Earlier in the year circumstances conspired to prevent me from accompanying Daren on one of his new running circuits and rather than try to figure it out on my own, I waited patiently for his return.
Today we ran that circuit.
Daren was describing how amazing it was swimming in the sea this morning despite the low water temperature… and how quickly he changes into dry clothes on the beach afterwards. He said it was a small pleasure, although I might have got this muddled up (as if), and maybe it was Claire who called it a small pleasure. I know it might seem like a trivial point, but if the water was cold then it’s probably a little wonder.
Our route took us down through the golf club and into Pyecombe village before we started the long drag up to the top of Wolstenbury Hill. Daren had persuaded me that it was warmer out than the car-park at Jack & Jill would indicate and by the time we reached this point I was inclined to agree.
From there we dropped down into a valley that would make a perfect bowl in which to sledge in the snow… before we found how hard it was to run up the other side.
We soon got back to Clayton at the bottom of the hill beneath the windmills and then, opting for a slightly longer return, we ran along to the tank tracks. Readers might remember that this was the location for the Blighty Grouse Grind (inspired by the route that Daren found in Vancouver), but fortunately we chose to make only one ascent today.
It was a good job that we were both there, as we each suspected that we would have otherwise paused for a rest half way up.
The great thing about the top of the tank tracks is that it’s all downhill back to the cars.. just as well!
Daren’s delightful circuit was 6.3 miles and we completed it in 1.06 (my watch said 1.10, but the difference is that he stops his Garmin when he pauses to look at the view). A great pace either way, bearing in mind the severity of the hills that were included and a fantastic start to the year!