Todays permitted exercise!

[Mossdog]

While down in Hampshire for a few days, I managed a couple of cross country runs. The longest included Green Hill and Cheesefoot Head trig points, clocking up just over 16 miles, and 1877 feet ascent. That's longer than I now typically run in one outing, but the apparent ease of the terrain and running encouraged me to stretch the distance.

However, it's been a while since I've run cross-country, and although I plotted a route over footpaths and bridleways that avoided lanes almost entirely, I paid the price the next morning. Despite adding a thicker insole to my x-talons, the hardness of the soil and flinty route meant my calves were fairly chewed up, with the different running gait, faster speed and repetitive, less variable, footfall. It's helped me appreciate the lack of attritional pounding the fells offer and, for me at least, gentler impact on my body.