Testing, Not Trying

I enjoyed Monday's run so much I thought I'd do it again.

Well, almost. I ran the same outward leg, but adjusted the home leg a little, leaving Cannon Hill Park past the Holder's Lane allotments, along Holder's Lane and Moor Green Lane entering Highbury Park at the corner of Yew Tree Road. This cut about a third of a mile off the total. I did this for two reasons, firstly to introduce a little variety so that it wasn't just an out-and-back route, and partly to recce that new section to use in a four mile loop from Cannon Hill Park which I hope to use by adding it to other routes which start or finish, or indeed pass through the park.

For once on a new route I managed not to get lost!

It was a lot cooler than on Monday, thankfully, and I remembered my bottle this time, although I only drank half of the 250ml, and most of that was during the five minute break at the station, washing down the gel.

Speaking of gels, I tried a banana gel in my porridge this morning, in place of the usual honey. This may sound strange, but there was a reason. I'm planning a Lake District hill-walking expedition in the summer and will be 'wild camping' - camping up on the hills rather than in proper campsites - so that I don't have to keep dropping down to road/lake level each evening and climbing back up each morning, and can therefore spend more time walking the ridges. I'll need to carry everything I need for the whole trip on my back, so weight reduction is paramount, particularly the tent, rucksack and boots but right down to the food and the gear needed to cook and eat it. Basically, a few gels would be lighter and easier to carry than a jar of honey, and of course designed specifically to provide the energy required for endurance exercise.

Unfortunately it wasn't as nice as I'd hoped - there was a strong banana smell but not much taste, and it wasn't as sweet as half a spoon of honey. Given that I'd also be using water rather than milk, I may have to find an alternative!

Tomorrow I'm resting again in preparation for Sundays race, so I've volunteered to help out at Cannon Hill parkrun. According to the roster I'll be operating the timer. Like Brueton parkrun, with 149, Cannon Hill had a record turnout last week of 163, so I'm exercising the timer button thumb - I hope I'll be able to keep up! Good luck to all the runners tomorrow.