Do Worms have Holes?

Much as it's nice to be in a roasty toasty bed on a Sunday, it's far better to head out into the hills for a wee run. Back in the day, I preferred nothing more than a long fast run on the road with the challenge being to stay in a specific heart rate zone. How could one train specifically going off-road after all?

The thing is, I was wrong. Much of the science used to inform on training comes from very systematic and controlled data collection. Lots of people think that training needs to be very systematic and controlled too. Bollocks I say. The joy of trail running in the Peak cannae be beaten either physically or mentally.

Perez picked me up at 9:30am for the short trip to Glossop, our starting point. Sheesh....my rucksack was heavy. I had map, compass, merino jumper, waterproofs, water bladder, food, foil blanket, camera and walking poles. It can get quite wild up on the high plateau and without full kit, a twisted ankle could become rather serious. We parked up in Manor Park and I took my camera out for the first shot of the day! Shite....left my battery in the charger and the light was awesome too.

We trotted up through Old Glossop, along to the end of Shire Road and onto the the land rover track. I was cursing, especially as we went past one of my favourite tree's, because the sun was golden, the hills a deep green and the heather copper. As we past through the first gate, a ginormous heron flapped down the valley, looking for a fish in the wee burn below. Perez and I were grinning like Cheshire cats, even though the incline was causing us to sweat loads in the warm winter sunshine.

We turned right, onto the Doctors Gate path, a narrow rutted one, which is difficult to run at pace. Saying that, the rain hasn't been bad lately and going was certainly easier than normal. Perez had only a short-sleeved base-layer on, despite it being the 1st of December.....he was being more careful than me to keep his feet dry though. At the second stream crossing, I misplaced a foot and momentarily lost it in the gloppy peaty mud! It made a great noise when I pulled it out but my toes were now squelchy.

Before we knew it, we had reached the Trans Pennine path at the top of Snake Pass.....hardly a puff of wind either. It was the exciting bit was now coming, the bouncy path! It's a peat one that gives under foot slightly but is so much fun to run only. Perez was carefully avoiding the puddles, unlike me.....who was splashing through them like a kid with new wellie boots. "You cock" he roared, with the venom of an asp, as I sprinted past him, splashing furiously. Ha ha......we were both joyous in the sunny hills.

Crossing the road at the top of Snake, we saw a couple getting kitted up for their run, putting on their pristine Salomon trainers, the same model but in different colours......boak! "Morning" we both shouted and then we were through the gate and onto the paved path with Kinder Scout in the distance. Although the path is easy to walk on, running on it is a bit more challenging as the slabs are all different widths and there is an occasional gap or crack ready to snap an unsuspecting ankle. Gahhh....I went to take a drink from my camel bak....but the spout came off the tube and I had water schooshing out all over me! I was soaked!

Perez is a brill runner but he's incredibly patient too, the perfect running partner for a much slower bald man. I liked the slightly uphill paved section though as I was running well and not too far off his pace. I knew we had to turn right, off the main path as this would mean we wouldn't end up with a final section on the main road. "There it is" I said and we veered off, running down hill on a fast and forgiving section. We arrived at a small peaty clearing with some machinery in it.....funny place to burn out a car I thought, until Perez identified one bit as an aircraft wing. It was adorned with a little lolly pop cross with a poppy stuck onto it. The machinery looked like a propellor shaft thingy.

I had never seen this plane before so I knew we had turned off on the wrong path. Oh my word! I got the map out....something I never do, and found that we we needed the next one towards the grouse butts. On a sunny Sunday, little errors like this don't matter even if it does mean turning back and ascending a hill. The next path was definitely the right one, a very fast downhill section and Perez was soon way ahead. I could tell he was grinning from ear to ear, simply by the way he was running.....leaping over puddles like a stiff Rudolph Nureyev and 'winding down the car windows'. I was grinning too. We met at the Trig point and could see for miles all around, Glossop one way and Manchester far in the distance.

The going got a bit tougher near Worm Holes (do worms have holes?) and I was struggling to keep up. No worries for Perez as he loves stopping to absorb the beautiful moors. My legs were still ok and I managed to keep going quite fast on the descent to the road. Not as fast as Perez who said he was right at the point of losing control. It was then a fun run through the woods and onto Hague Road. I recalled a race earlier in the year, when running in the opposite direction, I got into a ding-dong with a moustached gentleman.....who was determined to beat me. We had reached the savagely steep Cliffe Road where we started to walk.....he would run....I would run and pass him....only to have to walk again, when he would run past and so on. I broke him just before the top and kicked had to finish victorious at the pub on Hague Street.

Fortunately we had to descend this hill, but Perez did say how steep it was. we reached the bottom and he suggested we turn round and run up the thing. I looked at him and said "ok" only to regret it when I reached the first bend, my legs and lungs were screaming. I was bent double at the top, gasping for breath but with a huge smile on my face once again. It was then an easy jog back to the car and then to Lymefields Garden Centre for a well earned coffee and scone. An absolutely perfect 20km of trail running in one of my favourite places on earth.