Training Log: Parkino

sunny day at Birchen Edge (not quite as sunny as advertised though)

Birchen Edge, Gardom's Edge, Birchen Edge
after mapping, a run across the area, the sun came out properly for this one, but the air was fresh, felt very heavy-legged at the beginning, really tough going, and then I had to cross the marsh, thankfully that was relatively dry, finally got going, then had a serious energy crash around the 'back straight', when my rhythm was broken by the path around Gardom's not actually existing - it's just a ledge, but there is a way through the boulders, picked up speed across the wood and resisted the temptation to cut the run short and felt much better over the final loop back over the top of Birchen, via the plastic boulder

good work out: wood, marsh, heather, boulder fields

double-checking the SE quarry in Farley, still a few puzzles to be solved (could do with an extra contour)

Lindop, Calton Pastures, Chatsworth, Beeley
good pace tonight, relatively-speaking, went out steady, but felt pretty frisky once we got to the waterfall in Chatsworth and I knew there wasn't much climb left, let go on the descent at Rabbit Warren and just ran on from there on my own, quite pleasing given the distance

mopping up operation on Farley, seeking out the last few clearings in the mid-green, checking the unidentified dots in the other section of green (hmmm), and the bits on the moor that I hadn't properly visited: that's it really, apart from checking the quarry after I draw it up, and maybe two small areas that may become useful, depending on permissions

EM League, Bradgate Park & Swithland Wood
pretty good course, using two very different areas, turning the first into a long, fast (and east) section, in which you had to push the pace, risking tiredness in the more complicated control pick through Swithland Wood, a deceptively tricky area with indistinct paths and lots of light green

was slow to get going physically, though much of the Bradgate section seemed to be uphill, pushed hard on the dead legs (to and from the crossing point)

5) came around the spur lower than the control [10secs]
10) cut in early, to avoid overshooting, but the vegetation forced me around the far side of the control [10]
15) lost concentration, turned down the correct path at first, but thought I was wrong and ended up looping around the back of the control [30-40]
19) hesitant: didn't notice the indistinct path on the map so was a bit perturbed to see (a very distinct) path in front of me [15]
21) hesitant: the semi-open was, erm, indistingushable from the white [10]

8th, 10mins behind Richard Robinson, and 9 seconds behind JD = dammit!

Farley
mapping the quarry in the SE, very steep in places, but also several plateaus, lots of detail, good runnability, very similari to Stanton - the challenge will be legibility