Tired

Wow, it’s a bit of a shock to the system this training stuff. After spending the winter standing up and occasionally dangling off Keswick climbing wall it’s a big change working here again. Either we’re scrambling around crags or up in trees at the high ropes course, or we’re being flushed down the ghyll on our backsides. I know how to do all of this, so my main function in the training was to be a guinea pig to “demonstrate” what to do.

I have to admit I did derive a small amount of pleasure watching the new people having their first dip in the ghyll The weather is warming up so there’s now a noticeable temperature difference between ghyll water and the air. I don’t know what’s going on with my fingers and toes, but after just a few minutes of being in cold water they go totally white and numb. The rest of me can be perfectly warm but my hands and feet just shut down. Normally if there’s warmth in your body it flows out to the extremities and everything stays warm. Some neoprene socks help, but after three hours of submersion I’m back to walking on blocks of ice.

It’s really strange when things thaw out too. The soft bits of my feet recover quite quickly, but the soles take a long time, so long that they can be numb and it feels like I’m walking on three blobs of rubber. Presumably this is because the inside of my feet can feel the soles pressing on them, rather than the whole thing working together. I hope the summer is warm, I’m done with feeling cold.

There’s some nasty flu-like thing going around at the moment. It’s been through three of us and I think it’s currently trying to make a home in my tonsils. I’ve got a slightly sore throat and feel quite tired. Then again it could just be a normal cold, and the tiredness could be from the past two weeks.

Went bouldering at the Bowderstone last night. I need to find some finger strength from somewhere as I know where to put my hands, I just can’t make them stay there.

Oh, and I finally managed to get the Wifi password this place has enabled. If it’s still working I’ll put these entries online. WPA is quite temperamental at best.

Tags: Ghyll Scrambling, Lake District, WiFi, Work