Viking Way - another recce

So yesterday I got the 05:57 train from Lincoln to Market Rasen, arriving just as the light did. I managed to find a very pleasant path through some woods towards Tealby.  Some local frost but lovely in dawn's first light.

Once in Tealby, I picked up the Viking Way and immediately found a hill in Lincolnshire up to the mighty height of 149m! On to Ludford where the route wasn't really signed at all but fortunately the map was very clear. Next followed a very pleasant section through the wolds to Donnington on Bain - accompanied only by bright sunshine and the sun of bird song. Gorgeous.

The route on to Goulceby seemed to have a gate every 100 metres which was really annoying and broke my rhythm a bit. The last mile into Goulceby was a bit boggy in places and required some careful attention to the map and surrounding features, as some of the next bit to Scamblesby.

The section to Belchford and then Fulletby was lovely. A short sharp hill up and over to Belchford was again a little boggy in places and another hill before Fulletby. From there, the route was very clear across farmland and down into Horncastle. Checking my Garmin, I had covered 27 miles and felt really good

I pushed onto Woodhall Spa. This section was along the Horncastle Canal, very flat but picturesque then followed a disused railway, very flat, very straight and very boring! Across Woodhall Spa golf course and  arrived in Woodhall Spa 5 minutes before my bus to Lincoln! Good timing!

34 miles, 4:55 hours running. A really enjoyable run through a lovely part of England.

Route-wise all pretty easy to follow and well signed apart from the few short sections mentioned but I kept a constant on my map and knew when turns etc were coming up. Conditions underfoot were pretty good, but this section definitely warranted the trail shoes I was wearing - some of it would have been tricky in road shoes.

I've now covered the section from Tealby to Barkston (near Grantham) and am really excited about the race - can't wait.

Next up - UltraTrace Grantham next weekend. Back to back 29 miles on saturday and Sunday. Treating this more as 2 long training runs and only going to partially taper. Also have to try and pass my fitness test on Tuesday!!