I awoke at around 9.AM to the smell of bacon and eggs. Max was cooking his famous English breakfast. Jack had also arrived at the same time sporting his Kamikaze Headband. He was going to take some photos of our run and join in with the training as he begins RT training with the Engineers on March the 6th. After our meal we began warming up and preparing for the run. Me and Max brought down our backpacks and started loading them. At first we used books and towels. We both reached the 20 pound limit. But after consultation and a brain wave from Max we decided to increase the load by adding some of his free weights just to make the run more painfull! I added a 10kg weight (20 pounds) to Bertha who already weighed 20 pounds and Max placed 15kgs of weights in his bag. Making my load 40 pounds and Maxes 30 pounds. Meaning we would be taking 70 pounds to the top of Box Hill with us! The first time I placed Bertha on my back I could feel immediately the strain on my shoulders and back muscles. And as me and Max stepped out into the cold winter morning we knew this run was going to be painful.
We began running. Our route would take us through Reigate and on the road to Dorking before turning into Box Hill. Redhill is full of inclines, we ran into our first one within a few minutes of running. The training I had been doing on the stairs really came into play here. I felt the familiar burn in my legs as they pulled 195 pounds up the hill. At the first peak I smiled as the road flattened out. Within no time we had reached Reigate town centre. We were setting a great pace given the circumstances.
We continued our run past the Blue Anchor pub and onto a 2 mile flat stretch of road. I felt great and Max was looking good. I set a fast pace when running which means people often play catch up with me. Max did a great job of keeping on my tail. At the two mile mark we saw a roundabout junction approaching, over shadowing it was a series of peaks with white cliff faces. The highest one stuck out like a sore thumb, and that sore thumb was Box hill.
At the base of the road leading up to the beginning of the hill we rested up. All three of us knew what was coming. This is no exaggeration Box Hill single handily has the steepest 800 metre ascent I have ever experienced. Not only that it is followed by two miles of continuous incline. It is a treacherous piece of rock.
I wished Max and Jack good luck. We decided to tackle the next 2.5 miles ourselves, Jack was running without any weight so he shot off from the start. I set of second and began to prepare my body for the pain it was about to experience. Tackling this hill with 40 pounds on my back was going to push me to my limits.
I set off. To begin with the incline was very reasonable. I turned a corner then BANG. I hit the first piece of rock. I power through and notice immediately Bertha dragging me back. I strained as I reached the peak, I continued on to a footpath which went through some forestry. My legs started burning but I was more then used to this from my training. I then cursed as I saw the next leg of my journey. This incline was something out of a horror movie. Cars were speeding to a crawl and mopeds were howling. I told myself that this was what I signed up for and reminded myself that surrendering was just not an option. I began to ascend. My back began to arch under the immense pressure. My legs were beginning to set on fire. It was only sheer wil and fortitude getting me through this. I got to the 400 metre mark and a massive lactic wall hit me. I cried out and forged on. At this point I was arched forward like a hunchback. My pace had slowed to a crawl. 600 metres. I could see the peak. This gave me a much needed shot of adrenaline. My legs seemed to surge into action again and I smashed the last of the distance. I reached the top, un -clipped Bertha and grabbed my water. That was intense. I waited for Max and smiled at his face. He looked like he had been three rounds with Mike Tyson!
We chatted for a few minutes before we set off. Like I said I set an advanced pace running, even with weights on. Especially today, I just wanted this to be finished with. I saw a sign "Box Hill 2". I began jogging. the next stage was not as steep in comparison to the first. But it was just as tough due to the sheer distance of it. This was two miles of constant incline. After the first mile I bumped into Jack who had been waiting ahead for us. At this point I was really feeling the pain. It was my shoulders mainly. Jack shouted some encouragement and set off as pace maker. I could feel my whole body straining under the combined pressure of having to carry me up this hill with this weight. It seemed like an age before I reached the top of the hill. Once I got to the viewing point I felt an enormous amount of pride. We were so high up. And I got here from home with this weight just with my sheer body power.
The view from the top...awesome.Max came a few minutes later and we loaded up on some carbs (cold pasta in a plastic lunch wallet with tuna..yuuuum). Before setting off back home. The descent was not physically hard. However it was much more of a mental battle. As we trudged back down the hill we were all freezing cold, tired and aching from the immense weight we were carrying. None of us were speaking, not a good sign. I was in my own little world thinking about how great it would be to be in a hut tub,smoking a blunt with three Latin supermodels. I decided to share this fantasy with the lads to give them something to put their minds away from the cold we all chriped up and before we knew it we were back at the base of the hill!
We arrived in Reigate grabbed some food and marched back to Redhill. All three of us were very very tired, but we were happy we completed the task. Covering 16 miles over such hard terrain with 30/40 pounds of weight was a great achievement for month one of training. On the run itself we would be running with less weight, less difficult terrain and have much more time (we clocked a time of roughly 4 hours )
Im having three days off before continuing with my training. Next month things take a step up. I will be running more miles and climbing more hills. I have also had an article wrote about me on Water Aid website...
"Fortes fortuna adiuvat"
