Trust your instincts Luke - feel the force.

I should've heeded old Ben Kinobis advice as I descended off Blencathra summit over Mungrisedale common, toward the Caldew and Great Calva today.

Although I had ran leg one of the Bob Graham Round at least ten times before today I had only ran it anticlockwise twice before. I knew the way like the back of my hand (or so I thought) so didn't elect to take a map with me. Uhh Urrrrr (makes that noise from Family Fortunes when they guess wrong answer)

As I headed off the Summit of Blencathra I knew I had to bear to my right a bit and drop onto the path that runs through the slatey scree. This I did without a hitch and very soon I reached 'the main path' which runs over Mungrisedale common between the Caldew crossing and Foul Crag. I turned left onto this path and began following it gently downhill.

I'd decided that today I would walk the whole leg to see how long it took with out any running, and with the weather being rather poor I was soon quite cold and wet.

If I'd been running I would have covered at least twice the ground in the same time but walking not only got me cold but allowed me time to think. Thinking too much I  began to wonder if I was actually on the right path and wasn't in fact heading toward Bowscale instead of Calva. The gentle ground should have told me I wasn't going the wrong way as to get to Bowscale requires a decent drop to cross Blackhazel beck, and I hadn't been on any steep ground since Blencathra top.

If I'd had a map with me, or even a bearing in my head so I could've checked the compass I would have continued in the correct direction. But then when the path faded somewhat and I decided I MUST need to head left to gain the correct path which in my mind was a wide, dirty brown track for it's entirety.

As I rounded to my left I didn't find any other path but did soon reach a  small ravine which I now know to be Sinen Gill. From the head of the Gill I could see the Cumbrian Way below me and decided to head to it.

At the Cumbrian Way I had to decide whether to follow it up to Skiddaw House then onto Calva and/or Skiddaw, or simple turn for Keswick and cut my day short. As I still hadn't ran a step I was still quite cold and decided that this wasn't the day for a long walk after all. But rather than head back the quickest way (under Blease Fells flank) I began running and climbed up onto Lonscales flank and followed the CW again to the Gale Rd carpark. I could've then dropped over the back of Latrigg to the (old) railway line but instead opted to drop down to Derwentfolds and up to the Blencathra Centre to then enjoy the long long drop down into Threlkeld where I had parked.

I'm very annoyed at myself for making this silly error, but at least I still had a good few hours up the fells.

I timed myself up Halls Fell Ridge today. 48 minutes from the carpark S of the A66 to the trig point. Not sure if that's fast or not but I do know that I once took 45 minutes TO GET DOWN the same route in the dark at 1am on a  wet and windy day in 2009.

Due to a bit of a sore left leg I hadn't ran since Thursdays jog with dog. That's also partly why I wasn't gonna run at all today. But it seems no worse right now so I think its probably nowt bad.