Week 2 - Lost - Day 14 of 112

The Yellow Maze

Decided that on the way back from Machrihanish I would drop into to Ardcastle Forest to get the 5 miler in that I missed on Saturday. The winds over Xmas had closed the forest trails due to the amount of trees that had fallen. Not to be put off I parked the car put on the HR strap and started the Garmin for a scenic 5 miler around the loch. I really should have taken heed of the sign that said "Forest Trails closed due to fallen trees"

Everything was going well for 4 miles. Yes there were alot of trees that had fallen but it didn't impede the run too much. A bit annoying but at least you could still see the path. That was until just after mile 4 that is. There must have been maybe 5 or 6 large conifers that had fallen on the path blocking my passage. Clambering over the trees was not possible so I went around the trees. Big mistake. After about 10 minutes trying to locate the path I got lost. At one stage I really did get concerned and for me that was a worry. I could only think of Jackie Bird opening the news headlines with "A Volvo S40 has been found on a deserted car park in the West Highlands and the police are trying to trace a 43 year male whose family are desperately concerned. His wife said that he had seemed quite happy .............." I even resorted to the Garmin GPS which has a function just for this eventuality that will retrace your steps. That didn't help as on the basis that I thought that this was a useless function I had never read the instructions. Miraculously I stumbled on the path as I retraced my steps. I had been going completely in the wrong direction!

Was thinking of doubling up this evening to fit in the missed run but the thought of getting out for two hours is not appealing. Will try and make up tomorrow morning.

Garden at Machrihanish

The run itself was great. A fartlek - speedplay run was interspersed with strides, sprints and tempo. Ran naked with no music/podcast and the highlight was hearing the eagles circling above. Although I was cut to ribbons I was thankful that I made it back in one piece

The numbers for what they are worth

4.83 miles - 58 mins -11.59 pace - 73rpm - 148bpm