I've chosen most of the walks I've done so far this year for very specific reasons and this was no exception. After a pretty horrible year last year, starting with a bad case of cellulitis and culminating in my collapse on the Yorkshire Three Peaks with alarmingly high blood pressure and subsequent TIA (mini-stroke), I've been re-visiting all those places associated with last years health problems, to prove I can still do them.
It began with a trip back to the summit of Shropshire's Wrekin earlier in the year. A modest 407 meters (1,335ft) above sea-level. It was here, around 12 months ago, that an insect bite or scratch left me a nasty case of cellulitis, badly swollen lymph glands, limping and on powerful antibiotics for several weeks.
The Brecon Beacons Horseshoe was the last training walk I did a few weeks before attempting to set a new personal best time (under 10 hours) for the Yorkshire Three Peaks. It was here that I first encountered unexplained bouts of breathlessness on the uphill sections, of which there are quite a few. At the time I put it down to a bad day at the office, getting a bad walk out of my system before the real thing, with the benefit of hindsight I guess it was a warning that should have been acted on.
Anyway that's history, the important thing was to prove I still had the health, fitness and stamina to do it now. The good news is that the answer is a qualified yes, as I only did two of the four summits we did on the training walk last year, Corn Du and Pen y Fan. But critically without any bouts of breathlessness or any ill-health. So why didn't I complete the circuit?
Well I'd be lying if I said I'm fully back to my previous levels of fitness. Its easier to lose fitness it than it is to gain it. I stopped going to gym for a while after the TIA, till my BP was back under control and I got the all clear from a battery of tests, put on some weight and my stamina is probably still not quite back up to snuff as a result.
That said I felt I had plenty left in the tank to take on Cribyn's 795 meters (2,680ft), so why didn't I? I'd noticed a path contouring around its lower slopes I'd not walked before, which looking back gave me a whole new perspective on Pen y Fan. It also left me retuning to my car with the feeling I still had more walking left in the tank, not feeling like I was running on empty. That's an interesting feeling because, a few years ago, when someone asked why I enjoyed walking in wild, high, remote places, it was all about testing myself. Pushing the limits of my mental and physical endurance to breaking point to see how far I could go.
I did wonder prior to this walk if my mountain days were over, as I'd not successfully summited a mountain since my TIA, that's clearly not the case. However I've realised, if I didn't before, its not just about testing yourself, its about losing yourself in the whole experience, being one with the moment.
Anyway that said the next stop on my mountain list is Snowdon, the critical benchmark of my mountain fitness I test myself against every year. Particularly as the day I got my driving licence back after the TIA I drove to Wales and climbed it only to have to catch the train back down, so we have some unfinished business. I'm also determined to redo the Yorkshire Three Peaks at some point, but right now I want to tick Scotland's Suilvan off my bucket list in June.