It has been very nerve-racking seeing what people will make
of my book “There is No Map in Hell”. Vertebrate publishers obviously liked it
and were willing to risk publishing it. Friends I got to review it were also
all very positive, but they would be wouldn’t they. But once it is published
anyone can read it and write a review and there will always be someone that
does not like it. However, the reviews have all been positive, so thanks
everyone for taking the time to write one. The sales have also been really good. I also
really appreciate the fact that loads of people have also come up to talk to me
and said how much they enjoyed it.
I have always said I am not a great writer – I struggled badly
with writing at school. So the aim in my book was always to write an honest
account of my running career and why I love running on the fells. The book shares both the highs and lows of
running together with the pleasures and the suffering. My draft had some
emotion but Camilla at Vertebrate encouraged me to add more and together with
the rest of the team at Vertebrate improved the English (whilst keeping my
style) and corrected my mistakes. I tried really hard to avoid putting in too
much detail about individual fells, such as saying I climbed Scafell Pike, then
Great End, Esk Pike, Rossett Pike, Bow Fell etc. But to put in only the major
interesting facts about a section so that someone who does not know about the individual
Lake District fells would not get too bored. Hopefully I succeeded in this. A
lot of people have also said how much they liked the contributions from other
people during my Wainwright run, such as from my wife, Emma. These were great
as it provided another insight into what was going on and also it meant that I
did not have to write as much!!
I do not really enjoy all the publicity associated with
writing a book which is why it is over 3 months since my last blog. I have also
only done one talk since my book launch. But I have two coming up. Firstly in
Carlisle on 7th October:
Secondly in Sheffield on 14th October:
My fatigue over the last four months has still generally
been improving. Over the summer I seemed to be really tired but for the last three
weeks I have been really good. Sometimes I feel completely back to normal. But
then if I run for more than three hours or I get stressed about something I can
feel the symptoms returning. A long run seems to cause my heart to beat in a
more erratic way, nothing like the bad atrial fibrillation I was having over a
year ago, where there were loads of fast weak beats. When I get stressed I can
feel the hot flushes return in my back and arms and the next day I feel really
tired. So I summarize it as being good but delicate.
Overall, my improvements have meant I have managed to get
some good training in and my running speed is gradually improving. The only slight
downside is that with doing more running I am starting to get various aches and
pain which I have not suffered from for three years. Hopefully with some
treatment and stretching these will gradually go.
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| Skiddaw Fell race (credit Paul Dobson) |
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