A bit colder (& whiter) than expected!

I set off a little later than usual hoping that the frost would have lifted somewhat. This worked till i got to a certain altitude!

The run from Uppermill to Dovestones was a little slow because i kept stopping and trying to get my 'chest pouch'  (part of my Inov8 backpack which has been kindly supplied by Matt at Inov8 - thank you!) to stop jumping around. The problem being that the bottom of it attaches to the waist strap of the backpack but i never have this very tight because it effects my breathing, so it just kept bouncing about. Anyway i solved the problem by fastening the drawcord from the waistband of my tights to it but there was a moment were i had it too tight and my voice went up a pitch or 2!

From Dovestones i ran/walked up to Chew Res and about half way up (just after passing the mountain rescue - always reassuring!) the track turned from grey to white. And from halfway, the white went from a dusting to about 2 inches.

About 3/4 the way up to Chew Res looking back at Pots and Pans in the distance

Just before reaching the top i caught up with Claire Maw, who was out walking and taking photo's. So working on the basis that if you don't ask you don't get, i enquired if she would be so kind as to take a couple of snaps for the blog. Claire kindly obliged and I'm sure you'll agree the results are very good (obviously this hinges on what you think of the subject in the middle of the snaps :o)

On chatting to Claire briefly she explained that she is also in training, for the Cartmel Sticky Toffee Trail 10k on 17th March. No easy task considering that she couldn't run for more than 2 minutes without stopping before Christmas. I'd just like to wish you all the very best with the run Claire and thanks again for the snaps. Below is a link to Claire's Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ayuplass70/

Nearly at the top!

Off into the distance (not for long)

My intention, once up at Chew Res, was to run over the moor to Laddow rocks and then over Black Hill which would have brought me out onto the Holmfirth road. from there i could have taken a short(er) or longer route depending on how i was feeling. However, this is a route I've never completed before and once i got to the far edge of the Res i had a re-think on health and safety grounds! It was proper cold up there and i came over all sensible. The path around the side of the Res must usually be very wet and muddy but this had frozen over in places. My feet had broken through the ice twice and would have been proper wet if it weren't for my Sealskin (waterproof) socks. Maybe I'll wait for my pal Tom to take me over the route when everything's not so white!

So i turned around and headed back down to Dovestones, ran around one side of it and up around Yeoman Hey Res then up onto the A635. From there i cut across to the bottom of Pots and Pans hill and then back to Uppermill over Gellfield lane.

The route was approximately 13.5 miles. I had downloaded a new running app for my phone called Cardio Trainer which uses GPS to log your route. It seemed to do quite well apart from the fact that it didn't start logging the run till i got to Dovestones. Possibly user error but the App seemed to do quite a good job and is a damn sight cheaper (free) than a GPS watch. I may put my hand in my pocket for the paid version (£6) if i can get it working properly.

Cheers
Mick