SNOW RUN ABORTED

Barden Fell Sunday December 5th 2010

 Instictively, nowadays,  I follow up a session on the road with a run on the trail.  So not today? A quick inspection of the iced up road outside the house suggested popular trails would be similarly  precarious and so we headed for Barden Fell  which we hoped would offer us a good miles of off road on shallow snow.  Wrong! Big mistake!!

 Wearing a new pair of INOV MUDCLAW 272S the first mile on snow flattened by 4x4 vehicles proved Ok .....thumbs up going through the gate onto the fell.....but within minutes it was too deep even for the shoe's aggressive tread and  the slip on each stride was certainly aggravating the discomfort in my left leg  (sciatica ?) which previous outings on the snow have created.
  I often say the most important word in the language is consequences.  The word was uppermost in my mind as I toiled to the top of the first hill before deciding enough was enough.  What if.....? 
 So as the saying goes, discretion was the better part of valour  or as I might have put it prudence proved stronger than intent!   Run aborted....and unfortunately Pat's walk as well.  

 So it was thumbs down coming off the fell; I had managed only to the top of the hill shown over my right shoulder.
 As we drove back we passed several  runners who perhaps more sensibly had decided to stick to snow free "B" roads.  My choice for tomorrow!
 End of a poor, frustrating  week compared to the norm but probably better than many runners have achieved in areas of the country much worse affected than ours.  Down to 30 miles.
 Consolation? Yesterday's road session on a new venue which will be revisited in the near future.