Thor's Cave and the Manifold Way

Manifold Valley from Thor's Cave

I have been major internet problems, so that's why I've been somewhat quiet recently. My 5k race and last walk in the Peak District after the jump.



I randomly decided to enter a 5k last Saturday to make another attempt at breaking 25:30. I tried to use my Garmin so I set the Virtual Partner stick-man to run a 25:15 5K and thought if I kept up with him/her/it I would be set.

The race start was crowded and it took me a minutes or so to break through the crowds and be able to catch up with stick-thing. Aside from a walking pause to get a drink of water halfway round I more or less kept up with stickie and thought I was on to a winner, but at the end only managed a 25:40. My splits were
Mile 1: 07:55 (woo yeah!)
Mile 2: 08:24 (uh-oh)
Mile 3: 08:19 (better)
Mile 3.14: 01:01 (omg I thought I was going to vom during my sprint to the end)

I felt ok just after the race, but a few minutes after I felt sick, dizzy, and my vision started to go black. I had to sit down otherwise I would have fainted, which is very embarrassing. I'm stuck between being glad I didn't push myself harder and being miffed I didn't push myself harder. I think it was because I drank too much water before the race.

Either way, both trying to race with my garmin and almost pushing myself too far were good experiences. I enjoyed the run either way. The nervous feeling before the start, striding out, finding my rhythm, I loved it really. I've been sticking to my training plan for the 10k too, the little green boxes in my spreadsheet are slowly taking over the white ones. :D

----
Now on to walking in the beautiful Peak District. Our third, and final, walk took in Wetton Hill, the Manifold Way and Thor's Cave. It was a little out of our way but I knew something called Thor's Cave would go down well with the lads. We started late again because the night before we were talking so much we missed out on 2 pubs' serving times and had to order Chinese takeaway at almost 11 o'clock. So we didn't set off till almost midday because none of us could face an early morning, especially since having walked Kinder Scout the day before.

We started in Wetton and immediately headed for Ecton Hill. The only thing the undulating green hills shared with the steep-sided valley of Edale and craggy Kinder Scout was that they were also incredibly windy.

On Top of Ecton looking back toward Wetton Hill.

We turned off Ecton and headed for the River Manifold and after following the Manifold Way through  which is a disused railway line that's been turned into a path, through a wooded valley whose sides got steeper and steeper we spotted Thor's Cave.

Thor's Cave from the Manifold Valley

A short steep walk and we were in the cave. Amazing views.

From inside Thor's Cave