I met up with the usual gang this morning in the UT at the UP. There was a merry little group of us this morning, consisting of myself, Ed and John Swift, Gordon, Pauline and Kev. There wasn't really a set route in mind so we just made it up as we went along and started by going up to the Pike.
When we first set off along to top barn, I always feel heavy legged but it usually passes after maybe a mile but today that didn't happen. I practically walked all the way up to George's Lane. My legs were just so heavy. They have been all week. I had an excellent run last Sunday but every run since then has been awful and I have no idea why.
I had made a promise to myself over a year ago that I would never walk up to the Pike and would always run it but today I felt like I was going to break that promise. I'm pleased to say I didn't though and, though it was incredibly hard work, I made it to the top without walking.
Next on the agenda was Two Lads. Ed and Kev went cross country, with the rest of us heading down to George's Lane and ascending at the side of the dog hotel. Still my lead legs hadn't recovered and I pretty much walked all the way from the dog hotel to Two Lads. This really wasn't going well. My breathing was absolutely fine and I wasn't at all out of breath but my legs just had nothing.
I persevered though and struggled through. I think Ed and John were both struggling a bit too today so we just struggled along together. Gordon, on the other hand, was full of beans and running back and forth like a man possessed. He must have done twice the mileage of anyone else.
From Two Lads, we went cross country to the trig point and from there, ran down the diagonal onto Belmont Road. Even running downhill was hard work. When we got to Belmont Road, we went left and headed for the stile which takes you down to the bridge at dangerous corner. We then went up onto the road, along a bit and then through the gate on the right, heading for Higher Hempshaws. We ran up to Spitlers Edge, which is where Ed, John and I decided to head back to the cars, leaving the rest to continue on to Great Hill.
We followed the wall back down towards Horden Stoops and then stopped for a couple of minutes to chat to some cyclists once we got to the road. At this point, I must have stopped my Garmin and I forgot to start it again until much further along the road. At a minimum I lost 1/4 of a mile but it might have been a bit more. We got back to dangerous corner and then just headed back to the cars from there. My legs still hadn't woken up, even though we had been running downhill for a good while now.
I'm going out tonight for a burlesque themed hen party but, even if I'm not hungover tomorrow, I'm going to have a day off from running because I think it's clear that I need a rest, although my mileage has been pretty low this week really.
Total distance - approx 10.4 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/161909505
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