Area: Carneddau, Eryri
Diagnosed with glandular fever over a month ago, ergo my longest ever lay-off from racing, and indeed any real effort. This is incredibly frustrating, as I was in pretty good form, but being positive I have at least been able to get out for gentle outings, so it's a little better than being injured. This was my longest and most ambitious outing for over a month, only 15k/750m. The illness has been very mild but also very slow-burning (infuriatingly) so I took this cautiously, conscious of my HR as I climbed up the steep road out of Rowen towards the 'grit bin'. As ever, steep climbs are much more comfortable than road running, and my heart-rate stayed down. It was a stunning autumn morning: crystal clear. Hard work up to Bwlch y Ddaefaen, but then easier again for the steep climb from the bwlch up Foel Lwyd. I last did this, massively dehydrated, with Peter on our 'sea to sea' epic from Porthmadog to Conwy. The ridge to Tal y Fan and beyond is always awkward, rocky and lumpy throughout, but then I really enjoyed the grassy descent to Llangelynin old church: HR far too high, but it didn't actually feel hard. A superb ancient bridleway, new to me, plunges down from the chapel to the ancient woodland above Tyddyn Mawr: wet and rocky.
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