I did the Shining Tor fell race a few years ago, and also did a short version of this outing in abysmal weather with Vic one new year. It seemed a good choice today, the first day of the latest strike. I parked at the Cat and Fiddle and set off under glowering skies, drizzle and low cloud. An easy jog and climb leads to the trig on Shining Tor, and then a long descent on very civilised paving slabs leads to Pym Chair. From here, a minor road leads to Windgather, where I've done a fair amount of climbing over the years. This was all great - the only issue being my spiking heart rate, feeling a pale imitation of my usual self, although never really struggling or especially tired. All very weird, as the entire illness has been. I then dropped down through the woods around Taxal Edge before kinking back north to join the Midshires way. Given the health issues, the return leg was a mix of fast walking and jogging above the Fernlee and Erwood reservoirs. Above this, entirely new ground for me as the tiny road climbs the upper Goyt Valley towards Derbyshire Bridge. This would have all been superb running terrain, if only I could run! Still, I moved fairly quickly and got back to the car two hours after starting: 19k and around 600m, a shorter version of the Windgather fell race, which I've never got round to doing.
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