A GAME OF 2 HALVES

   2 halves? No, not a reference to the World Cup Final which no doubt had us all questioning the parentage of most of the Netherlands team,  so much as a description of yesterday's Sunday run.
   As Pat and I set off for a one night stop over in the Lakes I was looking forward to a steady 10 miler up and down the "secret valley" of Longsleddale, just north of Kendal.  Weather in Yorkshire wasn't too bad. Sunny but coolish. I was hoping going west for better.  How wrong could I be!

   We parked in the one parking spot in Garnett Bridge .....think hamlet, rather than village....
and I headed north; optimistically clad in short sleeve.  As you might expect the road clings to the valley bottom with just a few sheep hugging the slopes as spectators.  The sheep outnumber easily the 82 people who inhabit this beautiful unspoilt valley. Within minutes, a biting northerly head wind was making things very uncomfortable for this asthmatic and if I'd have been offered gloves and a wind jacket by a bystander at this point I'd have gladly taken them.   What a depressing contrast to recent weeks! 
   Going up the dale,  the undulations and the adverse conditions took their toll....9.38(!)  9.00  8.34  8.49  9.04.   A sad 45.07 on a pretty good surface. Rubbish!

   At the head of the dale where the tarmac runs out at Sadgill bridge farm ,pictured here,  the trail begins,   the few cars which have passed me have parked and the occupants can be seen heading up and over to Haweswater and beyond.  I'll run that trail one day but today I turn and surprisingly come alive somehow.  I'm not so much running on empty as running angry.
 


An 8.05 mile......an 8.15 mile.....going from "sluggish"  to "brisk"  somehow.....8.07 ......8.10.   I'm actually thawing out a bit by now.  I think I was just keen to get the run over with  as I retraced my steps.
   No cars have overtaken me in 4 miles.....no because the lane is so narrow that I won't let them past.....it is just so isolated a valley;  yet within minutes from the busy A6.  Desperate to get back to the car and get a few layers on,  I finished with a 7.41...so 45.07 up the dale and 40.19 back.  Shame I couldn't have done that pace both ways; but hey, the second half was some consolation.
   A dash back Monday morning for a meeting with our ASICS rep.  He is keen that I should keep the delights of their new 2011 range under wraps and not give you a sneak preview,  but I can't help but share with you one shoe that I know you will be queueing up for come November....needless to say it's a tri shoe!