July 13th 2019: The Paddy Buckley Round
July 13th 2019: The Paddy Buckley Round
The Challenge
After a long hard year of building on the "mountain legs" that I had after my Bob Graham Round it was time to tackle the incredibly beautiful challenge that involves the best that Snowdonia can offer. A continous circuit covering 47 of Snowdonia's finest peaks and about 28,000 feet of climbing and descent. Dramatic beauty, soaring heights, rocky terrain, deep bogs and whatever the weather had to bring to the party. I have absolutely loved the past year - building on my knowledge of and deepening my love of Snowdonia, testing myself and training myself in quite literally all weather conditions. Dealing with those conditions teaches you how to tackle any hand that the mountains deal you. There were days when I could navigate by sight, simply seeing the mountains stretch out in front of me and other days where compass bearings and map played a bigger part. That all gave me a deeper knowledge and understanding of the challenge that lay ahead.
What a tough challenge. Forty seven Snowdonian Peaks and 28,000 feet of climb and descent in a continuous circuit.
I have absolutely loved the build up to my attempt and I truly believe that it is a fantastic round. A true test - I absolutely love the route, scenery, variety - its simply awesome and it has unlocked a fantastic part of Snowdonia, that I now know very well and have truly tested myself on. I gave it everything that I had and in hindsight, have taken so much out of the experience.
The big day
For the first section - the longest - starting at 11am out of Capel Curig with the ascent of Moel Siabod and finishing with the descent off Cnicht, I am more than ably supported by Nicky, Sean and Pez. We set off in decent conditions - temperate - and we are joined for large parts by Helen, and Tom, who have similar ambitions. In typical fashion I feel ready - full of energy and trepidation. This leg passes without too much incident. Its a long and varied leg which covers everything from deep bogs, rock, slate, scree and trails against a spectacular backdrop.
The second leg takes me around a lesser known, but equally challenging section around a succession of peaks and valleys. The toughest section is always the first climb and today that was no exception. I'm supported on this section by Mike, Dan and Warren - once more a wealth of enthusiasm and knowledge. The camaraderie across all sections of the Round is fantastic and makes the whole experience more rewarding. This leg finished with a descent after negotiating the spectacular Nantlle Ridge.
By now we are almost half way around and after I grab some of my preprepared pasta dish and warm drink from my road support crew of Brian and Harsh, I am good to go again. At this point I have to say they supported me from start to finish waiting at the 5 road crossings that I pass with food drink and moral support all delivered like clockwork so that I could be in and out as efficiently as possible. They also helped my support runners get organised and helped with lifts. Not forgetting a few little tricks that they had up their sleeves to keep the spirits up...they and none of the rest of my support crew let me down one ounce. Thank you all!
Next was the leg that took me up and around the mountains surrounding Snowdon from Pont Caer Gors and arriving at Llanberis via Cynoghorion. For this leg Warren stuck with me and was joined by John and Simon. Spirits were still good. As we picked up height we didn't need to put our head torches on until we hit the base of the cloud as the moon shone the way behind us. To this day I don't think that I have ever been at the summit of Snowdon without bumping into someone - even in the middle of the night. Today was no exception as there was someone huddled by the summit...I hope that he wasn't waiting for the sunrise as he would have got cold and not seen much through the clouds!
Leaving Llanberis, I'm now supported by Duncan, Rob and James whose great support over the last two sections gets me through to completing the Round as we head off into the dark and cloud.
I now agree that leg four, for me was tough. I can't get away from that, maybe its a combination of fatigue, personal suitability and running preference, but on the day the slate was wet and that makes it very hard work and undeniably slows progress which is tough mentally. Coming out of Llanberis after the planned 6 minute stop and a decent feed of pasta I really struggled to get up, my knees had ceased up. Now if I'm honest I feel me knees if I've been standing up in the kitchen for an hour, maybe not as much, I feel my
knees when I set off to run home every week after I have run into work. But I get myself going and after a little bit don't notice them. I have injury history with my knees - which I manage. I know what is pain I can work with, and what isn't.
This somehow felt different, I normally would have run, but its not the knees, its the stomach. I feel bloated. I've just eaten a decent helping of my home cooked pasta dish. I know that I needed to eat it, so I march out and up to the base of the Elidir Fach climb. That's fine, I'm moving and it won't be for long. Except when we cross the iron bridge and do the little flat section before the inclines I am walking again. I still feel bloated. "If I walk this bit and work up the climb I'll have digested it fully", I say. "Just a bit more water", I say. Except half way up the inclines I get that familiar sensation downstairs - I've got to go....again. No big deal. Except this is the tenth time (I think) that I have had to squat on the round. Five on leg one. None of which have taken a lot of time up and I don't dwell on it. Back on it now and time to get the leg done. This is always a tough leg, its dark, I'm tired, depleted, but I'm up on schedule and have time in the bag - I just need to get through it steadily - and that's what I do, although the wet slate really takes its toll on my knee and my tired limbs.
When I look through my splits I loose 38 minutes on my target time. So by the time we descend Tryfan I know that we have to pick up the pace if to hit my target time. What I don't know - well the guys have told me, but it doesn't sink in - is that it really is still on. I agree to skip the feed stop and roll through, eating on the go to gain time. The guys tell me focus on ascending strong and picking up time on the ascents, personally I feel, and they tell me that I am still climbing well. I drink soup, tea, Coke as I stride to the bottom of the climb...walking waiting for the energy to come in. I struggle to eat. By now I'm forcing little bits and pieces down. I'm really trying. But by now I'm staggering on. In my mind I feel that I have slowed more than I actually have.
The Tryfan descent was tough - my descending off steep ground had slowed due to knee pain, but this felt really slow. In reality I'd only lost five minutes and sub 24 was still on. I felt
like I was beaten on the day. Maybe I was. Maybe I wasn't - quite. By now anything steep or uneven, I was hobbling over, full effort, lots of pain. By Ogwen I had lots of aches and am not moving comfortably. But sitting here a week later, with hindsight I would have loved to have the chance again from Ogwen. I would have shovelled more food down and then gritted my teeth. I know that I have a knee vulnerability, but I tend to feel it more when the muscles around them are not taking the strain - which follows.
One final push
The first three legs went to plan. I've eaten, drank, run. I've been in great spirits - I was even singing on the Snowdon leg. Something changed when I came into Llanberis. Apart from the seven toilet stops, there is very little, if anything that I would have changed. The support has been brilliant, I've had nothing to worry about. Leg one, I finish 37 minutes up on schedule and take advantage of the toilet, leaving 25 minutes up. Leg two I finish 20 minutes up. Leg three I finish 15 minutes up (on schedule). All is fine. Leg four, I finish 23 minutes down - on schedule. Leg five, I start 17 minutes down on schedule - but crucially only 2 minutes off 24 hour pace....and I'm now reduced to walking to the base of the climb.
I stagger up Pen yr Ole Wen - we pass a couple of runners with ridiculously clean kit - I'm sure that it won't be shining by the time they are done. I'm in a bit of a daze by now. I'm not singing now. Every ten minutes or so Duncan thrusts a bottle of Coke my way and I drink a bit. It doesn't seem to do anything. The only other thing I'm now eating is sugar. Duncan says you're on sugar and caffeine now. you need to keep having them. gels, Coke, jelly beans, the odd other thing, that's the best I can manage now - I've forgotten about rice pudding. I swear at Duncan and his bloody Coke, but still drink it. I know that its the right thing. I stagger on. Never stopping. I never stop, but by the time we hit the top the guys are still urging me on - but I am not flying any more.
By now I am staggering on, stumbling over everything, struggling to run. I hobble on and never stop trying. I stub my toes and jar my knees again and again. By now I really can't descend properly down anything more than more than a gentle gradient. This is a runnable leg, but I can't really get going.
When I get a head of steam up, nothing stops me. But I can't get the head of steam up. At the first couple of checkpoints Rocky music had been playing and I liked it. Eye of the Tiger and all that, simple, but effective - brings a bit of a chuckle too.
There was no music at Ogwen - the tracker had even stopped working due to a technical problem out of my hands (sorry anyone who was following me!). I gave everything and had no more on the day, that was the case.
With hindsight so much went right and this was the culmination of a long project, I've got an idea as to why the batteries ran out a few hours earlier than I had hoped, why the aches, pains and fatigue slowed me (nothing stopped me) to the point where the belief that I could run it a bit quicker on the day went. I don't think that anybody who takes these challenges on ever gets it all right - we are always learning. But make no mistake, I've got no regrets about how I approached it.
All of the wonderful people who supported me on the day and in the run up - and for all of the belief and morale that everybody who has sponsored my efforts to raise money for charity has shown - I will be forever grateful. That was an absolutely incredible challenge and I gave it absolutely everything on the day.
As I summit Pen Lithrig y Wrach, I know that I've got the Round in the bag, but I also now know that I am fading - an hour at best behind my target time - The conditions are now improving, after the wet slate of Leg four, I can have no complaints about leg five. But the engine, is not turning over as fast.
One final effort would have done it. Had I climbed to the top of Per yr Ole Wen on schedule adrenaline would have got me through. Instead the pain, hunger and fatigue kicks in - I stagger on, no longer having a time target. It is frustrating looking back at the splits. I lost an hour on my target time of a 11am finish - 60 minutes on this last leg. But what isn't easy is what has gone before. That is why it was the right challenge for me. So close.
The descent off Pen Lithrig y Wrach is hard, my knees are killing me and I so want a strong finish. The legs could carry me, and could have done for some time, but the knees won't allow them.
We reach the foot bridge at the head of the reservoir and at last I manage to get a trot on which turns into a charge for the last couple of miles. I am running again. The adrenaline comes in. Its now that I realise that the legs still work and I'm running sub 4 minute kms - if only I'd had gradual descent over grass before... but I didn't. I gave this the best that I had on the day. It doesn't mean that its the best that I could ever do (I know that I could squeeze more time from the lemon with the benefit of hindsight) but its a bloody good go. I'm emotional at the end - this hurts - I gave this everything that I had, I've prepared as best as I could have done. I think that there is a picture of me that tells a thousand words.
No regrets.
For now its time to rest and recover. Until next time....
The amazing Support Crew
It may have been my legs that took me around, but I couldn't have done it without the fantastic support team that I had to make it all happen for me - every step of the way I was accompanied by a friends who all selflessly gave up their weekend to support me for certain sections and I am incredibly grateful. Not to mention all of the wisdom and support over the past year and more in the build up. I can't wait to help you all with some of your future challenges in a similar way and return the favour. This would not have meant half as much if I hadn't done it with you all. To tackle this not only required an awful lot of hard work and dedication on my behalf, but also support from my wife and family at home when I was off running in the montains. Thank you all
The Challenge
After a long hard year of building on the "mountain legs" that I had after my Bob Graham Round it was time to tackle the incredibly beautiful challenge that involves the best that Snowdonia can offer. A continous circuit covering 47 of Snowdonia's finest peaks and about 28,000 feet of climbing and descent. Dramatic beauty, soaring heights, rocky terrain, deep bogs and whatever the weather had to bring to the party. I have absolutely loved the past year - building on my knowledge of and deepening my love of Snowdonia, testing myself and training myself in quite literally all weather conditions. Dealing with those conditions teaches you how to tackle any hand that the mountains deal you. There were days when I could navigate by sight, simply seeing the mountains stretch out in front of me and other days where compass bearings and map played a bigger part. That all gave me a deeper knowledge and understanding of the challenge that lay ahead.
What a tough challenge. Forty seven Snowdonian Peaks and 28,000 feet of climb and descent in a continuous circuit.
I have absolutely loved the build up to my attempt and I truly believe that it is a fantastic round. A true test - I absolutely love the route, scenery, variety - its simply awesome and it has unlocked a fantastic part of Snowdonia, that I now know very well and have truly tested myself on. I gave it everything that I had and in hindsight, have taken so much out of the experience.
The big day
The second leg takes me around a lesser known, but equally challenging section around a succession of peaks and valleys. The toughest section is always the first climb and today that was no exception. I'm supported on this section by Mike, Dan and Warren - once more a wealth of enthusiasm and knowledge. The camaraderie across all sections of the Round is fantastic and makes the whole experience more rewarding. This leg finished with a descent after negotiating the spectacular Nantlle Ridge.
By now we are almost half way around and after I grab some of my preprepared pasta dish and warm drink from my road support crew of Brian and Harsh, I am good to go again. At this point I have to say they supported me from start to finish waiting at the 5 road crossings that I pass with food drink and moral support all delivered like clockwork so that I could be in and out as efficiently as possible. They also helped my support runners get organised and helped with lifts. Not forgetting a few little tricks that they had up their sleeves to keep the spirits up...they and none of the rest of my support crew let me down one ounce. Thank you all!
Next was the leg that took me up and around the mountains surrounding Snowdon from Pont Caer Gors and arriving at Llanberis via Cynoghorion. For this leg Warren stuck with me and was joined by John and Simon. Spirits were still good. As we picked up height we didn't need to put our head torches on until we hit the base of the cloud as the moon shone the way behind us. To this day I don't think that I have ever been at the summit of Snowdon without bumping into someone - even in the middle of the night. Today was no exception as there was someone huddled by the summit...I hope that he wasn't waiting for the sunrise as he would have got cold and not seen much through the clouds!
Leaving Llanberis, I'm now supported by Duncan, Rob and James whose great support over the last two sections gets me through to completing the Round as we head off into the dark and cloud.
I now agree that leg four, for me was tough. I can't get away from that, maybe its a combination of fatigue, personal suitability and running preference, but on the day the slate was wet and that makes it very hard work and undeniably slows progress which is tough mentally. Coming out of Llanberis after the planned 6 minute stop and a decent feed of pasta I really struggled to get up, my knees had ceased up. Now if I'm honest I feel me knees if I've been standing up in the kitchen for an hour, maybe not as much, I feel my
knees when I set off to run home every week after I have run into work. But I get myself going and after a little bit don't notice them. I have injury history with my knees - which I manage. I know what is pain I can work with, and what isn't.
This somehow felt different, I normally would have run, but its not the knees, its the stomach. I feel bloated. I've just eaten a decent helping of my home cooked pasta dish. I know that I needed to eat it, so I march out and up to the base of the Elidir Fach climb. That's fine, I'm moving and it won't be for long. Except when we cross the iron bridge and do the little flat section before the inclines I am walking again. I still feel bloated. "If I walk this bit and work up the climb I'll have digested it fully", I say. "Just a bit more water", I say. Except half way up the inclines I get that familiar sensation downstairs - I've got to go....again. No big deal. Except this is the tenth time (I think) that I have had to squat on the round. Five on leg one. None of which have taken a lot of time up and I don't dwell on it. Back on it now and time to get the leg done. This is always a tough leg, its dark, I'm tired, depleted, but I'm up on schedule and have time in the bag - I just need to get through it steadily - and that's what I do, although the wet slate really takes its toll on my knee and my tired limbs.
When I look through my splits I loose 38 minutes on my target time. So by the time we descend Tryfan I know that we have to pick up the pace if to hit my target time. What I don't know - well the guys have told me, but it doesn't sink in - is that it really is still on. I agree to skip the feed stop and roll through, eating on the go to gain time. The guys tell me focus on ascending strong and picking up time on the ascents, personally I feel, and they tell me that I am still climbing well. I drink soup, tea, Coke as I stride to the bottom of the climb...walking waiting for the energy to come in. I struggle to eat. By now I'm forcing little bits and pieces down. I'm really trying. But by now I'm staggering on. In my mind I feel that I have slowed more than I actually have.
The Tryfan descent was tough - my descending off steep ground had slowed due to knee pain, but this felt really slow. In reality I'd only lost five minutes and sub 24 was still on. I felt
like I was beaten on the day. Maybe I was. Maybe I wasn't - quite. By now anything steep or uneven, I was hobbling over, full effort, lots of pain. By Ogwen I had lots of aches and am not moving comfortably. But sitting here a week later, with hindsight I would have loved to have the chance again from Ogwen. I would have shovelled more food down and then gritted my teeth. I know that I have a knee vulnerability, but I tend to feel it more when the muscles around them are not taking the strain - which follows.
One final push
The first three legs went to plan. I've eaten, drank, run. I've been in great spirits - I was even singing on the Snowdon leg. Something changed when I came into Llanberis. Apart from the seven toilet stops, there is very little, if anything that I would have changed. The support has been brilliant, I've had nothing to worry about. Leg one, I finish 37 minutes up on schedule and take advantage of the toilet, leaving 25 minutes up. Leg two I finish 20 minutes up. Leg three I finish 15 minutes up (on schedule). All is fine. Leg four, I finish 23 minutes down - on schedule. Leg five, I start 17 minutes down on schedule - but crucially only 2 minutes off 24 hour pace....and I'm now reduced to walking to the base of the climb.
I stagger up Pen yr Ole Wen - we pass a couple of runners with ridiculously clean kit - I'm sure that it won't be shining by the time they are done. I'm in a bit of a daze by now. I'm not singing now. Every ten minutes or so Duncan thrusts a bottle of Coke my way and I drink a bit. It doesn't seem to do anything. The only other thing I'm now eating is sugar. Duncan says you're on sugar and caffeine now. you need to keep having them. gels, Coke, jelly beans, the odd other thing, that's the best I can manage now - I've forgotten about rice pudding. I swear at Duncan and his bloody Coke, but still drink it. I know that its the right thing. I stagger on. Never stopping. I never stop, but by the time we hit the top the guys are still urging me on - but I am not flying any more.
By now I am staggering on, stumbling over everything, struggling to run. I hobble on and never stop trying. I stub my toes and jar my knees again and again. By now I really can't descend properly down anything more than more than a gentle gradient. This is a runnable leg, but I can't really get going.
When I get a head of steam up, nothing stops me. But I can't get the head of steam up. At the first couple of checkpoints Rocky music had been playing and I liked it. Eye of the Tiger and all that, simple, but effective - brings a bit of a chuckle too.
There was no music at Ogwen - the tracker had even stopped working due to a technical problem out of my hands (sorry anyone who was following me!). I gave everything and had no more on the day, that was the case.
With hindsight so much went right and this was the culmination of a long project, I've got an idea as to why the batteries ran out a few hours earlier than I had hoped, why the aches, pains and fatigue slowed me (nothing stopped me) to the point where the belief that I could run it a bit quicker on the day went. I don't think that anybody who takes these challenges on ever gets it all right - we are always learning. But make no mistake, I've got no regrets about how I approached it.
All of the wonderful people who supported me on the day and in the run up - and for all of the belief and morale that everybody who has sponsored my efforts to raise money for charity has shown - I will be forever grateful. That was an absolutely incredible challenge and I gave it absolutely everything on the day.
As I summit Pen Lithrig y Wrach, I know that I've got the Round in the bag, but I also now know that I am fading - an hour at best behind my target time - The conditions are now improving, after the wet slate of Leg four, I can have no complaints about leg five. But the engine, is not turning over as fast.
One final effort would have done it. Had I climbed to the top of Per yr Ole Wen on schedule adrenaline would have got me through. Instead the pain, hunger and fatigue kicks in - I stagger on, no longer having a time target. It is frustrating looking back at the splits. I lost an hour on my target time of a 11am finish - 60 minutes on this last leg. But what isn't easy is what has gone before. That is why it was the right challenge for me. So close.
The descent off Pen Lithrig y Wrach is hard, my knees are killing me and I so want a strong finish. The legs could carry me, and could have done for some time, but the knees won't allow them.
We reach the foot bridge at the head of the reservoir and at last I manage to get a trot on which turns into a charge for the last couple of miles. I am running again. The adrenaline comes in. Its now that I realise that the legs still work and I'm running sub 4 minute kms - if only I'd had gradual descent over grass before... but I didn't. I gave this the best that I had on the day. It doesn't mean that its the best that I could ever do (I know that I could squeeze more time from the lemon with the benefit of hindsight) but its a bloody good go. I'm emotional at the end - this hurts - I gave this everything that I had, I've prepared as best as I could have done. I think that there is a picture of me that tells a thousand words.
No regrets.
For now its time to rest and recover. Until next time....
The amazing Support Crew
It may have been my legs that took me around, but I couldn't have done it without the fantastic support team that I had to make it all happen for me - every step of the way I was accompanied by a friends who all selflessly gave up their weekend to support me for certain sections and I am incredibly grateful. Not to mention all of the wisdom and support over the past year and more in the build up. I can't wait to help you all with some of your future challenges in a similar way and return the favour. This would not have meant half as much if I hadn't done it with you all. To tackle this not only required an awful lot of hard work and dedication on my behalf, but also support from my wife and family at home when I was off running in the montains. Thank you all
Comments
Post a Comment