Devil's Elbow 20km

The Bank Holiday weekend had poor weather forecast so when I awoke to sunshine this morning it seemed that I had to do a run. I've done 3 swim days this week anyway. I planned to do around 18km as a step above the 14km done over the last few weeks but the route ended up a few hundred metres over 20km. This is the first time I've done that since my minor ankle sprain 4 months ago which was followed rapidly by gut upsets.

The run was hard work from the beginning. I felt tired and lethargic. I'm on the edge of getting a cold so perhaps that  affected my performance? Perhaps my central governor knew it had to make me take things easy to complete the task? As the first long run in ages I decided to accept the early fatigue and walk uphill sections and keep my hear rate low. The main thing was to be on my feet for a few hours.

My various leg annoyances (left knee, right ankle)  made themselves felt at a very low level but not to a degree that they can even be called niggles. What is clear now is that size 9 Roclite 295 are too small and that the size 9.5 pair don't really aggravate my ankle more than the smaller size. I still think the old 315s suited my feet better, a pity that they are obsolete.

First snow of the winter

The forecast had predicted 'snow on high ground' but that's pretty vague as everyone has their own definition of high. I expected that there would be some flakes over Sheffield and the Peak District as there's a long history of this area tending to be more prone to snow than nearby Manchester or the East Midlands.

When I woke up there was a thin layer in the garden but by the time I'd eaten and got out of the house that had started to melt. The local pavements were a bit slippery in places where there had been patches of melting and re-freezing but once on countryside paths there were no problems. On Blacka Moor there was a good covering that hid the roughness in the path and the cold running water beneath.

Just beyond the wall the wind was ever so strong and I was forced to walk

Houndkirk Road was unusually busy, the last time I saw so much traffic was in the snow last winter. I don't have any sensible reasons why snow generates cyclists and runners. My pace was slow, as of corset should be on a long run, but my heart rate was reported to be high. I think (indeed hope) the monitor is getting a low battery. Even though I was aware of the usual left knee  / right ankle combination I included the detour to Oxstones as I was enjoying myself too much to go directly home.

From the summit it's basically 9km of gentle descent back home, although there are a few inclines along the way to tax weary legs. The GPS data showed that I was the slowest I've ever been on this loop. Party that's because I'm trying  to be slow as some of my older, faster runs were at what I now understand to be a race pace and thus not sustainable in a training programme.

Incidentally, the Fuji shoes  did well on their first long outing. They weren't too hard at a slow trot on tarmac and gripped beautifully in thin snow and mud.  The neoprene gaiter didn't rub on my ankle either, that's a real boost.

I am wondering if higher paced road runs are the irritant for my knee. I did one on Tuesday and have known about it ever since...