More midweek fun in the Peak District, my second event in the Staffordshire Moorlands AC Summer Series. I missed The Roaches last week due to a rather painful dental infection.
My left leg continues to nag with pain behind the knee. I have been increasing my mileage steadily and things don't seem to be getting any worse, however I am running only a fraction of the 50+ miles per week that I was running previously.
I was fortunate enough to have the company of Sarah Clough again for this event. We arrived at Grinlow1 Caravan Park in plenty of time and registration was more leisurely than the last time we ran together. My knee felt particularly stiff after the combined Northwich to Stoke, Stoke to Buxton drive. In consequence I had a stretch and good warm up jog before the start. Unfortunately the start was about twenty minutes late and, given the chill breeze, the effort was probably wasted.
We set off uphill, under a very grey sky towards 'Solomon's Temple' which was visible from the start. Sarah and I ran at our own paces this time. Though I did not feel fit enough to run as hard as I could, I felt that I was ready for a fast cruise (which is pretty much all I ever do anyway, fit or not). I performed a fast halt at the first stile and big queue, a rather bad pacing decision, I made a mental note to engage my brain before I squandered any more energy. Shortly, there was very pleasant uphill running over the open, bumpy, sheep cropped grass leading to the 'Temple'.
The route ran round the Temple then east, down over very bumpy ground before the Grin Plantation. Quick descent here demanded some care, fast feet and arm counter balance. In this way my hand made the acquaintance of a passing lady's chest. Sorry missus! The descent through the plantation was easy going and very fast, though I think runners in road shoes may not agree with me. It was pretty much at the limit of where little energy is expended on forward motion and yet real technique is not required. My C-Lites were very positive on the trail which felt less slippery than it looked.
Descent over, the route turned south west following the edge of the plantation. The route appears to contour on a map, but in reality there was as much short up and down as level running over the lovely, pine needle strewn, narrow paths. Tree roots demanded some care, especially as the shade blocked what little light was coming from the grey sky. For the most part roots just added interest provided one picked one's feet up. As the way turned south east the descent had to be paid for and the climb got progressively steeper coming out of the woods and into the field where we started.
The event consisted of two laps of the course. I was a little tired after lap one and felt that I might have overdone it. This proved to be just a feeling, the second lap was over in what felt like a quarter of the time it took me to do the first. Familiarity allowed me to crack on over easier terrain which made up for any time lost to fatigue on the more demanding sections. I managed to regain places lost, by an impromptu 'pit stop', and possibly gained a couple more.
On the hill leading to the finishing field I overtook a lady who had been just ahead of me all through the woods and I opened a very small lead. I was pretty sure she would come past me on the open run to the finish as she was clearly the faster runner on all but the steepest climbs. I just managed to hold on to my lead and finished puffed, but able to jog back to the car park.
After a much needed drink I stretched, then had a baby wipe 'shower'. Sarah arrived shortly. I was a little disappointed with my time (42.52) for the perceived effort. Sarah's phone app. reckoned 1500' of ascent which made my time seem much better. I have since found total ascent to be nearer 934' (still more than my guesstimate (actually my guess was correct, but I had forgotten to double it)). It seems that MapMyRun gives lowest to highest altitude gain and maximum height. Neither of these figures correspond to what fell runners would think of as total ascent (I did not notice this for Shutlingsloe which is nearly one single ascent so height gain and total ascent are more or less the same). My knee fared well but is a bit stiff today.
This was my first lapped event. I found the idea of travelling all the way to the Peak then running in circles bizarre. As it happened I enjoyed the event immensely, the two laps meant a second go at the best bits/bits one could improve on and a second look at the view. I had a good evening out, excellent company and a nice chill in the Travellers Rest.
[1] Re: Variant spellings - Grin Low, Grinlow. I have used names as they appear on OS 1:25,000
[2] No accompanying copyright statement, believed to be fair use. If you are the author please let me know. I will remove or credit the photo as you wish.
How did you calculate the ascent?
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, sorry for the late reply, I didn't spot the comment. Ascent was calculated from addition of individual height gains for each lap, using OS 1:25,000 contours and 5 metre granularity (Mapyx Quo2 did the maths).
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