Miller's Dale

For some reason I didn't fancy a long run today, perhaps due to hard running intervals at Thursday's circuit or hard swim intervals yesterday. I also felt a bit bored at going to do a usual route yet again so turned to Peak District Trail Running.  Route 13 in Miller's Dale isn't too far from home and at 11km seemed a good plan. The book gave a bit of a warning about slipping in Monk's Dale but that didn't put me off..

The start of the route was easy along the Monsal Trail and it's really good that over the last few years a number of tunnels have been reopened.

Of course the GPS was upset a bit but it soon caught up. After a few km the route turned off to follow the Pennine Bridleway of which some bits were especially pretty, and would be tight on a bike.

I followed a combination of the map and the written instructions although I didn't find the latter very easy to follow. As is so often the case, things were mentioned that were obvious on the ground and some aspects didn't really match at all. The final leg was down Monk's Dale which started easily enough, then became pretty, or Tolkein-esque according to the description.

After this I couldn't be bothered taking any pictures as the terrain became, to me at least, unrunnable. The scattering of slimy limestone rocks separated by claggy mud was terrible, the rocks placed just to catch ankles and at an infinite array of orientations. I met a walker who said 'ankle breaking territory' and I had to agree.

This slow section really brought my average pace down and so my total time was 1:40 hours. The book said to allow 0:50 to 2:00, I'd like to see the 50 minute runner.

Anyway, I've had the book waiting to be used for a year and I'm glad it provided some inspiration. I'll be reading between the lines rather more next time!