The Ullswater Way (in a day) plus review of ASIC Sonoma Trail Shoe

Given I was spending a bit of January unemployed, I had a plan to get out and run a bit. In fact, I even managed to rope my poor friend Eryl in to another adventure run in the Lakes. Sadly there was no boat this time, and we planned a low level route to account for possible weather. I'd had a bit of an urge to run the Ullswater way since the Lakeland Trails in November where we had run a tiny section of it, and then walked some other tiny sections of it with the dog. A bit of googling and I managed to find the information page on it and it seemed a great option for January. The Ullswater way is really a series of trails and walks around the same named Lake. Some sections are designed to be done as shorted circular walks but there is a full loop around the lake, though it doesn't always cling to the edge of the water. You an also use the Ullswater Steamers to get between points and walk back, which is probably what most people do. It seemed well signposted (more chatting energy), and with the highest point of Gowbarrow it seemed a good long run for January when I am training for an even longer run in February. 

After watching a few YouTube videos, I made the executive decision we would go clockwise based on doing the bit where we couldn't bus back first. Initially I had thought about starting at Pooley Bridge but a last minute thought made me change to the Glencoyne car park for two reasons: 1, its free to National Trust members 2, it meant we would do Gowbarrow nice and early and get it out the way. In hindsight, this latter thought was an excellent idea! 

On the morning of the run, it was grey leaving Manchester and there was a bot of traffic on the M61/M6 junction but once we got past Preston everything opened up and we made good time. Driving down the side of the Lake, I tried not to think we had to run all this and more on the way back, and we parked in a mostly empty car park. Glencoyne has no loos (there are some at Aira Force), FYI. Having indulged in the phaf-letics that is getting ready for a trail run, we quickly found the first trail marker in the corner of the car park and headed off on the well made trail towards Aira Force. 

The Ullswater way is marked by a series of arrows 

Both Eryl and I knew this section, and how well made the path was. They were actually doing path repairs on this section, as it probably gets a lot of footfall. In my mind, I wasn't sure what underfoot was going to be like, as all the sections I had done were excellently made, but this was certainly not true later on, and my shoe choice may have suffered. I had picked a newish pair of ASICs trail shoes (their mid range Sonoma) as I have been getting some foot pain and wanted a bit of support and cushioning. I hoped the trail would be good but I knew I was pushing the shoes a little beyond what they were designed for. 

Aira Force was pretty deserted. The last time I went was bank holiday weekend and it was madness incarnate, but this morning there were only a few other walkers who let us pass without fuss and we stomped up the side of the falls through the trees, already removing outer layers due to the relatively mild weather. Aira Force is a lovely set of falls, but I don't think its the most magic in the Lakes, but perhaps the one with the easiest car park and tea room so that's fine. I commented to Eryl how my Mum is desperate to go as she saw it on telly, and we chatted about  the change in people coming to the lakes, Eryl's podium finish at the EpicEvents Ullswater Way 10 and much other life stuff as we wound out way to the gate of our first route choice. 

The upper falls of Aira Force 

I had already decided we were going over Gowbarrow and Eryl was happy to concur and we headed out of the national trust zone to a bit more of an open fell area. This was one of the few areas we were a bit confused by signage but it was very temporary. Soon we were stomping up the fell and I was wondering if I was actually fit enough for this. I am still carrying too much excess weight (possibly worse after a ski holiday), and my hamstring and calves were a bit tighter than I was happy with. But Eryl was patient and as we reached the top we suddenly were exposed to huge gusts of wind. But the views over the lake and towards Helveyllan (snow topped) were marvellous. 

Gowbarrow Views

Coming off Gowbarrow I definitely felt the lack of a good fell shoes, though there was actually a better way down if you went back a little way. Then we had a nice down hill to Swinburn's Park. I think Swinburn might be a saint but whatever they are, this was a lovely section of single track undulating through a pretty conifer area. Conifers to stop the worst of the mud too. Unfirtunately, we then had a section of farm land where mud was inevitable but could definitely have been worse. One of the sections is even signed to go the other way if there has been a lot of rain, and there is a road to bash your shoes off on at Bennethead in between. We saw a few groups of walkers along this section and most were polite, with only one sarcastic comment from memory. There is a trip through a campsite just before Pooley Bridge, which was the first of many but the only one you ran through the statics on. The handrail around Dunmallard hill at Pooley Bridge felt worryingly challenging though we chatted about Lakeland 50 and our dreams of doing it. In Eryl's case, she'd smash it, but I may never get fit enough. 

By this point, we had had a smattering of very light drizzle, and a bit of a grey sky but the sun was definitely trying to come out as we crossed the new bridge at Pooley. There were a few people in town and the paths immediately close to it, but generally it was lovely and quiet. In hindsight, I should have filled up with water for this section, as I hadn't drank enough and later ran out a bit before Glenridding. Notably, since Aira Force, we hadn't actually been very close to the Lake until we got to Pooley Bridge so it was nice to actually see it properly. 

Looking South by South West from the top of the Lake

After Pooley Bridge, there is a section through the bottom of campsites along the shore which is mostly very flat but I was struggling a bit. I tried to stuff more Chia charge flapjack in and drink a bit more but ended up walking a bit on the gentle climb up away from the lake on the road and Seat Farm. I think I started to move a bit better once we hit the bridle way which incidentally signals the 'higher route' via the stone circle rejoining the lower route after Pooley Bridge. One for another day I think! The path through this section had been a real mixture; closer to the lake is was shale or made path, but the section by the farms was more grassy and muddy. The road was unexciting but the bridleway seemed pretty good with reasonable progress made. 

Dropping in to Howtown we decided to have a quick lunch stop. We sat on the little bit of shaley beach on some stones and munched, whilst a group came out of the Outward Bounds Centre. We bumped in to a few groups of kids strapped to gigantic backpacks between here and Sandwick, not all of whom seemed to be enjoying themselves. As we handrailed the lower slopes of Hallin fell, we got our last views of the north section of Ullswater in the sunshine. Part of the joy of the Ullswater way is the the odd shape of the lake means that the view evolves as you go round. 

Looking at the top section of Ullswater before we turned the bed

The next section was probably my least favorite section of the run; Hallinhag wood was entirely unrunnable. Usually, I love a woodland path but this was a mixture of jagged rocks and roots, and at times the path barely existed and at others it hung just above the lake shore (very) mildly perilously. I found myself picking inelegantly between the rocks whilst the more nimble Eryl pushed on a bit ahead. I was glad to get to extremely attractive cottages that made up Sandwick where we popped out on a road and then rejoined the bridleway, startling some elderly picnickers. From here to Patterdale was all bridleway, though I spied another wood section on the map and prayed it was a bit better. 

Over this next bridleway section I was making slow process and at some point ran out of water (unsurprisingly the tiny cafe at Scalehow was not open so much out of season and so remote from anywhere). Fortunately the path was better but my feet were making hard work of it. We did get a nice view of Scale How falls in the distance and I am very keen to come back and explore the fells above here. But at that moment, I was fantasing about orange juice and lemonade, in a pint glass, in a pub. Fortunately the path in the woods was okay and I stayed upright if mostly slow. We also found a great view point.

The view point, courtesy of Eryl 

Arriving at Silver Crag (passing some more slightly off walkers) gave me a bit of a boost as I now knew the rest of the route. Also, the path got better from here in. There were a few more people around, signaling our approach to civilization again. The weather remained impossibly good for January. I asked Eryl if we could walk the path between Side Farm and Patterdale, and she kindly agreed. When we hit the road I tried to make up for it with what she termed ' my second wind' but was really my desperate desire for water from the shop in Glenridding, and also memories of my failed ultramarathon attempt from a few years ago. 

The little shop on the corner in Glenridding was open and I was pleased to be slightly over charged for a bottle of water and a bottle of orange juice. I hadn't been in any danger from dehydration but I was still very thirsty, perhaps having been in a deficit earlier than I appreciated. My thought of it being January and so not sweating loads was obviously a daft one in my case; I always sweat buckets! In my head this was sort of the end of the run; the next section of path after the village runs close to the lake between some small bays and probably was quite exciting to me once but is now a bit old news and very close to the road. I made a bit of a hash of it (slowly) anyway. Its only about 2 miles from the shop and soon I could see the car park. 

Back at the car, it was 20 ish miles all in (our watches disagreed on exact distance) which we considered a good effort. We also had a bit of a chat to the chap who was putting stuff on his van next to us, and who we had actually seen sailing his light craft across the lake! He'd been plagued by the relatively infrequent wind, whilst we had obviously reveled in it. I managed to end up stripping off my top as a group of walkers entered the car park, oops. I was pleased with our attempt but very aware it had taken quite some time and also that my race in a few weeks in 4 miles more, and a heck of a lot more elevation. 

We headed to the Pooley Bridge Inn for food, marveling at the distance we had run. The next day I was a bit sore of foot and back but no disasters. 

So the final question is how did the ASCICs Sonoma stack up? I am not going to lie, I always steered clear of trail shoes from non trail shoe brands dismissing them as for 'urban and easy' trails. I bought the Sonoma with spring trips to our local woods in mind, and maybe the canal at the muddier times of year, buying it at a good reduced price. They didn't stop my metetarsalgia but they did help I think. Also, I appreciated the pronation protection at times. They weren't great in muddy fields (at times even Eryl's Innov8s clogged mind you) and I didn't trust them on wet rock in the same way I always trusted my Roclites. But that said, they definitely didn't let me down and coped admirably with some of the mildly slippy rocks and trails. I was going slowly which may have helped, and I wouldn't want to test them going fast on greasy rocks. The toe box had a reasonable shape too, with minimal pressure on my ridiculously wide feet, and they didn't have the lacing problems of some of my previous shoes. They would probably be fab for running longish distances on bridleway type paths without the technical sections. I am sure I will get plenty of use from them. 

2022: New Year, New trainers? Plans for the year plus the Scott Supertrac Ultra RC trail shoes

 Happy New Year! What is everyone promising themselves they will do/not do this year? My list includes lose weight, strength train, race harder, stretch after running and sort my professional life out among others lofty ideal of which little is likely to happen. I have also signed up to Run Every Day in January with my 'Zwift meet up' group but only a mile minimum (excepting possible ski holiday) so that it fits around work and doesn't impact my recovery times. 

The first hurdle is not to catch Covid before out ski holiday (or indeed, at any point) so that we can actually get skiing. Its a complete phaff but hoping we make it. Already I am having stress dreams about positive PCR tests on the way out! 

The year actually started with a very nice surprise when Martin decided to come to Lyme Park Parkrun with me! Yes, the man who does not run actually agreed to do not only a parkrun, but one of the hardest parkruns in the region! It is on our club ,champs this year, and so there were a few Blacksheep there to chat too. Oscar dog came on his harness too, which caused chaos on the quite busy (for Lyme) route as he tried to dive between legs on the first hill until the crowd thinned out. Martin nearly died (his heart rate hit over 200!) and we came last of the Blacksheep but it was nice to have him there running. I persist in trying to drag him out running with me in the dream he learns to love it, but I know it will never happen. 

So what then for the rest of the year? 

Life is a little different from when I was last racing regularly, mainly because we have Oscar now, and so I can't just disappear off for the day. However, the Blacksheep challenge is back, so there will be points up for grabs at various events even if they haven't been published yet. I never make many, but I will try make a few. They are good for a social if nothing else, and there may even be someone to hold the dog at some of them (maybe). I don't know how before lock down i was doing my long run Saturday then racing a fell race on the Sunday! To be that fit again is a dream! 

Otherwise, I seem to be focusing long. The start of the year I have already put in a selection of LDWA type events; the Anglezarke Amble, Two Crosses and 5 Trigs (the last is actually a Cragg Runner event but similar set up). They are all relatively local and at 24 miles, 17 miles and 18.5 miles, should give me a good reason to get my endurance up over winter. They are also self navigating so that adds to the challenge. This takes us up to April and the end of my current rota, and then things get messy.....

This year is my Dad's 60th, my sister's wedding (plus hen do which I am supposed to be organising), and two other friends' weddings, so lots to look forward too. I am also potentially finishing my training program and need to find a consultant job. Plus I have to work one or two weekends a month, possibly more if I am on ICU. In short, there isn't a lot of time for the events I thought I would be doing, that is the Lakeland Trails 55K Ultra and a Abraham's/George Fisher Tea round. Pretty much all this, plus the events, falls within June and July. I don't even know where I will be working at this point so its not even possible to guess. I am tying to ignore the problem and put my head in the sand..... 

One thing I am addressing is my shoe situation. After the incident at the moors the merrier where my shoe fell apart, I decided I needed some new shoes. I had invested in a pair of Innov8 G270 Terraultras but I didn't on with them, as I felt unstable in the heel and kept slipping of medially resulting in a posterior tibialis niggle. They turned in to very expensive dog walking shoes..... But I wanted something a bit more padded for longer distances than my (previously) reliable Roclites. 

I am actually rubbish at trawling through reviews and everyone's feet at very different. In the end, I plumped for the Scott Supertrac Ultra RC on the basis I have had some Scott's for work and they didn't seem too crazily anything (minimal, cushioned, rigid,etc). They were about mid range price too, which helped me decide! 

The colour scheme on the women's shoe is fine. I am not one for aesthetics in trail shoes as once the mud starts, that is the end of it, so it didn't matter too much. On first try, I noticed they had the same rub point across the base of my toes as the ones I bought for work; the upper sort of digs in in a curved line across the toe box. A few wears in , this is starting to settle. The shoes also don't have the widest toe box and I get a bit of crowding with my wide duck feet. But the toe box does have a rubber reinforcement which  I like. 

The lacing system and mid sole hold the foot well though it can be a battle to get in there initially and I had to unlace and relace the shoe to get my feet in, and the laces don't pull through the eye system easily. Unlike the innov8's however, once laces, they stay laced. The tongue is minimal but I didn't feel much cutting through it on the runs I have done in it. 

Grip wise, they seem okay. They tend to collect mud more than other shoes I have run in, but they coped okay with rocky paths. I wasn't completely convinced of them on rock slaps but then what shoes are reliable on that? They have a bit more cushioning than some but nothing too much; you still get a sense of the ground. For an 8mm drop, its very stable. 

Its a more substantial shoe than the roclite, which was probably what I needed. So far so good, and definitely worth giving a go if you are fed up with gimmicks in the market. 

Race Report: Trails and Ales Fell Race

 I think we all know that too many mince pies and cheese boards rarely make for effective pre-race preparation, but that didn't seem to stop me from trying. Over Christmas, despite working (or perhaps because I worked Christmas again), I managed to significantly over indulge and not get nearly as much exercise as I might have. Don't get me wrong, I got out every day for either a walk or a jog, but it was generally all very easy intensity. Since the Moors the Merrier it seems I have actually done mostly chilling not training, and whilst that may be what was needed, it made the return to racing on New Years Eve a bit more difficult. 

Most of the Blacksheep were signed up for Bowstones, having either joined the initial bun fight for places, or played the crazed game of covid based swapsies for one in the week up to the race. I have never done Bowstones, but I know the route and love it. But its the other side of Manchester and so when I heard about Madbull events holding a new year event on my usual training ground, I signed up and worked out how to get annual leave later. 

The race website was short on details except to say there a pie and pint at the pub after the race for all finishers. There was no route until about 24 hours before the race and even then it was a description which only locals would be able to follow. The slight confusion about how things were set up prevailed on the day when various people turned up at the start without having registered or having tried to register at the Barn cafe. I think everyone got sorted in the end! The race organisers were very nice. I however, got a full view of an old man changing (not) behind a tree which made me and several other ladies blush. That will teach me to go for a warm up! I also had several enquiries from the many members of the public out for a NYE stroll about whether there was a race, what it was, and how far. Most were very pleasant but some were obviously concerned we were all spoiling the view (there are always some).

The race started to the performance of a bag piper after a very brief briefing. It wasn't too busy, maybe about 200 people, and the start was a broad old woodland cobbled road (the one that runs down the back of the woods through Rivington) so it was a reasonably quick start. I was very near the back and would remain so for most of the race. It was a fast field it seems, dominated by Horwich RMI Harriers, the local club, as well as a sprinkling of Burnden and a few others. It being a working day between Christmas and New year, one assumes the fun runners were not out. Or maybe I was just super slow. 

The first club is the rocky track up that I regularly use up the hill. I kept trotting all the way up this, picking a reasonable line down the side of the path. I was keeping pace with those around me initially, but then as we entered the Chinese gardens, I dropped a few places as the path got flatter and easier and we dashed down the wide track passed the seven arch bridge to the pigeon house car park. I was wearing my new Scott shoes and they were fine on this terrain, though I had a foot injury that was uncomfortable. The next climb is the old quarry road which is very rocky and rutted and definitely no longer a road. I joined most people in my section of the race in walking this section. Again, here I was keeping up, only to lose a few places on the flatter section as we hit the pigeon house. My legs felt heavy and I could feel the effects of the body pump class two days ago. We were only two miles in and I wasn't doing as well as I wanted. 

On the ascent to the Pike, Martin was with our dog Oscar. I gave them a big wave but then Martin let the dog off the lead and he ran towards me and kept jumping up in his excitement to see me. I slowed to a walk, and then had to walk a bit back down the hill to drag Oscar back to Martin. Oscar clearly wanted to stay with his Mum and run the rest of the race, but sadly he isn't allowed. This cost me a few places and minutes but I got running again and made it up the pike before taking the fell race route off the top. Here I didn't trust my new shoes and so had a cautious descent only to fall on my face later as the land levelled slightly. Fortunately it was on to grass but it dislodged my number and I lost a few more minutes repinning it.  What a wally. 

The section along George's road (another cobbly track) was uneventful but I made little progress in catching those ahead. As we ascended Two Lad's I did a bit better and Strava reckons I did one of my fastest ascents of this segment. Coming off the top however, I can't have been very efficient as by the time I crossed the road I had lost a place and had a bit more gap between the next person again. However, I was enjoying myself a bit more on the more; the soft ground didn't hurt my foot and the views were stunning. It was unseasonably warm, nearly 12 degrees I think, and there was only a bit of haze. 

We dropped round and down the good track to Burnt edge before turning right on to a much muddier path. I remembered this path from Walshe Two Lads race but hadn't used it since! We bumbled across boggy bits and again I got some places only for them to dash away as we headed back to the good path and down to wilder's wood.

In Wilder's wood, I was temporarily held up by a pack of alpacas. I find the woods creepy at the best of times but this was bizarre. Once I got going there was no one to follow but I sort of guess and carried on down hill (away from the alpaca walking group) until I hit the very rocky old track. Except it wasn't a track, it was now a river. And the person I was chasing disappeared round the corner at the bottom as I made a pathetic attempt to run down the running water. I don't know why I was struggling so much as once we hit the path at the bottom I got going again, and chased across some farm land to Tiger's clough and the 'lovely' steps up the other side. There was someone quite close behind so I felt a bit like a rabbit in headlights as I haired (or hared?) it round the last section of the course on a slippy path, through the gate, on to the road, right down a footpath, on to the track to the first gate again but veering left at the last minute on to the woodland road and the finish. I finished to flower of Scotland by the bagpiper. 

I had wanted under 1:30 and was surprised to see that I had actually got that. Maybe the pack was faster than I was giving myself credit for? Still, there were people ahead of me I should have finished ahead of I am sure. But at least I got out and had a lovely time in the sunshine. I walked to the pub with my pie and pint voucher where Martin and Oscar joined me in the garden (the pub was very busy with runners, so we missed the band).

But what a cracking local race!  Beautiful views (and unseasonably good weather!) and a great course with lots of runnable sections as well as a bit of all sorts of terrain, and then a pie and a pint at the pub at the end!  I am hoping I can get back in future years and am quietly pleased that everyone else goes to Bowstones so there isn't a fight for places! Nice work Madbull events!