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AHB wrote:This afternoon I went to Henley, had tea in Raymond Blanc's spledid tea shop and strolled to Temple Island and back. Total distance covered was approximately 2 miles with a cumulative ascent of about 20 feet since we had to cross the bridge twice. Now at home, exhausted, I am fishing out the remains of my Ferreira 1963 and have my feet up in front of the telly.

Good to see you kept your fluid intake up in between and after those ascents

Yesterday I completed the biggest physical challenge of my life: The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge. The "Challenge" is to complete a circular walk encompasing the summits of Whernside (736 m/2,415 ft), Ingleborough (723 m/2,372 ft) and Pen-y-ghent (694 m/2,277 ft), having a total ascent of 5,249ft, within 12 hours.

There route I followed was approximately 27 miles, which I completed in 10 hours and 25 minutes

It was a great sense of achievement to complete this walk which included some very challenging ascents and long stretches of trudging along from one hill to the next. The views from each of the three summits were spectacular and I was lucky enough to do it on a day where the entire route and the surrounding Yorkshire Dales were visible at all times.

Here are some pictures...

Well done Derek ...I am jealous ...I have always fancied doing a bit of that myself...need to get fit first though

Well done chap! But after all that are ya even able to lift a glass of Port to celebrate

Andy Velebil wrote:Well done chap! But after all that are ya even able to lift a glass of Port to celebrate

I celebrated with a glass of Taylor 55 and a glass of Fonseca 77

DRT wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote:Well done chap! But after all that are ya even able to lift a glass of Port to celebrate

I celebrated with a glass of Taylor 55 and a glass of Fonseca 77

That's my boy

Andy Velebil wrote:

DRT wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote:Well done chap! But after all that are ya even able to lift a glass of Port to celebrate

I celebrated with a glass of Taylor 55 and a glass of Fonseca 77

That's my boy

Well done!

Sounds like a nice hike, too.

DRT wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote:Well done chap! But after all that are ya even able to lift a glass of Port to celebrate

I celebrated with a glass of Taylor 55 and a glass of Fonseca 77

...and tonight it's a glass of Ferreira 1863

I'm having to make do with a Porto Rocha 20-year old and a 1997 Quinta do Tedo VP. Not quite up to the standard you're setting for post-exercise recovery libations!

My 1983 Gould Campbell was corked

I recently joined a forum dedicated to walking up hills and have spent some time logging all of the walks I have done this year. According to the information I have entered into that forum's very helpful route logging software I have completed 33 walks covering a distance of 354 miles with a total ascent of 66,722 feet since 31st January 2010

I am currently 24 pounds lighter than I was at the beginning of all of this. This means that for every pound I have lost I have walked 14.75 miles and climbed 2,780ft. So, if I walk 15 miles and climb around 3,000ft every week from now on I will weigh nothing in approximately 18 years from now.

DRT wrote:I am currently 24 pounds lighter than I was at the beginning of all of this. This means that for every pound I have lost I have walked 14.75 miles and climbed 2,780ft. So, if I walk 15 miles and climb around 3,000ft every week from now on I will weigh nothing in approximately 18 years from now.

Or, in Port terms, for every 15 miles walked and 3,000 feet climbed you are able to drink an additional 23 glasses of Port.

1 lb = 3,500 calories.
1 standard glass of Port ~= 150 calories.

Glenn E. wrote:

DRT wrote:I am currently 24 pounds lighter than I was at the beginning of all of this. This means that for every pound I have lost I have walked 14.75 miles and climbed 2,780ft. So, if I walk 15 miles and climb around 3,000ft every week from now on I will weigh nothing in approximately 18 years from now.

Or, in Port terms, for every 15 miles walked and 3,000 feet climbed you are able to drink an additional 23 glasses of Port.

1 lb = 3,500 calories.
1 standard glass of Port ~= 150 calories.

An excellent statistic. Thanks.

Does that mean I can drink 6 bottles of Port per week (8 "standard galsses" per bottle) and still lose weight if I walk 45 miles and climb 9,000ft?

DRT wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:

DRT wrote:I am currently 24 pounds lighter than I was at the beginning of all of this. This means that for every pound I have lost I have walked 14.75 miles and climbed 2,780ft. So, if I walk 15 miles and climb around 3,000ft every week from now on I will weigh nothing in approximately 18 years from now.

Or, in Port terms, for every 15 miles walked and 3,000 feet climbed you are able to drink an additional 23 glasses of Port.

1 lb = 3,500 calories.
1 standard glass of Port ~= 150 calories.

An excellent statistic. Thanks.

Does that mean I can drink 6 bottles of Port per week (8 "standard galsses" per bottle) and still lose weight if I walk 45 miles and climb 9,000ft?

Yes! Provided that your food intake for the week is restricted to your basal metabolic rate, of course. That's the part that causes most people's problems. As stated you're only allowing for an extra 500 calories per day, which is roughly the equivalent of 2-3 energy bars (or 2-3 pints) above and beyond your basal metabolic rate. Avoid eating those energy bars during your hikes (or drinking the pints while recovering afterwards) and yes, you should lose a little less than a pound a week.

Given that we are nearly the same age, and prior to beginning our exercise regimens we were likely in about the same shape, I would predict that our metabolic rates are similar. Which would put you somewhere in the 1500-2000 calorie per day range.

Glenn E. wrote:I have to run on schedule all this week because next Saturday is supposed to be a 12-mile run and I want to make sure I'm ready for it!

The lead-up week was completed as scheduled, and tomorrow is the longest run of my training program. We had pasta for dinner tonight, but I did not supplement those carbs with some from Port as I feared secondary effects from the alcohol.

I plan to use Port to recover from the run tomorrow night...

12-mile run completed, in good time, and in good health. Today's pace tells me that I might actually have a shot at completing the half marathon in my goal of 2:20 - I finished 12 miles today in 2:08:55.

According to my HRM I burned 1292 calories during today's run, which is roughly 9 glasses of Port. MapMyRun says I burned 1664, which would be 11 glasses of Port. I guess I'd better get started!

I have not performed as well as I had hoped this weekend. I could have been out walking on Friday night but opted for a BBQ on the patio and today I made lots of excuses about sore knees, fog and rain. Saturday was the only day that I put the effort in and it was a very good effort indeed.

I went to the Lake District and completed a circular route that took in the summits of Ullock Pike, Long Side, Carl Side, Skiddaw, Skiddaw Little Man, Jenkin Hill, Lonscale Fell and Burnt Horse. 3,500ft of ascent over 16 miles in just under 6 hours. A great day in the Northern Fells with some good views and lung-bursting ascents.

Pics...

Your hikes are certainly more picturesque than my runs!

Ran 6 miles with my running partner today and set several personal bests during the run. The weather has been crummy here this week but today is brilliant, so I was well-rested and looking forward to the run.

We did 6 miles in 58:00. My 3, 4, and 5 miles splits were all personal bests as well, in 27:25, 37:10 (!), and 47:45. That 4 mile split is 50 seconds faster than I've run it before, so pretty pleased with that especially as part of a longer run.

Now to choose a bottle to open for this evening's dinner party... I'm thinking a Kopke 40-year old will do nicely!

I spent Saturday and Sunday walking in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh. Over the two days I walked 21 miles and ascended over 6,000ft

Next Saturday is planned to be a big day out: 18 miles and almost 6,000ft in one day! (weather permitting)

DRT wrote:

Andy Velebil wrote:Well done chap! But after all that are ya even able to lift a glass of Port to celebrate

I celebrated with a glass of Taylor 55 and a glass of Fonseca 77

DRT wrote:...and tonight it's a glass of Ferreira 1863

Any chance of celebrating by working on the book you are meant to be co-authoring?

The last 2 weeks have been rough - I seem to have strained the tendons in the top of my left foot, which makes running challenging. It's not too bad while I'm running, but the aftermath is brutal. So I've only run 4 times in the last 2 weeks, mostly just to try to keep some rhythm going before the race next Saturday.

I ran an easy 4 miles this morning and haven't been limping today, but I can tell that the foot took some wear and tear from the run. I'll see how it feels on Monday, and will choose then whether to run Monday/Wednesday or just once on Tuesday. I'll then rest up the rest of the week for the race next Saturday!

Sorry to hear about the injury, Glenn, I hope it recovers in time for your run at the weekend

On Saturday we climbed 5 Munros in one day for the first time - 10 miles and 4,724ft of asecent in 8 hours.

We started off early in the day to avoid the heat but ended up wearing fleeces, hats and gloves due to the freezing north-east winds on the summits. This was a fantastic walk with our most challenging descent so far down the east face of An Stuc. Suffice to say I managed to rip the arse out of my shorts when sliding down the rocks searching for foot and hand holds

Here are the pictures...

jdaw1 wrote:Any chance of celebrating by working on the book you are meant to be co-authoring?

I forgot to add that on each of the five summits I reached on Saturday I thought deeply about the format of the Bibliography of the book. Unfortunately I have not yet decided what that format should be so more summits will be attempted in order to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

DRT wrote:Suffice to say I managed to rip the arse out of my shorts when sliding down the rocks searching for foot and hand holds

DRT wrote:Here are the pictures...

The absence of overlap between these statements has been a cause of much relief amongst the readership. Commendation!

I think I'm all set for the race tomorrow morning. I have to get up at 4:00 am in order to get downtown and catch a shuttle to the start. The race officially starts at 7:00 am (GMT -8) but I'm in wave 21 so I probably won't get started until around 8:00 am. If all goes well I'll be done by 10:30 am, or right about the time the UK is sitting down for dinner.

Raise a glass for me!

Good luck Glenn. I'm running the Coventry Fun Run tomorrow. It's only 4.5 miles but there are obstacles all over the course - they are called children.

I'm not sure if it's too late but: best of luck, Glenn, I hope you acheive your goal

KillerB wrote:Fun Run

Oxymoron alert!!!!!!!

I took a half day from work yesterday and headed to the Lake District. My target was Helvellyn, being the third highest mountain in England and standing at 3,117ft. I had chosen the ascend via Striding Edge, a rocky knife-edged arete leading to a rocky scramble up to the summit ridge. This was my first time attempting anything as exposed and scary as this and it was with a great deal of trepidation that I set off from Glenridding on the banks of Ullswater.

Two hours later I had reached the summit and felt very brave

From the summit I abandoned my planned route (back down via Swirral Edge) and decided to go for a longer walk over the tops of White Side (2,831ft); Raise (2,897ft); Stybarrow Dodd (2,766ft); Green Side (2,608ft), and; Sheffield Pike (2215ft). This was a walk of 10 miles with 3,780ft of ascent and was completed in 6 hours.

Here are the pictures...

Thanks for the wishes.

Sadly, I started having joint problems in both knees and both hips during mile 7, so I had to struggle to finish. I *did* finish, though, so I'm happy about that.

I'd started out well and was actually a minute or two ahead of my planned pace, but my hips never really recovered from a nasty hill at the end of mile 5. Then my right knee started hurting which caused me to alter my gait, and that of course caused my left knee to start hurting. My hips continued to tighten up too, which meant that I could take very long strides. Over the last couple of miles people kept stopping and asking if I was okay, so I must have looked pretty bad.

Oh well, at least this means it will be easy to beat my time next year!

Well done Glenn. Getting to te finish is the prime objective and the fact you did that through obvious pain and discomfort is credit to your determination. All you have to do now is keep running every day for 364 days until the gun goes off for next years race

Ha! No, I'm going to take at least a week off while I drive to LA and back for a couple of Port tastings. I'll probably take a couple of weeks off, actually, in order to let the tendon strain in my left foot fully heal.

But I'll be back to running by mid-July because there's a 5k that I like to do in August and I have to be ready for that!

I walked 7 miles and climbed 1,300ft in the Peak District this morning in 25 degree heat. Then it was home for a BBQ and then sat down to enjoy the football. I'm still not convinced that ball crossed the line

DRT wrote:I'm still not convinced that ball crossed the line

That ball only failed to cross the line if you've had too much Port.

Well done Glenn.

Got through the Fun Run. Turned out not to be 4.5miles at all, I suspect the woman that said 3.7miles was correct. It was blisteringly hot so I just jogged round in 32 minutes.

Well I gave my foot 2 weeks to heal after the half marathon, but had barely started into a 4-mile casual run last Saturday when it started to hurt again. So I'm suspending running until I have a chance to talk to a sports medicine specialist and/or a foot doctor.

My time has now arrived. At 12:00 today I will get in the car and begin the 350 mile drive to my starting point on the West Highland Way.

My training, which started at the end of January, has consisted of 45 walks covering 476 miles and ascending 98,333ft to the summits of 20 mountains above 3,000ft and twice as many smaller peaks. I didn't manage to hit my weightloss target but have shed 2 stone since the end of January and feel much fitter than I did back then. I think my calf muscles have put on about half a stone each

My WHW walk will cover 140 miles with around 28,000ft of ascent including five mountains over 3,000ft high and one over 4,000ft in 10 days. According to the long-range weather forecast there is a 60% chance of precipitation on almost every one of those 10 days

I will not be back online after today until this challenge has been completed. I will also be in a completely Port-free zone for the entire trip!

See you all soon

Derek

Day 1: wet
Day 2: wet
Day 3: wet
Day 4: wet
Day 5: wet
Day 6: wet
Day 7: wet
Day 8: more than likely going to be wet
Day 9: more than likely going to be wet
Day 10: more than likely going to be wet

DRT wrote:Day 1: wet
Day 2: wet
Day 3: wet
Day 4: wet
Day 5: wet
Day 6: wet
Day 7: wet
Day 8: more than likely going to be wet
Day 9: more than likely going to be wet
Day 10: more than likely going to be wet

At least you don't have to worry about running short on water in your bottle.

The weather improved towards the end of the week and we completed the task, apart from the two mountains we couldn't climb because of the threat of lightning on the summit. 140 miles and 20,000ft+ of ascent in 10 days. It was a brilliant experience and something I would recommend to anyone. To top it off I lost another 5lbs along the way despite eating like a horse and drinking every pint of wet stuff I could find

My feet hurt.

Congratulations, Derek!

After 3 lazy months I finally pulled on the boots and made myself trudge up a big lump of rock last weekend. I couldn't have hoped for a better day in November. No wind or rain, blue sky on the way up and a stunning view from the frost-encrusted summit above the clouds...
Perhaps the experience will inspire me to stop eating steak pies and get back into regular exercise?

DRT wrote:After 3 lazy months I finally pulled on the boots and made myself trudge up a big lump of rock last weekend. I couldn't have hoped for a better day in November. No wind or rain, blue sky on the way up and a stunning view from the frost-encrusted summit above the clouds...

Schiehallion-Summit-Nov 2010.jpg

Perhaps the experience will inspire me to stop eating steak pies and get back into regular exercise?

Be grateful it was not today you tried to do that!