Lilleshall, Boxing Day - 26/12/2010

Very cold looking Lilleshall Hill. It wasn't that dark really.

I was going to do the Davil's Chair Dash, but woke up with a pretty thick head and bad guts (the former due to a cold, the latter being the inevitable result of sprouts and stuffing). So I chilled in the morning, tidied up yesterday's debris, and headed out around the village just after two.

I varied the usual route a bit, going through Cheswell Grange to the Red House, then up through the clay pits to the incline and on to Lilleshall Hall. From here I headed along the golf course drive and down Abbey Lane, turning back into the village. I cut through the Churchyard and up Lilleshall Hill, where I took another pic, similar to one of Friday's.

Finally I headed home via the clay pits, Red House and Cheswell Drive.

I kept it really steady all the way today, hoping that I'd not slow down the recovery from my latest cold. That said, I felt pretty good and averaged not much over 10 minutes per mile. The total today was 11.6 miles and 640' of ascent.

This week's been busy, I've been under the weather, and I only got out three times, so I'm satisfied with 25.5 miles and 2,140' of ascent. I should be able to up the mileage and climbing this week, especially if I can finally start to beat the cold. I'm planning to get out for the club run on Tuesday night (probably around 7 miles), then run again on Thursday morning (hopefully the Wrekin Orienteers Christmas Choc-O course on the Long Mynd - around 9 miles) and then it's the Morning After race on Saturday (5 miles). I'll have to get out on Sunday for a longer one (ideally at least 9 miles).

The four week rolling total is 102.1 miles (up 1.5 miles) and 13,280' of ascent (down 1,450'). I really need to start building some more climbing into the routine before the longer steeper races start in March.