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Snowdonia marathon 2013
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I am trying to wangle an entry for the Beacons ultra in November
Chrissi,do both and add a few others in to keep you ticking over
Hiya Jason..having fun?
Sorted!
My first offroad ultra coming up....
You OK, jason? These ultras can have an effect on you. You don't know where they might end up taking you.
I'll be having a few words to say soon.
Part of longer term plan, Mr Rex- just doing for a jolly at the mo though
Just bought new pack- inov8 race elite 16- holds 2 500 bottles in waistband- already got a pack with bladder, but figured that with water stations every 8m no need to carry any more weight than 2 x 3/4 filled 500ml bottles and Nuun tabs. Want to avoid carrying 2 -3 l of fluid over the bumps 
But want to be able to access fluids without stopping
Brer -
ok London/Manchester on calender and Chester 1/2 back on also. Have also got my eye on a trail half 2 weeks before TMW. Naughty Manchester people put the cost up by £5 the day before VLM ballot results due, suspect it will fill fast then so hopefully will have room for me even if i have to wait for club place draw and fail in that too.
JD - How far? Never thought about the bladder/bottle issue and ease of refilling before. There's alot more to this Ultra malarky than you realise.
Didn't run last night right calf a bit tender after Tuesday's intervals hopefully this will sort itself out as i get used to it.
I'm am back 'home' after my long exodus, though I know where I'd rather be. Now need to get seriously back into action though if I'm going to be able to make it around this wee marathon. I'm in the process of coming to terms with the fact that I'm nowhere near where I want to be/would be were it not for the acccident etc etc fitness-wise and that this year for me it has to be about enjoyment, getting round and no other targets. ie I know this is how it is, but not entirely sure my head has really accepted it yet! My other option is to pull out for this year and come back, hopefully fully fit, next year, but I'm not sure I won't regret that...
The return to school next week is going to come as a bit of a shock to my legs having barely been on a bike since mid-July, but hopefully the benefit of cycling will add together with the bits of running I'm doing to get me back up to distance without injury.
panad- just enjoy the experience without any pressure
Chrissi- 2 laps for around 45m
5.7m recovery this morning, 30 mins of hill repeats later
panad - just aim to complete and enjoy you may surprise yourself
jd- can't get my head around laps at all
My mistake- 46
Only 2 laps Chrissi, with the advantage that you know what's coming second time round
Panad, be assured my friend that by Snodders I'll be trashed so it will be a day out and enjoy-no targets,so we can bumble along together
jason,how have we both entered the dark side? I blame Rexy boy, his influence has permeated down the ether of the Internet. Downloaded my Hardmoors ultra onto Garmin and am shocked by the fact that I don't find 31 miles daunting anymore.
New laptop arriving tomorrow as computer is dying however am dreading all that 'set up' nonsense and it's Windows 8 which does my head in.Life is so much easier in a pair of trainers
Brer- this will be my longest and my first this year, but did 2 on lovely tarmac last year
sorry team, I've been struggling these last two weeks with running and posting on this thread! I've been very low on energy, work/home a bit stressful, can I blame that? and as you can see from the time I'm not sleeping very well either!
I'm still getting all my runs done, just finding them hard work! long runs especially, I'm hitting a wall after 10miles.
will give myself a stern talking too and get back on track asap!
jenf - take it easy, and don't push the running too hard if the rest of life is too chaotic, the last thing you'll want is to end up injured on top of everything else.
What am I being blamed for now??
Last Brecon Beacons recce run Wed 21 Aug - 13.0 miles, 2860' ascent incl. Corn Du 2864', Pen y Fan 2907', Cribyn 2608', Fan y Big 2359', Bwlch y Ddwyallt 2474', and Waun Rydd 2523'.
(And that's just the heading ...)
Finished off my series of five recce runs with a six-summit monster with faithful friend, Archie.
Parked at Upper Neuadd Res and after only about 300' ascent SW heading for the nameless 642m top on the map (which will be race CP1) entered the cloud which I remained in all the rest of the day. It was a world of greyness, dampness, swirling mist, and fa eatureless terrain of bogs and tussocky grass in every direction you looked to the extent of visibility which was about 30m. Occasionally a dreadful drop would appear to one side or the other.
Climbing the steepest part of the 642m top a bottle tumbled out of my belt, rolled down the hill, gradually building up speed until it disappeared down into the mist. Archie went after it. Great! Useful having a dog! But he came to a halt at the edge of visibility and looked up at me, puzzled. Spent a fruitless 15 minutes descending and looking for the hard-to-replace bottle, which contained about 30% of the day's energy drink needs. A hopeless job on the vast hillside.
At least I still had my (new) compass which was proving to be vital today.
It was a long haul north to the first summit, Corn Du, and I was commiting myself more and more with each step taken. These conditions would simply not have to be too dangerous.
Met a few walkers out and about, dressed in full winter gear contasting with my shorts and vest combo. Once up to nearly 3000' it was cold I have to admit, with a surprisingly very strong wind. It was necessary to keep moving.
I started to rattle off summits - I was enjoying this. Nothing wrong with compass work. Excellent practice for race day when all this section would have to be done at night. This was until I reached the col before the final climb to Waun Rydd. This is pathless, SAS territory. I won't say I got lost as such but it seemed to involve a lot of blundering about, and I took a taking a difficult line across peat hags and climbing in and out of gullies, occasionally following sheep paths. I stumbled onto the summit more by accident than anything.
I stayed there in a moment. The mist was really swirling around now in a cold wind. Without a compass I would have been in a dangerous position - every direction looked the same.
But got back to the car safely after a difficult descent and 4h22 taken overall to complete another 20% of this huge ultra I seem to have entered. Potential for mishaps today, but averted, and I seemed to manage without that drink.
Archie enjoys these runs a lot. He ranges across the hillside up to 100m away from me, or trots along the path always a little ahead no matter what speed I'm doing. He certainly has more gears than I do! He's interested in sheep but doesn't trouble them.
Will report on last weekend's Ridgeway 85 at some point, on which you will be glad to know I did not take the dog ...
First time for me this year
.
Did a recce in the car today of the route. Tracked the bit at the campsite which is track, all good through Beddgelert. Turned right in Waunfawr then right and right again. Am I right in assuming it goes onto track from there until you reach Llanberis?
It looks like from a MAPMYRUN route I looked at.
Group hug needed I think!
Trex - your beacons recce sounds blimming awful.
Lots of cross training for me as need to get other disciplines warmed up for my tri 4 weeks today. Have my cross Wales next Saturday so going to take it easy this week.
T Rex- good going, mate!!!
Well, I went for a 1 loop recce of the 2 loop Beacons Ultra today. Should have been 23m apparently, but a few nav glitches made it 26.5! Lol! The climb up Tor y Foel after 4 ish m is a beast (2m with 800 ascent) God knows what it will be like second time round- gulp!!! What have I let myself in for??? 26.5m in 3.56 ( moving time- doesn't count faffing timeBit of a climb after 3m! And the same agin after 26? Whimper.....
You must count faffing time! The race clock won't be stopping while you faff about during the event, but of course I hope you won't be doing too much of it. At your speed at least some of the second lap might still be in daylight? What do you reckon?
Flatboy - yes it reaches the end of the tarmac and becomes a rough miner's track, fairly level at first but then a short stony climb to the top where you are battered by driving rain or hail and a headwind of such ferocity it is hard to make progress. After that it's a rutted path, a slippery grassy slope and onto a concrete track and a little more tarmac before the finish in the High Street.
It's the section we all like best on here! It appeals to our off-road tendencies, the dark side that more and more of us seem to be succumbing to, it appears. Who started it? This used to be a road marathon thread ...
I think it was Fellrunner, but he's gone off now and started a SNOD ultra thread in the 'Gasp! Unconventional running' topic.
Well, it used to be called that - doesn't seem to be any more. Obviously become mainstream.
Where is everyone? I seem to be chatting away to myself ...
T Rex- the plan is for the headtorch to be merely to fulfill the kit requirements
the way this threads going fellrunner and co will be back to join us soon.
JD i knew your lap theory of knowing what was to come wss flawed
jjenf dont be too hard on youurself just run as much as your comfortable and you'll be back up there in no time
i've persuaded my friend to do TMW with me, hope shes still my friend after
JD, great running.. as expected! you had fantastic weather for it.
Thanks Chrissi/Panad for the encouragement. I took it easier this weekend, went off road in the forest then along the beach, stopped a few times to enjoy the view and take photos, and hey, 16 miles later I was still feeling good! Its not the darkside T rex, Its theuraputic!!
Camlo, good luck next sat with cross wales. What is it? I think the group hug lifted me, so thanks!
Did the Roman Run yesterday. 16 miles from Brecon to Merthyr Tydfil. I'd heard the first few miles were a bit hilly but didn't pay much attention to the course profile (mainly through fear). Had i seen what was in store i would have taken an oxygen mask and a Yeti spotting kit
Having said that i thoroughly enjoyed. Great organisation, incredible scenery and hills one of which i don't think i will ever forget(more of a mountain than a hill).
Finished in 2hrs 40 mins. dragged round by 2 of my colleagues from Sospan Road Runners.
Great training run and a great day.