Scout Conquers the Three Peaks

Good to see Scout Adkin's name in the results again, upping her distance a tad to 37km and 1,600m of climb in the Three Peaks race last weekend, finishing 17th female and 2nd U25. Results here

Here is her report.....

So I decided this year to try some longer races – and the iconic Yorkshire 3 Peaks Race seemed the best choice to tackle first. Training had been going well since the start of the year until I got injured (ITB syndrome and peroneal nerve impingement). I was not properly running for 6weeks prior to the race. Less than a week before the race I managed a slowly pain free run. I decided that I would still run but set myself the task of getting round with no further injury instead of chasing times and positions.

I felt good at the start on the lower slopes of Pen-y-gent but once the gradient started to increase my legs were already protesting, clearly unhappy after not running up hills for 6weeks. Once I reached the top a quick descent and onwards across the rolling country side for about 8miles to the first road crossing. I was feeling relatively good along this section, once my body had got over the shock of running again, and enjoyed a conversation with a fellow runner which passed the time.

The climb up Whernside was a lot steeper than I excepted and it really was a crawl at the top. Fighting off calf cramp and taking care of rocks on the fast descent I descended back into the valley reaching the second road crossing.

The last climb up Ingleborough was tough – fatigue was setting in and I debated if I maybe should have eaten a bit more earlier on in the race. Some veggie percy pig sweets helped get me up the last climb then it was just 5 very long miles back down to the finish. I seemed to have found a bust of energy at this point and started passing some tired looking runners. I managed a slow sprint into the finish, my competitive instincts hoping that my watch was wrong and I that I had made it under 4hours - not quite – 4hour 2minutes.

I definitely want to do it again, aiming for sub 4hours and improving on my position.

Next long race – Buttermere Horseshoe, after recceing it over 2days this weekend, this will definitely be a challenge!