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!

Beginner's luck

It's official now; my good performance in the 1st Peak Raid 3 event was probably a fluke! This morning the event was to the east of Glossop and aided by lovely, unseasonal weather.

Hard to believe it's the 1st of November

I didn't have any specific problems but only managed to get 205 points, placing me in the bottom third of the results. With hindsight I spent far too long on paths, covering distance but not getting points. I was concerned about getting into very boggy ground but really should have just accepted that would be essential to more points. The good visibility would have made aiming for the general area of ridges fairly straightforward. Possibly I wasn't moving fast enough either; part of my reason for being on paths was for speed but due to their roughness they weren't even fast.

I had hoped to detour for a control or two in the last hour but found that I was moving too slowly and was in risk of occurring penalties. As the path improved near to the base I picked up my pace as much as possible.

This final burst of speed is evident on the Strava record. The last few km were on a slight descent, grass and gravel track that offered grip, comfort and visibility.

As a competition performance it was't great but it was a lovely morning of running. In terms of  learning:

• it's clear that I need to be more prepared to get muddy
• I must look at routes that are productive for points, I ran 6 km for one poorly scoring control
• 2 electrolyte tablets in 750ml might be correct, I didn't get cramp
• more hill training (up & down) wouldn't go amiss!

The pre-event planning was excellent, the map had great detail and the volunteers at the base helpful and friendly. There was a minor issue with the onsite timing but results are now out after a few hours which is fine. I'd very strongly recommend these events to a trail runner looking to test, or develop, navigation and off-path skills.