No doubt, having now reccied stage 4 of the Cotswold Way Relay, I'll be moved onto a different stage...
Anyway, I think I managed to avoid the worst of the weather as I set out from the Quarry by the Devil's Chimney just after 11 this morning wearing my waterproof top - because it was raining - but very quickly regretted the decision. It wasn't long before I stopped and took it off. I figured getting wet was a better option that slowly cooking myself alive.
I felt sluggish to begin with but with a few km in the legs I started to feel better. It wasn't long before I felt I was actually going pretty strongly - including the uphill sections as well. It's a been a while since I've felt like that. I was only reduced to a walk twice. First on the infamous Coopers Hill - which I'll grant is steep but also very short so you don't really lose much time on it and then on the Buckholt wood climb which is probably just a steep as Coopers. Other than that I can claim to very nearly have had my old sea legs on. As a side note, as I ran over Coopers Hill I did wonder if I should loop around and run it again - apparently that is the protocol for some of the runners....
I reached the Royal William in about 90 minutes, give or take. I stopped to shake all the grit and mud out of my shoes before heading back on the return leg. By the time I reached Coopers my right calf was tightening up. Probably as a result of the stronger, faster ascending. From there the pace slowed and I decided to cut out the Crickley Hill bit to reduce the distance a little. Don't want to be getting myself injured.
In all I covered a gnats ass short of 30km and 870m ascent in 2:55. Pleased with that. Hopefully the right calf will feel better in the morning.
Anyway, I think I managed to avoid the worst of the weather as I set out from the Quarry by the Devil's Chimney just after 11 this morning wearing my waterproof top - because it was raining - but very quickly regretted the decision. It wasn't long before I stopped and took it off. I figured getting wet was a better option that slowly cooking myself alive.
I felt sluggish to begin with but with a few km in the legs I started to feel better. It wasn't long before I felt I was actually going pretty strongly - including the uphill sections as well. It's a been a while since I've felt like that. I was only reduced to a walk twice. First on the infamous Coopers Hill - which I'll grant is steep but also very short so you don't really lose much time on it and then on the Buckholt wood climb which is probably just a steep as Coopers. Other than that I can claim to very nearly have had my old sea legs on. As a side note, as I ran over Coopers Hill I did wonder if I should loop around and run it again - apparently that is the protocol for some of the runners....
I reached the Royal William in about 90 minutes, give or take. I stopped to shake all the grit and mud out of my shoes before heading back on the return leg. By the time I reached Coopers my right calf was tightening up. Probably as a result of the stronger, faster ascending. From there the pace slowed and I decided to cut out the Crickley Hill bit to reduce the distance a little. Don't want to be getting myself injured.
In all I covered a gnats ass short of 30km and 870m ascent in 2:55. Pleased with that. Hopefully the right calf will feel better in the morning.
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