Little Trouble In Leafy Longhope

Don't Panic! Don't Panic! My morning drive bore witness to the first time I've ever come across congestion in the village. A fire up yonder caused traffic chaos. At the first whiff of trouble I shot off on a diversionary route which got me around without too much loss of time. Oh the joys of Android and it's traffic apps.

Taking things easy today ahead of Llyn-y-Fan tomorrow. I know I can't catch Matthew L in the race for the Chepstow Fell Series crown but I can enjoy the race. I was really looking forward to a head to head battle for the title but after his blisteringly brisk Beacons race he is - like Al Capone - untouchable. I does doth my cap to him.

Instead of any major exercise I'm looking forward to a spot of cooking tonight. The fridge is packed with veg and I've got to use it up before it goes south for the winter. Some sort of chunky stew me thinks... Also going to attempt homemade ciabatta. I need to kick off with the starter for ten and then finish it off tomorrow. Apparantly ciabatta has that sour dough type thing going on. With the result - good or bad - I'm up for red onion bruschette and an attempt on a panzanella salady effort...

Long Time No Lunch Run

It has to be well over a month since Martin and I got out for our, now not so regular, lunch time run. The old up over Dundry and it was good running. A little overcast but mild. Really rather pleasant. We ran. We chatted. The pace wasn't too high but we still got a good run out. Took us in the region of thirty four minutes for the hilly 7k route. Tonight I finished off with a session on the bike. Good day.

Finally managed to get my hands on the results of last weeks Friends 5, nee AXA 5, race. I was 57th of 240+ - not great and a long way back from my best but I did have that tough mountainous race a few days before. Martin was 20th and top M50 while Dan 'Oops I missed the start' Massey cut through the field to 17th. The final crew of Andy, Graham and Silv gave the back up to give the team a well deserved 7th place of 49 (unofficial). That, if the result stands, is our best result of recent years, beating last years previous best of 14th - now that is a result. I'm eagerly awaiting the official result so can I post the good news on the work intranet - maybe it will motive a few others to join our running ranks - then again, maybe not...

Pretty much set for the double header weekend coming up. I don't care what results I get as I know I'll enjoy the Llyn y Fan and St Arvan races. Be good to get back to the heady days of double headering. Bargain. Right, I'm off to cook up my final portion of homemade potato and cabbage soup from the freezer - is it my imagination or is it getting windy?

Back To Work

and not too much of a shock to the system - thankfully. A busy day and reasonably productive and after a spot of moonlighting I was home just in time for the Great British Bake Off - back of the net. It's going to be a bike session as I watch the baking - or is that a bake session as I watch the biking - well, I could get the wrong channel and tune in for the Tour of Britain instead...

No Wonder I Feel Knackered

I've now had time to plot my route from yesterday's Lake District Mountain Trial. Could my route have been so terribly off the scale that the planners '15.5' miles turned into my 20 miles? Also reckon there were an extra few feet of ascent for a total in the region of 7,000 feet - and we ran the shortened, bad weather route. Heaven knows how far I'd have run had we done the full measure...

Was a great weekend though and I feel I am continuing to go from strength to strength. A month or two I had a bit of a slide backwards but I feel firmly in forward gear again. Although I struggled a little on the steep ascents I felt strong going over the rough terrain of thick grass, bog and heather. After all that I'm pleased my legs don't feel too bad but I am really tired. Took the day off work today to recover - not as young as I used to be. Been a good rest.

Looking towards the rest of the month I've the Llyn-y-Fan race next Saturday which I don't think suits my style right now on account of it being a fairly quick climbing course although I hope to hold my own on the sharpish descent. Then there's the St Arvans 10 on the Sunday where I think I'll go better. The following week sees the Black Mountains race and I've set my sights on going sub-three hours for the first time. Looking beyond that I want to run a few orienteering events but longer term I need to start building up the miles - and so it starts again...

My route (estimated) from yesterday:-

Have To Mention This...

I cannot believe there is a summit called 'Great Cockup'! Seriously, there is. There's also a 'Little Cockup'. Unbelievable. Who names these things?

My First Solo Navigation Event...

and I was pleased with the result.

Conditions were not brilliant but they were much better than the forecast - and much better than last weeks Snowdon race. There were a few strong gusts and intermittant rain. Some heavy. Some less so. Within the first hour everything was soaked through but it wasn't cold and the decision to wear the gortex was spot on. I was hot in the first half hour but then, in the winds, it kept me at just about the right temperature. Not too hot. Not too cold. I felt comfortable all the way. Anyway, to the race.

I was determined to finish. My time? well I didn't care. I wanted to get round. That was my goal. I was prepared to give up time checking the map in order to get the navigation correct and minimise any cock-ups. This was my first true test of navigation. It was time to put all my 'I'm good at navigation' bragging to the test. Being my first attempt I obviously picked the full distance - in for a penny...

I set off steady. Checking my location and picking what I believed was the best route for me. It was time to live my mantra of 'mimimise the ascent and contour, contour, contour'.  I hit checkpoint one OK. I was a little off after the major climb but not actually too far from the right spot. I did better round to two although I did curve round slightly too much and lost a little time on what would have been the perfect route. Then came the longer traverse to three. I got a little confused with the map being a version I'm not used to and had to take a little time to pinpoint my position. That done, I selected my route and stuck to it. With hindsight I don't think I took the best line but neither do I think it cost me too much. Then came the long stage.

The trek to checkpoint four was the longest by far and I took a somewhat wildly different to everyone else. Difficult to describe but I was on my own. Me, the map, the compass and my belief - and believed... Despite feeling a bit odd running against the tide of runners near the checkpoint I still believe I had a good route.

The climb out of the valley and across to six was - for want of a better word - a right bastard and I was beginning to tire. The river crossing was even worse, not to mention a little scary - and believe it or not it does take quite a bit to scare me - but with the water above my waist and flowing pretty fiercly I was glad to reach the opposite bank. The final climb to the tarn and the checkpoint wasn't too bad - mind you, by then I was going much slower - and even more steady.

The final two checkpoints, seven and eight, were fairly short but as I climbed up from the tarn I was all for giving the organiser a slap. Once at the summit - the final summit thankfully - the drop to seven, eight and the finish were ticked off in relative short order. Never has it been more a pleasure to finish.

For those that spotted no mention of checkpoint five - well done, award yourself five point. Due to the weather the course was reduced to the 'bad weather course' meaning it missed out checkpoint five and went straight to six. The 'as the crow flies distance' was 15.5 miles. In all I reckon to have covered quite a bit more than that but not in a bad way as I think for the most part my route planning was pretty good.

I can't finish without putting a massive thank you to Pat's parents whose home we - that's Matthew and I - invaded on Saturday night. They put on a fantastic spread and my gift of a homemade cinnamon and raisin loaf seemed sadly lacking. They are topper people, absolute gold.

My finish position was 51st out of 120+ starters of what was a quality field. My time was 5 hours 16 minutes and I'm happy to report I kicked the ass of both Mat and Pat - just joking, not about beating them, that was true, but about the kicking of ass. We were all very closely packed and heading up there pair of them really made the weekend. Looking forward to my next one now I've started to prove my navigational boasting...

Pre-Flight Checks

Hat - check, gloves - check, waterproofs - check, torrential heavy rain forecast all day Sunday - check.... doh! At this stage it looks very much like it will be more of the same this weekend as last. Back to back wet races - that's not a precedent I want to set. Well in about three hours we - that's Matthew L, Pat W and me - will be starting the long drive up to the Lakes. Not something I relish but needs must and at least we are attempting to minimise are carbon footprint by car sharing. Minimising, that is, if you can call a five hundred mile round trip minimising! So, as inferred, the kit is packed. All the compulsory items are in the bag so to speak. I've decided on the rucksack so I'm not bothering taking the bumbug. The rucksack is more comfy any way as it doesn't bounce up and down quite so much. Well that's pretty much it. I'm ready to go stomp through bog, descend at break neck speed, climb every mountain and run through rivers deep...

Ready, Steady...

I just hope that, come Sunday, all systems are GO. It's been a funny old week. I feel rested but tired. I've only done a few bike sessions - oh, and that road race - so I should be rested but somehow I don't feel quite right in a running sense. This week also saw in a very happy 100th for my Gran - but I ate a little too much food.

I'm looking forward to Sunday's Lake District Mountain Trial - although it might end up becoming the Lake District Mountain Ordeal. Not sure whether to use the bumbag or innov8 rucksack in the race. I guess conditions will dictate that but looking at the current forecast I reckon it'll be the rucksack - together with a few extra things. Let's face it, I'm hardly going to be puahing up things at the front of the field. If I lose a few minutes here and there because of the extra weight, so be it. I'm more determined to go steady, take my time and navigate carefully than run it too hard, wander around aimlessly and end up running myself into the ground. I have feeling, for me, the Trial is more about surviving than eye balls out...

Routing Things Out

I've been busy testing my route planning ahead of the Lake District Mountain Trial. Using RouteGadget I've been going through previous events, picking my route and comparing it to the route the fast runners and course planners took. On the whole I've been on the money. Parts of my route plans followed those of the lead runners while other sections followed those of the planners. I'm hopeful I can do as well in the real thing but knowing my luck I'll pick a route only an idiot would choose...

Not So Friendly Five

Well it was the Friend 5 tonight (formerly the AXA 5) and I ran like a potato - and a very slow potato at that. I was pleased with my teams performance though. A full compliment of six with four to count - although one member of the team did manage to miss the start... But Dan redeemed himself as he moved through the field to eventually finish as first scorer for the team just pipping Martin to the title as fastest man in the water works.

My time of 37:34 was almost a minute slower than last year - but then again I didn't run over Snowdon a few days before the race back then. That's no excuse though, as I am a lot fitter now than then. It was mainly the wind - stop it - that did for me. It was killer on the bottom section of the course. That bottom run - stop it - normally drags but when you're running into the full force of the wind - also stop it - it drags double. At points I almost stopped when the gusts hit but my tactic of starting slow, towards the back of the field, helped and I was able to keep focus by overtaking runner after runner pretty much throughout the race.

Eitherway, I'm not too worried about my performance - or lack of it - tonight. It was a good training session in light of the longer game and I think the team will have scored well. I'm hopeful we will have topped our previous best of 14th. Fingers crossed...

Home, Sweet Home

Been a good few days but equally its nice to get home and I've finally dried out - but it was touch and go for a while. The drive home was good too. Three hours twenty and almost no numpties. However, I've a mind too stand for parliment to legalise the use of stringer missiles on slow drivers. Drivers, who for no accountable reason, drive well under the official speed targets. Why would anyone drive at 35 in a 'national speed limit' zone? Legalised use of stinger missiles, that's the answer. Anyway, as I said, it's good to be home. Thoroughly bloody knackered now though and that's despite a sound night's kip.

Hopefully my navigation skills have been honed ahead of next Sunday's Lake District Mountain Trial. Going to have a look at RouteGadget tomorrow to try and get a feel for the kind of route the Trial will send us. What ever it throws at me, I'm sure I'll cope. The only thing I really would like, what I would really really like would be a dry day. Can't face another soaking...

And here, for posterity, is the slightly abridged Peris Horeseshoe route:-
As you can see, I got some pretty good lines - read no major cocks ups, navigation par excellent

Running Exhausted

All in all my mini-break recce and race long weekend didn't quite work. That's not to say it's not been good. It has. Even the weather being it's usual damp squib hasn't detracted. No, it's more the concept of 26 miles of recce in the preceeding two days to what is already a tough race. Add in terrible conditions on the day. They had to miss out Lliwedd and take the miners to the top on account of dangerously strong wind - sssh, no, stop it - along the ridge and you're not looking at a quick one - I said stop it. The final nail in the coffin was the gale force winds - NO - over night. I hardly slept a wink. I honestly wasn't sure she could take it for so long - here we go again, No - she being the tent. But she's a strong old gal and I needn't have worried. But I did and adding that to the mix, I was fair exhausted before the start.

As to the race, that went well. Well, that is, until I ran out of steam. I was taking on energy gels pretty regular but it wasn't enough. Despite getting to the halfway point in just outside two hours I was a spent force and for a brief moment I almost called it quits - you actually are allowed to and downgrade to the half Peris race. But you know by now that's not my way.

By the time I reached the second from last summit I was beginning to feel a bit dizzy. More gels didn't help much but I just kept on giving. Fortunately it was mostly down hill from there.

Even the slightest of up hill running brought me to a near standstill but I stuck to it, held off a late challenge and finished in 4 hours and 27 minutes. Slow, I know, but I finished - and I really wasn't far from not actually being physically able to.

In all it's been a good training camp if nothing else. 43 miles and around 16,000 feet of ascent over the three days. I feel all set for next weekend's Lake District Mountain Trial - assuming I recover - oh, and of course, there's Tuesday's Inter-Companies 5 miler for which I will almost certainly not have recovered for.

Just about ready to head home tomorrow. Oh joy, it's just started to rain again...

Not Such A Nice Day...

But I still got the job done. A shorter, slower recce today but on count back it still had close to 4,000 feet of ascent - and that was the same as yesterday's ascent.

With the weather threatening rain I set out from the campsite and headed for what is the last check point in the race, Maesgwm. The weather held but as I ascended to Moel Cynghorion I ascended into the cloud at about 500m. Following my bearing I hit the check point (or what will be tomorrow ) spot on.

Then a quick down back out of the cloud followed by a rather longer, slower up along the Rangers path back into the cloud and up to about 1,000m to the point it meets the numpty trail - oops, I mean tourist trail. Then it was a quick about face all the way back to Maesgwm - although I did try out a few short cuts which seemed to work.

I then followed the race route towards the finish. All went well until I met up with the road just after the rail crossing. The map shows a path across a field at the bend in the road which continues into the woods to where I think the finish will be. Only one problem, there didn't seem to be much of a path where it should have been. There was a feint trail, even had a home made bridge across a tiny stream but it kind of faded out by the time I hit the woods.

After much dilly dallying through said woods I finally hit a good path which took me to the finish. That final part of the race leaves me with many questions. I shall try and find someone before the start - preferably with local knowledge - to ask the way.

Anyway, completely f*$%ed now after today's ten miles added to yesterday's fifteen, so I'll probably be lucky to make the half way cut off! Let battle commence on the morrow...

Another Tent With A View

And what a view. In fact, what a day. The sunshine is fantastic. Almost too hot. Scratch that, it was too hot - too hot for running - but I did anyway.

The first photo is my view east to Snowdon. The second, to the north, shows the summits, left to right, Elidir Fach (we skirt that in the race), Elidir Fawr, Y Garn and Glyder Fawr - to be traversed in the first half of Saturday's Peris Horseshoe fell race. And that's where I've been today.

Was a pretty good recce - even if, at 15 miles, it was a little too far. Not completely certain I took the best route to Elidir Fawr - might have to follow an Eryri runner on race day!

Across to Glyder Fawr was straightforward and I got a good descent down to Pen y Pass. Wasn't the most direct but I seemed to follow a path/trod for most of the way and it was pretty runnable. I think I'll try for that route in the race.

Then it was a plod back to Llanberis down the road :-( and now let the cooking begin...