Since starting my journey on C 60 Olive Oil, I have been very curious as to its effect on athletic endurance. Whilst personally enjoying better performance with my strength training in the gym and on the bike since starting, I thought I would take it one step further and endure one of the toughest exercises that I know - Hiking. I set myself a challenge for a weekend of hiking in the Lake District to record endurance and recovery whilst using Carbon 60 Olive Oil.
Day One
A hike I had never done before was the Old Man of Coniston. The Old Man of Coniston is a
fell in the
Furness Fells in the
English Lake District. It is 2,634 feet (803 m) high, and lies to the west of the village of
Coniston and the lake,
Coniston Water. The fell is sometimes known by the alternative name of Coniston Old Man, or simply The Old Man. The mountain is popular with tourists and fell-walkers with a number of well-marked paths to the summit. The mountain has also seen extensive slate mining activity for eight hundred years and the remains of abandoned mines and spoil tips are a significant feature of the north-east slopes. There are also several flocks of sheep that are grazed on the mountain.
We started our ascent late around 1.30pm. As somebody who has been doing intermittent fasting for approx 18 months, I fast for approx 18-20 hours per day skipping breakfast and eating two meals only, starting off the the hike with nothing more than a tablespoon of C60 was easy. My fellow hiker however was not and ate a hearty meal before the start, but also enjoyed the same dose, which was the first time they had ever taken C60.
For me, Hiking is the toughest exercise I have endured for working the body and mind, connecting with nature and being in the moment. I love it and we are blessed to have the most beautiful place on earth in Great Britain in which to have such adventures.
The ascent was challenging and we stopped at the first set of abandoned mines to take a breather. I think at this point we were around 250 meters up of the 803 meters to the summit. Amazing views all around and with the sun out and shinning on our path, we enjoyed a short break before heading completely off track to explore more old abandoned mines, plus caves. The hiking here, turned more into scrambling with 75degree angles to climb/scramble up. This kind of hiking is really exhausting, but well worth the effort as we got to explore areas of The Old Man that were extremely remote and quiet. Checking on the weather that we were heading into further up the hike (it looked bad), we decided to stop for a bite to eat. This was a Ketogenic meal of Eggs, avocado, tomato and approx 5ml of C60 OO. We enjoyed the sunshine for 45 minutes before heading into the mist of the mountain.
We rejoined the trail and came to the first Tarn (small lake) on the ascent, my fellow hiker wasted no time in stripping off and going for a swim.
Further along we hit the mist and rolling thick white clouds that had been threatening us. The terrain became intense with jagged rocks underfoot, we were cold and wet and required more skill than simple one foot in front of the other. Nonetheless we had plenty of energy left in the tank and finally reached the summit. It was certainly a moment to cherish and a big sigh of relief. However, we could not hang around for too long, both cold and soaking wet from the mist and with only light hiking clothes on, we started our descent via Goat Tarn. Energy levels consistent throughout our ascent with no aches or pains to note.
For many, the climb up the mountain is the easiest part (although never really easy), it is the coming down that really challenges hikers. This is due to the uneven, jagged terrain that has to be navigated under foot as you walk down, putting pressure on your knees, hips, back and ankles and engaging muscles groups that are not often challenged this way. Hiking sticks can help take a lot of pressure off of your joints, however neither of us had these in our day packs.
The terrain never gave up being jaggy stones, rocks and loose slate on the way down to the Goat Tarn. My fellow hiker was already starting to suffer with knee pain as we approached this beautiful mountain lake. Despite what it looks like from this photo, it actually took us a good hour of hiking to get around this Tarn and through to the valley the other side.
Once past the Tarn we were met with more challenging rocks to climb down and through, putting huge pressure on both our knees. Mine were good with a slight niggling pain starting in my right knee, but my fellow hiker was feeling the pain.
As the grey, drab, slate Fells of The Old Man became more distant behind us, we found a grassy outcrop in which to sit and drink in the views of Coniston Lake once again. By this time it was early evening and with only sheep for company we tucked into our last remaining eggs and avocados and a last 5ml of C60 Oil.
We still had a couple of miles to go to get back to base and the last 600 meters was a 25% hill. This was absolute pain for my fellow hiker and he decided to walk backwards to ease the pain in his knees. I opted for a side way shuffle with intermittent reverse walking. I am sure we both looked rather silly, but we were in high spirits to have finally be heading towards rest.
Whilst on our descent we never saw another soul until we reached a group of Wild Campers 4 miles down the mountain. This was a blissful descent for peace and tranquility and I highly recommend it.
We finally made it back to Coniston village around 8.15pm feeling elated, albeit a little achy and exhausted.
Total Distance Hiked: 11.6miles Highest elevation: 803m. Amount of C60 Consumed: 25ml. Aches and Pains: Knees mostly with some lower back pain.
Day 2
After a great nights sleep, we woke early and felt refreshed, albeit a little achy. We ventured forth to the Langdales, stopping first at the Organic Coffee Shop in Ambleside for brunch with C 60 Olive Oil, and then to Grasmere to explore this beautiful village and to pick up some of Sarah Nelson's World famous Gingerbread
https://www.grasmeregingerbread.co.uk/ As we passed through Greater Langdale, my colleague recognised some giant boulders where pre-historic rock art was sited, so we stopped for a little adventure to seek these carvings out.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1019434
to the untrained eye you would not have noticed them.
The hike today was another late starter and fortunately a less intense effort was required to hike the lower Langdales. Last time I was in the Langdales, I climbed Bliscoe, which is an extremely steep, tough climb. However on this occasion I simply admired this Fell from the tranquility of my lower path that swept up and down along the Cumbria Way passing many of the local sheep along the way.
This hike begins and ends at the charming Old Dungeon Ghyll Inn
Whilst this was a fairly easy hike, my legs and back were starting to feel the pain as we neared the end of the 5 miles and I was pleased to see the pub in the distance and the thought of a refreshing drinks filled me with Joy.
Total Distance Hiked: 6 miles Highest elevation: n/a. Amount of C60 Consumed: 15ml. Aches and Pains: Knees , calfs and lower back pain.
Day Three:
Another great nights sleep and woke feeling refreshed and energised, but calfs feeling a little achey. On previous hiking adventures, my legs would have taken around 3-4 days to recover from a hike like we did on Saturday, but I could have easily hiked again today. However, with only a few hours to go before I caught my train home we had a bite to eat, with a dose of C60 Olive Oil and headed to Lake Windermere for an adventure on the water. We hired a canoe and powered across Lake Windermere to Castle Wray in around 12 minutes, which was a lot quicker than the man at the hire place had suggested it would take. Maybe the C60 oil was powering us?
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wray-castle. Our visit to Wray was brief and we headed back across the lake.
Day Four:
Woke up and all aches and pains had gone. Went to the gym and trained legs today with heavy weights. Felt great. No C60 dosing today.
So can C60 Olive Oil help with endurance and recovery?
I would say I am unsure about endurance, although taking a dose during the effort, we both felt and energy hit. I could not gauge my colleagues level of hiking fitness prior to the hike, but they appeared pretty ruined by the end of Day 1 and I did think I may have to go and get the car to aid with the last 25% steep descent.
Personally, my body is fat adapted, whereby it can burn fat as fuel and not glycogen. I can undertake long endurance events without eating food and still ride 50 miles on my bike with plenty of fuel in the tank, so in all honesty, it would be difficult to know for sure.
The C60 Oil is definitely a great oil to consume for the Ketogenic diet for the three days I was in the Lakes.
I would say a very big Yes to C 60 Oil aiding recovery and enabling me to 'go again' soon after intense endurance events like the hike up the Old Man. My colleague reported sleeping really deeply and recovering quickly from the aches and pains their hiking adventures.
Overall, I would give a really big thumbs up to C60 Olive Oil for taking before, during and after intense periods of exercise.
