The aim of this final distance session was to give all my kit a final test and get in some reasonable mileage including as much ascent/descent as possible. After what's become common place now in our English summer; flooding, I decided to stay on the tarmac for Saturday's run. There's only so much practice your feet need at being wet and muddy!
At one point on Friday I wasn't sure if I'd be running or paddling. As you can see by the couple of snaps below, courtesy of saddleworthnews.com, it certainly came down as per the forecast:
Well i Hole, Greenfield
(There's a cracking movie clip of a tractor driving through the above at full speed on the site)
Allotments in Uppermill (I think?)
Back to the run: I ran from Uppermill to Dobcross and up Wall Hill, at the top I stopped and stripped off t-shirts number 2 (Home Instead/Dr. Kershaw's PR t-shirt) and baseball cap as I was sweating buckets. It was far too warm and muggy for running, let's hope it's a little cooler on the day! From there to Scouthead, down Cooper st to Grotton and back up the hill to Lydgate. Right turn and down to Stockport rd, then down through Rough Town to Manchester rd. Up to the Royal George pub, turn right and then left off rd through the little crops of houses and up to Moor edge road and back down Freizland lane.
From there it was the trusty run up Manchester rd to Dove Stones and up to Chew Reservoir, tag the wall at the top and straight back down. Into Greenfield and up over Kinders and back to Uppermill.
It was a proper tough run with the potential for a heart attack at the top of a couple of those hills. I ran as much as I could but am man enough to admit defeat on some of those climbs; yomping replaced running.
Here's the route info (click on any of the images to enlarge):
I was really pleased with the distance and time, although it wasn't a pace I could maintained for much further, it was good final training session; just over a third distance with nearly half of the elevation required for the event itself. An average moving speed of 6mph with full kit up those hills has put me in a good positive frame of mind for the 28th - I'm ready (I think).
Over the next 2 weeks my plan is to do some leg strength work in the gym, get in a couple of 5 mile runs with no back pack and do a bit of core strength work for good measure. The final week before the event I'll do next to nothing - bliss :o)
Just to give you something to read I'll do a bit of kit reviewing and anything else i can think of next week.
The sponsorship money is on the up no with £190 collected, only £810 to go! Please dig deep if you can.
Cheers
Mick
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