Final route check

At 07:55 I rushed out of the house to run to Dore Station for the 08:21 stopping train and made it with a minute to spare. Luckily I was able to buy a ticket onboard. After only 15 minutes I alighted at Bamford and set off to test the final third of the Intro UTPD route. I've been on sections of it previously and know some of it very well and I wanted to do it as a contiguous stretch.

Looking back at Hope Valley from below Winyards Nick

Quite deliberately I went for a slow pace even on the level and did my best to power walk the ascents. I found the route hard work although in part this might have been due to a late night and some drinks after work. On checking my timing I was very close to my 7 hour target pace which isn't great since on the event I'll have done over 30km before starting this section! Hopefully the drive of an event will help keep me going.

I wore my size 9.5 RocLite 315 shoes which aren't especially high at the ankle but still found that they were rubbing after 12km or so. This isn't a good sign. The lateral malleolus/peroneus longus tendon area isn't especially tender to touch so I'm finding the whole thing little mysterious. I don't know if this is going to be a limiting factor or not. Hopefully over the next 2 weeks I can rest the area and determine which shoes I'm going to use for the event.