SportsShoes Blog

I’ve always had a fascination for climbing or more specifcally climbers.

I’ve never been a climber and I doubt I ever will be but I’ve always held a deep rooted respect for what they do and both how and why they do it.

I guess to many people, probably most people actually, climbing is a rather strange, silly, pointless and downright dangerous thing to want to do - and thinking about it rationally I suppose they’d be absolutely right.

Having said that, I also once read in a book that the urge to climb, to get to the highest point and to reach the top is a trait that is engrained into a human’s DNA in much the same way as it is in forest trees that race upwards against their rivals to reach the sunlight.

We’ve all heard George Mallory’s response to the question why do you want to climb Mount Everest? - ‘because it’s there’ is what he’s reported to have said. There’s some debate as to whether he ever actually uttered these words but even if he didn’t I think they perfectly capture the spirit of climbers and climbing in general.

George Mallory, as most know, is famous for dying whilst trying to climb Everest, he’s probably even more famous because nobody really knows whether he and Andy Irvine actually reached the top or not. What is for sure is that he never reached the bottom - he died trying as so many others have done since and will continue to do in the future.

To be honest it’s stories like Mallory’s and Joe Simpson’s near death experience recounted in the book Touching the Void that make me intrigued nah fascinated by climbing - in all honesty it’s the dice with death that both attracts me and repels me from the sport in equal measure.

Why am I writing this - because I’ve just read a story that’s got me thinking. I happened upon a brief note that was requesting sponsorship for a Lands End to Jon O’Groats bike ride. Money raised is going towards buying a special wheelchair for a young girl named Beth Monks who was, until last May, one of Britain’s leading climbers. She’s now a tetraplegic paralysed from the chest down. Now I know what you’re thinking - what a waste of a young life - I bet she slipped and fell - I bet she failed to place some gear properly - I bet she was soloing and a hold pulled out - I must admit that’s exactly what I was thinking so I did a little search and discovered that none of this is true. She had a car accident and broke her neck…..

The reason I write this is that I think we as a society have, in general, lost our sense of adventure, our willingness to push ourselves, climb higher and reach the top. Unlike Beth who, in her short career visited some of the most amazing places in the world and truly experienced life on the edge, most people these days shy away from challenges and choose to lead a sedentary, safe, middle of the road life. They’ll ‘experience’ the amazing things the world has to offer in HD in the comfort of their living rooms and they’ll admire the wonderful scenery on the otherisde of the glass as they whizz along in the climate conrolled ’safety’ of their cars……

Well, almost a month has gone by now and my training seems to be going well.

I can definitely notice a difference. I have reverted to the good old classic split of 4 days a week.

Monday: chest & triceps

Wednesday: Shoulders & Abs

Friday: Back & Biceps

Saturday: Legs & bodyweight press-ups.

I feel like I am stripping some fat away and building muscle again so over all I am quite pleased.

However, it could all go a bit wrong this weekend as I am away seeing some friends and we are going for a slap up tapas meal. That means buckets of chorizo…. umm, I can taste it now! All washed down with numerous beers ( and a cheeky tequila) I predict.

Ah well, back in the gym on monday… pretend the weekend never happened!

James

Anyone reading my blog will know that this year I’ve signed up for the West Highland Way Race which is a 95 mile run between Glasgow and Fort William.

The WHW is on the 19th June so between then and now I need to get my mind into ‘going long’ mode and get some miles in.

On the 6th Feb I’m doing the Trog, a 20 mile route around the moors above Calderdale and on the 13th March it’s the Hobble a 33 mile jaunt around the moors above  Haworth. In terms of distance, both of those are just tiddly little warm up jogs although I will be going out hard in both to try and lay down descent times.

What I need before the big event in June is a long distance challenge to really test the mettle - and here it is…..

In 2007 in training for the Ultratrail Tour Du Mont Blanc I ran the 3 Peaks in the Yorkshire Dales twice back to back in 10.5 hours solo.

This time, we’re going for a triple round - yes three laps of the famous Yorkshire 3 Peaks in one go and in less than 24 hours.

To make it even more silly we’re going to attempt the stunt on the 3 Peaks Race day - 24th April. Me and my pal Steve Fry have both entered the race and the plan is to start our first lap at around 2 or 3am, do a steady jog round to finish around 9am then sign on for the race which starts at 10am. We’ll then run the race and, if we can still stay upright, have a quick swig and a bite to eat on the finish field then turn round and do it again. If we have a good third round we’ll hopefully make it back to the pub before they stop serving - now that would make a grand entrance!

The plan is to try and raise a few quid for Cancer charities as I lost a friend last year and a clubmate of Steve and mine also lost her battle with the disease in 2009.

This is the first time I’ve gone public with the plan so I guess it’s now official….

Well I can’t believe it - we’re nearly a month into the new year already. Where does time go????

So far my training has gone pretty well running most days and getting a long run in at the weekend.

I even managed to run through all the snow and ice although I can’t say it was much of a pleasure.

To be honest I think the bad weather actually increased my mileage as I had to run and bike to work a few times as I literally couldn’t get the car out.

This coming weekend it’s the Stanbury Splash fell race - a traditional New Year 7 mile shakedown around the moors above Haworth. Earlier in the same day it’s the Junior quarry run which is the first race in Bingley’s Junior Fell Championship. I hope we get a few juniors to give it a whirl as I’ve arranged the championship this year and would really like to get more kids out on the hills.

Looking a little further down the line I’m doing the Wadsworth Trog in February, Noonstones (which this year is an English Championship race) and the Haworth Hobble in March. Last year I managed 3rd in the Hobble so will be hoping to have another good run this time around.

I’ve also entered the 3 Peaks race in April but me and a friend are planning something a little bit special for that day so watch this space.

Believe it or not we are all now watching the Ben Nevis Race website to grab an entry for the race which is not until September. Entries open in the last week of January and last year all places were taken within 2 days.

The Inov-8 330s are still working well and what with all the snow we’ve had they’ve hardly been off my feet since I bought them (still think they need a dual compound sole though…)

Well, a new year again already! New year’s resolutions and new promises to myself ( some I have already broken ).

Towards the end of last year my training really fell at the wayside! Other commitments and grief from the Mrs about too much dedication to the gym ( and not other stuff that is equally as important ) really stopped any training in it’s tracks and I was lucky to get to the gym once a week!

I have decided though that I just can’t spend so much time in the gym so I have had to rethink training and goals to make them more likely to achieve.

I am now training 4 times a week…

2 full upper body workouts and 2 full lower body workouts.

I have decided I can’t commit to splitting it all down and training each body part individually so I am having to find another way and this is a 4 week trail to see how it goes.

I have done a couple so far and believe me, if you stick to mainly compound exercises you really ache the next day!

I am interested in other peoples’s opinions on this matter. Has anyone else done training like this and do they believe that it works just as well?

Snow coming down hard today so it may be a long walk to gym! If it is even open that is!

The year finished off with the National championships commencing the weekend before Christmas.

First two rounds went smoothly and not taking to long beating Ronan Peyton and Rory Byrne in straight sets to keep the legs nice and fresh for the semis.

Here I met former world no.7 Derek Ryan. Exchanging the 1st two sets 11-9 I quickly won the 3rd to go 2-1 up only for Derek to pull up injured in the 4th.

In the final I met John Rooney the 1 seed losing the 1st 11-8 a crucial stage came at 6-6 in the 2nd only for John to pull away and again take it 11-7 and unfortunately a similar pattern followed in the 3rd and losing the match 11-8 11-7 11-8… Gutted-next year!