Snippets from February - Part 1

Let's have a tootle through the events of February. I bet no-one can guess what's coming on 26 February...

1 February

Some considerable time after asking my friend Vic for the recipe, I finally made my first ever batch of Welsh Cakes. I decided early last year (with a batch she'd made for me) that they make an excellent food substance to take on long runs. I didn't quite get the pan temperature right in the cooking (hence some were a bit dark) but I've practised again since.

3 February

We finally finished the Harvey's map jigsaw of the Peak District, a couple of years after it was started, albeit it did spend around 23 months of that time sitting under our bed:

4 February

In 'Snippets from January - Part 1', for 7 January, I posted this snap:

See how the water is sitting well behind the sign post (almost out of shot on the far right), which has two signs attached to it - one half way up its shaft and one at the top? Even though water levels had in general dropped by early February, our local ponds were still filling such that on this day the water had reached part way up the lower sign, and was just lapping against the litter bin:

6 February

For this day's run, mud ruled out any off-road routes (including the canal) and fog ruled out roads without pavements. The resultant route was made up as I went and took me along roads I'd not before visited, in a nearby village. As a bonus, the road that took me there (which does have a narrow pavement along one side) was closed to traffic, so I was able to puddle-dodge by running down the middle of the road. 

Road closure, but being a weekend there was no-one working

River level had fallen significantly from the preceding weeks, but still relatively high and muddy

10 February

A gloriously sunny day, but slippery underfoot conditions with another fresh sprinkling of snow lying.

11 February

What a lovely sky we had again on this day, but my goodness, that easterly wind was biting on the return leg of that morning's run!

13 February

In December I joined Carla Molinaro's on-line Strength, Yoga and Conditioning for Runner's group and in February she set us the Challenge of running to the points that lay 2 miles north, south, east and west of where we lived. There was no need to do all 4 points in one go, but I chose to do so.

It was a memorable run for the fact that I lost the feeling in my hands after 10 miles. I'd turned east, into the wind, at that point and when I got home and looked at the weather I found that it had been -4 degrees with a -12 windchill, so perhaps it's no surprise that I never got warm (and I was bundled up, including gloves). Impressively (I thought), my Smelly Helly base layer, which are renowned for stinking if you so much as think of breaking into a sweat, smelt as fresh at the end as it had when I'd gone out. 

The other benefit of the temperature was that all mud was frozen solid. 'Thistle Field' was in a hideous state of frozen ruts, across which I had to pick my way slowly, but it was still an improvement on wet ruts! 

This is 'South'. The other points were all roads.

Gloriously frozen mud

(This is not 'Thistle Field' which is far worse than this patch, having been churned up by cattle and tractors rather than feet)

14 February

Mick and I went for a walk! A 10.8-mile route, pretty much the same as the S, W and N compass points of yesterday's run, in weather that was similar but a bit warmer (+1, I seem to recall), but still with a brutal windchill. Even wearing my buffalo mitts (and positively marching the route, without pause) at no point did I have warm hands and the previous day's base layer still didn't have a whiff even after 25 miles of strenuous use - that's surely a record for a Smelly Helly?!

It's a pity I didn't get a snap of myself as I realised mid-walk that I was dressed for 2005, wearing a baselayer, fleece, jacket and mitts that have all been in my possession for over 15 years. Must have been good purchases! (I have re-lined the buffalo mitts, but it's still the original outers, so I don't think it counts as a Trigger's Broom sort of a claim.)