Kinder Trial.

Last week was a bit of a mess. I was really worn down and got ill, taking a day off work on Wednesday with a 'flu light, if you like. I don't like being Ill and never seldom take days off, but this time I felt completely hopeless. I'm hoping this is my annual '24hr-bug' been and gone.

I travelled home, the long way as Woodhead and Snake were snowy, but still via a big queue in Peak Forest, for the Kinder Trial. The benefit of having to sit in a snow-induced traffic jam was that there was some snow to run in on the Saturday! Having missed the December glut (but viewed it enviously over the internet) my heart was lifted when I awoke to a Simnel-caked Kinder on Saturday morning. Everything was good with the world again.

A Nav-leaning race on my local hill - should be a great event for me but I was just happy to be running around in the snow. I ran anticlockwise, to get Mount Famine and Dimpus Clough out of the way early on, before a quick forray into the top of the Edale Valley before finishing on Kinder's western flanks. Nav skills went a bit out of the window (OS nav on the move is a bit of a weakness), and whilst I know the paths on Kinder well, I don't spend enough time on her flanks, where most of Andy's excellent course was focussed. This resulted in me trying a few 'more direct' lines - one of which went through Cluther Rocks, resulting in me losing a leg in a hole. Thankfully just a couple of cuts and a slightly painful knee once finished - which were pretty slow but fun nonetheless.

Punching a control on the Brown Knoll path - courtesy Nick Ham (permission asked for)

As you can tell from the picture above, there was enough snow to make the day good fun, but not enough to be too inhibitive (well, for me as a late starter there wasn't as a lot of it had been broken by those off earlier - thanks guys!). The are more photos of the bluebird conditions on Tim's blog (and also one of me in a flat-cap).

Two hours and a little-bit on a snowy Kinder was a great way to spend the day. I also felt I was running better up hills than I expected, which was most welcome! The day was finished with cracking soup and cake in the Scout Hut. Many thanks to Andy for this fantastic event year on year, and especially for this year's weather. I intend to be back next year, whatever the weather!

I was completely bushed by the time I made the Pennine meal in the evening, and as such I'm having a few days rest now before getting on it again in February for 4-5 weeks of heavy training before a busy March/April turn. As such, here's a stat attack for my January:

In the 31 days ending 31 Jan:

	activity	#	time	miles		km		+m
	Running - Road and Trail	18	11:49:08	93.59	(7:35)	150.62	(4:42)	1153
	Running - Trail + Terrain	7	7:11:29	45.23	(9:32)	72.79	(5:56)	2571
	Swimming	4	1:56:30	2.95	(39:28)	4.75	(24:32)
	Orienteering	2	1:49:02	9.16	(11:54)	14.74	(7:24)	710	23 /	30c	77%
	Orienteering - Urban	2	56:42	7.23	(7:51)	11.63	(4:52)	174	29 /	34c	85%
	Running Intervals	1	28:55	4.47	(6:28)	7.2	(4:01)	17
	Total	30	24:11:46	162.63	(8:56)	261.74	(5:33)	4625

Not quite as big as previous yeas, but I'm feeling good (and hopefully won't get injured in early Feb like I often do!)