Hike Update After Ultra 4

I’ve finally handed in my assignments for University and have a moment to sit down and write up my experiences of the last two Ultra Challenges and a practice hike along the Wherryman’s Way. And it’s not what I was expecting at all…

I’m planning a few posts to talk about different aspects of the hikes - todays post will largely discuss the Lake District hike, with some comparisons to the others.

Let’s be honest up front, both the Isle of Wight and the Lake District were supposed to be 100km hikes (well no.3 was 106km but who’s counting) but I pulled out of each at the 3/4 mark - 83km and 75km respectively. So technically I failed, but failure is just an opportunity to learn and I have certainly learnt a lot from these extreme challenges.

I was joined in the Lake District by my friend Tanya, who also attends UEA with me.

About 7km into the Lake District walk, after the rain.

After our incredibly wet and windy Wherryman’s Way experience (I’ll tell you about that soon!) we found ourselves once again setting off into the rain and our first 10km portion of the walk was a mixture of heavy rain, drizzle and then sunshine. Nothing quite so bad as our previous walk but we did begin to feel that we were the bad omens for the weather!

Our first rest stop was at the 10km mark, which meant we were both in absolutely fine spirits, no aches and pains, and felt excited to carry on. We sun creamed up because by this point the sun looked set to remain out and we were about to tackle the most difficult portion of the entire walk. A 19km section which contained three steep ascents and the subsequent steep descents. When you talk to anyone taking part in these Ultra’s both here and in other locations, the Lake District walk is the one that everyone says is the hardest (along with the Jurassic Coast one) and so we knew that we were in for a serious challenge. And boy was this tough.

Tanya and I had different methods of tackling the hills. Tanya needed to take them slowly and steadily as the steepness of the ascent was challenging for her cardiovascular system, however due to her weight training in the lead up to the hike she felt no muscular pain from it. I, on the other hand, had to power relatively quickly up the hills as I found going slowly made my muscles fatigue quicker. It meant I reached the summits out of breath and hot but I was afforded a moment to rest whilst I waited for Tanya to complete her ascents. We agreed to meet at each mini summit on our way up meaning that we each played to how our bodies work but still completed the section as a team.

After our steepest ascent

Unfortunately, with this being both a long section at 19km, and with such exhausting ascents, we entered the lunch rest stop close to 3pm and very hungry! As I’m sure you can imagine, spirits were pretty low and, considering how tough our Wherryman’s Way walk was, I feel this was the biggest test of our team work - both of us hungry and tired. As I’ve learnt from my previous walks, everything looks different after a sit down, food, and a stretch out of sore legs. And so it was, we set off from that rest stop feeling reinvigorated and ready to tackle the next section, which was mercifully, relatively flat compared to what we had just tackled.

It felt like plain sailing for the majority of the next section, into rest stop three at 42km in, except for a steep and unexpected climb just beforehand. The final section into 50km therefore was a relatively short 8km but it was in this 8km that Tanya really started to feel the pain from our exertions. We also faced another very steep ascent and descent before arriving at the 50km rest stop, further compounding the pain that Tanya felt. I surprised myself by feeling quite enthusiastic. Perhaps I was subconsciously trying to cheer Tanya along, but I was dancing and singing for the final couple of kms. Although I have to admit I was getting worried by the fast-approaching dark as we stumbled through forested areas. 

At the 50km point we had a marvellous dinner at the YMCA. I doubt the quality was that high but it felt marvellous because it was so needed. We said our goodbyes and I headed off into the dark with 5 new acquaintances and a powerful torch.

Unfortunately, I had to leave those walkers behind as a couple had to drop out for various reasons and I ended up walking through pitch black fields alone, scanning the horizon for the next glowing sign marking my way. This was one of the toughest points of the walk as it’s incredibly disorientating walking in just the light of a torch and I found myself feeling dizzy and sick, even stopping a few times to sit and let the nausea pass. It surprised me to feel this way as I had coped quite well on the night section of my previous walk on the Isle of Wight. In hindsight I can see why there was such a difference, on the Isle of Wight the night section was largely towns and villages with street lights, where the Lake District was unlit fields. I entered the 66km rest stop feeling sick; I managed a coffee, a pastry and a banana to attempt to refuel for the next 14.5km section.

As dawn started to appear in the night sky, I left the rest stop with one of the appointed Trek Masters and headed up the next steep ascent. I had hoped that a beautiful sunrise at the summit would cheer my spirits for the next section, but we arrived at the top to heavy fog, wind, and rain. This also made the descents, on rocky paths, very slippy. Having been awake for over 24 hours, and having walked through the night at this point, I struggled to keep my balance and I really felt the pain in my knees.

A not so beautiful sunrise…

I struggled onwards to my final end point of 75km and found that when travelling uphill I was okay but any stretches of flat, or heaven forbid downhill, were agony on my knees. I was just 4km away from the next rest stop but I could hardly keep my eyes open, nor keep myself stood upright by that point. I had to call my husband to come and pick me up from the side of the road.

At the time I cried uncontrollably about how I hadn’t finished the full 100km. I felt so disappointed in myself but with a little sleep and a shower and the beauty of hindsight I could rationalise my experience. I have come to realise that I pushed my body to it’s very limits, even if my knees hadn’t hurt so much, I was so fatigued by that point that I don’t think I’d have made it out of another rest stop. I’m absolutely certain that I would have fallen asleep as soon as I sat down. Even though I managed ¾ on each of the previous 2 walks (Isle of Wight and the Lake District) the experiences and the reasons for each end were so different. On the Isle of Wight, mentally I could have continued but the blisters on my feet were so bad that I couldn’t take any more steps. On the Lake District, my feet held up really well but the fatigue and pain from the difficult terrain, and the sickness from walking through the pitch-black night meant this was a much more complete bodily experience. 

This is not me finishing - I looked far more worse for wear, but I have no pictures of that…

I have once again learnt an awful lot from this experience and have formed new strategies for the next challenge which will be another 100km in the Peak District in early July. I’ll be back on my own again for this one and I’m keen to see whether I’ll complete the full 100km.

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