Resovoir of Cakes

What an amazing day. My friend from work, Oli Perez finished up yesterday to start a new career in primary teaching. He's leaving Manchester tomorrow. I'm a bit sad but we had planned one last run before he heads off.

Oli picked me up just after 8am and we headed up over Snake Pass, shrouded in thick cloud to Ashopton, parking by Ladybower Reservoir. The sun was starting to rise, as we headed along the edge of the mirror-like water. I decided to leave my camera to save on weight but immediately regretted it. The reflection on the water was amazing as was the morning light. Hey hum....."live for the present" I thought. There were a few early morning fisherman sitting in a boat, with every cast resulting in ever increasing circles, eventually hitting both banks. Puddles on the edge of our path were edged with ice despite it not being too cold.

Perez n I had the biggest smiles ever, with both of us agreeing that such moments are life experiences! We were running at a fair pace, but not so fast that we couldn't chat. That was until we reached the dam dividing Ladybower and Derwent reservoirs. We ran up the steps at the side of the dam, both aiming to reach the top without stopping. Arg.....the burn. That hurt!

It definitely felt like spring. I saw a male song thrush perched resplendently in a tree. His fine speckled chest was puffed out in a macho fashion and he was obviously wanting to show the lady thrushes that he was the man! After around an hour, we stopped for a Kirkland energy boost, oat groats soaked n cooked in coconut milk, star anise, sultanas and honey....moulded into rough bar shapes and wrapped in tinfoil. We soon reached the end of Howden Reservoir and then decided to run uphill for a bit, following the River Derwent.

It was quite a narrow valley and the morning sunshine had warmed the trapped air.. In fact it felt unnaturally warm with the bones getting their first outdoor heat of the year. After about 20minutes of running, mainly uphill, we reached a stream and decided that was the natural point to turn back. We upped the pace, skipping over the rocks on the muddy trail. Back at Howden, we crossed a bridge and then headed back towards the car. I wish I had packed the map. At one point, the reservoir took a sharp right and we then started to head away from the car. Still with huges smiles on our faces, we pushed on. I suspect we were moving quite fast, but my knee was starting to hurt a little and I suggested to Perez that I needed to zone out and concentrate.

It came suddenly, after just over two hours of running. My legs decided to object and my sore knee was preventing me from digging deeper. I had to walk! Grrrrr......frustration. After a brief recovery, we were off again but my smile had been replaced with a grimace. Fortunately, Perez is so up-beat and patient so he didn't mind that we were now slowing. He did, however, mention that pace had been a bit hard earlier in the morning, and he is a much better athlete than me. Woops! I was now paying the price.

The next hour was very tough.....I played mental games....run 20, walk 20.....run to the tree....walk to the next tree, float on air pads......Every transition from walking to running was harder than the previous. I had a wee seat and ate some super groats but the expected spring in my step never came. The final few km's was a slog and I suspect the final distance covered was much closer to 35km than the planned 21km. (Looking at the map now, I hadn't accounted for the fact that most people run the route from the visitor's centre, missing out the Ladybower and River Derwent sections from my rough calculations).

I slumped in the car, totally exhausted.....and accounting for gradient change realised that the effort was comparable to running a flat marathon! My knee had just about held out though! Perez drove us to Hathersage where there was a good cafe. They were really busy so service was slow, but it seemed slower for this hunger ravaged bald man! A refried bean and manchego cheese wrap hit the spot, and the follow up strawberry sponge cake was superb!

We then headed back to Glossop where I did my usual Saturday shopping and then home for a coaching call. Somehow, I managed to switch my brain into gear and managed to focus on the job in hand but was glad to get in a hot bath shortly afterwards.

Today was the type of day that I live life for. I'll miss Perez. We share a love for simple things like wonderful light in the morning or the taste of a good coffee. We've both got this 'endurance athlete' desire to push our bodies longer and harder than we really should. Still, it beats sitting watching TV all day or going out and getting a quick fix by buying stuff!