Running the red line

I was back in the Lake District on Monday for a practice run ahead of this year's big challenge, the Frog Graham Round.

The Frog is a 40ish mile fell run with 4 lake swims, and the last time I attempted it I was thoroughly beaten!

I shot this 60 second video when I got back to the point it all unravelled back in September, to help make sense of it all.

A slight deviation from the path we should have been on resulted in a rather inelegant and slightly scary scramble up the side of a valley.

Lessons

I learned a lot from the experience and have taken steps to improve my chances of success on my next attempt.

Such as visiting the area to get more confident on the terrain, and a better understand the layout of the route, which is what Monday was all about.

The biggest difference between Monday's run and last time, was the visibility.

It was a fresh morning, but we could see for miles and able to get a really good idea of where we had been and - more importantly - where we were going.

Running the red line

There's a thing in fell running called 'running the red line', which is the route you take to get from point A to point B.

When you're road running there's not much deviation with this line.

But up in the mountains you have to pick your way through depending on which foot hold looks the most appealing.

You can see where you want to get to, but every footstep is a decision based on the available information in the split second that you're about to make it.

And although looking down at the ground is essential to avoid slipping or tripping, without regularly looking up it's easy to get off track.

Which can make for some interesting red lines!

You could do the same route a dozen times and the exact path might never be repeated.

Yet you'd still end up in the same place.

Which made me realise that whether it's ultra fell swim running in the Lakes, trying to lose weight, or improve your confidence, success is always a series of decisions.

One wrong footstep isn't a disaster.

Slight deviations aren't a big deal.

But if you don't pay attention to the direction you're heading in, you can quickly end up a long way from where you want to be.