I found the peat bogs really hard going this year, I think due to the lack of training on this kind of ground. Since we moved up to the Lakes from the Peak, I've become much better on steep rocky ground and lost ability on boggy tussocky ground. The weather was not too bad, despite what seems to be the general opinion. 2007 was much worse, as were the streams, but still it wasn't all blue sky and still air!
It had rained heavily overnight and was still raining 30 minutes before the start in Marsden, but the forecasters predicted it would dry up soon after dawn, and with dawn being after 8am they weren't far off. They were wrong in predicting it would then stay dry though! It wasn't raining as we set off, but on the first climb up Wessenden the rain came in again rather heavy and cold, so my cag came out again having been hastily put away before the start. I took the climb up Wessenden steadily and was surprised to reach the style across the road in 2nd place. I knew Nicky wasn't far behind, and so kept the pace up but steady on the flags across to Black Hill. They were very slippy in places, but it looked like my choice on Montrail Highlanders hadn't been a bad choice as I was sticking to the flags a lot better than others (mostly in Innov-8's). Nicky passed me on the last part of this climb, but we kept on passing each other across the top into a sharp strong south-westerly, this was probably one of the most unpleasant parts of the day. I managed to pull ahead coming off Black Hill down to Crowden, and we went our separate ways on the south side of Torside Reservoir.
I headed up Wild Boar Clough, while I think Nicky went Lawrence Edge way, which proved decisive as by the time I popped out by the rain guage near the Snake she had over hauled me by about 2 minutes. The route up Wild Boar Clough went really well, and seemed to much more relaxing in terms of navigation than the 'old' routes via Torside. I had popped out on Saturday to walk up Wild Boar Clough to check it out, going up the left hand side and coming down the right. It had seemed a great line then and so it had proved. The worst part of the Bleaklow traverse was a nasty hail shower as we passed over the top of Bleaklow down to Alport Low. The run down the Snake really hit me hard, as I was dehydrated and running low on energy! Luckily an old club mate was with me here and his wife had some spare energy drink for me which really pepped me up and meant I could push on to the finish!
The climb up Seal Stones was painful as always, and so was the 7 minute crossing. My calf muscles started to cramp in the bogs on the crossing which slowed me down slightly. I couldn't run through them with abandon as you would normally and had to pick my way around them in order to avoid cramping. At last the end of the crossing came into view, with P and his Dad stationed there waiting for me. P shouted encouragement and said I had 15 minutes to the 4 hour mark, so I plunged off the side of Kinder and gave it everything I had to the finish. This was where the Montrails weren't so great but I slithered and slid my way down and ran as hard as I could to the finish tent.
As always a great race and a great atmosphere in the village hall afterwards. There was a pair of smartwool socks and a limited edition Tanky's mug for a prize. My big toenail is now very black and bruised and its only a matter of time before it comes off. I just hope it doesn't stop me running too much in the next few weeks.
I have been resting for the last two days to let the toe swelling go down, but was back on the bike today. Strangely I felt strong and it was a lovely morning if a bit damp on the roads itself. Looking forward to the forecasted good weather coming up!
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