Tag: Training

January’s training log

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So after a slack Nov/Dec regarding with the run training, i thought i’d better actually start seriously in Jan. Building up the milage and the elevation. My first real event isn’t until June, but they all have quite a bit of elevation in them. So starting in January would give me a good kick on for the rest of the year. I’ve also tried to maintain my strength and conditioning work at the gym (been trying to get at least twice a week), along with still being able to climb a few times a week.

So i’ve started slowly and built up to about 25miles a week. I haven’t started any actual hill training yet, so the elevation for the week is just whats included in the normal runs.

I’m building up slowly as i have the time to do this before any serious races, and because i don’t want to get injured or worn out!

I had a fell race in January, which was the Tigger Tor. It was 16km with around 500m elevation, i recce’d this run twice also as its a non marked course, but you have to hit all the checkpoints. I also changed running clubs from a triathlon club to a fell running club. So i’m now part of the Dark Peak Fell Runners.

So for Feb, i have another fell race on the 8th, this is around 28km, so will be the longest i’ve run for a while! with a few few hills thrown in. I’m hoping to get around 30miles in per week from now on, for most of Feb. I have booked in a winter climbing break from 22nd to 27th Feb, so i’ll use these days as run recovery!

I happy with my progress so far, no aches or pains which is good! Looking forward to see how feb goes. I’ll keep up the strength training of squats, lunges, core etc. And the climbing is amazing for the core work!

Training & Practice Pack

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The trainings been a bit slack recently, but i kind of resigned myself to this and decided to start ‘proper’ training in January. I need to work out a plan for this. Until then i’m kind of keeping my fitness by doing a few runs a week of normal distances (like 10km), bit of swimming, gym work and climbing.

Currently my first run is in May, trail marathons back to back, on Saturday one Sunday. I feel i can ease into my training a little as i have time until the ultras at the end of the year.

So i need to create a plan for my running along with the strength and conditioning for this. Along with a training plan for climbing to reach my goals for this too!

I went for a run on Sunday, this was probably one of the longest runs i’ve done for a while, pretty flat and pretty steady. Felt brilliant doing too, bit sore on the calf muscles the day after though!

On the 24th December i fly out to Morocco to trek up to M’Goun. a 4,100m peak in the Atlas mountains. So last weekend i did a practice pack for the gear i’ll be trekking up with. Things i need to hand, the sleeping bag, spare clothes etc. are carried by the mules!

The main bulk of this is down jacket, waterproofs, crampons, camera and the rest being spare hats, water, first aid, etc.

  • There is an Alpkit 40l bag
  • DMM Cirque Ice Axe
  • Grivel G12 crampons
  • North Face & Alpkit gloves (5 pairs for varying degrees of weather)
  • Paramo Velez Evolution Hybrid Smock (waterproof)
  • Arc’teryx Cerium LT
  • Couple of buffs & Hats
  • Montane Waterproof trousers

I now need to practice pack with all my other gear and my food & snacks!! I’ll have a go at this, this weekend! Maybe a bit late if i need anything as its the last weekend before i go and the weekend before Christmas!

Trips and Training

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After the Hardmoors i had a week off and felt good for it. The first run i did was a steady 10miles down the Pennine Way, taking in Kinder Falls and back. The legs felt good, bit tired towards the end. Last 2 miles was a push but it was downhill and on nice flagged moors.

From there i had a trip into the Lake District planned. This was part of the new Trig Ring unveiling on top of Blencathra. And it was also a chance to meet a few people off of Instagram. So there is a Whatsapps group that is full of people off Instagram that are into the same kind of stuff, hiking, running, climbing, anything outdoors really. On the Whatsapp group everyone plans trips and meet ups, kinda cool. Using social media to actually be social!

So my plan for the Lakes was get up there early Saturday morning. Go for a 20km run in the fells, then a spot of bouldering. Sleep in the YHA then on Sunday meet up and head up Blencathra.

The run was pretty good. Started just outside Keswick, up Walla Crag onto Bleaberry Fell, High Seat and High Tove. Obviously  bagging a few Wainwrights along the way! The run from Bleaberry Fell, High Seat and High Tove was pretty much a big fest, and made for some slow running and wet legs!

But i got 20km in, with 644m (2178ft) of elevation, in 2hours 30mins. So considering the bogs and wet lumpy ground i was pretty pleased.

The Sunday was all about Blencathra, we headed up to the top around 8:30. With the unveiling happening around 11:00. The planned routes were up Halls Fell Ridge and back down Sharp Edge. These are two awesome routes for scrambling. And i will defiantly be back up in the winter with crampons and ice axe in tow.  If anyone is heading up Blencathra, take in these two routes.

At the top for the unveiling was Stephen Birkinshaw, he wrote the book ‘There is No Map in Hell’ about his running journey taking in all the Wainwrights in 6days and 13hours. He’s still the current record holder, so i took the book up and got him to sign it!

After that i’ve had a couple of local small races, one being the first Trunce Race and the first Spencers Dash. This weekend i also volunteered for the inaugural Pennine Bridleway 57km. I was one of the race sweepers, it was a really nice day and great route. I did about 30 miles of sweeping, but i started getting a twinge in my groin so i got a lift back while the other sweeper, John, carried on the last 5 miles. So in effect i DNF as a sweeper 🙂 The race was along the Pennine Bridleway through the Peak District, mainly along old railway lines, so it was a pretty flat course.

Next up is the Great Lakeland 3 Day event! Beginning of May, bag myself some more Wainwrights! Although i need to get back into a training routine and sort my diet out. They have both been a bit lax recently!

1 Ultra down

1st Ultra run of the year!

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So…… this Saturday was me returning to the Hardmoors 55. I was tempted to write a post before hand, but i also didn’t really want to tempt fate!

After Christmas and New Year in Oz, i really was doubting i could do this. I did a Trail Marathon at the beginning of December, and had basically not really trained much from then till after i cam back from Oz. I had doubts that 2 months of training was going to be enough, i felt that after the holiday maybe my fitness had fallen away somewhat. I’m guessing everyone feels the same after two weeks of no real training. Anyway i knuckled down and got on with the training.

As the race approached i kind of realised i was plenty fit enough to get it done, it was a more a matter of the mental shit! I kind of resigned myself to the fact that in a race of 50 odd miles that i will want to quit, there will be really bad times, but there will also be really good times. And that if i did want to quit, i just had to make sure that the points i want to quit at, are the points in the race that are pretty much unquitable (made a word up too)! I mean i can’t quit in race 10mile from a checkpoint in the middle of the North Yorkshire moors, and even if i did, i would still have to get my arse to the checkpoint to quit! So as long as i left the checkpoints, quitting wasn’t an option.

I told myself my target was to finish, and that if i wanted a good time then i would have to go back another year. This year was just about getting it done. I had a few points i wanted to reach at certain times, but that was more just for fun. The few targets i did have were i wanted to hit Kildale at around 2hours. This was around 1,600ft of elevation and 10miles. Managed it in around 2hours 20minutes (this included queueing for gates). I also wanted to hit 20miles in sub 5 hours. This was around 3,500ft of elevation, i managed this 4hours 40minutes. So i was more than happy with. I knew that after 30miles most of the elevation was done, which was a huge boost. And at mile 37 just about all the elevation was over, and it was down hill from there! So at mile 37 i’d pretty much done all the 9,500ft of elevation.

Screenshot 2019-03-18 at 18.23.08

Its amazing that at mile 31 my thoughts were i only have 20miles left now! it’s a weird thought to have, when most people wouldn’t dream of doing 20 miles anyway. Let alone thinking ‘thats all thats left, easy doable’!

Now, its hard to describe the weather conditions! for 12 hours it was constant rain, with sleet thrown in. On top of this was constant winds of 40-50mph. Add in the fact this is on the North Yorkshire moors, there is no shelter, no trees, walls or buildings sheltering you! Running into the wind is hard! I think about 500 people started the race and 300 finished it. The weather made it a very tough race, very harsh conditions. The weather plays a part in ruining you mentally, it’s hard enough to run 55miles up and down hills, but when you’re wet, uncomfortable, cold and being battered by wind it does play with your head as to why am i doing this! On the day it seemed so stupid as to why i would have signed up to the event especially after the storms and snow of last year! But the days after the race, i’m kind of only remembering it as an awesome thing, and i’m very proud i did it and completed it.

Whether i’ll be running ultras in winter months again is yet to be seen 😉

 

Helvellyn

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This weekend i traveled to the Lake District and stopped over for a few nights. I stopped over in Windermere, but didn’t really get into Windermere this time as the main reason for going up was to go up Helvellyn via Swirral Edge. This was the first chance for a while i could get the crampons on and ice axe out.

I don’t think i could have wished for a more perfect day, the snow was amazing, the sky was clear with blue skies and the sun shining. I hit one patch of cloud just as i reached the summit, but this soon passed. And to be honest it made it a little more cooler to reach the top and be engulfed by cloud!

The sun then came back out and i had a bit of food on the top, there was barely any wind. There was the odd gust, which dropped the temperatures down to around -13c, the temperature out of the wind was about -5c. But this didn’t feel bad at all, bit bad on the hands when eating a sandwich. I actually took my coat off and just had a base-layer, t-shirt and an Arc’teryx hoodie on.

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It was an awesome day out, and on the way back down i made a detour to Catstye Cam. I think it took me about 5 hours, 16km and about 900m of elevation. The weather defiantly made the day, it a couple of weeks i’ll be going back to the Lakes to go up Skiddaw and blencathra. Hoping the snow is still there for some epic adventures.

I would defiantly recommend taking a visit to Helvellyn, whether this is in the winter or summer. It’s an easy hike from Ullswater, about 4miles there and back (14km). And theres a few pubs in Ullswater to grab a beer when you’ve done.

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Next years running events & plans

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FB4C417E-F055-4ABB-9A0E-6B381C395CE2I finished the last race of the year with the South Yorkshire Cross Country. It was a good race, and with plenty of mud! which is always a plus on a cross country. I really enjoyed these races and will defiantly be doing them next year.

 

 

 

I have managed to book the races i want to do next year, i will probably add on a few more but these will be little club runs for fun.

My first event is the Hardmoors 50 in March. This is a 50 mile race through the North Yorkshire moors, and one i’m looking forward to.

The second race is the Great Lakeland 3 day event, this is in May. A mountain marathon in the Lake District. The rules are more relaxed than a normal mountain marathon and it makes for a good bank holiday weekend. You camp over each night, wake up and start running. Your camping equipment is transported for you, so all you need is your running gear and race vest.

I then have a 55km Ultra in the Lake District, this starts at Ambleside and is in June. It looks like an awesome route, but then again where isn’t there a good route in the Lake District?

So my plan with these two races, and a few other training runs and hikes is to complete all the Wainwrights next year (for people who don’t know, check this out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wainwrights ). The 3 day event should bag me quit a few, and the 55km should get me some too. I plan to start ‘collecting these’ in February, with another trip up in March & April. So i’m hoping to have got the rest of them done by the end of 2019. There is 214 in total and i have already bagged about 20 so far.

81CQw79NJBL._SY606_I have already bought myself a poster for completion of these!!

So… if i can get through the 50miler and can do the 3-day event, doing the elite category. And i survive. My aim is to enter the Cape Wrath for 2020, which is a 400km, 8 day supported race. The Cape Wrath is a trail around the top of Scotland, and looks amazing. The attractive part of doing this race is that it is fully supported.

I also have an 83mile trail event in August, this takes in the whole of the Dales Way, and goes from Windermere in the Lakes to Ickley in Yorkshire. This has a very generous cut off of 36 hours. So in effect, it is walkable in that time frame, or run and have some naps 😉

Thats pretty much it for events i have got booked in, i have entered Stafford half Ironman. But i’m not classing this as one of my main races.

So after August, i’m race free! but i’m seriously considering the Montane Cheviot Goat in December. This is in the Cheviots on the border of England and Scotland, and is pretty much the most remote place in England. Pretty harsh landscape and hills/mountains plus the cold! Sounds good!!

Image result for cheviots
Image result for cheviots

But first, before any of this, its Christmas and New Year! Which i’m spending in Sydney, Australia. The last time i was there i was 22! Looking forward to going back.

Image result for christmas in sydney

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year!

Ramblings on running.

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Yesterday i did the Dark Peaks Trail Marathon. This is a marathon in the Peak District, has around 4,000ft of elevation, and some tough terrain. I enjoyed the race, i did the same race last year so i was kind of using it as a benchmark. I managed to knock an hour off from last year, which i’m happy about. I reckon i could have knocked a little more off too. There were some downhill parts that my trainers didn’t cope well with, due to the slippy mud. Which pissed me of a little, but getting the right trainers for every terrain is pretty hard, so i’ll let slide 🙂

So i don’t know how anyone else is feeling when running trail marathons/ultras over long periods of time. Some strange shit happens, there are a few times when quitting goes through my head, when i feel like i have a ‘second wind’, when my feet hurt, quads hurt, glutes hurt, hips hurt and pretty much everything hurts! I also think about why i’m doing it, that i like the adventure, i like to explore places only running would take me, i like the fact that i want to quit, but i don’t! and i like the fact that when i finish, it’s something i have accomplished and worked hard to do.

It’s hard to know what everyone else is going through while doing the race. My assumption 99% of the time is that it’s only me suffering! and why isn’t everyone else in pain! Now i pretty much know this can’t be true, surely everyone is hurting? I going to start asking people on races 🙂 But i’m not sure if more training is actually pushing the pain further down the line. I mean nothing really hurts now for maybe the first 20 miles on a normal flat-ish run, a run up the hills & mountains is different again though!

Anyway, its been a while since i updated this blog. I have booked the races i’m doing next year and a few other things.

I am volunteering on the Spine Race, which should be epic https://thespinerace.com/

I have a trip planned to the Lakes in Feb to Helvellyn, in March i have the hardmoors 50, May is the Great Lakeland 3 day event, June the Lakeland Trails 55km and then in August i have an 83mile Ultra which encompasses all the Dales Way. So far thats it!!

These are a few snaps from the last few months, twice did the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, South Yorkshire Cross Country League, Round Rotherham Relays, training runs etc.

Feeling fit, bit bored of Triathlons though!

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Soooooo, i haven’t updated this for a while! I can not be bothered to fully recap everything in the last few months. I’ll do a quick recap of what i’ve been up to, a few picks, then i might rattle on about stuff.

  • May – Maltby Sprint Triathlon 1:16:41 – Was really happy with this and enjoyed the race.
  • Ripon Triathlon 2:48:08 – Swim = 31:19 – Bike = 1:21:17 – Run = 52:44 – I enjoyed this, bit warm, but was a nice day. I fucked up for about 10km on the bike, i couldn’t work my new hydration bottle thing!! And it was fucking baking, so i panicked a little! Yes, i’m the big dickhead who didn’t test things before a race!! No fucking medal either!!!!!!! Gutted!
  • Castle Howard Triathlon 3:08:25 – Swim 24:13 (Ripon was a non-wetsuit swim, hence the time difference) – Bike = 1:40:37 (This was about 7km longer than 40km, hence the 20mins time difference from Ripon) – Run = 55:57 – The swim was dirty and full of reeds, then a 600m run up an hill to T1 (T1 took me 6 mins!!!), i hated the bike, but again this is my dumb fault as the weekend before i did a 110mile bike from Filey to Barnsley! I could feel the fatigue in my legs. I loved the run, it was all off road on trails around Castle Howard, it was mainly up hill too! I might, next year just do the half marathon run as the weekend festival was good. I hate my time result on this, the 6mins in transition and extra 7km on bike ruins it!

The above are the races i’ve done, i’ve also do the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride which is 80miles, the Filey to Barnsley, about 7 Oxspring Trunces, which is a local fell race. The Dam Flask relays, which was awesome and Stan’s Toffee Run, which is a local trail race.

 

 

I’m getting bored with Triathlons, not so much the actual events but the training for them. I enjoy the swimming, the biking and the running. What i don’t like is that sometime its feels restrictive in how i train and what i want to do. Its mainly the biking and the running. The road biking i like and enjoy, i find nice rural roads and kind of just explore, which is good as there is plenty around where i live. The problem is that just training isn’t about a nice amble out. It has to be functional on the bike whether this is endurance or speed etc. So most of the time its head down and get the numbers right! And the running!! i love running, but i love running in the middle of hills, mountains and trails. I like to stop at the top and admire the views! I like that n one is around and its kind of just you and nature! i also like the kind of self sufficient thing about it. You put on your race vest, few snacks, water, rain coat and just fuck off somewhere! Training for flat road and speed gets boring.

I’ve been doing a few more trail runs lately and kind of neglecting the bike. I have about 4 to 5 weeks until Ironman Weymouth, so i need to get some biking in.

The plus point is i do feel a lot fitter than say 6 months ago. I did a 16 mile run in the Peak District the other day with 3,500ft of elevation in it. I felt brill, and i’ve not really done that for 3 months, and i have’t run over 10 miles since start of May. So i was happy with the progress.

Currently my training week breaks down into

  • Monday: Swim 2,000m (am) / 1 Hour turbo on Sufferfest (pm)
  • Tuesday: Swim 2,000m (am) / Speed work 5 – 10km (pm)
  • Wednesday: 1 hour Strength & conditioning (am) / 1 Hour turbo on Sufferfest (pm)
  • Thursday: 2000m (am) / Club ride 30km & 5km brick (steady pace)
  • Friday: 2000m (pm) / 30mins Yoga (pm)
  • Saturday: 100km bike ride & 5km brick
  • Sunday: 10 – 20km steady recovery run

Sometimes i miss shit, sometimes i swim less than 2,000m etc but i try and roughly stick to this. If i’m feeling tired or that i need a rest then i’ll take a day off. I use Training Peaks to plan shit and review my form and numbers etc. It works out to around 10 – 15 hours per week, depending on how i feel.

I do think though 2019 will be a run only year though, i’ll still swim and ride, but the comps will be run only!

Running Adventures

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So….. my plan of updating this thing every week properly backfired! about once every 3 months currently!

Anyway, lets say I started the Hardmoors 55, seems better than saying i did it, as ‘did it’ would imply a finish! Which i didn’t do. It was my first DNF, thought i would feel a lot worse for having a DNF. It bugged the shit out of me at the time, felt like a failure and that maybe i had overreached  “The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” Arthur C. Clarke

So i beat myself up a little bit (the exact same way i do when i start a sentence with ‘so’), realised that i just need to slap myself, have another go and train smarter! I think the training is the area i need to improve. I dropped out at around mile 30, just before the 3 sisters. My hip started hurting around mile 15, which didn’t bother me too much until about mile 25. I must have been compensating for my left hip on my right side, as my right hamstring and glute started hurting. I just thought dropping out was the most sensible option, to not get too drastically injured and still be able to do the other events i’ve entered. I also pretty much decided the moment i’d quit that i was going back next year. To fucking smash it 😉

Now the weather was bad, with snow, sideways sleet and wind. But i had the right gear and never felt cold or wet, i can’t even blame the weather for sucking!

So the positives and lessons learnt are that, i did 30miles, no small feat in itself. The course is worth running more than once, and i’ll get to! The weather makes the adventure. Fucking stay over, getting up at 3 in morning to run 55 miles is fucking dumb. My flexibility and mobility is zero, i need to work on this. Just because on a training run you can comfortable do 20miles, does not mean you can do 55miles, and doing 40-50 miles per week is not enough. One long run a month of a marathon or more is on the cards when in training for an Ultra.

 

The above stories are a huge over reaction and absolute bollocks. Whoever Bethany Lodge and Graeme Hetherignton are maybe they should have asked the runners, or got off their lazy arses and run it themselves to find out. Useless twats, being good at you job and having some integrity would help.

Last weekend i did the Great Lakeland 3Day event, this is a Mountain Marathon event 3 different classes (as with most mountain marathons). The event is 3 days in the Lake District, Run/Hike camp everyday. You get given a map and have to navigate to the check in points, these are just electronic markers, no people. There is no aid stations so you have to be self sufficient on the Hills/Mountains.  The event was brilliant, on day 1 i did the the Elite class, 30 miles with 3,000 metres of elevation. Day 2 and 3 i dropped down to the lowest class, covering 20 miles on day 2 and 10 miles on day 3. I’ve been to the Lake District before, but not like this weekend. This was up in the Western Lakes, a place i’ve  never been before. It’s part of the Lakes that isn’t really busy compared to Windermere or Keswick way out. There is basically no one on the hills. We started from Ennerdale, went up Hen Comb, down to Crummock Water, up on to Dodd and then up again onto Whiteside running the ridge past Hopegill Head onto Grisdale Pike, back down and then up to Barrow, from their along the ridge onto Scar Crags and Sail, then a steep down and up to Knott Rigg. Down from there all the way over to Dale Head, over to Hindscarth and onto Robinson. Finishing at Buttermere, the new camp site. Second day was backup to Hindscarth along to Dale Head, and down into Little Town, where i had Soup and a roll 😉 From there up back onto Knott Rigg and back down to Buttermere. The 3rd day i just walked it back from Buttermere to Ennerdale. I would defiantly recommend the Great Lakeland 3Day, the adventure and exploring is amazing.

 

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Now it’s onto some triathlons…………

1 week to go Hardmoors 55 – Kit List

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Well thats it, if i haven’t done the training i’ll soon find out, and a week isn’t going to improve anything! This week is pretty much relax week, eat well, drink plenty of water, stretching and Yoga, with maybe one run thrown in to keep the legs mobile.

The last longish run was yesterday, 10mile around the Upper Derwent & Howden reservoir. This is a amazing place to run around, the views alone are amazing, but the roads and trails around the reservoir’s are easy going and undulating making it a good, quick run on trails.

I spent the rest of Saturday checking the kit, i ordered a new top for race day, and i’m hoping it gets to me before Saturday 😬

There is a mandatory kit list, as expected. Its the usually stuff, waterproofs, map, water, bivvy bag etc.

He’s my kit list and some of the gear i will be wearing.

I have the Petzl ACTIK head-torch, the race starts at 9:00 in morning, so we could potentially be running in the dark, the sun is setting around 18:00 here in England. Map, spare hat and a buff, plus a few gel’s and some Made Good chocolate chip Granola bars. These are good, and contain all natural ingredients, they even have one portion of veg in them! sounds rank but you can’t taste the vag shit!

Headtorch
Map and compass of the North York Moors
Food & Gel’s
Spare hat and a buff

 

For the waterproof jacket i have the Salomon Bonatti Pro, best waterproof for the trails i’ve had. Awesome coat, highly recommend. Its windproof with taped seams. A pair of Compressport calf sleeves, i find these really work and help on long distance runs, i also tend to keep them on after runs for quite a while too. I have a Salomon Advance 12 Skin Set race vest, i have tried a few race vests and this one, so far, seems to be the stand out vest. It is really comfortable to run, the front pockets and rear pockets are really easily accessible, which is good for food and waterproofs. There is a few zip pockets too which i like, the pouch at the rear is plenty big enough for any race needs, and the hydration flasks are easy to get to. I am also taking a pair of Black Diamond Distance Z poles, i’m not sure if i will use these or not, but i’m going to pack them. They’re light enough to not care about.

 

I’m taking 2 pairs of trainers, i’m lucky enough that a few people are following us around the race (in their cars) and will carry spare kit for us. I’m starting the race in my Inov8 Terra-Claw 250, they are really roomy and comfortable, but i’m not sure how they will feel after 55 miles, the soles are pretty thin with not much cushioning, so i’m pretty apprehensive to do 55miles int them, i’ve done 32 miles in these, but my feet aching for a few days after. I’m going to take my Inov8 Park-Claw 275 GTX shoes, just incase things get a little too rough for the feet! I’ll be taking spare socks too, i love the injinji socks, so will be wearing these and taking a few spare pairs too.

Terra Claw 250
Park Calw 275 GTX

So all i have now is 6 days of waiting! really looking forward it, i’m confident i/we can do it in around the 12 hour mark.