Well its officially 12 weeks until JOGLE whoop! Training is continuing following our Cleveland Way adventure two weeks ago.

This last week I did a double session at the gym on Monday, a loaded rucksack run on Tuesday, a bike ride and yoga on Wednesday, a run and strength workout on Thursday, a longer run on Friday, another run on Saturday followed by more yoga and finished with a long hike today with the weighted rucksack again.

I’m starting to feel more confident and ready but the one thing I feel I haven’t done is run long days with the rucksack back to back.

So at the end of June and again at the end of July I plan to do long weekends of running with full kit to practice.

In 3 weeks time, for my first weekend practice, I will take the train up to Dalston (south of Carlisle). From there I will do 3 days of running/jogging/walking.

Day 1: Run from Dalston ca. 39k to Thornthwaite – camp over.

Day 2: Jog from Thornthwaite to Wasdale Head near Scafell Pike. Elevation is decent at 1100m over ca 22km so I expect a fair bit of walking in there too.

Day 3: Wasdale Head to a train station at Ravenglass – ca. 20km.

It’ll be interesting to see how my legs/muscles are and also how navigation over the fell near Haystacks is on day 2. Hopefully the weekend will give me that last bit of confidence I need.

For some time now I’ve been playing about with Komoot looking at multiple different routes to run through the UK that also take in the 3 peaks. The hope is to get me from John O Groats to Lands End within 6-7 weeks, averaging a marathon a day.

I’ve come up with the rough schedule below as I’d love for people to join me for the day, half a day or even a mile if they want to. However, I also want to have an adventure and be free to leave certain bits to the last minute. I’ve therefore, included a number of days that are to be decided ‘TBD’. In total I have 3 ‘wiggle’ days. I’ve kept these days free in case of insurmountable weather, illness or injury. If I don’t need to use them for these reasons (fingers crossed) then I will probably shorten some of the days proceeding the named wiggle room day. Sitting around in a tent or at a B&B for a whole day doesn’t appeal and from experience I’m more like to end up with a sore back or hips if I do so.

The plan was created using some hiking routes but also many mountain biking routes. It’s essentially off road where possible utilising the many miles of trails that cross our country.

So feel free to look below (please click on download) and if you would like to join me for a jog, full day or half day running or walking or a bit of both please message me and we can arrange where to meet and when etc. I would then do my utmost to meet any arrangements made with anyone. As I run, however, I’ll be tracked and also be updating social media so if I fall down a rabbit hole Alice in Wonderland style, you’ll hopefully know well in advance.

Two things should not change. I will set off on 3rd Sept (Saturday morning) and arrive at Lands End on Saturday 22nd October by lunchtime.

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… 💪

The last few weeks in training have been interesting…..

There was a great 32k run carrying a small amount of kit, stopping to make a brew with my new kraku stove in the warm sunshine. This run also included my fourth time filtering river water using my mini Sawyer filter which filters out 99.99% of all bacteria. It doesn’t filter out viruses (but you wouldn’t unduly expect many in UK rivers) and it doesn’t filter our chemicals (simply dont use river water near factories).

The day after this run I became ill – very ill. Probably the worst case of gastroenteritis (assuming thats what it was) I’ve ever had. Following the initial gruesome bit (details spared here) I carried on feeling sick, a bit dizzy and generally rubbish for several days. Was it the water? Or did I just eat something dodgy? Or did I make contact with something undesirable on my run and then eat my sandwiches. 🤔

To say that this experience made me paranoid is an understatement. I’ve been second guessing everything I’ve read about water filters. However, I’ve regrouped and done some more research. Well I contacted an amazing Adventurer on Twitter and she advised that she uses purification tablets on top of a filter unless she is high up in the mountains. Following my mini ‘hiccup’ I’ve decided this is also what I shall do.

After my “recovery week” I intended to cautiously step back into training for week 1 of my new workout plan. My coach at North_Endurance sets out a new plan every month. Week 1-Week 3 build up gradually with week 3 being the hardest. Week 4 is then a recovery week where sessions are halved or made easier in terms of intensity. Each four week plan might incorporate a new element or goal and will generally also include a new strength workout.

This months plan includes the following new elements:

• One weekly run including the rucksack with full kit and weight
• A longer gym session to test muscular endurance
• A 3 day weekend of aerobic endurance. Fri is long run, Sat long (well ish) bike and Sun long hike.

My long run will build to 21 miles by the end of this plan. Next month the coach will put me on back to back runs Sat/Sun but reduce the distance (then rebuild it again).

I’ve been very impressed with my coach. He’s kept me injury free so far (my own attempts to poison myself aside). Long may it continue!

I absolutely loved this last week of training, although I will admit it left me shattered by the end of yesterday and I’ve had today off to rest with another rest day tomorrow.

On Monday I did an hours workout at the gym. I’m really enjoying the gym and strength work so this was all about the fun for me.

On Tuesday I ran with my rucksack for the first time. Well technically speaking its not the first time I’ve run with a weighted bag but it was the first time with this particular bag and the first time its been that full. I managed to pack it with 6kg. In reality it’ll be more like 7-7.5kg for JOGLE as I will pack adventure food, a tracker and yet more water in a bladder. I simply don’t have these things yet but I should get the bladder soon at least.

I was pleasantly surprised to find I was not only able to jog but to keep this up for a full hour quite easily. It felt really comfortable on the whole. The only issues to resolve are getting a bladder as the pockets at the front are not large enough for soft water bottles and finding a way to stop the small ridge in the back of the rucksack from rubbing me and causing chafing when I run.

Wednesday and Thursday included a turbo session, a short run and a death by Emma session with my PT 😬😆. She worked me seriously hard but its good to feel I’m getting stronger.

On Friday I ran 23km, mostly on road. It’s amazing how easy road running feels when you always run on hilly trails. Having said that I was still slow as a) I got lost (as always!) and b) I was bollocksed 😆.

On Saturday I went on a hike with Emma and some of her friends. It was a really lovely day and we walked through beautiful places on undulating trails. We parted ways at the top of Jacobs Ladder and they continued onto Castleton finishing a long day of 24km and I finished my 19km in Edale meeting up with hubby who had also hiked 22km from a different starting point (so clearly I was the laziest that day 😆). We were both carrying full kit and camped in Edale at a lovely place called Fieldhead Campsite. I can highly recommend.

Thankfully my lovely husband brought me a second sleeping bag as it was -1 degrees and my season II sleeping bag just doesn’t cut it in those temperatures. I was toasty warm and had a lovely sleep listening to the sounds of a nearby stream as I drifted off. The pint of beer and nip of Martell brandy at the Nags Head helped though. A lovely finish to a lovely week.

I’ve been suffering from writers block lately. I know there is a jumble of words in my head but its difficult to spit them out in any particular useful order. After some dithering and focaccia bread making, I decided if I just start typing perhaps the thoughts will spill out and the writing will take care of itself. We will see – miracles do happen.

With 24 weeks to go till JOGLE, training has been increasing. I’m still covering 3 runs and a hike a week – this will no doubt increase in the next months. The runs are one hilly one, one short slow one and one longer one that gets longer each week. This one is following a marathon plan. This last week it was 24km and next week it’s 27km. The long run is my favourite run. It allows me to get out onto the trails and lose myself for a few hours both in mind and sometimes literally 😆.

On top of the runs, I do a long hike with my husband carrying a 30L rucksack and full camping/JOGLE kit. Longest to date was 30k but todays was “just” 19k. I say “just” because they are genuinely really hilly and often include some technical ground. By technical I mean loose large rocks, slippy muddy steep hills or boggy fields. This is all the norm for most trail runners or hikers but its definitely more energy sapping than running or walking on roads.

My coach plans in all the training runs for me. He also sets out one bike session and two strength sessions each week. Recently my strength workouts have become more advanced. Where I previously did a plank, I now do a plank with leg lift. Where I previously did calf raises I now do them on one leg holding weights. In addition to these two sessions, I see my PT each week who gives me exercises that push me to my limit.

It’s good to see that I’m starting to progress. I can do moves I couldn’t do before and the stronger I get the more my PT introduces something new to push me again. Currently she is also working on my back strength. This is something I will certainly need for carrying my rucksack day in/day out.

This last weeks training totalled 12 hours. In my head this doesn’t sound a lot when I consider I will need to run/walk for 6-8 hours a day. But it is a lot and my body is tired today. I’ve had achy hips, a twinge in my ankle and my right shoulder makes lovely cracking sounds when I rotate it. Hopefully my body will adapt to this loading and start getting less tired – of course then I will add more training and hours 😉.

Kit:

The only addition to my kit has been some merino wool liner gloves with touchscreen compatible pads on the thumbs and index fingers. I absolutely love them. Considering how thin they are they have kept me warm when its been 2 degrees and I’ve still had them on when the sun is shining and my hands dont sweat in them. I also love the pads which mean I can take photos or check for messages without taking off my gloves.

My stove has arrived. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet though. I’m still waiting for the accompanying gas cannister to arrive – kind of essential. I should hopefully get a camping opportunity in April so this would be a good time to try it out. Fun times 😀.

This week I practiced with my Fenix watch for the first time using my own route. Or rather using the route that Komoot found on the app. Picking a starting point and an end point and letting the app choose something suitably ‘traily’ I found myself on new paths, exploring steep steps in a wood, jogging up paths that looked like dry river beds and crossing fields with no obvious path. All the time you simply make sure the little arrow is sitting on the purple line on your watch. It’s easy to use. It just feels odd to not know where you are and simply trust it. Fun though 😀.

I also used my water filter again this week. The more I use it the faster the water will flow out. So its good to practice. You simply screw on the blue filter onto your bag (in which you’ve collected river/stream water), turn it upside down and squeeze. You can squeeze into your own clean bottles or just drink directly from it by sucking on the blue filter at the other end. Now my runs/hikes are getting longer I’m finding this gadget very useful and the water tastes really nice too.

Charities

I’ve had emails and information from both Mind and The Menopause Charity now. I can set up just giving for both. This is something l will set up circa 3 months out from the run.

Thoughts

I’ve had some nervous thoughts lately. Will my body allow me to do this? What if my hip/Achilles/back gives up? What if this/what if that? Two of my friends told me ‘you’re catastrophising’. So true – clearly something I’m guilty of. Oops. It’s good to have that honesty from friends. I need to be positive. I need to remember I’ve been in pain before and I dont give up easily.

It also makes me think though I need to train my mindset as much as I train my physical ability. Both are so important, perhaps the mind is even more important. I’ve seen some interesting books on Mindfulness and The Chimp Paradox that I might give a go. On a lighter note, I’m currently reading ‘ducking long way’ which is a really funny, easy to read book on Ultra running. I highly recommend it if you are into running.

Been busy with admin today setting up a new facebook page for my 3 Peaks JOGLE run in September.

I was sat with my husband in a cocktail bar yesterday (yes I know Human League reminder….) debating what to call the run. After a number of drinks involving rum, fizz and glacier cherries we came up with 3 Peaks JOGLE – as you can see its completely unoriginal and basically just does what it says on the tin. Still the cocktails were nice 😝.

I’m not social media savvy or ‘techy’ I would call it. There has been a lot of ‘Chrisssss’, ‘pleassseee help’. He is lovely though and very patient with me 😆.

It feels weird and sort of alarming that my little adventure is drawing nearer. I have plenty of kit, I’ve been camping, become reasonably fit (I hope) and done some decently long and hilly hikes. However, I’ve not yet built up really long runs. My longest (recently at least) was 16K and I’ll need to run 42K every day.

It’s in the plan of course to build up distance. It just plays on my mind sometimes that I’m not ‘there’ yet.

I have to remind myself though that if I put in too much too soon then I run the risk of injury. Better to be patient and trust in the coach.

A recent mini back sprain led me to go swimming again. It’s really good for low key mobilisation without putting a strain on anything. I’m almost glad I pulled a muscle as I’m now back swimming once a week and loving it.

Following a pretty easy week (recovery week) – next week sees a step up in training. Swimming, strength work and the long hike will be kept the same, spin (bike) sessions will get longer and the long run will get longer. Not sure how far I will run as it’s based on time. So I’ve got 2 hours down for next weekend, building up to 2 hours 30 minutes by the end of Feb. This is still a far cry from the number of hours I need to get to but patience Lorna patience.

Generally on the weekend of the long run my husband and I will also go for a long hike. I’ve started to take my rucksack filled with kit with me to get used to it. These hikes have generally been around the 3 hour mark but the last one was 6 hours (long story involving a cancelled train).

I guess the combination of the long run and the long hike start to feel like I’m getting somewhere.

A few moments below from recent hikes and runs:

Happy Christmas everyone.

My Training Peaks has the start day of my JOGLE adventure planned in, So at a glance I can always see how many weeks there are to go. I’m undecided as to whether this is a good or bad thing.

On the one hand, part of me wishes it was tomorrow as I’m raring to go and on the other hand 35 weeks sounds so soon and its a bit scary! These two different thoughts may seem like they conflict. Actually they stem from the same place. I believe that once I start I won’t feel so nervous. There will be no time to overthink and the time for just ‘doing’ and ‘being’ will be upon me and thats no bad thing.

Well its been an interesting month in training. On the one hand its definitely stepped up and also taken a slightly different direction. On the other hand I’ve had a fair few days additional rest due to not feeling well. I even joined the nation in doing a PCR test this week after having a sore throat for a while. It’s negative and I now think the real culprit is dry air/central heating. A dehumidifier is on its way tomorrow – fingers crossed that helps.

Successful steps forward this last month, include a lot more hiking, hiking with a weighted backpack, running more often and running with a weighted backpack. Furthermore I’m very excited to have discovered a new backpack, which will now allow me to take a stove with me and cook on the way when I camp. So many thanks to Jenny Tough (not only an inspirational lady but also the person on you tube that recommended the backpack). Check out her website its really amazing what she’s accomplished. http://jennytough.com/

Hubby and I have recently hiked over Lose Hill, Mam Tor, Lantern Pike, Cown Edge. We are so lucky to have these beautiful places on the doorstep. (See photos at the bottom).

Running with a tent/sleeping bag etc. Does slow me down a bit (as you’d expect) but I need to learn to slow down even more as my heart rate was a little high this morning. It’s easy to get carried away but I’ll need to perfect the act of jog/walking if I’m to continue everyday carrying weight.

My coach has reduced my bike rides from 3 to just 1 a week as we start increasing my running/walking time. However, I can switch out a hike for a mountain bike ride anytime I want (its all good for fitness). My swimming hours have gone completely (sad face). I do miss it and I could ‘squeeze’ it in somewhere just for some relaxing fun but its not easy to know ‘where’.

My main task over winter is to continue building strength. I do 2-3 gym type sessions a week (one of those with a personal trainer) as well as a minimum of one structured run a week that includes hill repeats or intervals designed to make me stronger. Being strong is the main thing that will keep me from getting injured when I run/walk day after day carrying ca. 7kg (ish ish).

No I’m not pregnant 😆. It’s just 9.5 months until I run/jog/walk JOGLE woohoo.

The Getting Fit Bit:

I’ve been training with a coach since June and its going well. I’m not yet running long back to back distances but there is plenty of time for that next year (I hope eek!). He has, however, helped me to build up my base fitness to a really good level. This last week aside, when I felt poorly for 4-5 days I feel fitter than I ever have before.

The plan for winter is to build up strength and become more injury resistant. (Even more vital at my age). I am now doing 3 strength workouts a week and have to work upper body, lower body and core (each section at least twice in the week).

I have also started to hike more and will continue to build up hiking distances, preferably carrying some weight now and again. Eventually I will need to be able to jog carrying ca. 7kg.

I’m still cross training with cycling and yoga which is good for strength and recovery. I’d love to swim too but am struggling to find the time at the moment. Next year I will be running more and perhaps cycling less as I start the ‘build up’ phase. I’m looking forward to that as I hope I’ll start to feel a bit more ‘ready’.

Kit:

I still have some kit to get but I already have my rucksack, sleeping bag, sleeping mat and a decent rain coat. When its possible I intend to go camping and establish what the minimum temperature I can sleep in is at night. After one camping experience two weeks ago when it dropped to 3 degrees (feels like -1), I can safely say my current kit was inadequate for such low temperatures. I had to get up and dance around the toilet block every hour in order to get blood back into my toes. It was not a fun night.

Since then I’ve bought a silk liner and a long sleeve merino top which should help keep me keep warmer. I would like to camp in the back garden at different temperatures (from 1-6 degrees maybe) to see what is comfortable. At least then if it’s too cold, I can dash back in the house and thaw out.

My husband bought me a Fenix watch which I’m absolutely psyched about. I’ll detail more about this in a separate blog, once I’ve had a chance to play around with it some more.

The Route:

I don’t really want to plan the trip in detail since its supposed to be a fun adventure and I would rather work it out ‘as I go along’.

However, I had to book time off work and arrange cover etc so it was necessary to roughly plot the route and establish timing. I have 7 weeks off work so I have to take less time than that as I need to get to the top and back from the bottom of the country. This means averaging 26 miles a day ish but the exact route in between is flexible. I can plot the routes for the day ahead the night before and/or ask locals for their knowledge ‘down the pub’.

Charity and Motivation:

I would like to raise money for a mental health related charity as well as a menopause related charity. This is something I’m looking into. Both mean a lot to me personally. You’ll see a few blogs on here related to menopause. It’s amazing to me – what a significant ‘event’ it is and yet how little its talked about.

My motivation (apart from the selfish need to have an adventure) is to feel like I’m in the driving seat, feel that sense of independence and gain some of the confidence that menopause sometimes strips away.

Tracking:

Yep I’ve put in an order for a tracker so people can see where I’m up to. This is a risky strategy since I’m completely clumsy and may fall over on day 2. It puts a sense of pressure on me. In some senses I sometimes think I should not talk about my adventure, not blog about it, not raise money for charity and not have a tracker. Then I could sneak off and if it all goes ‘t’ up no one would know (except my colleagues, husband and family).

However, I’ve thought about this. Sean Conway said if you are going to do an adventure tell absolutely everyone – then you have to do it. So I’m trying to go with that theory. I also think the tracker will be a nice thing for friends and family. They can follow where I am up to when the time comes.

Now I just need to keep training and at some point run a marathon distance – with a bag. The clock is ticking….. (apologies for the Sharon Gaytor reference).