Aug 6, 2026 · 37 min · 10 segments
In the week before Lakeland 100, we discuss Phil's preparation, training and the plan for the weekend.
Um, just kind of looping back to your recce weekend, would you say that a route recce is something that's important to you? 'Cause it's not something that I've ever really done or thought about doing.
doing.I have never specifically done it before.
Mm-hmm.
But I think- Okay ...
Lakeland specifically is different, and there are similar races that I would also definitely say it's quite important for.
Part of the reason being it's self-navigation.
Right.
So the, the course is not marked.
Okay.
And so at least having an, an idea of where you're meant to be going, what the hill looks like at, at various points is a good idea because as...
I won't say as we all know, but at, at later stages in ultras you are, you're cognitively impaired, and what may seem, when you look at it on a map, like being really simple, right? You go down that valley, you climb, like climb over that pass, and then you go down the next one.
Mm-hmm.
After 70 miles, it, it... you could quite easily go off down the wrong valley, and it's been done before.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, Damian Hall did that in the Tor des Géants where he [laughs] where he went down the wrong valley for a significant amount of time.
Oh, lordy.
Cost him.
Um, and so recceing is, I mean, it's not gonna, it's not gonna win you the race.
It's not, it's not gonna necessarily even save you any time.
Um, but it can prepare you, it can prepare you for, for example, if you know that there's a, a good flat section that's runnable- Mm-hmm ... that you might wanna use that to, to get hydrated, get some fuel on board before you n- have the next climb, if you use poles and, and you find it difficult to eat whilst climbing with poles.
And having done, for example, the, the section along Haweswater, knowing it is not just flat along the, the side of the lake, but you're going just on this t- little undulating single track path, and not being shocked when I get there and being horrifically demoralized that it's not as flat and lovely as it might look like on the map and on the course profile.
Mm-hmm.
I really wanted to get a feel for what the sort of gradients are like both up and down.
Mm-hmm.
You know, to, uh, it...
Um, just kind of looping back to your recce weekend, would you say that a route recce is something that's important to you? 'Cause it's not something that I've ever really done or thought about doing.
doing.I have never specifically done it before.
Mm-hmm.
But I think- Okay ...
Lakeland specifically is different, and there are similar races that I would also definitely say it's quite important for.
Part of the reason being it's self-navigation.
Right.
So the, the course is not marked.
Okay.
And so at least having an, an idea of where you're meant to be going, what the hill looks like at, at various points is a good idea because as...
I won't say as we all know, but at, at later stages in ultras you are, you're cognitively impaired, and what may seem, when you look at it on a map, like being really simple, right? You go down that valley, you climb, like climb over that pass, and then you go down the next one.
Mm-hmm.
After 70 miles, it, it... you could quite easily go off down the wrong valley, and it's been done before.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, Damian Hall did that in the Tor des Géants where he [laughs] where he went down the wrong valley for a significant amount of time.
Oh, lordy.
Cost him.
Um, and so recceing is, I mean, it's not gonna, it's not gonna win you the race.
It's not, it's not gonna necessarily even save you any time.
Um, but it can prepare you, it can prepare you for, for example, if you know that there's a, a good flat section that's runnable- Mm-hmm ... that you might wanna use that to, to get hydrated, get some fuel on board before you n- have the next climb, if you use poles and, and you find it difficult to eat whilst climbing with poles.
And having done, for example, the, the section along Haweswater, knowing it is not just flat along the, the side of the lake, but you're going just on this t- little undulating single track path, and not being shocked when I get there and being horrifically demoralized that it's not as flat and lovely as it might look like on the map and on the course profile.
Mm-hmm.
I really wanted to get a feel for what the sort of gradients are like both up and down.
Mm-hmm.
You know, to, uh, it...
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