate.

No vid this week I'm afraid, but I promise to do one next week!

:)

Tip of the Week: Treats are a great way to keep yourself motivated to work towards goals. The trick, I find, is to set yourself a few big goals and inter-space them with smaller ones that you can tick off as you go. Allow for treats on an "appropriate scale" for each goal. It's a huge help with motivation and also gives you another reason to stem the flow of gear purchases - and anything that helps there is very welcome indeed!

Read all about it...

Ooohhhh - TRAIL's out!!
And - there's a whole section on Crib Goch!!

Plus, there's oooodles of info on the Fitness Academy and how you can make it work for you too.

:)

North East Ridge of Tryfan

It just doesn't get much better than the North East ridge of Tryfan (915 mtrs)!!! That is, unless you've got Mal to fill you in on all the history and stories to bring the mountain completely to life.



The weekend just couldn't have been any better at all. I loved absolutely every minute of it. So much so in fact, that I've already planned my return for later this month, when I've got my fingers crossed for some snow.

Here's a series of photos from the day..

Mal leading Claire, Jess and I on the East Ridge


Claire waiting for the rest of us to catch up. Claire is a right mountain goattie!!


Me on the Cannon on Tryfan


Mal and Jess and some idea of the route up

Me trying to muster the courage to jump to Adam from Eve, but having gone knee deep into a bog the day before, figured my spacial awareness was somewhat lacking...

George and Colin admiring the view from the summit


Tucking into sarnies at the top

Sian on the way down with Tryfan in the background. You can just make out Queen Vic's face in the rocks...

Moel Siabod

Just as I was thinking the weekend couldn't get any better, along came Mal and the Gang to spice things up a bit.


Mal enjoying a sarnie...

What a team they are too! Four very intrepid souls with a plan for all occasions. They took us up Moel Siabod (872 mtrs) along the East ridge, which is as easy or as hard as you want to make it so perfect for a group like us. Lots of scrambling to keep me quiet.


Mal and Claire on the way up...


Sian scrambling

We had wall to wall blue sky for it too so the freckles were out in full force by the time we got to the top.



Here's some more photos of the day:


Mal in the afternoon sun


Tom waiting for a good pose


Claire getting plenty of the wet stuff...


Claire setting another good example...

Snowdon via Grib Goch

Now THAT's what I call a day out in the mountains!

There was no snow (gutted!) so figured I needed something else to challenge me. Decided to depart from the plan of going up the Pyg Track and headed for Crib Goch (921 mtrs) and the ridge way instead.


(Click on the images if you want to enlarge them)

Of course, my route planning skills are not as sharp as they could be having not yet done the weekend of mountain skills training and I very soon found myself faced with a grade 1 scramble that I hadn't really been expecting. Not one to shy away from a challenge, off I went up the rock face.



LOVED IT!!!!

All the indoor climbing has really paid off and I found I was very comfortable with my own ability for route finding and foot/hand placement so off I went thinking I'd find a foot path up along the ridge.

Boy, was I wrong! I got to the top to find a knife thin ridge of rocks stretching out for what looked like miles and miles in front of me. But, it's a whole different thing trying to scramble DOWN so I really only had one option. Off I went.

I don't think I've ever concentrated so hard in my whole life.

I got over the first bit of the ridge and looked back at what I'd just done...



I did begin to question how many marbles I might be missing.

Still, there's always a guardian angel when you need one and it was at this point that I stumbled (literally) across a fabulous gent-come-mountain-goat who offered to show me the route over the rest of the ridge. There's lovely!


(View back from just before the half way point)

So off we set as a pair and were very soon admiring the view from the top of Garnedd Ugain a.k.a Snowdon's little sister (1065 mtrs). From there we had an eye-popping view of Snowdon herself with the clouds just lifting and promising panoramic views to rival any other.



So, just a short hike to the summit at 1085 meters.







YIPPEE SKIPEEE!!!! First mountain goal of the programme achieved and the highest point in Wales ticked off the list!

The view was utterly awesome:






I couldn't quite believe this was what I'd just come over.



So, time to head back to the car and the Pyg Track is another fabulous route. I couldn't resist stopping to take in the views once more (and I wanted to measure up the second half of the Horeshoe for my return journey...)


(Thank goodness for self-timer!)

Here's the vid from the journey in case you haven't had enough yet: Week 9 - Snowdon!!

And there was still two days of mountains ahead of me....

Wk 8 - Harting Down rambling

Yello!

Had a fantastic walk out on Harting Down today - gorgeous weather!!! and the scenery down there is pretty fantastic.





Check out the vid of the route.

It's the end of week 8 and I've lost another 2 lbs taking me to a total of 10lbs lost on the Trail programme now. I'm generally feeling great for it. I've had a good sleep over the weekend and am feeling really revitalized, which also helps me to appreciate how much better I'm feeling now on the whole.

Been running twice this week and also been climbing - I've finally realised how big a role exercise can play in keeping you sane if you've had a really nasty day at work. I always feel completely relaxed afterwards.

Here's the link to my Wk 8 update vid. (I have to admit that it's also been 2 weeks since I introduced you to the walking trousers in question...)



Tip of the Week: Oh, surely you don't need me to bleet about it any more?? GET YOUR BUM OUT THERE AND BAG SOME PEAKS FOR YOURSELF!!! :)

Ooh ooh ooh - too excited...

SERIOUSLY can't wait to get to the mountains on Thursday - the week can't go quickly enough. I'm already route planning for my free-style-Friday on the mountain...



Planning to warm up with a bit of the South Downs tomorrow, so if you're anywhere near Harting Down, be sure to say hello.

And if you're stuck inside in need of distraction - check out the Trail Forum.

Fell running... WHAT?????

I think I've finally lost my marbles...

Telling you all about my nearly-three-miler last weekend has landed me a place in the Constion Trail Race in October. This is 15km of grit and grind taking in what looks to me like over 300 meters of ascent.

Flipping 'Eck! I must be mad as a box of frogs!



One of these days I'll learn to keep my trap shut!!