Wainwright Climbing: Shifting Focus

Sailing with feet above the clouds on a morning run up Ben Ledi

There have been a few cold snaps recently but commitments in work and life have prevented me getting out and making the most of early season winter conditions. Although its brilliant to see that other people have been getting out, I've definitely been suffering with FOMO so have been pushing my training as a distraction!

Over the past few years winter time training was mainly done on a turbo and bike in the garage, which was partially a function of convenience but it also being a new and exciting thing that I’d not done before. This was supplemented by a few runs and then also the deep base that a winter climbing day in the hills doubtlessly represents. Training on a turbo can be surprisingly addictive as the performance gains and consequential fitness can be generated quite clinically and over a reasonably short time period. The thing is that after 2 years the novelty of turbo training has well and truly worn off and it’s becoming increasingly harder to muster enough motivation to spin away in a freezing garage for hours on end with Netflix trash TV only providing a faint distraction.

Towards the end of last year one of my friends suggested that we enter the Pentland Skyline fell race held in the hills south of Edinburgh. The race itself is ~17 miles and takes in many of the major Pentland Hills, with the route climbing a vomit inducing 2000 m along its course. After agreeing and realising that my fitness was probably woefully inadequate, I dusted off the fell shoes and started doing at least one several hour muscle endurance run in the hills each week. I also joined the local running club, Ochil Hill Runners, and went on some of the social evening runs after work on a Tuesday which was great fun. Within a few weeks my love of the hills and running in them was totally rekindled and it’s for that reason I’ve decided to shift my training focus for 2021 towards hill races.

As well as the Pentland Skyline, last year I heaved myself around the Wansfell Fell Race, the Stybarrow Fell Race and also the Birnam Hill Race, the latter of which was also my best result so far coming 4th overall. This weekend just gone I ran in the Stile End - Outerside and Barrow Hill Race, which narrowly avoided seriously snowy and icy conditions thanks to a well timed thaw the evening before. It would have been a different race if it had stayed sub zero! The next race is planned for Clough Head, which features a lengthly section of very very steep grass and tussocks up just below the main summit, which on the way up will be lung busting, and on the way down, hopefully not bone busting!

Triathlon is still very much a firm fixture next year with two races, one in the summer and the other early autumn, both in the Lakes. Aside from those the plan is to also have a try at some of the longer hill races…

In the meantime hopefully all this running will be useful training for some winter climbing, whenever I eventually manage to make it out into the hills.