Gutted.................!

Last night, I decided to see my week off work out on style, and got the train to the nearest town, Welshpool, 14 miles up the A483, and ran home along the Shropshire Canal. A mix of grass, footpath, and a few muddy bits, but they were mostly dried up from the recent weather. I thought it would be a good test of the Salmon XA hydration pack too........




It was peeing down when I got there, and although I had my Rab Slipstream with me, the rain was quite refreshing and I ran without it. 8 miles in and I started to flag a little, but lobbed a gel in and felt good, and I ploughed on. At 13 miles, I have to admit I was running out of steam, so decided to walk/run the rest of the way. I reached the 13 mile mark in around 2 hours, which I'm fairly happy with.

Happy to say the XA performed really well, but, if you are one of these folks who loves their shiny new gear to stay, well, shiny, don't use this pack with a running top or base layer...... or fleece, or softshell....... the waist straps  rub the material rather well!! Nothing a brief run over with a razor or FuzzBuster (do they still make those??!) wont cure though. Otherwise, it was great to run with. I wont say too much as after a couple more runs and a bike ride or two, I'll do a proper review.

Anyway,  I digress. Why gutted? I got home, text the missus to say I was home safe, got in the bath after a stretch, and when I got out, the screen on my N95 was off. I though it must be the battery, so put it on charge.... nothing. Turned it on, it lit up but the screen stayed black. Took it apart, left in the airing cupboard (it hadn't got wet, but just in case) then tried it again this morning. Nothing, nada, kaput. B***locks.

Just at a time when I'm starting to save some money towards a new bike or upgrades for the current one, this happens, and I now have to buy another phone. Ain't it always the way............................ and I couldn't get the track off Sports Tracker either!!