SportsShoes Blog

Bishop’s Stortford Running Club

Bishop’s Stortford Running Club was formed way back in February 1983.

Their aim was then, and still remains, to help each other achieve whatever goals and targets (great or small) that they set for themselves.

They take the approach of covering the needs of as many running abilities as possible.

The atmosphere at the Club is an informal one; however those members that wish to be competitive will find plenty waiting to take on the challenge!

Bishop's Running Club

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See below for reviews:

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Item Tested and reviewed:

Saucony Lady Hydrator Long Sleeve Top

PRICE: £26.99

Saucony Lady Hydrator Sports Top

Reviewed by: Mary Amos, Bishop’s Stortford Running Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4

Best Points: Excellent wicking and washing. Good shape.

Worst Points: None really!

Other Comments:

Expensive compared to other makes on the market

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Reviewed by: Fiona Sutherland, Bishop’s Stortford Running Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4

Best Points: Nice feel and shape. Excellent wicking. Quick drying.

Worst Points: Hard to find but need more reflective strips

Other Comments:

Would prefer slightly thicker material in a long sleeve top.

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Reviewed by: Viv Law, Bishop’s Stortford Running Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4

Best Points: Very good wicking. Easy to wash. Good shape

Worst Points: None

Other Comments:

Curved stripes made me look thinner!

Not sure about how good hi-viz.

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Item Tested and Reviewed:

Saucony Ignite Running Top

PRICE: £27.99

Saucony Ignite Running Top

Reviewed by: Darren Risley, Bishop’s Stortford Running Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.5

Best Points: Very comfortable in different temperatures.

Worst Points: Would be too warm in spring/summer

Other Comments:

Great top – like the reflective panels.

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Reviewed by: Peter Amos, Bishop’s Stortford Running Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4

Best Points: Very comfortable. Nice feel. Effective wicking

Worst Points: Colour could be more exciting.

Other Comments:

A little expensive against some other makes

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Item Tested and Reviewed:

Saucony Primolite Running Top

PRICE: £32.99

Saucony Primolite Running Top

Reviewed by: Pete Binks, Bishop’s Stortford Running Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4

Best Points: Very good wicking in different temperatures. Easy to wash.

Worst Points: Baggy at waist. Colour and design a bit bland.

Other Comments:

Would buy it if shape was better

RRP £49.99 save £10.04

Nike Air Zoom Red Rocks II Trail Running ShoeS

A couple of weeks ago I pulled on my brand new Nike Red Rocks 2 shoes and went out for a run - 50 miles around the Calderdale Way – they certainly don’t look new anymore but how did they perform?

With a number of specialist off-road shoe manufacturers springing up over the past few years it’s easy to forget the established brands and get swept along with the hype and the latest trends and buy what everyone else is using.

A few weeks ago I walked into Sportsshoes, saw these and thought ‘now there’s an interesting looking shoe’ – when I picked them up I was struck by two things. Firstly they are incredibly light and secondly Nike have given them a proper grippy sole, not just a slightly reworked road tread with a useless smooth heel.

I tried them on and liked the way they fit, felt and looked so thought I’d give them a try. I’ve only worn them for one day so maybe a review seems a bit premature but having done 50 miles in them across moorland, track, road and rock I think I given them a descent test.

What I would say is that someone at Nike knew exactly what they were doing when they designed and built this shoe. It’s almost as if they’ve created them for English conditions rather than the hot, dry and grippy desert terrain that their name conjures up.

The fit is excellent and the lacing draws the shoe around the foot creating a very solid feel despite their ultra light weight. They also have a neat little ‘wire’ that runs around the heel cup and tightens via the main lace and the last eyelet.

The shoes use Nike’s Zoom Air technology in the forefoot which is a very thin air pocket to cushion the ride without adding bulk, weight or height.

Off-road the shoe performs flawlessly offering seriously impressive amounts of grip on ALL surfaces. More than this, I was struck by the overall stability of my feet in the shoes. They offer comfort, support, cushioning and grip in one package – there are not many that can do that.

Some time ago I declared the Inov8 315 ‘the Holy Grail of trail shoes’ but here’s a new contender for the title. Since the 315s which took me around Mont Blanc in the 2007 UTMB, I’ve tried the Inov8 320 and the Adidas Kanadia II both of which are decent shoes but neither of which come anywhere close to the Nike.

I would go as far as to say that if I had to choose one shoe that could do everything from road marathons to fell races to alpine ultratrails – this would be it.

At 50 quid it’s an absolute steal and whilst I doubt it’ll sell in massive numbers as it looks a little like a ‘pub shoe’ I can tell you that those that do buy it will definitely sing its praises – I know they’re a corporate giant with millions to spend on R&D but I have to say ‘well done Nike!’

We did it!!!

Full report to follow but you can still donate at : http://www.justgiving.com/3×3peaks

Cornwall Athletic Club

Cornwall Athletic Club has been running since 1984. They train all year round and have a strong Road Running section. In the winter Cross Country is the main form of competition, although the younger members take part in the increasingly popular Sportshall Athletic Meetings.

Cornwall Athletic Club

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See below for reviews:

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Item Tested and reviewed:

Saucony Lady Vizipro Optech L/S Sport top Size Medium

PRICE: £44.99

Saucony lady Vizipro Optech Running Top

Reviewed by: Nikki West, Cornwall AC from Cornwall Athletic Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 5

Best Points: Really light and comfortable.

This was the best top I have found yet for moisture control- I could even wear it again, which is unheard of as I do sweat a lot and need to always wash sports clothes every time I wear them.

UV protection is a good feature, as is the flashing light on the sleeve

Worst Points: Not seam free, but it was fine for my 3 mile run. May well rub on a long run?

Other Comments:

The price at £44.99 is more than I would normally pay but I would be prepared to pay this as I feel that it would last longer than other running tops I’ve had, due to the moisture control.

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Item Tested and reviewed:

Saucony Lady Vizipro Optech L/S Sport top Size Medium

Reviewed by: Lesley Wright, Cornwall Athletic Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4

Best Points: Really brightly coloured- highly visible to all others. Comfortable fit. Has zip at neck, so versatile.

Worst Points: Sleeves are quite tight- not easily pushed up when I warmed up enough to need them pushed up.

Small points:- light not easily switched on/ light not easily removed for washing.

Other Comments:

On the whole I did enjoy wearing the top

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Item Tested and reviewed:

Saucony Lady Vizipro Optech L/S Sport top Size Small

Reviewed by: Emma Stallard, Cornwall Athletic Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 3

Best Points: Technically, I found the material very good- warm yet very breathable.

The visibility is excellent, both in terms of the fluorescent colour and the reflective strips.

The pockets are useful and the zips are strong and feel like they will last.

Worst Points: The cut of the top was too square for me- making it feel too big to be a ‘Small’. It was therefore very baggy around the middle, which wasn’t flattering and could be annoying in the wind.

Technically the material is excellent, but the bobbly style makes it looks like a cleaning sponge!

Possibly a bit TOO bright to wear most of the time, but ideal for night running/foggy conditions.

Other Comments:

The flashing light would be better on the left sleeve- as that is the arm nearest the road, when running towards the traffic, but it’s a great feature.

Overall I would say technically it is brilliant, but style–wise for me it is not fitted enough around the waist and slightly too bright for everyday use.

Fantastic for cold weather running/ poor visibility, over a fitted top/crop top

I would probably buy this if the cut was more my style.

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Item Tested and Reviewed:

Saucony Ignite Optech Sport Top, Size Men’s Medium

PRICE: £44.99

Saucony Optech Running Top

Reviewed by:  Phil Bolt, Cornwall Athletic Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 3

Best Points: Flat seams reducing friction/rubbing.

LED sewn into the sleeve gives great visibility.

Good ventilation and wicking away moisture.

Useful Mp3 pocket.

Worst Points: Badly oversized- at least one size too big (ie. Medium could easily be a Large)

In a competitive market it could be a bit overpriced

Other Comments:

If you are after a high vis running top, then this is up there with the best, all be it fairly expensive.

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Item Tested and Reviewed:

Saucony Ignite Vizipro Optech Sport top Size Men’s Large

PRICE: £44.99

Saucony Vizipro Optech Running Top

Reviewed by: Adrian Mutsaers, Cornwall Athletic Club

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4

Best Points: Superb wicking qualities. Soft comfortable material- no rubbing or chafing. Handy Mp3 pocket with outlet for headphones. Excellent idea to incorporate a flashing light/torch.

Worst Points: I am fairly large but quite short, therefore found the sleeves slightly too long.

Other Comments:

A bit pricey at £45- but you have to pay for quality and this felt like a quality sports top.

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Wow - after months of planning and training it nearly didn’t happen - due to the Icelandic Volcano!!!

Me and the family were stuck in Majorca and it took us a week to escape.

Following a somewhat torturous 47 hour journey by taxi, ferry, bus, ferry and bus we finally got home at 6am this morning.

So, now time for a bit more sleep then we start the adventure tomorrow at 5.30pm - with Fish & Chips in Settle before a few hours kip then up and away at 2am.

Full report to follow…..

Sevenoaks Ladies Joggers

Sevenoaks Ladies Joggers are a group of ladies of all ages, sizes and abilities who like to run, chat and keep fit. They formed over seven years ago and have a membership of over 300 ladies aged from 18 to 69.

7 Oaks Running Club

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See below for reviews:

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Brenda from Sevenoaks Ladies Joggers

Item Tested:

Thuasne Lady Force 3 Support Bra With Top Strap, size 34D

Star Rating (Out of 5):  3

Best Points: Very comfortable to wear.

Worst Points: Too much bounce for high impact sport.

Other Comments:

Went on a 40 minute jog. All my running bras are 34D and fit more compact, no to little bounce. Either the strap material is too stretchy or the sizing is wrong- it may be the first, there is an awful lot of stretch! I’d only use it for low impact gym workout or as an emergency bra.

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Angela from Seveoaks Ladies Joggers

Item Tested:

Thuasne Lady Force 3 Support Bra With Top Strap, size 36D

Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.5

Best Points: Very soft material, no chaffing at all, and nice and easy to put on.

Worst Points: The length of the straps is not adjustable.

Other Comments:

I am quite big breasted, and the bra contained them very well.

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Shona from Sevenoaks Ladies Joggers:

Item Tested:

Thuasne Lady Force 3 Support Bra With Top Strap, size 32B

Star Rating (Out of 5):  4

Best Points: Comfortable bra. Nice soft material and good fit.

Worst Points: The trim on the bra was white but the rest of the bra was a very pale grayish-blue colour, which wasn’t     very attractive. It needed to be either white, or a stronger blue, as it looked a bit discoloured.

Other Comments:

I was surprised by how soft and light the material was and didn’t expect it to give me enough support. In fact it was fine for my B cup boobs, but I wonder whether it would be supportive enough for a bigger size.

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Tina from Sevenoaks Ladies Joggers

Item Tested:

Thuasne Lady Force 3 Support Bra With Top Strap, size 34B

Star Rating (Out of 5):  3.5

Best Points: Very comfortable bra, in a lovely soft material. Fitted well under bust and under arms. No rubbing or friction over a 4.5 mile steady run.

Worst Points: It wasn’t quite supportive enough across the top of the bust.

Other Comments:

If I felt more secure in this bra (i.e less bounce!), I would buy it again as it was so comfortable.

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Sam from Sevenoaks Ladies Joggers:

Item Tested:

Thuasne Lady Force 3 Support Bra With Top Strap, size 32D

Star Rating (Out of 5):  3

Best Points: Nice and comfortable to put on. Has the top strap to support breasts. Comfortable to wear especially under the arms.

Worst Points: NO support in 32D at high impact exercise. Felt embarrassed that I was wobbling around and breasts would have been painful if I had run a long way.

Other Comments:

Not sure about the colour, it was supposed to be white but it looked greyish/blue to me and looked like it had gone through a white wash with a blue sock!

I’m back out in Belgium now and training and racing on the road! Late March and April has seen me enter the start of a huge block of racing, starting with the first World Cup of the road season, Trofeo Binda in Varese, Italy. Being my second World Cup on the road, in addition to Plouay GP at the end of last season, I knew what sort of standard to expect, as all of the big hitters would be there! As there isn’t a U23 category on the road for females, all of the road racing we do is senior women’s so the standard is always pretty high! The race included a large lap of about 60km with 2 nasty, steep climbs and a long dragging ascent, then continued on to an 18km finishing circuit with more climbs to complete the race distance of 136km! After the first steep climb the race split into about five groups and I ended up in the third group of about 20 along with my team mate Katie. From this point we rode on towards the finish circuit, keeping the pressure on along the flat to try and catch the group in front but the group was simply too big to work together and there were only about 5 of us doing any turns on the front, so we never made contact with the main bunch again. When we entered the finish circuit we were told we had to stop and were pulled out of the race. This can sometimes happen in road racing, as the commissaries (race organisers) have to stop the traffic for the race, so if the race is too split up then this makes it difficult. So, in the name of safety anyone who is too far back has to stop. In fact, over half of the field didn’t finish. However, Nicole finished in 6th which was a good start to her World Cup campaign.

The next weekend, Sunday 4^th April brought the second World Cup to Belgium! The 118km course for Tour of Flanders looped in and around the Oudenaarde area for the first half of the race, then ended up in Ninove. Again, it was a tough course but in a completely different way to Binda. There were lots of long, flat cobbled sections, ranging from about 500m to 2k and also 9 climbs. However, none resembled the climbs from the first World Cup, in any way shape or form! Some were cobbled, such as the Bosburg and the Muur - the last two climbs - and others were on normal roads but ranged from in distance and gradient. The race started off well and I fulfilled my role for the team which was to be active at the front of the bunch for the first 26km before the first cobbled section, then lead Nicole into the cobbles as far up in the group as possible. I managed to take her into the cobbles in the top 10 so was pleased to have got my job done, but keen to stay in the top group as long as possible. I got over the first climb, the Kluisberg, in the main bunch, which showed a definite improvement in my climbing, but on the flat roads after the climb, misfortune struck as my chain snapped in two! We race with radios so that we can have contact with our manager and coach, Simon and the mechanic, Martyn who ride in the convoy of cars that follow the race; so I called over the radio that my chain had snapped so that they could give me a spare bike. Unfortunately, as my teammate Lucy had crashed a little while earlier, the car was at the back of the convoy so it took quite a long time to actually reach me. By that point, not only had the first group completely gone past, but the second group, third and fourth, as well as other small groups of riders… so it was pretty much race over by then. I wanted to finish as far up as possible though, so I kept moving myself up and finished 108^th. I was pleased to have made it to the finish of such a tough course but disappointed that my chain had snapped on a day when I had good legs.

The day after Flanders was GP Dottingies, which was again quite local to our Oudenaarde base. The field contained a lot of riders from the World Cup so that fact, combined with a race distance of 121km, cross winds and tired legs meant that it was to be another hard day in the saddle! I made a lot of stupid mistakes, such as getting caught near the back in the cross wind section and starting the climb at the back of the bunch, meaning that fairly soon I was gritting my teeth and struggling to stay with the race! I didn’t end up finishing the full race distance, as I ended up too far back so consequently was pulled out. Again, disappointing, but not really that surprising considering my bad positioning and fatigue from the previous days efforts.

After a recovery ride on Tuesday and a 4 hour drive to Holland, the next race was Drentse 8, a 141km race in the Drenthe region of Holland. With the next World Cup, Ronde van Drenthe taking place two days later, the field contained most of the World Cup riders, plus a few others from Dutch teams. It was quite windy again with cobbles and crosswinds to catch you out but this time I was prepared! Having learnt from my mistakes on Monday in Dottingies I fought my way to the front of the bunch and managed to stay there – finding that it makes life a whole lot easier being in the shelter of the top 20 rather than hanging on at the back as there is a lot less physical effort required! It was a good race and I was pleased with how I rode, keeping a good position, going with attacks and even picking up 3^rd place in one of the ‘primes’ (sprints within the race, usually for points or money.) With around 25km to go, a group of 11 riders, including GB rider Lucy Martin, attacked and gained a 15 second advantage on the main bunch. This gap fluctuated between 10-20 seconds but was still maintained until the finish. I was hoping to be competitive in the bunch sprint, but with around 15km to go the effort of the race really caught up with me and I was cramping up big style! There was no way I could do more than 2 pedal revs out of the saddle, so tried to sprint in the saddle and rolled in at the finish for 49^th place. However, this was the best race I have ridden so far this year so was really happy and also chuffed to bits for Lucy who came 8^th and got the prize for the best young rider.

Played 2 events back to back, finishing the second last weekend.

In wimbledon I started off strong in my first 2 matches and although Andrew Birks , a young up and coming player, gave me a good test in the second round, I won quite comfortably in the end 3- 0 setting up a clash with seasoned pro Scott Handley. I played ok but lost 11-9 in the fifth after 70 minutes. It’s a match though, with another few weeks of training after my injury, that i’d expect to win.

following this I played in the west of Ireland. Tough 1st round versus Oliver Pett where I won in a tough 4 sets, setting up a clash with Piedro Schweertman of Holland. With the number 2 seed withdrawing with injury it was a great chance to make the final. Unfortunatly though, a slight tweek in my hamstring prevented any further progress here. Still on the plus side, I have a lot more squash under my belt and with a few big events coming up i’m hoping to salvage something from what has been a very disappointing season thus far…

As many of you already know Steve Fry and myself are to attempt three laps of the 3 Peaks on the 24^th April in aid of the Jane Tomlinson appeal so yesterday in order to get a good long training run in the bag we did a lap of the Calderdale Way (CW).

The CW is a 50 mile long distance path with around 8500ft of climbing that loops around the West side of Halifax, down to Brighouse across to Todmorden via Cragg Vale then back to Wainstalls following a peek at Heptonstall. With the exception of a few very minor back-roads and the odd busy main road crossing, it’s all off road over a mixture of surfaces ranging from track to woods and canal bank to open moorland.

Steve and I have raced in the CW relay for Bingley Harriers on many occasions and between us have run the entire route albeit as fast as we could in just 6-10 mile bursts so this was going to be something completely different.

We left the car in Steve’s work’s yard just behind Holdsworth House hotel (around 1/3 of the way into leg 5) and set off at 7.45am – thankfully despite the horrendous forecasts, the weather was fine and dry and stayed so until the last few miles.

I’ve only ever done legs 1,2 and 3 of the CW relay so this section was all new to me. The advantage of being led is that you run on new tracks and see new scenery, the disadvantage is that you never know where you are, what’s round the next corner or how long the climb your on goes on for.

We weaved our way up hill and down dale until we reached Shelf – a point I recognised as I grew up on this side of town. Down through Judy Woods and into Norwood Green (which I always think has a ring of Rupert Bear about it) and then we headed for Brighouse. At this point, Steve floated the idea of breakfast and although we were only a couple of hours into what would be a long day I knew I needed to keep energy levels up so agreed. What I didn’t realise was that his idea of breakfast was a stop at McDonalds but when he told me he needed the loo I realised there was more than just weight ‘gain’ on his mind. Anyway McDonalds it was (only the 4^th time in my life) and we attracted a few strange looks from the early morning diners as we jogged up to the counter in full running gear and ordered two Mcbreakfasts (or whatever they’re called) with Latte coffees ‘to go’…. We ditched the packaging and wandered off down the canal stuffing our faces with cholesterol and caffeine – true athletes!

I can’t say I particularly enjoyed my visit to McD’s but the calorie input certainly did the trick and we stormed along to Copley rugby club where we picked up the ‘old’ start of the CW relay. We were in good spirits as we jogged along the leg 1 route and I was now on familiar turf as I’ve raced around here a number of times over the years with James Senior, Jamie Robinson and Steve.

We were soon in Cragg Vale (start of leg 2) and after a quick stretch and a mouthful of flapjack we started the long yomp up to the reservoir then on to the moor top by Stoodly Pike. I’ve only done leg 2 once in 2008 when I was switched from leg 3 and drafted to run with Martin Peace the night before the race. I told him I’d never done it before and asked if he knew the way – he said he’d done it once with Robin and assured me we’d be fine. 10 minutes into the race we were lost and ended up having to trog through knee-deep tussocks and bog to get back to the checkpoint whilst dozens of other runners streamed past us on the right path. As Steve and I followed the track up to Stoodly we got to the point where Martin and I had gone wrong – the correct line is a broad recently laid track of crushed stone rising gently toward the summit and marked with a large wooden signpost saying Calderdale Way, a metal disk adorned with the CW logo and a bright yellow arrow on the wall. The path Martin and I took was through a number of latched gates in completely the wrong direction along a boggy track in which there were no footprints…..(& we’ve both been on a navigation course!)

An old friend of mine owns the Top Brink Inn at Mankinholes so we planned a drinks stop and after a quick photo shoot on the wild and windy moors we trotted down the hill and sought refuge in the pub. Again we were greeted by some odd looks by the folk out for a quiet pint or a nice Good Friday meal but we didn’t care and got stuck into the coca-cola and salted peanuts (choice of champions). Unfortunately my pal Martin wasn’t around so we had to pay and once we’d had our bottles refilled we were on our way to Tod.

From the main road at Todmorden it’s straight up one side of the valley then immediately back down the other to the sports-centre at the leg 2-3 changeover where Steve went in to grab a Snickers and I used the time to answer a few e-mails – technology ehh?

The climb from the start of leg 3 up to the Hobble route at Whirlaw stones is a real stinker and Steve recounted a tale of running the leg a few years ago with John Cordingly – it wasn’t long before John had trotted out of site and as Steve turned a corner nearing the top of the climb he met John sat on a wall looking like he’d just packed away a pic-nic saying ‘well done Steve – great run mate’ in his familiar Manchester accent. This climb took its toll on me and I needed a quick break at the top to fire down a sugary brunch bar and grab a cheese, ham and pickle sarnie which I scoffed as we trotted along. It’s amazing how quickly you can recover if you time your eating right and by the time we were nearing the final climb of leg 3 I was back on full power.

Both Steve and I managed to run up the road to the leg 3 finish but as we started out on leg 4 Steve began to go quiet – a strange phenomenon I’m sure you’d agree and a sure sign he was staring to suffer.

As we climbed up through the woods toward Heptonstall Steve stopped with a pained expression on his face, pulled out his iPod and said he needed to disappear in to ‘the zone’ for a while. I can’t believe he preferred the greatest hits of Bros, Kylie and Kenny Rodgers to my dulcet tones but hey I guess it takes all sorts.

We entered the normally quiet village of Heptonstall to see hundreds of folk boozing and some wearing strange clothing (even stranger than you might normally see in this time frozen town). Apparently we’d stumbled across the Pace Egg Plays – ‘what?’ I hear you cry. Well you may ask as if you do a bit of research you’ll find that nobody is too sure exactly what goes on but it involves beer, sword fighting, beer and amateur dramatics – oh and more beer. Despite the weather, that had now taken a turn for the worse, it actually looked like a bit of fun in a true eccentric English sort of way but we didn’t have time to ‘tread the boards’ and scuttled off down the bridleway to Horse Bridge.

Up to this point I was thinking that leg 4 was easy but the climb out of the valley is tough and long as it crosses the road at Peckett Well and continues right up onto the top of the moor above Old Town. By now the rain was coming in hard and the temperature had dropped considerably so we donned our cags and headed out across the moor. The moor run is a welcome respite from the climbing but the underfoot conditions were challenging due to the amount of water that was soaking the ground. From the far edge of the moor the end was almost insight as we could look across towards Illingworth but it wasn’t over yet as the distant houses were at the other side of a steep and deep valley. We plunged through farm fields and wood, across the stream and then started our last big climb back out towards Wainstalls. After what seemed like a long time we eventually popped out on to the desolate road where leg 4 becomes leg 5. We were now officially on the home run.

This lifted our spirits but we still had a few ups and downs to overcome before we reached Illingworth – the thing about the CW is that whilst there are no massive climbs or mountain summits it is very rarely flat, you’re either going down into a valley or back up the other side.

Eventually we reached Illingworth and crossed the road just south of the Sportsman pub on the main Halifax to Denholme road. Here the route weaves in and out of farms and houses and is quite complicated and with a few hundred yards to go we found ourselves in a field with no ‘official’ exit so we had to scale fences and barbed wire to ‘break out’ on to the road above Holdsworth House.

We trotted down the little snickett behind the hotel and this time I wasn’t making any effort to avoid the mud and puddles as my trainers, which were new-on that morning, now blended in seamlessly with my leggings under a shroud of caked on dirt. We reached the car 10 hours and 45 minutes after setting off and congratulated ourselves on a job well done.

A large Mama’s pepperoni pizza on the way home brought life back to weary bones and as I walked the dog that evening I was already thinking about how I might be feeling if I’d set off to do another lap of the peaks…….roll on the 24^th.