Cold, wind and hills

I began my run today in a bit of a strop after Graeme refused at the last minute to run with me... blaming me being in a bad mood for no reason (which honestly wasn't true). I'm sure when it boils down to it, he just couldn't be bothered to go and was looking for a get out... well, he got one!

I had chosen Castle Eden Dene to run through as this is the toughest route where I live. I knew it was going to be difficult, but I actually got a big shock when I realised how tough it was. My chest was particularly bad today. I have found that the cold and wind together really affect me quite badly. I notice another runner (an ultra runner who is very experienced) is also complaining of her chest being bad lately, so I know I'm not alone. I just have to think that at least the cold will not be an issue for me as from this time next week!

Within the second mile the first big hill started. I ran half of it and then had to walk the rest, my chest being in complete agony. By the time I pulled myself together it was a 5 minute walk break which I was grateful for, as the downhill following was very steep and slippery with moss over concrete. Not long after this I was running over a wooden bridge and had to be very careful as this was also very slippery. I was glad to see the extra muddy terrain ahead which my trail shoes handled marvellously.

The next bank (lovingly named "Bastards Bank" since we were kids) is one of those you walk up with your hands on your knees as it's so steep, and at the top of this I felt absolutley awful. Luckily this didn't last too long and I got my breath back and was able to run the undulations quite well. I stopped periodically to take 5 photos which probably took a few good minutes, but it all looked so beautiful it seemed a shame not to stop.

So, the hills continued on and so did the bad chest but on getting home I haven't took hours to recover like last week... in fact after about 10 minutes I felt totally fine, so despite the cold wind and hills I am much better this week over last weeks effort. It only takes about 4 weeks to get used to trail running (which I found last time I did this) so I'm trying not to get a huge lack of confidence this close to the race. There's no two ways about it, it's going to be hard and I'm going to be very slow, but that's all by the by now.