'The Tower Trail at Glentress over fast, forest terrain' *

*Only fast when there is no snow!
Wednesday's Run
Yep that's right, there is still snow around and it was in abundance today at Glentress. The usual Tower Trail which normally makes good fast running over nice firm terrain was much tougher in the presence of snow. The forest map makes the whole route 9km, reaching a height of 587m (around 1600' in old money). This is not particularly high but there is a lot of undulating parts to the run and some very tough climbs; climbs which were even more arduous today.
I will never tire of this run. This is the 4th time I have done it and it gets more exciting each time. Much of the time is spent in dark forests climbing up runnable yet killer climbs and the odd descent which you can just about let yourself go on without slipping over tree roots. My legs felt a little tired from the off and about a km in I hit the snow and that's right, the snow didn't disappear until the forest access road at the end. It was really hard work fighting through the snow and occasionally I even had to dodge fallen trees which blocked the way. I also got lost a couple of times due to the snow covering the path and so lost a minute here and there. The time I set today certainly wasn't going to concern me as:
A.I don't have a known time for the course.
B. The conditions weren't good today for breaking a record.
After leaving the forest momentarily, you reach a vantage point up on Middle Hill which gave fantastic panoramic views today. I then got badly lost as I tried to make my way up to the highest point on the run and ended up on a Mountain Bike track. Still, I got to a summit which was very prominent and the right one (I think!) which gave even better views. From here the running is fast with lots of nice descents before a killer climb up the forest road at the end. Obviously descending was tough but my legs must have warmed up by the last climb as I felt superb, maintaining a good style whilst going well. A brilliant run despite the tough conditions. Just out of interest the Garmin had the run at: 10.5km in 58:26
I think the extra distance came from my various detours but overall I am pretty pleased with the way I ran. I wasn't particularly surprised I felt tired as I will still have a lot in my legs after yesterday's hard session. I will be back next time in better conditions to smash today's time.
I won't be running again this week as I am racing at Ilkley on Sunday in the Ilkley Moor Fell Race (5 mile/1250'). I am looking forward to it and I am hoping for a good performance although it is my first fell race for 2010 so I won't turn up feeling over confident. It's all good training in the long run!