So, I am now officially running the Great North Run for Princes’ Trust!
A dream come true, which will hopefully fulfill/plant dreams of hundreds of young people! Or at least some!
So, by way of training (I can’t run all the time/I’m too lazy to run all the time) today I went for an explore…
Note to self: next time you see fit for a spot of ‘exploration’ bring more sustenance than two small pears!
So I set off on the train this morning to Durango, and headed straight up towards Urkiola Natural Park.
I went here with my dad when he came to visit and its also home to the nearest climbing at an achievable grade. Unfortunately I am currently climbing partnerless, but that didn’t stop me from checking it out.
An hour and a half, plus a small wooded summit later I arrived at Atxarte Zona de Escalar (thats Atxarte climbing area). There was a cave, a quarry and even the odd bolt. There were some fantastic lines, but given that I was on my own and only my boyfriend had a vague idea where I was, I decided to give scrambling about to the top a miss- as much as breaking a leg would be fun, thats only if you’re rescued in time!
After that, the afternoon was still young, so I headed along, past more steep rocky walls (as you can see I’m no geologist) and eventually I ended up at Urkiola Sanctuary. I was pretty tired by this point (being a further hour or two later), but the sign posts did say that there was a 1011m summit only a mile away (1.6km for sensible metric using people). So of course I headed up the scrubby fell land towards that. The views were INCREDIBLE! But as I finished off my meagre rations, I knew it was time to be getting back.
Mum, if you’re reading this, look away now!
Thank goodness for lovely old couples and hitch-hiking!
I managed to get a lift the 5 miles (8km I reckon) back to the town and after a well earned Mars Bar, I took the train back home to get to work on my dissertation. As you can see my work is going really well- this Blog is helping a lot.
Mumsie, you can look back now 🙂
Anyway, I reckon my walk has hopefully improved my stamina, something I’ll need to run 21km in my target time of 1h 50. But the other thing I do need is sponsors! By July I need to have raised £150, and so far I’m no where near this.
Just go to my page on Virgin Money Giving: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CaitlinRipley and I will love you forever!
And meet Paul!