Another wet and windy weekend day that just didn’t say ‘let’s go climbing’, so I had to get out for a decent run, and found it in a route to the Blackwater Dam that I’ve unaccountably never taken before! So I took the start of the Ciaran Path and sustained (but runnable) ascent to the pipeline at Leitir Bo Fionn that I’ve taken many times as an alternative route to Loch Eilde Mor, before following the pipes east instead of north for a change. And what a good run it is, although the Allt Coire na Duibhe was still no joke a mile or so above the ford that stopped me last weekend. Measured by GPS at 11.64 miles round trip, so the longest of the three obvious routes to the Dam, and tough enough returning into a stiff breeze to take nearly as long on the way back as out, but lots of lovely, almost level, running alongside (and occasionally on top of) the pipes and great views of the Dam and Dubh Lochan to make me want to do it again!
Also pleased to report that I’ve run on 14 of the last 18 days, been climbing on Ben Nevis and walking on Aonach Mor two of the others, and haven’t run a ‘road only’ course since 25 February. So I’m starting to knock myself back into some half-decent shape and enjoying the running all the more for that!
Not actually the longest of the three obvious routes on the ground because I measured the route home from the Dam by the Penstock track today at 5.95 miles (equating to an 11.90 mile round trip).
Comment by admin — 31 March 2009 @ 6:52 pm