Run to the hills

Distance 20km [total: minimalist 194km: Barefoot 1787.2km] Week 34

Monday, 22-Aug. 10km.
Hooray, warm summer weather, what is going on, this is England after all.
I was feeling good today so I put in a short hilly 10km up over the top of Werneth Low. Running along the canal towpath again then starting the climb up to the top of the hill. The steepest part is the last kilometre of the hill which would be a 25% climb. I managed to run the entire length of the hill, something I didn't do often even in my younger days. I can't say if I was faster or not as I don't have comparative times. My calves were starting to burn as I neared the top.
After a few kilometres of level ground there is one more climb before the descent. Google Earth has a neat feature I found. Once you have traced a path of your run using the Path tool you can then look at the elevation profile of the run. It tells me the following. From a low point of 88m at 1km from the start, I climbed to 270m at 6.1km, a climb of 182m (579ft).

Saturday, 27-Aug. 10km.
After a bit of a break from running while visiting some relatives in the south of the country it's back to reality of weather in England, rain. Looking out of the window at the low dark clouds moving across I didn't feel that enthusiastic about going for a run. A small window of opportunity opened at 11.30am so off I set along a muddy canal path. I ran the same course as on Monday only this time the rain started at about the halfway point and continued until I got back. Once again I ran all the way. I have found it harder to run downhill. I have tried Ken Bobs suggestion of letting the legs collapse and pulling the feet right back. It works but it needs practice. Slight hip soreness with the hill climbs, only when I'm running though, I must be weaker in this area due to all my flat running in Adelaide.

Neil