Maxine's Walk

Running to music

This morning I had one of my best runs ever, I covered about 8.5 miles through the Cheviots at a good steady pace and the reason for this? Music! I have always struggled with maintaining a rhythm in my running, I start to feel tired and then walk for too long before getting going again. I know other people run to music but until now I always felt I should be enjoying the scenery and that included hearing the sounds of the birds etc. But I thought I would give it a try so I bought a tiny ipod shuffle, uploaded some songs and away I went. What a difference! I have been flying along this morning - I put on a bit of a mix including Amy McDonald, Take That, The Baseballs and the best one for my running pace 'You can't stop the beat' from Hairspray!

My route today started from just west of Wooler up over Gains Law along the St Cuthberts Way past Tom Tallon's crag. I then turned right and took the path up Yeavering Bell, a bit of a climb but the views from the top were fantastic - it was also really windy. I ran back down with the wind behind me and took the footpath up to White Law and then along to Gleadscleugh. The last bit was along the track round Humbleton Hill and then back to the car. A total of 8.5 miles which was a good training run for the Kielder Marathon just two weeks away.

A wet day in the Cheviots

I knew the weather was going to be a little drizzly today but it was my only day off this week and I was determined to get a days walking in the hills. My friend Anita had agreed to come with me, and we met up just outside Wooler, for a 7 miles walk in the Cheviots. At first we only got some light drizzle as we made our way up the track towards Broadstruther (the same track from the beginning of the Ultra a few weeks ago). The cheviots are still looking glorious although the heather is now reaching the end of it's flowering time, we had some lovely views although the hill cloud wasn't too far away. Just before reaching Broadstruther we took the path north up and over the hill before dropping down to cross the burn just below Commonburn Farmhouse. There is a footbridge just a little further down from the path but we opted to step across the fairly shallow river - afterall our feet were already soaked from all the wet ground we had been walking across! By this time the rain had now become quite heavy so we opted to follow the track back to the cars. We got blasted by the rain but we both had good waterproofs so were dry underneath - shame the same can't be said about our shoes and socks!

 

The last bit - cycling from Witney to Helston

Sorry still no pictures, they won't upload at the moment.

On 26th July, following straight on from 2 days cycling in Derbyshire, I went straight down to Witney to carry on to Helston.

Day 3

The first day was a long one, James and I set off from Witney and followed route 47 through the lanes to Burford and then Northleach, two Cotswold market towns full of shops with Joules and Cath Kidston stuff! No time for shopping though, it was on to route 48 running parallel to the Fosseway and on into Cirencester, again straight through the main shopping area and out the other side. A few miles south of the town we met up with Tim and had lunch then James went off in the car and I continued on my own. The good thing about today was that all my stuff was in the car, so nothing on the bike, after lunch Tim and the children drove on to my campsite and set up the tent before continuing on to visit Grandad. In the afternoon my route took me through Malmsbury and then over the M4 motorway before reaching the town of Corsham, here I managed to find a Coop to buy supplies for dinner and breakfast. My campsite at South Wraxall took a bit of finding but after a couple of wrong turns I eventually found where my tent had been pitched!

Day 4

Today I followed the canal into Bath, cycling along the towpath past boats of all shapes and sizes where people live full time, it all felt very hippy. Loads of the boats had bikes next to them with trailers for transporting shopping etc, there were planters full of herbs on the roofs and tables and chairs on the edge of the towpath. I felt a bit like I was cycling though people's front gardens! It seemed to take ages to get through Bath but then I was turning south and heading out on the West Country Way - route 3 to Cornwall. At first the route was relatively easy through villages - several people stopped to chat including a couple who were on their 4th day of cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats for their holiday! At West Harptree I stopped at the village shop to buy a filled roll and an ice lolly for lunch, I then set off in the blazing sunshine for the climb up into the Mendip Hills. It wasn't long before I was walking and pushing my fully loaded bike up a very long and very steep hill, by the time I got to the top I was absolutely dripping and had drunk almost all my water. Fortunately once climbed I was then along the tops and then a really, really steep downhill past Ebor Gorge and Wookey Hole into Wells. I was so glad that I had new brake blocks on my bike, at times I thought the luggage on the back was going to overtake me going down the hill! Straight through Wells past the cathedral and then onto Glastonbury where I was met by Tim and rejoined by Kez. We cycled through the middle of Glastonbury, stopping at the Coop (again) to buy food supplies. I left Kez outside the shop with the bikes while I did the shopping, when I came out she commented on the strong smell of 'hemp' in the town! From there it was a relatively flat ride through the Somerset Levels to our campsite near Westonzoyland, this was a very basic site with minimal facilities so Kez and I made a new invention of using wet wipes to do the washing up with!

Day 5

Today was a day of canals and lanes which was a bit of a mixed blessing, the canals are flat which means no hills but the downside of this is that you cycle continuously in the same position so get really saddle sore. From Bridgewater we followed the canal into Taunton, then through the lanes before following another canal towards Tiverton. Tim returned to collect Kez at Sampford Peverell and I carried on into Tiverton where again I found a Coop to buy dinner from. When booking campsites there had not been a big choice in this area as most of the sites are up into Exmoor or further south on Dartmoor. I had found a lovely site online called West Middlewick Farm in a place called Nomansland - the only problem was getting there, I had to follow the B3137 out of Tiverton along which the cars went at the full 60 mph. The first bit out of Tiverton is called Long Drag Hill - luckily it had a pavement along it, I pushed the bike up the hill for over a mile! From here it was one hill after another - I had definitely entered Devon! Eventually I reached the campsite - it was well worth the hills, georgous views - I camped in the bottom field which had tents along the top edge while the rest was cut for hay. The site is a working dairy farm, I had to wait for the cows to go out from milking before I could get through the yard to go the showers!

Day 6

Within a few miles of setting off from the campsite today I knew I didn't feel quite right, as I walked up yet another hill I realised that I was completely exhausted from the 50+ miles a day that I had been doing and now the hills were bigger, along with this the sun was getting hotter. I got to North Tawton and stopped at a cafe for a bacon roll and a coffee - this was great but I made the mistake of sitting outside in the sunshine. I continued on slowly towards Okehampton - eventually deciding that perhaps I had heat exhaustion, obviously my head wasn't as fuzzy as it felt because I hit on the idea of pouring most of my bottle of water over my head to cool it down. This followed by a whizz downhill got me going again and probably stopped me from complete meltdown. I carried on into Okehampton and then up the hill out of the town to join route 27 to Tavistock, just then the heavens opened and there was a really heavy summer downpour. Luckily I was right next to Okehampton station - on the Dartmoor railway - where they have a great buffet. I went in to shelter and cooled down with some really cold water and an ice lolly, I sat watching the rain gushing over the gutters and bouncing off the edges of the platform. Once the rain had stopped I cycled down to Lydford where James joined me for the last bit into Tavistock. Great campsite here - camping and caravan club site - wonderful facilities.

Day 7

Nice easy start to today down the Plym valley and into Plymouth, it was strange being back where we used to live, I cycled into the town centre and then up onto the Hoe. From Plymouth I took the Cremyl Ferry across the river Tamar and into Cornwall, at last the final county. Tim and the children had gone on ahead to find a campsite and they sent a text to say that nothing was available near Fowey so had found one near St Austell adding an extra 10ish miles to the end of my day! Tim did offer to collect me early if I needed him to. I followed the coast along to Looe and then Fowey where I got another ferry across the river, again the route was hilly and my right knee was hurting but I didn't have any luggage on the bike and I just got into a rhythm of walking up hills and then cycling the flat and downhill bits. I got on really well and it wasn't long before I rolled into the campsite at St Austell, I must have been more tired though than I thought as I fell asleep before dinner!

Day 8

A day off!! At last a day of rest - I really should have done this after about 5 days as by now I was feeling quite exhausted. Had a great day today, went to visit the Eden project which was truly inspirational, there was loads going on for the children to get involved with including den building and circus skills - actually the adults were involved as much as the children! The biomes were amazing and the Core was fascinating too. Went into Fowey in the evening for fish and chips.

Day 9

The final day!

I followed cycle route 3 out of St Austell which was mostly off road down to Mevagissy. Went to the bakers here for a Saffron Bun (A fruit bun with the yellow colour/flavour of saffron), haven't had one of those for years. Then I cycled through the lanes to the King Harry Ferry across the river Fal, I had bought a Cornish Pasty earlier so I stopped at the entrance to Trelissick Gardens to eat it - a real Cornish food day today! After my lunch I continued through the lanes to pick up the B3297 into Helston, I had gone down it just a short way when I was stopped by the police who had closed the road into Helston as a lorry had gone sideways and there was glass all over the place. I had a nice chat with the policeman who said he was also a cyclist and I explained where I was going - he directed me down a lane which actually turned into quite a good shortcut into the town. Finally after 8 days of cycling I managed to complete the end of my journey and cycled into the centre of Helston - I was met by Tim, the children, a lady from the paper and a lady from Cancer Research UK - Wow!

So I have completed my challenge, I have travelled from Berwick to Helston, walking, running and cycling a total of more than 800 miles! I started in January 2010 and finished August 1st 2011 - it has been an amazing journey, most of it enjoyable, all of it memorable - the laughs and the tears. A big thank-you to my friends and family for supporting me - yes I do know I am mad! And thank-you for all your donations to Cancer Research UK, its why I did it in the first place.

So onto the next challenge...

 

 

Cycling - Edale to Derby

Apologies in advance for all words and no pictures, for some reason they won't upload.

On Sunday 24th July Kez and I took the train from Berwick to Edale so that we could cycle to Derby. This was to fill in the gap left by walking the Pennine Way to Edale and starting last summers cycle from Derby. The plan was to cycle from Edale train station to Tissington, camp overnight and then cycle to Derby and meet Tim with the car in the same retail carpark where we had been dropped off a year ago. The train journey from Berwick was great - we were on CrossCountry trains from Berwick to Sheffield which have racks for the bikes where you have to hang them up by their front wheels. Then we took the two carriage local service from Sheffield to Edale which also had space for bikes. After getting off the train at Edale we were faced straight away with the huge climb up Mam Tor, our bikes were fully loaded and the sun was beating down on us. I honestly thought there was something wrong with my bike, the wheels just didn't seem to want to go round! After Mam Tor we continued with a lovely, if hilly ride through the Derbyshire countryside until reaching the top end of the Tissington Trail at Parsley Hay. By this time we were both pretty tired and were glad to ride along the relatively smooth, slightly downhill trail all the way in to Tissington. We stayed at Basset Wood Farm campsite which is just outside the village, one small field with just 3 caravans and us. After a good nights sleep we cooked bacon rolls to give us plenty of energy for the day ahead. On the second day we left the Derbyshire Dales behind us and had a nice easy morning ride through the lanes and villages of South Derbyshire finishing on the old railway line cycle route into Derby. So that was the gap filled in, it has been annoying me having to leave gaps in the journey but sometimes that is the only way to complete a long route like this. Now all the gaps have been filled and so the next part of the journey will be the last bit and when I get to the end it will really be the end.

Almost ready

Have been spending today getting ready to leave for Derbyshire, there is camping stuff all over the house as I type this! Need to organise it now so that I have stuff on the bikes for me and Kez and then the rest of the stuff in the car for Tim and the boys. My bike is currently being repaired - a bit last minute I know. Hopefully by this evening all will be organised, we are trying to keep equipment to a minimum so that we are not weighed down too much so one small tent, our twister gas stoves and lightwight sleeping bags. I just hope the weather stays warmish but not too hot. I estimate we have 350 miles to do and aim to take 8 1/2 days to do it. Hopefully I will be able to update the blog as I go but it depends on internet access en route.

Pennine Way - finished!

On Easter Monday I got on the 6.30am train out of Berwick to arrive in Hebden Bridge by 10.00am ready to complete the Pennine Way (or at least the Pennine Way starting from Hadrians Wall). I had 42 miles left to do so the plan was to walk and run 26 miles on the first day to Crowden and then walk 16 miles the second day to Edale.

 
From the station I followed a lovely path that took me up through the woods where the Bluebells were just starting to come out.

 

This was a steep uphill path and it wasn't long before I was looking down on the town of Hebden Bridge.

 

I continued on up and up following the Pennine Bridleway.

 

I think they must have strange supermarkets round here!

Eventually I rejoined the Pennine Way and arrived at Stoodly Pike Monuement.

 

I had carefully planned out my route but arrived at Stoodly Pike a full half hour ahead of schedule, that made me feel really good and I set off at a steady jog southwards. I passed a few reservoirs making my way up onto the moors where I could look down on Manchester in the distance and see aeroplanes descending into Manchester Airport.

 

I was amazed at how many people I passed also out walking, running and mountain biking on what I assumed would be empty, desolate moorland. The thing is on this section the Pennine Way crosses a major A road or Motorway every 5 miles or so and is sandwiched between Leeds and Manchester so is actually quite easy for people to access. Every major road I crossed had a full car park along with attendant Ice-cream van, also being a sunny Easter Monday it had encouraged people out to enjoy the countryside.

I had arranged to meet Tim and the boys at Wessenden Head so that James could join me for the last section over Black Hill but he was running late so we arranged that they went straight to the campsite and I would slog on alone. By the time I got to Wessenden Head I was slowing down and had lost my extra half hour, also my left hip was really beginning to hurt. I walked slowly up Black Hill knowing that once I got to the top it was then downhill all the way to the campsite. The first bit was easy enough, following the stone flags, I even managed to continue running for a bit but then the final section along the edge of Laddow rocks was when it got really tough. This is where the path gets really narrow and is right on the edge of a rather high drop, the path then starts to descend but it is a scramble down over the rocks and by now my hips, knees and thighs were beginning to say 'enough'. Eventually I made it to the bottom and arrived in the campsite only 45 mins behind schedule.

I was asleep by 9pm

The next day James and I set off at 8.30am to finish the last 16 miles. After leaving Crowden and crossing the reservoir we had a steep climb up onto Bleaklow, the wind was really blowing hard down the valley and it was hats on and hoods up to protect our ears. Once up on the edge we ran quite a bit, as by now my legs had loosened up a bit, following the path all the way up to the summit of Bleaklow. It was a bit of a moonscape up there and after a bit of compass work we located the path going south and headed on down to the crossing of the Snake Pass where Tim and Ben met us with lunch.

After a quick pasta salad and a banana we were off again over the moors and onto Kinder low and Kinder Downfall. Despite a stiff headwind we made good time and had a good run from Kinder Downfall along to Edale rocks - although following James is like chasing a mountain goat as he leaps from one rock to another!

 

 

As we came past Edale rocks we looked down and saw Tim and Ben coming to meet us at the top of Jacobs Ladder.

 

Jacob's Ladder is steep and a real knee killer going downhill, we took it slowly (well I did, James continued to leap and run at speed, I think he might make a good fell runner).

A couple more miles and then finally we made it to the end of the Pennine Way (or the start if you're going the other way)

 

I was completely shattered by now, luckily Tim was there to drive us home, I slept most of the way back.

Amazingly 3 days later I have just one blister to show for it all, my thighs did ache the next morning but that soon wore off, I might just wait a couple more days though before I go out running again.

 

A short walk in the Cheviots

I am wearing in my new walking boots bought a couple of weeks ago, they are Mammut Tetons and so far are feeling good. The weather has been beautifully sunny all last week so we decided to take a picnic and have an afternoon stroll along the Harthope valley. We parked the car at Cary Burn Bridge and walked along the road to have our picnic beside the river.

 
The little burn was just at the right level for paddling, and as we ate our lunch a couple of Chaffinches flitted backwards and forwards through the trees, waiting for us to finish so that they could eat the crumbs.

The ultimate pre-packed picnic food - hard boiled eggs from our own hen's eggs.

 

 

After our picnic we turned off the road up a track, a little way along Ben noticed this run along the side of the bank, we thought it must be where the rabbits go.

 

 

 

 

Ben tried to investigate but he was a bit too large to fit through!

 

A bit further along the track crosses the stream a few times and then the stream becomes the track for a few metres before the track goes away from the stream up the hill and onto the open moorland of the Cheviots.

It was at this point that the battery ran out on Kez's camera.

We continued on up the hill to the top of Cold Law and then followed a grassy track down the other side back to the car. This track was quite steep in places which led to a lot of running and sliding all the way down.

The whole walk not including lunch  took about an hour and a half and was approx 4 miles long. Just right for a sunny, spring Sunday afternoon.

 

March weather!

All this week the weather has been getting better and better - warm and sunny, so this afternoon I decided to get out for a run along the cliffs. I started off a little slow and stiff, probably because I worked quite hard on the gym treadmill on Tuesday night, but after about 2 miles I started to loosen up. I took the coast road down to Spittal and then along the cliff path to Cocklawburn, I ran all the way to the end of Cocklawburn beach before turning around and taking the same route back to Spittal. I finished off with a steady stroll up to collect Ben from School and including this covered just over 9 miles.

I didn't run particularly fast which was just as well because the views along the coast were just so georgous I might have gone over a cliff edge.

I am trying to build up my mileage now ready for the Pennine Way in the Easter Holidays but will have to take it a bit easy next week in preparation for the 10K Sticky Toffee Pudding race which I am running on April 2nd. This is billed as being a wet and muddy race but if the weather carries on like this I'll be packing my sun glasses and shorts!

St Oswalds Way Finished!!

Back in November I finally finished walking the St Oswalds Way, this was a section I had to miss out earlier in the year so that I could join other members of the family on Hadrians Wall. To be honest it was quite a boring section taking me from Warkworth, on the East Coast, inland to Rothbury.

 

The start was nice enough, going through the grounds of Warkworth Castle, up past the cricket pitch and out of the village. But then the route went onto muddy tracks through arable farming country. The first track was reasonably firm underfoot...

 

the next bit was worse...

 

and then it got even worse...

 

To say that my boots and socks were soggy would be an understatement. I was glad to be doing this on my own because if anyone had been with me they might not have seen the funny side!! Actually I'm not sure there was one.

 

I eventually made it to Felton and past this church which looks like it doesn't have a roof, closer inspection showed it to have a low roof fitted that you can't see from the outside.

I then crossed some parkland and passed under the A1.

 

From there it was back to trudging along muddy footpaths until I reached Weldon where I was met by the rest of the family for lunch.

 

After lunch was the final 6 miles into Rothbury for which James joined me. The going underfoot was a little better, grass fields to start with and then the disused railway line into Rothbury.

I suppose that in doing this section in November I would be lucky not to have wet and muddy conditions underfoot, on reflection if I had done this bit of the walk in the summer I might have had more favourable memories.

Overall I have enjoyed completing the St Oswalds Way, it has taken me to new and different areas of my 'home county'. My favourite sections have been - all bits of the coast path and the Simonside hills out of Rothbury.

I can now wear my T-Shirt with pride.

 

 

Enjoying the snow

We have had piles and piles of snow up here in the last month, at first I wasn't sure about running in it. Then I did a few short runs wearing my walking shoes, it was great fun but the powder snow was quite deep.
This is my watering can in the back garden and as you can see it is almost covered with snow. But all this snow was not going to stop us so James and I put on our running gear and set off for a quick run.

 

 

A couple of months ago I bought myself a pair of proper trail running shoes, they are Saucony xodus and I have to say they are absolutely fantastic. I have worn them in mud and rough ground and now snow and (touch wood) I haven't slipped once. I am also very pleased that I bought a pair of thermal running tights- they might look daft but they are lovely and warm which is what you need when running in temperatures of -10 deg C!

I have to get lots of training in over the holidays as the boys and I are running in the Great Winter Run in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh in January. My race is 5K and the boys are doing the 2.5K Junior run.

The reward for braving the sub-zero temperatures were some fantastic views and just georgeous winter weather.

 

 

Just watched the weather for next week and apparently there is going to be a slow thaw, not sure if I like the sound of that, slush is going to be much worse than powder snow.