Yorkshire Three Peaks - for MIND

James and I arrive at Horton-in-Ribblesdale at around 7.30am.  The weather looked good, overcast, but signs of blue sky.   The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge is very popular and there were a lot of people parking up, setting off, and being organised into groups.  This is the biggest walk I have attempted since rupturing my achillies tendon back in October 2015.   James, and myself, got our boots on and started packing our back-packs: Rain coat, spare socks, lunch, snacks, and plasters.  It was then that I realised I had forgotten to pack a water bottle – opps.  James, shared his water supply with me, but clearly not enough for the whole day. The village café was shut, so that didn’t save me either.  We registered our start time 7.46 am and posted it through the café door and off we went!

The first peak is Pen-y-Ghent, one of my favourite Dales walks.  We both felt good and found ourselves going at a moderate pace on the steep side of the peak.  The scrabble was fun, but so busy that it was hard to pick your way through.  It was good to get to the summit (at about 8.50 am).  It was cloudy and so not much of a view, so we didn’t hang around at the top; we began the descent.  James sometimes suffers with his joints and he found descending more of a problem than climbing.  None-the-less we continued at a good pace.  The sun was out and all felt good.  It’s a long walk between Pen-y-ghent and Whernside.  The views of Ribblehead viaduct were fantastic.  We took a short break for some food and water, and a change of socks before Ribblehead.  Changing socks gives the feet extra life (thanks for the tip Fin).

Summit of Pen-y-ghent

The climb up Whernside is long as it loops around and we were largely stuck in single-file for large portions of it.  James finds this frustrating and so does quite a bit of overtaking.  I had a little less energy so tended to trail a bit – my excuse is that I’ve had a virus (cold/flu) for almost three weeks.  However, I didn’t let him get to far ahead.  The path is flagged and this caused quite a bit of impact on my knees in particular.  James found a dirty stream and suggested filling our water bottles, I decided we were not high enough up!  As we got closer to the ridge the rain started; raincoats went on.  Along with the rain, wind, (and sweat build up) it became cold.  At that point I wished I’d packed gloves.  At the peak the rain was driving harder and I could barely feel my hands – not really what you imagine on the 20^th May.  We reached the summit of Whernside at about 12.55 pm.  

Summit of Whernside - never noticed the dog at the time!

I put a hoodie on under my raincoat.  James had his raincoat and woolly hat on.  I was slightly regretting being in shorts.  We started to descend and had a break about after about 15 minutes.  We were looking for a little shelter from the wind.  The hillside was now very slippery and countless people were falling onto their bottoms.  I nearly did involuntary splits in the mud.   At this point, my left knee started to give some pain.  This really concerned me, but I didn’t want to think or talk too much about it.  Thankfully as the path levelled out the pain eased.  Between Whernside and Ingleborough is Philpin Farm, which has a campsite and, more importantly, a snack bar.  We both bought water and Lucozade Sport.  This was a huge moral boost.  We continued on without stopping.  We thought we might see my wife and kids near the pub before our ascent up Ingleborough, but there was no sign of them.  Walking up was a relief to the legs compared to walking down (for a while).  Ingleborough has a steep climb before reaching the ridge.  We had a short break before the climb, change of socks (back to originals) and then we were off.  Mountain goat James once again took off and was finding his own route passed the slower walkers.  I grit my teeth and kicked also.  Once going it gave some pleasure to scramble up.  I remembered hearing a helper from an organised group saying, “Just 10 minutes of Hell, then 20 minutes of easy gradient.”  This drove me on.  At the ridge we could see all the way to the sea to the West.  Then the cloud cover got intense.  As we approached the summit it was only possible to see about 5-10 m in front.  Like sheep, we followed each other to the top (3.44pm). 

James at the summit of Ingleborough

Me at the summit of Ingleborough

By now, we realised that we had a small chance of making it down to Horton before the café shut.  We wanted to register our time, and more importantly drink the infamous pint of tea.  We felt good.  Steep steps were troubling me, but shallow gradients were no problem.  As we got closer we were even attempted to jog sections (I doubt we looked elegant).  We arrived at the café at 5.23pm, so a total time of 9 hours and 37 minutes.  We were very pleased with this time as we originally aimed for <11 hours.  We meet with my wife and children, drank a well earned pint and headed home.  It was a fully enjoyable experience and a look forward to more walking adventure in the future.

Enjoying a pint of tea in Horton-in-Ribblesdale Cafe (5.26pm ;-)

5 months post injury!

Well I've been doing proper physiotherapy since January (gym work). It has gone well. I used it as a springboard to get around fit. I can just about lift my weight on my toes of my weak leg. I can jog and I walk at a similar pace to everyone else. My good leg compensates a lot. I still have a bit of a limp. However, I am physically fitter than I've been for years. I dropped my resting heart rate from high 60s to high 50s. I go to the gym three times per week and it feels good.

Doing heel raises in the swimming pool is very effective for building the leg up.

Last week I did a six mile hike and it felt good. I think another 3-4 weeks and I will stop thinking about the achilles.

I am not going to lie this last 5 months has been horrendous. I've got through it because I had to. Focused on small milestones and progress to stay positive. The absolute worst spell was the first few weeks.

I am a stronger person for all of this. I really thank my work, friends, wife, children, family, and health workers for getting me through this. I'm nearly better.

Moon boot adjusted

Ok so now I am exactly 8 weeks post surgery. I have been wearing a boot for over a week and decided to get it adjusted so that my foot would be a little flatter. The stretches recommended by the physio has obviously done the trick because they adjusted my boot to 90 degrees.  I got a shock when I got up though. Suddenly I felt like I did 10 days ago when the boot was first fitted. Felt like I had very little strength in my foot (which is true) and it is definitely pulling.  After an hour or so I've been able to do a bit more, but I do feel vulnerable again. Still other than my physio appointment next week I don't need to go back until after Christmas now.

First viva

Still unfit for work at 7.5 weeks post surgery. Trying to do stretches 3-4 times a day. Yesterday was a PhD viva. I was the internal examiner. I decided not to cancel and to go in. Georgina dropped me off outside my building. I was surprised what a struggle everything was - I'm used to the environment at home. Still it was nice to get into my office. I sort of felt embarrassed about my situation - on crutches etc.

I had a good 10 minute walk to Engineering, this was harder than I expected. Meal with the examiner. Then viva. It took about 2.5 hours to complete. Quite tiring....but the candidate did well. It was the first time I have been the examiner of a PhD.

Afterwards my leg felt sore. Can't decide if it's the Scar tissue or tendon that's sore. So today I intend to rest at home. I want to get more mobility as soon as possible but not at the cost of coming close to injurying myself.

Monday morning- more rain

This weekend was fun. My school friends visited my village. We are all keen on board games and so I introduced Settlers of Catan to them.  It was a tough game and finally Paul won.  I should have had the edge, however, I certainly didn't have the killer instinct. You can teach a game and then wipe the floor with everyone - anyway that's what I am telling myself!!  We then went for curry and more beer. 

The next day we went to billy bobs for breakfast.  Excellent end to the boys weekend. Whilst we were doing that Isaac and Georgina were doing the Santa Fun run in Skipton. Afterwards we went to the swimming pool and the kids.  Finally we Skyped our ex au pair, Fenia, who was helping the children with German Christmas carols for school. For the weekend I had still been using crutches almost consistently. Walking in the boot feels unnatural and awkward. I've been able to do foot stretches 3 to 4 times a day using a towel around the balls of my foot. Flexibility feels like it is slowly returning. Today I felt stronger. Maybe some strength in my upper leg has returned, but this morning I spent also the entire morning without crutches and just hobbled instead.  I am hoping that I can break records in recovery and, without over doing it, get myself fit as soon as possible. I see the physio visit to being key to this.  I think I need some tall shoes so that I don't hobble quite to much. I want to avoid the limp as much as possible as I know this will be a challenge to loose later on.  For now though I rejoice in my ability to carry stuff around the house using my hands. It will be longer before I venture outdoors without crutches- I think I might get stuck somewhere!

Well I am the internal examiner for a PhD on Wednesday so better get ready for that. Georgina will be giving me a lift in.

In a Moon Boot

Yesterday the cast came off. Just short of 7 weeks. My upper body is strong and crutches almost feel like part of me when walking.  I was not sure what to expect. I had high hopes initially and then a few days ago I downgraded my expectations. The boot was fitted in the plaster room. Afterwards I headed back to see the consultant. My foot looked weird to me. The shape looked wrong. Walking felt not possible with the boot. Fear of pain, lack of strength, combination of the two? I was given another 6 weeks unfit for work note - this shocked me. I thought I'd be back to work.  I was given a physio card and I went straight to the physiotherapy department.  Very lucky for me there was a free appointment within 20 minutes of arriving. The physiotherapist was called Jess. She assessed me through questions but also a physical examination.  She commented that I had a decent amount of movement for somebody who has been in a non weight baring cast for 6 weeks.  She probably tells everyone this, but for now I'll accept it as the truth!  She gave me two exercises to do without the boot on.a) Using towel pull my foot towards me with my bottom on floor and a straight leg hold for 30s. b) Same but straight leg. I check with a friend and I should do this 3-4 times per day. Once I'm out of the boot she said we can do a lot more. My boot will be adjusted in the plaster room in two weeks (make it flatter). The aim is to have a flat foot within 4 weeks. I will also see the physio in 3 weeks. All of this seems conservative compared to what I have read on the Internet. However, I am not an athlete and at 36 maybe it takes longer to heal. Aim of this week is to get confident on my feet and get more movement in my foot.  Georgina photographed my legs. She was shocked. My muscles have wasted away in my left leg - maybe this is the reason walking is not yet possible!!!   Another suprise was that my wound had not fully healed and the pain I felt was the skin feeling tight rather than tendon (I think). So positives and negatives, I will be focusing on the positives.  Oh wow, ok so I walked (with a limp) using the boot without crutches - confidence perhaps??  Big step forward for me (literally!).

Long weekend

Georgina took Thursday and Friday off and the au pair was heading to Glasgow with her sister to meet their boyfriends. Still feeling tired after my epic couple of days of trying to improve my crutch walking skills. We decided to get out on the Thursday afternoon. The aim was to go to visit a panto with Georgina's uncle in Burnley and then travel over to my parents house.  We visited Queen Street Mill in Burnley in the afternoon. The museum looks fantastic. It's a textile mill with working looms. It has a steam engine in the upstairs. There was a mobility lift to the top which myself and Isaac travelled in. The museum was fantastic. Lots to see and do if you like this sort of thing. We have been to bancroft mill many times in the past. Bancroft is a different experience, and the focus is more on the engine - the Burnley museum is much more about the textiles and the working conditions and so on. It was two days before Halloween so they had witch school for the children. It was rather long, but thankfully the fun improved as time went on rather than the other way around.  When it ended we headed to Deno's restaurant and met Philips, his wife, and Heather. We nearly all had pizza, all good except Isaac's pizza had been forgotten. It turned out Philip ruptured his achillies 20 years ago.  He reckoned he was never put into a cast, but could not exercise for 10 months. After the meal we had coffees and headed to St. Stephens school to watch a panto. The panto was amateur in presentation but on the whole very funny. Perhaps a little long for our children. Afterwards we headed to my parents house.  We arrive just after 1030pm and got the children into bed within a short while. We slept in the campervan. Not a sound. We had a good sleep.  When we came back into the house dad was awake with the children watching TV.

We hatched a plan for the day. Swimming and then Rufford Old Hall. The kids love swimming and they must have spent nearly two hours in the pool. I had some time to talk to my mum. Dad seemed to enjoy playing with the kids. Afterwards we headed to Rufford, but stopped in Ormskirk for lunch. I got a baked potato from Morrisons. It was the smallest potato ever.