It’s been a tough but amazing week in training. It was the hardest week in my training month but it was full of special moments like this.

The week started off with a full hour at the gym followed by a 11km run carrying nearly full kit. It weighed in at 8kg which was more than I was aiming for. I’ve tried all along to keep everything super light but I think the reality is that is light for ‘self supported’. Despite the weight, my Tuesday run went well and it’s definitely ‘doable’. I jog with it on the flat and downhill then I walk the uphills. I can just about jog with it if its a shallow uphill.

Wednesday was an hour on the turbo. Its not exciting on a turbo but it’s serving its purpose as I generally feel better after. Spinning with a low gear eases my tired muscles.

Thursday I do a half hour run at a really slow pace. This is definitely a recovery run. I generally want to go faster but I know its good for me to keep it slow. After work on a Thursday I have a strength workout with my PT Emma. This week was mainly arms with some core. She had me dangling and trying to do pull ups using a box to put one foot on to assist. I really enjoy these workouts. She’s an excellent trainer and pushes me to get stronger.

Friday was my long run. I’m normally highly motivated. This week I wasn’t feeling it and had to push myself to go out and run 33km (which turned into 35km due to diversions). It was gorgeous weather. Perhaps too gorgeous as I was a sweaty puddle for most of it 🥵. I walked most of the uphills and ran the rest. It was hilly and quite technical in places so conserving energy on the tricky bits makes sense. By the end of it I was really enjoying it. Partly because it was flat in the last 5km 😝 and partly because I still had some energy which amazed me. It might of been the half time teacakes and Coca Cola – nom.

On Saturday my husband and I took a late afternoon train to Edale and hiked via Upper Booth, up Jacobs Ladder to the Wool Packs on Kinder plateau. It was ‘only’ 7km but it was all uphill, pretty warm and rocky. It was beautiful all the way and I really enjoyed hiking in the evening. The views were stunning (see some photos below).

Once we found a nice spot we started laying out our tents for the night. I was really excited as this was my first experience wild camping! I tried out a new footprint which was hilarious as it was so lightweight it kept trying to blow away. It also didn’t have any holes in it to pin it down (lesson learnt there). I had to put all my kit on top of it to stop it blowing away, then put my tent up on top and then slide out my stuff from underneath. 🤦‍♀️ 😆

Once we had all our stuff sorted we set about finding a nice spot to see the sunset whilst cooking our adventure meals on the stoves. Having one of these dehydrated meals was also a first. I have to say I’m very surprised and also delighted – it was really yummy! I had a creamy mashed potato mixed with vegetables and hubby had bean chipotle chilli. We will definitely be getting those again.

We settled down after tea for some chocolate and whiskey – great combination if you’ve never tried 😁. After a while it got too cold so we disappeared in our respective tents to read our kindles and shout out to each other about our books. I should add we have two ‘one man’ tents as we plan to go on separate adventures so this made the most sense.

I got up in the night for a tinkle and the view was stunning – perhaps I should rephrase that!! The moon was so bright – it was gorgeous. It didn’t really get dark. I can really imagine it’s worth going up there with a good camera.

We slept like babies 😴. In the morning it was amazing to wake up to the spectacular views. I think I’m a wild camping convert! We had porridge and coffees and started packing up for the days hike.

Our Easter Sunday hike was only 18km but it was really tough. On a physical level there was a lot of rocks, boulders, steps, technical ground etc. On a meditational level it was amazing. The views were utterly stunning non stop all the way. From a psychological perspective, however, the descent down William Clough dialled into my anxieties. I know I need to work on my fear of technical downhills since I’m planning to climb and descend the 3 peaks.

Today, however, was a reminder of how tough its going to be for me. It’s hard to describe how uncomfortable I get when staring down at a steep descent when it’s rocky and especially if the rocks are wet. I have to take my time, a step at a time and just try not to look too far ahead. One of the hardest things is knowing that others find it so easy. I wonder why I cant find it easy also. The positive to takeaway from this is that I did it. I walked down William Clough – ta dah. Hubby pointed out that I should probably do that kind of descent many times to get ready for the 3 peaks. So we will work this into the plan. I know it will get better. I will nail this – grrrr… 💪