3 Peaks Challenge

Hi all,

I haven't done a blog in here in a while so here is a new one for you all.

This past weekend I took part in the 3 peaks challenge. I agreed to take part along with my old colleagues from the University of Worcester back in January I think, so I didn't want to back out of an agreement. Plus - I kind of fancied the challenge!

For those of you who don't know what it is - it's basically walking up the 3 highest peaks in the UK - Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scaffel Pike in England, and Snowdon in Wales - all in the space of 24 hours!

Now - I went into this with ZERO training. Pretty dumb I know, especially for someone in the S&C Industry, but I don't really enjoy that type of training so just figured I'd give it a go with what I've got. I went for one walk in preparation - on the Monday before to break in my brand new walking boots I had bought on the Saturday. Didn't want to be covered in blisters after all!!

So - we departed on Saturday 30th at 06:30hrs from the University of Worcester and made our way to Ben Nevis in Scotland. This is the Highest peak in the UK at about 1300metres. We set off at 16:55hrs.

Now let me tell you - this was tough! There was a right mix of terrain, and different gradients etc. Essentially its uphill walking on uneven surfaces for a long ass time! Not something I'd normally enjoy - but I actually did! Probably because it was challenging. My plan for the walks was to keep up with my boss who is Ex-Army and still in good nick for his age especially. So I wanted to stay in eye-sight of him.
I ended up beating him up there! Only by a few minutes, but I'm happy with that. I was the second of our group to reach the summit, only beaten by a regular half-marathon runner. So I was chuffed. It took me around 2 hours 20 minutes to get from the bottom to the top.
Some of the views were simply stunning! Unfortunately at the top it was very misty and foggy so you couldn't get the views from there, but from about half way up there was some stunning scenery which I won't forget in a hurry.
It was bloody cold at the top too - the water on the outside of my hat froze! Absolutely bitter and a strong wind to boot! So we didn't stay up there long. Got a nice little selfie, and another photo - then started our descent.

Part of my game-plan for the challenge was to do the descents as fast as possible and waste as little energy as possible. Easier said than done though unfortunately.
I managed to injure myself on the way down too. There are some quite steep drops off rocks that almost form steps, and when I dropped off one, my right spinal erector went into spasm. This isn't a great feeling at the best of times, but when you've had other muscles cramping up as well it really rubs salt in the wounds.
By the time I finished the spasm was gone but I was having sciatica pains which really suck. So I stretched, rolled on my roam roller and lacrosse ball to try to loosen it off and allow myself the chance to carry on.

We got to Scaffel Pike early on Sunday morning (I can't really remember what time) and I set off with the group with the challenge still in sight.
I was walking for about 45 minutes I think, then packed in. The sciatica pains down my right leg were pretty bad, and I was effectively walking uphill on one leg - which is never a good idea especially when you weigh 115kg!
Plus in the back of my mind was the fact that a lot of people get lost of Scaffel, and I was either going to get lost or slow down the entire group and risk their opportunity to complete the challenge.
So I headed back down to the minibus and wrote off my chances of completing the 24 hours challenge.

I was pretty damn disappointed, and honestly still am. I wanted to complete this challenge, it was kind of a bucket list type thing. But I failed due to injury.
I'll be honest - it was damn tough! Especially with limited sleep etc. But I genuinely think that I would have given it a damn good crack if I'd stayed healthy!
So at some point in my life I'm going to head back to Scaffel, and to Snowdon, and dominate those fuckers just so I can say I've done them. The bastards!

Now the rest of the team did fantastic! Ben Nevis claimed a few others as well as myself, but we had a solid group of people who completed all 3 peaks, and some who completed the challenge in 24 hours! This really is some achievement! I'm jealous, but proud as well. They did bloody fantastically to complete it!
It must also be said that our support team - Mark White, Mark Groves, Graham Cozens, Richard Wishart and Nigel (can't remember his surname, sorry Nige!). These guys did all the driving, all the admin, and did a load of cooking etc. Without these guys the whole thing would have fallen apart without a doubt! They played a huge role and need a lot of recognition for it.

So there you go. That's my write up of the 3 peaks challenge.



Just a little side note - my website for my new training business should be live soon. I have an official logo, and have purchased the website and space, I'm just waiting for my web designer to finalise the site and put it live to the world! So watch this space and be ready to spread the gospel of ...
Nitman Performance Training!!!

Cheers for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
Peace x