16th January Running wild in the peaks


Is there a better way to spend ones birthday than running a 10.6km trail run in the Peak District? Well at various points in yesterdays little jolly the answer to that question would have been a definite 'Yes there is'. Still being in bed or feet up watching the TV would have been preferable but they say that fortune favours the foolish.

Unable to run it last years due to a Covid cancellation, this particular event, one that is run on a Saturday,  appears to be one that I run every two years according to my Garmin watch, with my time in 2020 being a good five mins faster than my first attempt in 2018. But unlike previous years where there had been a gaggle of people all assembled on the start line, this years Covid secure protocols meant that when I arrived at the 'on your marks, get set, go' point ready to dib my dibber to start the clock going, there was no one else about. 

And if there is one thing that makes running up a 3.4km uphll section right at the start of the run just slightly easier, it is being able to pace yourself alongside someone else. YesterdayI didn't have that luxury And so it was a sedate solo slog up Burbage Edge that got things underway.

Underfoot the ground was a mix of hard core trails, squelching mud and skating rink and I was never quite sure where my foot was going to land. I could use that as an excuse, and I am going to do so, but I just felt sluggish from the get go, so by the time I reached the high point of the run I was already 5 mins behind my best time of previous attempts. 

In fact to be honest I was even slower than my worst time for previous events. Still at least I was being slower on a beautifully crisp day with the first half of the run bathed in glorious sunshine and stunning views of the surrounding misty edges, which is always an added bonus of running in this part of the world

The downhill section was easier on the legs and lungs and offered the first real chance to run with others except miraculously they turned out to be even slower than me! Finally after a slow slog up the last 2.5km of Padley Gorge I re-entered the grounds of the Longshaw Estate and stumbled across the line in my slowest ever time. Still I guess its still not too bad for a 58yr old plodder.

.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6th May Olbia

Image
  A chance to stretch our legs today with our first port of call; Olbia, Sardinia. And it was a quick stretch too due to it being only a five hour stay. Up bright and early, so early in fact that the hot food at the buffet wasn't even ready to be served. Still it gave us a chance to watch the ship glide into port past a host of oyster/mussel beds, before performing a 180 degree turn to reverse into it's berth. A couple of short bus rides later and we were in downtown Olbia. But there an hour or so before anything appeared to open, the disadvantage of being early birds and something we don't seem to learn! Not that Olbia had a great deal to see or maybe if we had done the slightest bit of planning beforehand there might have benn but we didn't. It was pleasant enough but that's about it. It was pleasant enough but nothing special, indeed we were back on the ship after just a couple of hours ashore and then managed to sleep away most of th...
Read more

7th May Naples

Image
 I'm sure I've heard the phrase 'see Naples and die' suggesting that it is perhaps not the nicest location in the Mediterranean but if it's good enough for Diego Maradona fir a few years then it's good enough for me for 10 hours. Although the millions of tax free pounds he was paid might have eased his stay. By the time we got up, washed, dressed and up to The Kitchens, the rest of the ship were already there. Compared to the Marie Celeste of yesterday it was absolutely packed, presumably with people having breakfast before heading out on 8am excursions, our excursion was simply going to be the city of Naples itself as possible trips to Vesuvius, Pompei or the Amalfi coast would have been too much / tired.  So on a day when the weather initially seemed uncertain, we jumped aboard route A for the Hop on Hop off bus and headed out into the mayhem that is the Napoli traffic where it was every van, car and scooter for the selves. I think it's bes...
Read more