Nothing Quite Like a Cold Bath

I started the day with an audience with the pope in a gothic chapel. I refused to kiss his ring! I was ejected by Swiss guards only to bump into Billy Connolly as I was leaving. He then morphed into my a Uncle Tommy (they are both bearded Scotsmen). I then found myself dancing to "I need a hero" with a bunch of majorettes and then made my departure on a stolen Vespa. I awoke bursting on a pish, went to the loo, and then wrote my dream down, planning to look up the internet to see if I could discover a meaning. If you've got any ideas, please comment below!

I fell back asleep again and don't recall any further dreams. After waking for the day, I had a good breakfast and then jumped on a train to Glossop to start my run. It was forecast for rain so I took waterproofs and headed up Doctors Gate. Strangely, it felt like a sauna.....warm and humid. I was overdressed and was soon dripping with sweat. The plan was to take it steady as I wanted to be relatively fresh for swimming in the evening. There must have been heavy rain overnight at the trails were sodden and very muddy in places.

I was cheery though and was enjoying the fresh air. Getting up to the plateau, it was howling a gale as usual up there. I crossed the A57 on Snake Pass and headed off in the direction of Kinder Scout. My head was down, eyes focussing on the path and I had to push hard into the wind! The plan had been to head back to Glossop as I needed a few bits of shopping. Then I changed my mind, deciding to run all the way home instead and get my supplies in the farm shop.

As I reached the cairn signifying the junction to either Kinder, Hayfield or home the legs started to object. I had been running for over 2 hours, mainly uphill and into a headwind. Downhill may sound better but it wasn't. It hurt. I went into a run/jog/walk over the rugged terrain and was delighted when I reached the road. It did mean uphill to the top of Monks Road through and I was soon at shuffling pace. "Dig deep" I thought, with every step taking me closer to home and lunch.

Back off-road again I descended slowly from Coombes Edge grimacing at the leg discomfort. Reaching Charlesworth, I decided that I would run all the way to the garden centre. It wasn't so bad although the final uphill section was a struggle. I loaded up with supplies including a ginormous cookie and walked the final bit home, slurping on a pint of cow juice! Yum! I needed that after 3.5hours in the hills.

After food, I ran a cold bath and sat in that for 15mins. Although the scientific research on the benefits of doing so is inconclusive, cold water always relaxes my muscles and makes me feel better. Before I knew it, it was time to head to swimming! The run from Piccadilly to the Aquatics was a slight struggle!

We had a 400m time trial tonight and a PB was certainly not on the cards. My aim was to see how much I could push myself despite being pretty exhausted. Mental training is just as important as physical training. My time was slow but I was pleased that I had pushed through to the end! My energy was such that I couldn't even raise a smile though.