Low batteries

A run in the Malvern Hills had been planned for 7pm this evening by some people in the club. I love running in the Malverns because of the great views and hard climbs. Usually takes me about 20 minutes to get there by car (about 10-12km) so I got everything ready by 6:40pm and tried to start the car... WTF? Car won't start. Turned the key again, well it seemed to be trying to start. Brought out the multimeter and checked the battery, hmmm a bit low in voltage but probably still enough to get it started. Tried again, this time pressing a bit more on the accelerator (but not too much in case I flooded the engine). Vrooommm engine came to life! Spent the next 5 minutes revving the engine at around 3000rpm to make sure that the battery was recharged. Obviously my dearest hasn't been starting the car regularly over the past few months.

Damn don't have enough time to get to the Malverns. Well time for plan 2 - go to the local sports centre where the club normally meets and hope that there are some people there. Don't want to risk driving until I've checked the car out properly tomorrow. Have to run there but not a lot of time before 7pm. Time to switch on the turbo without warmup then... A few small hills early on but then mostly downhill. Got there in around 8 minutes, a bit out of breath, but thankfully there were 3 people there. The run was going to be about 40 minutes, so around 7km-8km as the pace won't be too quick.

Out on the canal, onto the road, towards Hindlip village and the police headquarters. A bit hilly but probably about the same or not as hard as Bukit Tunku. Not running very smoothly yet, maybe my body still thinks it past midnight. Weather was nice and cool with golden evening sunshine flickering through the leaves. Had a long gradual downhill on the way back, followed by a bit of rolling terrain on the perimeter of the golf course back to the sports centre. Took a slightly different route home from the sports centre along the canal, finishing with the steep nasty hill to my flat. Was a fairly easy run with heart rate mostly below 140, only went above it on the way to the sports centre and on some of the hills. Total of about 1 hour 1 minute running time with two stops at the sports centre on the way out and in.


Altitude profile of run

Location 52°N 2°W