tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23356601329615110652024-02-06T19:32:48.175-08:00Fun on the FellsForest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-10463612572301165982014-09-05T03:04:00.002-07:002014-09-05T03:43:55.368-07:00UTMB: The Journey<div class="MsoNormal">
I arrived in Chamonix on the 21<sup>st</sup> of August and
headed for fellow Team Raidlight athlete Ute Baird and husband Andrews
apartment. They had very kindly offered to put me up for a few days until I met
several other British athletes and we moved into a chateau we had rented for a
week. Summer in Chamonix had not been great compared to previous years but I
timed my arrival very nicely with a great weather window; a window of running
opportunity in the surrounding mountains.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgYNRP3wiTlDpsGVCjkosWwYWfMa0OBOkBMQ4A-_hzUglpItSHOqLyvdYNmhKVO8UNMh3POlxOiPrD3i5g_HYAlt7bNn6KFG11Bc2YUpG-YJ0HzNnRlKefULKHNjJh_gXJVbpfKo5Qrs/s1600/utmb+arch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgYNRP3wiTlDpsGVCjkosWwYWfMa0OBOkBMQ4A-_hzUglpItSHOqLyvdYNmhKVO8UNMh3POlxOiPrD3i5g_HYAlt7bNn6KFG11Bc2YUpG-YJ0HzNnRlKefULKHNjJh_gXJVbpfKo5Qrs/s1600/utmb+arch.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start and finish arch of the UTMB 2014</td></tr>
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Ute knows the area very well and over a coffee showed me
some great routes on the Chamonix valley map. To cut a long storey short over
the next few days I was like a kid in a sweet shop exploring the beautiful
area. I was clocking up 5 hour days with around 1200-1800metres of ascent each
day. The mixture of sun, views, mountain air and new trails for me kept me
smiling all the time I was out running and exploring. It was on the evening of
the third day out that I realised I had a problem, both Achilles where
throbbing with pain. Whoops I may have overdone it somewhat. The worrying thing
was that I had never had a problem with my right foot until now, 5 days before
the start of the UTMB! Doh and double doh! I had previously torn my left
Achilles last year and had been battling with it again this year (along with
other injuries and illness-see previous blogs) and the one thing I have learnt
is that the only thing I can do is rest and ice it; with appropriate calf
muscle stretching. So that’s what I did. Ute also recommended a sports therapist
in Chamonix; so I booked in with them on the Wednesday before the Friday race
start. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKfJ5r8LzSIXPkCVeXDFdkwbQfMRxQgXRNAt1zuKcDeP6RFx3Vbcfa1tivhybkqH2CwejsbZzIMUysb3iIZ1dIQZrw4T2sRJEZWf9rS3_9c3pfAKbrOeBebX2NL509He5jUBQE2LqVBo/s1600/utmb+brevant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKfJ5r8LzSIXPkCVeXDFdkwbQfMRxQgXRNAt1zuKcDeP6RFx3Vbcfa1tivhybkqH2CwejsbZzIMUysb3iIZ1dIQZrw4T2sRJEZWf9rS3_9c3pfAKbrOeBebX2NL509He5jUBQE2LqVBo/s1600/utmb+brevant.jpg" height="260" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A day out playing up the Brevent prior to the UTMB; and its Seb Chaigneau<br />
and crew doing a shoot for Garmin</td></tr>
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I could feel the strain in the Achilles when just simply
walking on it. I was getting worried that my UTMB experience would be very
short lived. So whilst walking around the UTMB Expo show I called in the Active
Patch 4U stand and they put around 8 of their patches on me in various
locations and to further back things up I then called in the Raidlight stand
where Team Raidlight Japan were present and they fixed me up with some kensio
tape on both Achilles. So when I rolled up to the start of the UTMB on Friday,
I had Actives patches, Kensio tape and calf compression guards on in the hope
that would do the trick along with the physio I had had a couple of days before
in keeping the strains at bay.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4eII_UiBSFdW9AV20i8iPIWss8JPYw2-lADF4wPW6hPx331Op_RJflxLGTr_Bu5J2qnigvrq4qrwIgu-0RCUF-Uvcl2Nvz7nPRGuonXHyX_c3fo0TShmis1BaOqj4m7jCipPiCZxlDY/s1600/raidlight+utmb.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4eII_UiBSFdW9AV20i8iPIWss8JPYw2-lADF4wPW6hPx331Op_RJflxLGTr_Bu5J2qnigvrq4qrwIgu-0RCUF-Uvcl2Nvz7nPRGuonXHyX_c3fo0TShmis1BaOqj4m7jCipPiCZxlDY/s1600/raidlight+utmb.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raidlight Stand at UTMB expo, with a bountiful supply of kensio tape!</td></tr>
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So race day arrived and I arrived at the start to be greeted
with a sea of other competitors sitting down taking position to get in line for
the mass start of 2300 runners. Just as the Elite runners were coming out to
take their places in the reserved patch up front, the rain started. Most people
reached for the waterproof tops but I was quite happy with the rain, as it was
still quite warm. I decided to leave my waterproof in my Olmo 5 Raidlight
backpack and just go with the gillet and arm warmers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At 5.30 we were off…..well the elites were I think it took
me another 6 minutes to get under the starting arch. However, I was not
stressed by this as I had already made my mind up my sole objective was to
complete the UTMB. Time was irrelevant, I backed this up by not wearing a watch
and in fact from that moment on until I finished I hadn't a clue what time of
the day it was. The atmosphere in Chamonix when the UTMB starts is just quite
simply amazing. The amount of people that line the course out of town is breath
taking as is both the noise and applause they give the competitors. It was so
much fun just running down and hi five(ing) children and people, who were also
so happy to just spectate and join in the carnival atmosphere. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So I jogged on down to Les Houches along the first 10km of
the course which is fairly flat and just kept a steady pace and weaved in and
out of people on route. The crowds were back out at les Houches so I
immediately went into child mode and put both arms out pretending to be a plane
diving from one side of the road to another hi five(ing) kids either side. I’m
not sure who was laughing more, myself or the kids (and yes I made aeroplane
noises as well, ha).</div>
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After the village centre it was time to grab the trekking
poles off my back and put them into action. The first proper climb of the UTMB
started as we divert to our left from the road and head up to Le Delevret. The
rain continued to come down as I continued to go up. As long as I maintained a
constant forward motion I was warm enough and therefore happy enough with
everything. This was pretty much the theme for the rest of the night except I
had my first experience of runners “stomach issues”. Yep, no need to go into
detail but between Saint-Gervais and Les Chapieux I had about 5 unplanned
stops. I think had I been time and raced focused this may have had a larger
negative impact on my run than it did. I just simply thought to myself that as
long as I was going forward then in didn’t really matter. I did however, focus
on getting more solid food into me at the check points on route and
concentrated on remaining hydrated. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See told you it was wet to start with!</td></tr>
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This all helped pass the time and after Les
Chapieux things had pretty much settled down. So I could trot on nicely without
the trots (sorry couldn’t resist that one ha). It was also around here that I
bumped into a few other Brit runners including Nicky Spinks (whom I had had the
pleasure of helping out on her Paddy Buckley Round in her quest to get all 3
ladies records for the 3 big UK rounds). I exchanged a few words with Nicky but
then we kept just trotting on in the dark and rain at our own pace and feel. From
Arete Mont Favre it’s a nice descent pretty much down to Courmayeur. The last
section was quite steep though and I remember having to dive to one side on the
single track to let two lady runners come hurtling past me. I remember thinking
they must have quads of steel as well as very dextrous reactions as it was
still night and the track was full of tree roots exposed at intervals along the
steep switch backs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I must admit I was happy to get to Courmayeur, it had been a
wet night and I was doing my best drowned rat impression and it was great to
get my drop bag for a change of clothes. After a short while Nicky Spinks came
in and sat down with me as we both tucked into plates of race aid station
pasta. Nicky was worried that sitting around a lot would make her struggle to
get going again. So within 10minutes she was gone and back out onto the course.
I was impressed once again by her tenacity. I decided to take my time. I ate as
much as I could stomach, went the wash room, had a good wash/scrub and changed
my clothes. I also decided it was time for music, so I got my ipod wired up.
After 30 minutes I decided to hit the road again and left Courmayeur….5minutes
later I was back to grab my cup of tea I had left, wally! <o:p></o:p></div>
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I think the course markings were a little thin on the ground
in Courmayeur and although I roughly knew the way (I had stayed there 2 years
previously when doing the Tor Des Geants) I did get slightly lost until a local
dustbin man pointed me in the right direction. Once I was on the road to the
Refuge Bertone path I knew where I was and immediately relaxed singing along to
Placebo songs…..much to the amusement of a competitor I passed as I came out
with the immortal lines of “A friend with breasts and all the rest, A friend
who’s dressed in leather”…..As I hit the chorus of “Days dawning, skins
crawling, pure morning” the day was indeed dawning and the head torch was removed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When I arrived at Refuge Bertone I had to take a few minutes
to take in the views, they were simply breath taking. The last time I was here
was when I was competing in the Tor Des Geants, it was night time with snow all
around, no great amazing views of the mountains but the sky was completely
clear and the night sky blazed for one and all, with and unfathomable amount of
stars beaming down to our little planet. I then thought of the sepsis that had
been steadily blazing up my leg also 2 years ago on that event (see previous
blog); quick shudder and it brought me back to the present.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwusFobRDwSLtEHpbUmQCnrvGzkD-K8Rq1EtdK2-IyylkvSU1V82pTzd-JmE4Fy_IvGiyqg7R8gTbA-eyDD9yFhRxSd47P7KKFxZsGHeg5JHJtNXRFnpYTRdX8yP086kmBqK5rsepTWU/s1600/22253414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwusFobRDwSLtEHpbUmQCnrvGzkD-K8Rq1EtdK2-IyylkvSU1V82pTzd-JmE4Fy_IvGiyqg7R8gTbA-eyDD9yFhRxSd47P7KKFxZsGHeg5JHJtNXRFnpYTRdX8yP086kmBqK5rsepTWU/s1600/22253414.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing my Caveman/Werewolf impression on route to Bonatti</td></tr>
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I realised it was now
time to run. I knew it was good path to Refuge Bonatti so I made the most of
the cool morning conditions and got into a nice running stride whilst also
taking in the views. This was my favourite section of the UTMB course with a
very impressive looking Mont Blanc to my left dazzling in the morning sun. It
was somewhere along this section I passed Nicky again. A quick exchange of
words but I kept going with the flow this time and plodded onto Bonatti. On the
descent from there to Arnuva I then caught up with another Brit and fell
running friend Lee Knight. “Aye up” I said and then we waffled on to each other
for a while and into Arnuva. Lee said his drive had gone. He had got stressed
out about keeping up with a planned schedule he had and due to the slow mass
start had been constantly on the back foot chasing his split times. “I’m still
flipping finishing” or words to that affect he said. “I want that finisher’s
gilet”. We left the aid station together and Lee produced his profile sheet so
we could see what was coming up next….whoops Grand Col Ferret, the highest
point of the course. I told Lee I was just running to feel and at that moment
in time I felt Ok, so I continued to ascend at my chosen pace, as at the back
of my mind I must admit I was then beginning to think that I would like to be
back in Chamonix before it was daft O’clock at night. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoizHoGpLVvCvPSyhgS54nPffHr8HKhT08SvQunDSCK9uXXpVj3RAMsg_EJ6JW5ELHDSsComdW5Bd2iCROYZzbWGFg2Davvn0vYU48A1LeVDpEDOooHOCqXOZBEMUHRlRRa4ijbs3b0Ps/s1600/arnuva_grand_col_ferret.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoizHoGpLVvCvPSyhgS54nPffHr8HKhT08SvQunDSCK9uXXpVj3RAMsg_EJ6JW5ELHDSsComdW5Bd2iCROYZzbWGFg2Davvn0vYU48A1LeVDpEDOooHOCqXOZBEMUHRlRRa4ijbs3b0Ps/s1600/arnuva_grand_col_ferret.jpg" height="191" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arnuva to Grand Col Ferret</td></tr>
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I really enjoyed the
descent from the Grand Col Ferret to La Fouly, once again great running with
some great views. However, the section from La Fouly to Champex lac was not as
enjoyable for me. It must have been getting around mid-day or later as the sun
was getting hot and I was beginning to cook. I’m not a runner who does well in
hot conditions. I did quite a bit of walking in this section, particularly in
the exposed areas. By the time I got to Champex Lac I felt blah! I had been
going through a lull for about an hour or more. Help was at hand though. Ute
and Andrew had volunteered to crew for me at the later aid stations. This was
brilliant, as I rolled into the aid tent Ute had already got my stuff laid out,
and just simply asked what food and drink I would like. I let her know and the
next minute it appeared. Brilliant I could just keep my backside on the bench
and moan about how rubbish I felt! Ute reminded me that there was only a
marathon to do now and everyone feels rubbish after 70 something miles…….as
I've never raced a 100 mile race before I couldn't argue with that one so just
accepted my fate. I had also been talking to Dakota Jones who was sat opposite
me. Things hadn't been working out for him and he was regrouping himself for a
continuation. He suggested that we both leave together, well I didn't need to
be asked twice. As far as I was concerned it was a great privilege to be able
to travel a while with such a talented runner. That’s the one thing I totally
adore about this sport; when we race we all line up on the same start line and
run the same course no matter if we are elites, good club runners mid packers
or back packers. How many amateur footballers can play with the pro’s, how many
amateur golf players can play with the pro’s etc etc, yet in the world of
ultra-running we can all be lined up together to run the same course at the
same event. We all share the same passion and the same love for a sport and
then subsequently also share it in our racing. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCOfiyLU0UiQgmdt5hyORtCA1rxzIQqjqVNaOLKTY40sCogwCE48PSqmTok-4sHw9ITiXLyxnMxNaKXqFgqgK__ZqUnkyo6H7XuWfbsJUnFD_7rmc-mVwy0veobRpw5OW7R-dwR-KWPg/s1600/descent+to+Vallorcine.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCOfiyLU0UiQgmdt5hyORtCA1rxzIQqjqVNaOLKTY40sCogwCE48PSqmTok-4sHw9ITiXLyxnMxNaKXqFgqgK__ZqUnkyo6H7XuWfbsJUnFD_7rmc-mVwy0veobRpw5OW7R-dwR-KWPg/s1600/descent+to+Vallorcine.jpeg" height="257" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Descent to Vallorcine, with La tete aux vents in the background<br />
Photo Simon Ellis</td></tr>
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After a few miles of further
descent from Champex Lac aid station Dakota concluded that his legs were not as
ready to commence the pounding as he initially thought they were. He decided it
would be best if he turned back, so we shook hands and parted company. Ute and
Andrew managed to intercept him at the top of the road climb we had descended.
I then saw all 3 of them next at Trient. I can’t remember much about the then
ensuing section apart from thinking “blimey this is taking some time,….huff,
puff” and “look out rock, look out tree root and ooooo stream…..chuck water
over head”. But eventually Trient aid station did appaear and once again Ute sorted
me out. I thought I was going a bit delirious when I arrived as I thought I had
entered a disco, but no when I looked to my left there was a dj mixing tunes
and getting down with the groove….although it was tempting to bust a move or
two I decided to leave my dancing till later and headed out onto the course
still feeling rather grim. The saving factor of this next section was that the
course goes straight into an ascent up to Catogne. J’adore ascents! The ascents
I could manage and they gave time for me to digest food and get back into a
rhythm. It was the descents that were taking the toll on my feet and quad,
despite me taking it “easy”. By the time
I got to Vallorcine I had perked up though as I could smell home; Chamonix was
not far away and only the ascent to La tete aux vents stood in my way. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmudwm5990eYCkgtIqz_mMxAm9M-AjRWNxMY7InXaZ4liyjJGYvCmVwvylWwmtw1QU8lEo-J0hKU32UjPoLyiLn_6vGXa_ENBT8u5bg07B4HuhLgws-XoAOWFa9kIOS7POnNzEJ-93fY/s1600/DSC00470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmudwm5990eYCkgtIqz_mMxAm9M-AjRWNxMY7InXaZ4liyjJGYvCmVwvylWwmtw1QU8lEo-J0hKU32UjPoLyiLn_6vGXa_ENBT8u5bg07B4HuhLgws-XoAOWFa9kIOS7POnNzEJ-93fY/s1600/DSC00470.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving Vallorcine with cup of tea in hand..happy<br />
Photo Andrew Baird.</td></tr>
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I left Vallorcine aid station (where once again Ute and
Andrew Baird had crewed for me) with a cup of tea in my hand feeling quite
happy that Chamonix was in striking distance. Barring a major disaster I knew I
could finish the race and that if I got a wiggle on I may just make it before
nightfall. After I had finished my tea I started to speed up and much to my amusement
I was greeted with a cowbell and lots of applause from Ute, Andrew and other
brit competitors from the CCC and OCC, Simon & James Ellis, plus Jayson
Cavill and Kim England at Col des Montets. Haha that made me laugh and gave me
an extra burst to get up La tete aux vents as quickly as possible. It worked
well and I was passing a number of other competitors on the way up. Between La
tete aux vents and Flegere it became apparent that although I was moving quick
I was not going to beat the dark to Chamonix. Darkness descended quickly on
that leg but I could just make enough of the trail out to get to the Flegere
check point without stopping for my head torch. I came into the check point and
asked for a coke in English. There were two other competitors in there as well
and they looked at each other and said “I think it was time we left now”. I
turned and looked to see one had a union jack on his number before they left. I
had a little to eat and then dug my head torch out and dropped all the
batteries on the floor. One of the aid station ladies was great, she took the
torch of me so I could finish my tea and collected the batteries up and put
them in the torch for me. Time to go. I left that last aid station thinking
wouldn’t be able to catch anyone and indeed initially I could see no head torch
lights. That final section is a great woodland switchback run with lots of
rocks and roots; in the dark quite technical, but great fun. I just started
smiling to myself because I could see the lights of Chamonix below and then
suddenly I caught a glimpse of a head torch. This spurred me on and quickly I
overtook someone and then within a couple of more minutes I was running behind
someone else. I went past them but this time they gave chase. Not today I
thought to myself. I started to accelerate and for the next few minutes I could
see a head torch light still following me! Faster we both went (it certainly
felt as though I was at 5:30 mile pace or quicker) and suddenly 2 more
competitors were overtaken. “Bravo, allez, allez!” shouts one. When I reached
Chamonix I decided to not let up even though I could not sense the other runner
know. I finished in 28hours and 6mins to a great reception from a fantastic
crowd plus all the brits I was staying with in Chamonix along with Ute and
Andrew. What an atmosphere, awesome! It was just as well I kept moving at a
good pace as the next person to finish was Brit Dan Lawson (winner of Ultra
Trail South West 100mile and the Ridgeway Challenge 85mile) and he was only
1min 40seconds behind me. So it looks like that for the last section of the
UTMB my goal of completing went out of the window and I was definitely
competing at the end; once a track runner always a track runner ha.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw1K-urdcKXUGax9JafxErqzPqwKBx--VZdUX28hp4TKJ7IUqR_EehLmvn4q4Y5Pi--m1h1OMz8kECAhy8xpQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
What an amazing experience the UTMB was. I certainly had
some low points but overall it was a joyful journey full of beautiful sights
and beautiful people. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to
partake in the race and experience all 104miles and 9600metres of ascent of it!
If you are thinking about doing the UTMB, OCC, TDS, or CCC then stop thinking
and get applying. You won’t regret it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjogjSV23zMnZYrYCSppbCnFZpIgbQblskjvFUumhUchS6NL1t9BCxY77lcvDHEKKGJckvkl55AXBjMW-rCX8YS-f4Q2txtha7TdC51Rkq-NWpfBsp81IctX2ngZOZQFJyhh0RKLqTGEjw/s1600/finisher+UTMB.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjogjSV23zMnZYrYCSppbCnFZpIgbQblskjvFUumhUchS6NL1t9BCxY77lcvDHEKKGJckvkl55AXBjMW-rCX8YS-f4Q2txtha7TdC51Rkq-NWpfBsp81IctX2ngZOZQFJyhh0RKLqTGEjw/s1600/finisher+UTMB.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speaking to James Ellis (2nd Junior man CCC) after finishing<br />
Beer in hand! Photo Simon Ellis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Kit used:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Head: Buff
peak cap and Buff bandana<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Backpack:
Raidlight Olmo 5<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Waterproofs:
Raidlight Ultra light top and bottoms<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Longsleeve
top: Raidlight Wind stop top<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
T-shirt:
Raidlight Ultra light top x2 (change Courmayeur)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Gilet:
Raidlight<o:p></o:p></div>
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Arm warmers:
Raidlight (used until Courmayeur)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gloves:
Raidlight<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Shorts:
Raidlight Ultra light till Courmayeur then Changed to Team Buff ones<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Leggings:
Raidlight ¾<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Calf Guards:
Team Buff compression<o:p></o:p></div>
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Socks:
Injinji<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Shoes: Hoka
rapa nui<o:p></o:p></div>
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Poles: Black
diamond Ultra z poles<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Race day Nutrition:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Food from
aid stations plus the following;<o:p></o:p></div>
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3 torq gels<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
2 sis gels<o:p></o:p></div>
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3 shot
blocks <o:p></o:p></div>
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8 chocolate
Bounty bars!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>7 things that worked for me on the UTMB<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1.
Eat as much as possible; especially items that are salty<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2.
Use coke or pepsi to settle my stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">3.
Always exit an aid station walking, I try to allow a few minutes for my stomach
to settle. This works well when ascending out of an aid station but a little
more difficult when descending. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">4.
Use sticks on descents as well as ascents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">5.
Always take the descents easy for the first 75% of the race; overtake mainly on
ascents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">6.
Always look for a positive out-look, (even when I had the trots I just thought
great it means my pace will be slower and I can have a breather for a bit) and
take time to smile/laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">7.
Bounty chocolate bars! They work better for me for delivering energy than
gels.....but then again I love chocolate and coconut ha!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Special thanks
to Ute and Andrew Baird for crewing for me at the final 3 aid stations and all
their other help prior to the race. Dakota Jones for inspiring me to get off my
arse at Champex-Lac. Simon Ellis for photos and videos at Vallorcine and
Chamonix. James, Jayson and Kim for cowbells & cheering on at Vallorcine. <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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PS. As for
the Achilles, I had a few niggles on route but overall they held up, so massive
thanks to Chamonix Sports Therapists, Active Patch 4U, Team Raidlight Japan and
Team Buff UK for the calf guards. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
PPS Lee did get his finishers Gilet </div>
Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-30874918656079333202014-08-13T05:08:00.000-07:002014-08-13T12:35:52.564-07:00LSD, Ozzy & the UTMB<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYURA0xV4e6hriYa_tUui6_FL4wsr83cdBf9U39f3Og9lZudndzxWm87feGtDaLzY1EguAoOLF-HJdCiXVLvk48IqViDQhV0SllLRwEa4al_FDZTJAVRhCI0cM8vav9FQFUWxpnR34Mcg/s1600/Ozzy+hellfest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYURA0xV4e6hriYa_tUui6_FL4wsr83cdBf9U39f3Og9lZudndzxWm87feGtDaLzY1EguAoOLF-HJdCiXVLvk48IqViDQhV0SllLRwEa4al_FDZTJAVRhCI0cM8vav9FQFUWxpnR34Mcg/s1600/Ozzy+hellfest.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
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“Cuckoo, Cuckoo, it’s great to be crazy” or words to that
effect said Ozzy Osbourne to me and around 100,000 other folk watching Black
Sabbath at Hellfest 2014, in Clisson, France. I’d been talking to some other
festival folk earlier in the day who concluded I was crazy, because I
participated in Ultra Trail running. So I suppose it depends on your
perspective what crazy is, I thought after Ozzy said his piece. I certainly
don’t think ultra-trail running is crazy and I didn't think I was for
participating in it. Quite the opposite in fact, I think it’s a natural
extension of being human. So having one of my nerdy moments I checked the
definition of crazy; the online dictionary states this; <o:p></o:p></div>
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<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">cra·zy</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> (kr<v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">adj.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> <b>cra·zi·er</b>, <b>cra·zi·est</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">1. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Affected with madness; insane.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2. </span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Informal</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> Departing from proportion or moderation, especially:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">a. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Possessed by enthusiasm or excitement: <i><span style="color: #226699;">The crowd at the game went crazy.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">b. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Immoderately fond; <u><span style="color: #1d4994;">infatuated:</span></u> <i><span style="color: #226699;">was crazy about boys.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">c. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Intensely involved or preoccupied: <i><span style="color: #226699;">is crazy about cars and racing.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">d. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Foolish or impractical; senseless: <i><span style="color: #226699;">a crazy scheme for making quick money.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">n.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> <i>pl.</i> <b>cra·zies</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">The American
Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by
Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by </span><a href="http://www.eref-trade.hmco.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #645e7d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Houghton Mifflin Company</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">. All rights
reserved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Mmmm, interesting reading. It would appear then that using the
word on an informal basis I can actually concur (from a trail running
perspective) that I would have to tick the box for 2 a, b, & c! I would
hazard a guess that most of my trail running friends would also tick these
boxes in relation to their view of trail running. It would therefore appear
that these people were right, I am crazy and most of my running friends are as
well. Well at least when someone now says that I am crazy I can give an affirmative
answer of “Yes, yes I am”. Just as a side note though, I think Ozzy definitely
fits definition 1. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ojZk1AFGUXWgsoGPXq2u2gqkrb6wqo_xGDGYuoLeG4o4Dm9x1bE85SWuRPyTULxwb-4_OptznF1Np3ffNsxY6Xo5libbGQtk9eo8JGKpxmxIKrG__hMAZE4ogZasXlEOU7LjMiSG378/s1600/259927_10150204375530378_2938752_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ojZk1AFGUXWgsoGPXq2u2gqkrb6wqo_xGDGYuoLeG4o4Dm9x1bE85SWuRPyTULxwb-4_OptznF1Np3ffNsxY6Xo5libbGQtk9eo8JGKpxmxIKrG__hMAZE4ogZasXlEOU7LjMiSG378/s1600/259927_10150204375530378_2938752_n.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nothing to see here, just an everyday occurrence in my Ultra Runners life...</td></tr>
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So armed with my new knowledge that I am crazy a wave of
relief swept over me. My trail running for 2014 has been a bit of a non-starter
so far. As reported in an earlier blog, I spent the early part of 2014 on
crutches and limping about due to a sub-luxed hip from the Spine Race. Once I
started running though I then sustained an Achilles strain. I was trying to
make up for lost training time, so when I started in April I did too much too
soon, typical schoolboy error. No 10% per week increase for me it was 30%+ for
me….ouch….fool.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQr10Ho0WoHz3AK98JoYZ4-br6awtzQkz3eJJU4h83iJn9LSOiWdSeHE1zErt8XgVlxYYTOQGfbiT_2U1z7Fugoaywd6XKcEqrhdmnW3lRPv9XEswnj3iNnyWjSSKmbPI7C2oVkAjNOI/s1600/V3k+Chris+A+Shoebridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQr10Ho0WoHz3AK98JoYZ4-br6awtzQkz3eJJU4h83iJn9LSOiWdSeHE1zErt8XgVlxYYTOQGfbiT_2U1z7Fugoaywd6XKcEqrhdmnW3lRPv9XEswnj3iNnyWjSSKmbPI7C2oVkAjNOI/s1600/V3k+Chris+A+Shoebridge.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Testing hip & achilles out at the V3K...I survived....Just! Photo Chris A Shoebridge</td></tr>
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I then succumbed to mononucleosis in mid-June (although not
confirmed until July). As the weeks have been turning into months I have often
thought why am I trying to carry on running, am I crazy or something? The only training I have effectively been able to do has been Long Slow Distance (LSD) runs,all speed work and fartlek or hill speed sessions have disappeared as the achilles and hip could not take them without moaning their bags of to my brain! "Oi! Brain, what are you making us do, we are falling apart here, are you crazy or something?" And
finally, yep there was the answer all along in the online dictionary. You see,
even though I couldn't run and train as I wanted, I was still ticking the boxes
of 2a, 2b, & 2c. I was still following all of my running friends on FB, I
was still buying trail running magazines, I was still reading trail running blogs,
I was still watching YouTube clips and most importantly of all I was still
trying to rebuild and refocus my training schedule and race schedule. I think I
am on version 4 of the later now! Reading the definition of crazy from the
online dictionary was quite amusing and made me chuckle but most importantly it
reaffirmed to me the love I have for this demanding but fun sport and the
beauty it gives me not only in the locations it takes me to but also the people
I have met through it. At this moment I cannot envisage not being involved in
this sport in some shape or form in the future. This then gave rise to a great
feeling that there was no need to rush and fret about things then. It was, I
suppose, about being in the moment via a route of acceptance.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_DKrYABFZO8djCe77VgQwOHtu1GqEhrJO-yCBwbH5JGJy6OXIC5rxQELehqtF2Wbr0tm0OUt1jz5bx5AHvAXuReFWCoxzuLZKtFP1XAtybE3A1YSSJV-u4rK9GaDl6jafm4yaQqF_OY/s1600/acceptance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_DKrYABFZO8djCe77VgQwOHtu1GqEhrJO-yCBwbH5JGJy6OXIC5rxQELehqtF2Wbr0tm0OUt1jz5bx5AHvAXuReFWCoxzuLZKtFP1XAtybE3A1YSSJV-u4rK9GaDl6jafm4yaQqF_OY/s1600/acceptance.jpg" height="320" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeehaww, road trip!!</td></tr>
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So by embracing this stance it looks like I will therefore
run the UTMB in 3 weeks’ time. I use the word run rather than race as I am
viewing it as a journey rather than a race. The reality is I am in no shape
physically or mentally to race at the level of exertion I would feel happy
with. I recently read Stuart Mills blog on his excellent run at the Montane Lakeland
50 at the end of July (another of my DNS’s!) <span style="background-color: cyan;">(<a href="http://ultrastu.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/montane-lakeland-50-race-report-being.html">http://ultrastu.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/montane-lakeland-50-race-report-being.html</a>)
</span>. In it he talks about his race focus being on maintaining a positive mind set
throughout his run. I found his take and outlook quite inspiring and if I am
honest it was while reading his blog that I confirmed to myself I would run the
UTMB. Every year hundreds or even thousands of ultra-runners are disappointed
that they are not selected to run in this race. I have therefore been extremely
lucky to be selected for this event and to miss this opportunity would
therefore be a great shame. It may take me another 2 to 3 years to achieve the
required points and get selected again, so carpe diem it is. It will be my
first 100 mile event, and what an event and journey it shall be no doubt. As
part of Start Mills pre-race training he asks himself 3 questions,<span style="background-color: black;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">"What do I
want?", "Why do I want it?", and "How much do I want it?"</span></span>
So my answers would be; What I want….I want to complete the UTMB; , no DNS, no
DNF; Why? To me to complete the whole of the UTMB would be a major turning
point for me in 2014, it would show that my season and training can start and I
can get the fitness and focus I want for my next race (Les Templiers<span style="background-color: cyan;"> <a href="http://thetempliersgreatrun.blogspot.co.uk/">http://thetempliersgreatrun.blogspot.co.uk/</a>
)</span>; How much do it want it?....I want this one really bad; when following the
Hardrock 100 recently I was blown away by the total commitment that Timmy Olson
showed in getting to the finish line despite the wheels coming off, epic! (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chTYAsYdDZQ"><span style="background-color: cyan; color: black;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chTYAsYdDZQ</span></a>)
And also not forgetting that friend Stuart Air <span style="background-color: cyan;">(<a href="http://stuieair.blogspot.co.uk/">http://stuieair.blogspot.co.uk/</a>)</span> in
the Hardrock 100 as well, went on to finish the race, despite being a great
pain for the last 40miles and 17hours due to an ankle injury. Inspiring. So it’s
quite simple, unless I'm pulled, I'm dragging my arse to that line in Chamonix
for beers and baguettes no matter what. That’s how bad I want it. <span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> Roll on the 29<sup>th</sup> August, I have an Ultra beard and I'm not afraid to use it! </span></span></div>
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Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-75958494330117094832014-04-14T02:43:00.000-07:002014-04-14T03:03:56.616-07:00The 3 R’s: Recap, racing and races.<div style="text-align: center;">
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Well 2014 did not have the start that I planned for. I had a
few hiccups in 2013, but it ended well with a reasonable result at Tour du
Helvellyn. I was in fighting form and looking forward to the next challenge;
the Montane Spine Race<span style="color: yellow;"> (<a href="http://thespinerace.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">http://thespinerace.com/</span></a>)</span> in early January. My fighting form lasted until around 4.5 hours into the
race. I was on my way down Torside Clough, tripped, hyper extended, sub-luxed
my hip, hit the deck and sprawled about for a minute or so in a lot of pain.
Luckily I was only about a mile from a road crossing and managed to drag and
hobble my way down to it. A race Doctor was also amongst the marshals at the
road crossing along with my support crew for this section (George Bate and
David Bethell). I was told by the Doctor that if I was given any pain killers
stronger than Ibuprofen I would be pulled from the race. I was still convinced
that I would be able to walk it off after a mile or two. So I dosed up on
Ibuprofen and carried on with the aid of sticks. To cut a long story short the
next 6 miles were very grim for me, it took me around 4 hours to get them
completed to the next road crossing. My race was done, as was I. Handing my
tracker back to the race marshals was difficult for me. Still it had to be and
was done; then after a hot brew and some commiserations from passing runners and
a big hug of fellow competitor Jen Gaskill, my support crew bundled me in the
car for the journey to the A&E.</div>
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The next few weeks went like this;<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Week 1: </b>In bed on rather heavy duty pain killers. A minimum
time of at least 30minutes to get out of bed and make the toilet and return to
bed! And yes the toilet was in the same house!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Week 2:</b> More movement but only on crutches. Loo trip down to
about 10 minutes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Weeks 3-4:</b> Managed to get rid of the crutches and move to a walking stick. Managed to start getting my sock on my left foot! Physiotherapy at
NHS starts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Weeks 5-6:</b> Managed to ditch the walking stick (although my
walking style was similar to the hunch back of Notre Dame) and got stuck into
rehab exercises. Started to see Mike Perry Physiotherapist as well as NHS. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Weeks:7-8: </b>As weeks 5-6. Walking style improved to that of
Huggy Bear of the original Starsky & Hutch TV show….. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc6rbEt7Xwc"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc6rbEt7Xwc</span></a>
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<b>Weeks 9-10: </b>I decided I was strong enough to try running
again……..bad idea. I was told the soft tissue and tendon damage would take 12
weeks to heal properly. I thought for some reason I would be different….nope, I
am the same as everyone else. I tried to run twice, but it was too early, there
was too much pain. So I heeded the experts and stopped, switched to turbo
training. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Weeks 11-12:</b> Turbo training mixed with core training. At the
end of week 12 I went to Annecy with the Fell Fairy (aka Tracy Dean). It was a
do or die trip for me. It ended up being a ‘do’ result. I managed to put 3 days
of running together. It was the result I hoped for.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Week 13: </b>In the words of Fat Boy Slim…Right about now…. I’ve
started training again with gentle runs and a view to at least a month’s build-up
of this before I progress to harder sessions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So the overall results of the 12 weeks were a weight gain of
around 9lbs, a loss of muscle mass in the legs (a very visible difference
between my left-injured- leg to right leg), a general loss of fitness and a
general runners low, but on the plus side plenty of time to look at my race
plans for the season. I had drafted one at the beginning of January on my Spine
taper, but with my hip injury and lack of fitness I had to scrap all my races
planned for the first 6 months of the year. So my proposed slimmed down<span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: white;">2014 calendar</span>
looks something like this;<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: white;">May:</span> </b>At some point run the<span style="color: white;"> Pennine Way</span>(aka Spine route). My
DNF at the Spine was a double disappointment as I was also running it to raise
money for the Charity Mind. I therefore still want to complete this as a
challenge to myself and honour my sponsorships. It will also be a great
training session.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b>June 28<sup>th</sup>:</b> World Skyrunning 80Km Championship</span>,
Chamonix, France (<a href="http://www.skyrunning.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.skyrunning.com</span></a>).
I will not be up to speed for this race but I have an entry. If I feel I may
not have the fitness to complete I may substitute this with the first UK
Skyrunning race; the<span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: white;">V3K</span><span style="color: yellow;"> <a href="http://www.vegan-welsh-3000s.co.uk/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.vegan-welsh-3000s.co.uk/</span></a></span>
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<span style="color: white;"><b>July 26<sup>th</sup>:</b> the Montane Lakeland 50</span><span style="color: yellow;"> <a href="http://www.lakeland100.com/the-lakeland-50"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.lakeland100.com/the-lakeland-50</span></a></span>
.This race has now become the British Ultra Trail Championships for 2014. It
will be super competitive for sure. Once again it will be too soon for me to be
in tip top condition but I will certainly be planning to run as best as I can
on the day. It’s also going to be a great social weekend, so looking forward to
this no matter what.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b>August 29<sup>th</sup>: </b>UTMB, </span>Chamonix, France,<span style="color: yellow;"> <a href="http://www.ultratrailmb.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.ultratrailmb.com</span></a></span> Blinking ‘eck, I was not expecting to be doing
this race! This is the first time I have put an entry into the UTMB (I was
actually going to do the CCC, but the entry system showed I had 7 points, so a
spur of the moment decision saw me press the UTMB button!). So much to my
surprise I was drawn from the hat as it were. I should be getting somewhat fitter by
about the time this race occurs, so I am looking forward to it, albeit with also rather
a lot of nervousness as it will be my first 100mile race.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: white;">September 27th:</span> </b>Mmmm not sure maybe the <span style="color: white;">RAB</span> <span style="color: yellow;"><a href="http://www.rabmountainmarathon.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.rabmountainmarathon.com</span>/</a>
</span>but it is a week before the 3x3Ultra.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b>October 4<sup>th</sup>:</b> 3x3 Ultra Skyrace</span>,<span style="color: yellow;"> <a href="http://www.highterrainevents.co.uk/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.highterrainevents.co.uk</span></a></span>
as above not sure if it will be this or the RAB. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: white;">October 26<sup>th</sup>:</span> </b>Choice time <span style="color: white;">Snowdon Marathon</span> or
<span style="color: white;">Grand Trail Les Templiers</span> 47mile Trail race (20<sup>th</sup> Anniversary
Edition)<span style="color: yellow;"> <a href="http://thetempliersgreatrun.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://thetempliersgreatrun.blogspot.co.uk</span>/</a></span>
. Templiers is more my thing, but I’ve never done a road marathon……<o:p></o:p></div>
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So as can be seen a bit wishy washy at the end of the year
but I will make my judgment calls on the races closer to the time when I can
gauge how I am running better. I will also be getting involved with a few
friends challenge rounds offering support on Bob Graham and Paddy Buckley
Rounds plus very excitingly the Hardrock 100. So although it is a slimmed down season, it's still going to be a busy
one for sure.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am also lucky enough to be involved in organising a
Skyrace this year in the UK, The Peakskyrace <span style="color: yellow;"> <a href="http://www.peakskyrace.co.uk/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.peakskyrace.co.uk/</span></a></span> It’s an interesting transition from being a
competitor to race organisor but one I am enjoying along with my co Race
Directors Richard Weremiuk and Billy Craig. We hope to put on a race to
remember; for all the right reasons. I’ve also been out on the course and
tweaking a few parts of it to increase the elevation. At present my Garmin has
a reading of around 2350metres over 29miles. So just on the cusp of an AL fell
race, but with the benefit of it being a fully marked and marshalled course.
More details will be posted on the web site soon. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXe-K6JX84LOJqrxkTdE75Gf_PVx6cwxQtu1HA28RHGzIoc5PIfqlKJsxLzOeUW2LUn5T9yMcZ2DH0Fdrp2vlUYEFz9LzbZ_dCanAanInrU1y1mnLj3DimRhwwuPmn6SXOW8cRtlHpK68/s1600/hen+cloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXe-K6JX84LOJqrxkTdE75Gf_PVx6cwxQtu1HA28RHGzIoc5PIfqlKJsxLzOeUW2LUn5T9yMcZ2DH0Fdrp2vlUYEFz9LzbZ_dCanAanInrU1y1mnLj3DimRhwwuPmn6SXOW8cRtlHpK68/s1600/hen+cloud.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will end with saying thanks to all at the NHS physio
department and A&E who looked after me first class, to Mike Perry for then
continued physio support <a href="http://1stcontactphysiotherapy.co.uk/stokeontrent/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://1stcontactphysiotherapy.co.uk/stokeontrent/</span></a>
, my Spine Support crew-George Bate, David Bethell, & Janson Heath who were
all giving up their time and resources to help me out over the days that the
race would have taken…sorry the adventure didn’t happen lads, Tracy Dean for
sports massage and phsio support to keep me running whilst in France. And last
but by no means least all the messages of support from everyone out there I
have received about getting myself back out into the running mix, including all
at Buff UK and Raidlight. Cheers to you all <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7jSp2xmmEE" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Here's to constantly evolving :)</span></a></div>
Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-26576272000880966752014-01-09T12:37:00.000-08:002014-01-09T12:37:34.267-08:00A Fancy Paddy<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“It’s your Dad, I think he’s dead!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcOdHyBA-XUtTDbGkzgIvaBXEb2lqIMGG3ui7oLvo4SEmXBhUXHLyM_pv1WgeXyhrmPrxWEy9CKWLXSIls895Z0wMw9pFGtd15J6mluNC_4qLnNN4EH6chnC0-AwEP6WmayYPksSeSp08/s1600/image002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcOdHyBA-XUtTDbGkzgIvaBXEb2lqIMGG3ui7oLvo4SEmXBhUXHLyM_pv1WgeXyhrmPrxWEy9CKWLXSIls895Z0wMw9pFGtd15J6mluNC_4qLnNN4EH6chnC0-AwEP6WmayYPksSeSp08/s1600/image002.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad & I</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> I
had been expecting a call like this from my mother at some point during the
Spring of 2009, but regardless, the phone call that night still came as a
shock. An ambulance was on its way to the family home and I told my mother I
would come across straight away. I grabbed my lad out of the bath, dressed him
and we headed out the door. I arrived after dropping the lad off on route to
find the paramedics in the front room trying to resuscitate my father who was
lying on the floor. They had arrived quickly and had being trying for around
20minutes, but to no avail. Lots of things crossed my mind at that point but I
do remember two vividly. Firstly my father had stated he did not won’t to be
revived (he had pulmonary fibrosis from years of working on building sites), he
had come home from hospital to die and had accepted his fate with grace.
Secondly, was the love of life that my father had always had. Even in his last
few days at home he spent hours watching birds out of his window visiting the
garden; which he classed as far more interesting than anything on television
(well apart from Coronation Street!). Also one of the last conversations I had
had with him he just looked at me and said “Son, you should start to run again.
Running always made you smile.” At that point I hadn’t ran for around 13 years.
I had been an amateur club track athlete and given it all up with the excuse of
that “life is just getting in the way”. A few weeks later after my father’s
funeral I started to run again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Those initial running steps I took in the
summer of 2009 were the first on what has become an incredible<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPgPntJgcC2h4BVx-g0DAa-KV7QGmSdNMCe8brkqU-8T2xyIdVp8ZBGoNgZLSvHpcdRotaea2cblvBjQupIRoBOm6FI9p5EL4X71VkuWnavDJTsL_ydNhXBQ5bAfJYnpcHvMmLw2vTrI/s1600/image004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPgPntJgcC2h4BVx-g0DAa-KV7QGmSdNMCe8brkqU-8T2xyIdVp8ZBGoNgZLSvHpcdRotaea2cblvBjQupIRoBOm6FI9p5EL4X71VkuWnavDJTsL_ydNhXBQ5bAfJYnpcHvMmLw2vTrI/s1600/image004.jpg" height="283" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Paddy Buckley Route</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
journey for
myself and 2 years later on Friday 3<sup>rd</sup> June 2011 I found myself
going through a check list. Mmmm 5 pairs of Innov-8’s, check, 5pairs of socks,
check, Hagloff waterproof, check, selection of Buffs, check, various vests and
shorts, check, ridiculously tight skins, check, Nuun tablets, check, daft amount
of food, check, beach wear & surf board, check, 80’s disco shirt, check,
Rave t shirt, check, bikers jacket, check and last but not least bow tie and
dinner jacket, check. All this can only mean one thing…it was time for my Paddy
Buckley Round…with themed fancy dress road support points </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I had spent a lot of time doing reccie runs
over the Paddy route with my friend Tracy (Aka The <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVG1wGwcZhQRa-TBf_KQ-01GpnqzkabQ81irKVdMcwFJC4TvUBVQ-3lDl4MiMAaao9elrUUMg9HyoJEe7ufl8vSj7yRJ8NjxgP6NYz_cIblZhANzkmdZCwx3xX0V_dI27IlcR4wPj4P8/s1600/image008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVG1wGwcZhQRa-TBf_KQ-01GpnqzkabQ81irKVdMcwFJC4TvUBVQ-3lDl4MiMAaao9elrUUMg9HyoJEe7ufl8vSj7yRJ8NjxgP6NYz_cIblZhANzkmdZCwx3xX0V_dI27IlcR4wPj4P8/s1600/image008.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracy Dean aka The Fell Fairy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Fell Fairy http://tracymdean.blogspot.co.uk/)
over much of the spring of 2011 and in between eating, moaning about my latest
ankle twist and just going oooooohhhhh and aaaaaahhhhh at the scenery we had
talked a little bit about my Paddy attempt scheduled for the 4<sup>th</sup>
June that year. One of our random conversations brought up the subject of
adding a little bit of fun to the attempt for those involved as well as myself
and before you could say “I’ll have another Cornish pastie please” the idea of
having themed road stops was born. So a plan began to formulate in the empty space
between my ears and it went something like this; Nantmoor was going to be a
beach Party, Pont Caer Gors was to be a 70’s/80’s disco, Llanberis was Rave,
Ogwen was a Biker Party theme and Capel was a black tie finish. Brilliant!
Although this sounds a little bit odd, for me it was perfect planning as it
took away the enormity of what I was planning to do; run a sub 24hour Paddy
after only being running for a couple of years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">So that Friday morning I loaded everything
in the car and Tracy and I<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKLZZ_mpFUrG7YnFopBvXF7eg4tgah3Rob92Zz1FLcoiZhGWCMF3_uPcGl3z0xellonf5XNiz47nyCdUYPSTDuVlAqVbmtUq74a-qaJI8ruuO94d4lcOXc4F09bY_crB-gZs9HzUjE9g/s1600/image010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKLZZ_mpFUrG7YnFopBvXF7eg4tgah3Rob92Zz1FLcoiZhGWCMF3_uPcGl3z0xellonf5XNiz47nyCdUYPSTDuVlAqVbmtUq74a-qaJI8ruuO94d4lcOXc4F09bY_crB-gZs9HzUjE9g/s1600/image010.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside Petes Eats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
were heading to North Wales pretty much on schedule
(which for those who know me is a remarkable achievement in its own right!).
The weather forecast had been viewed diligently all week and most excellent
conditions had been forecast for the weekend, and by the looks of things they
were spot on. My attempt at the Paddy had been scheduled for an 11am start on
Saturday the 4<sup>th</sup> from Capel Curig, so the plan was to travel down
the day before and relax. I had arranged to meet Gaynor Prior (Lakeland L100
Winner & Cesaers Camp Winner Record Holder http://shoeaholicsguidetorunning.blogspot.co.uk/)
and her husband Dave in Llanberis on the Friday afternoon for a preplanning
meet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> They
had very generously offered to do all my road support for me! Which just
emphasised to me what a fantastic couple they are and also that they are just
ever so slightly bonkers. So in Pete’s Eats the maps were laid out and all the
road stop points were marked whilst eating large platefuls of spag bol with
chips and garlic bread, all washed down with a local beer, mmmmm. After about
an hour (Poor Dave; during this time he was sat out in their van looking after
their “lad” Albert…..Albert being the infamous fell running English bulldog,
often spotted at the top of “Skidpaw” in the Lakes!) we said our good byes and
arranged to meet at Capel Curig in the morning.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMELY7KlIT8UMmdgljZCVZJBM2vGLxB9OcktBstnE6xhwLR5lZPAG8w5MXQuS30iLfF3VW8ttdDahGO6m7ddh5FwCgJ-e8CuvZzmAq7uQjDeqov8yN3j9Oad_HiL3ToS1jpp8W5XfkWI/s1600/image011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMELY7KlIT8UMmdgljZCVZJBM2vGLxB9OcktBstnE6xhwLR5lZPAG8w5MXQuS30iLfF3VW8ttdDahGO6m7ddh5FwCgJ-e8CuvZzmAq7uQjDeqov8yN3j9Oad_HiL3ToS1jpp8W5XfkWI/s1600/image011.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gaynor and just some of the supplies!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It was onto Lyn Gwynant campsite for Tracy
and I, as I had chosen this as base camp for my attempt, as from my perspective
it looked reasonably central for people to camp and be ferried to and from for
the various legs. So in no time I duly started to erect the tent ready for
tomorrow whilst Tracy carried on with the important task of playing her Ukele
and drinking cider (ermmm I mean carb loading!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I had just completed the task when Jon
Whilock (Paddy, Bob & Ramsey Completer) came across and said “O you’ve
camped here have you, we are over there” said he pointing to<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6z_ZtJVllsQBurylTKK82nfiI69u3U3f3E5hgPrOJ1u8x8IR4HzCOgdGkLO7rRWRw4p-tsxn4Z3RCSLaHvbv0fz3ZrmNOum-t5IuNTPdAhOJYG3cctX4iVZV9-giHGTQnhY_T1Vmoww/s1600/image013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6z_ZtJVllsQBurylTKK82nfiI69u3U3f3E5hgPrOJ1u8x8IR4HzCOgdGkLO7rRWRw4p-tsxn4Z3RCSLaHvbv0fz3ZrmNOum-t5IuNTPdAhOJYG3cctX4iVZV9-giHGTQnhY_T1Vmoww/s1600/image013.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracy Carb loading</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
150 yards away. Ha,
so much for the one big base camp. Never mind though, as I was not staying in
the tent tonight anyway. I had booked a room in the Royal Goat in Beddgelert.
Well I thought I may as well have a bit of luxury the night before as I could
get an early night in the comfort of a posh hotel and emerge all rested and
raring to go the next day. So we arranged to meet Jon at the Hotel for a “half”
later that night. After I had booked in I noticed that Tracy’s “carb loading”
was going well; so not one to be left behind I thought I’d better crack on and
start my “carb loading” routine. I must
admit I think we both did a truly excellent job of it. Even when Jon turned up
later I could tell he was impressed and secretly worried that with all my carb
loading he would not be able to keep up with me over the Moelwyns. This was
clearly emphasised by him telling me to <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmAKqk74IQzSpt4HXIOflhv1iEHT68KWEP_RIZ451LZwqtk_F6Zn9mxvCaecW638C3FaCQfboiRqeQlOhhML0Qwih2e0TkB2B7kX5Y315mrV4XGtaCUuhPoaehAuN6qtfNzhsmcoQnt0/s1600/image015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmAKqk74IQzSpt4HXIOflhv1iEHT68KWEP_RIZ451LZwqtk_F6Zn9mxvCaecW638C3FaCQfboiRqeQlOhhML0Qwih2e0TkB2B7kX5Y315mrV4XGtaCUuhPoaehAuN6qtfNzhsmcoQnt0/s1600/image015.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracy & Ukele</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
not drink anymore and not to let anyone
else buy me any more beer. However, upon quick consultation with another
support runner Bryan Carr (Paddy, Bob & Ramsey Round Completer), and Doctor
of Medicine of some repute I was assured that my Guinness was most excellent at
“Carb” loading. Mmmmmm Jon’s gone…..to
the bar then </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-US">. The evening was rounded off by Tracy serenading the 3<sup>rd</sup>
floor of the hotel with her Ukele. However, all good things must come to an end
and I was tucked up in bed by a respectable 1am.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Saturday morning I was woken with the sun
pouring its bright rays into the hotel room, this is it, this is the day, I
thought. Well I’d better get a move on then. So it was down stairs for cereal,
more cereal, juice, lots off, toast, a full English breakfast, more toast,
croissant and a pot full of tea. Tracy had a more Lady like breakfast of
healthy fruit whilst eyeing up a nice Mulberry bag across the table. Brilliant
I could face the day. Gaynor had sent me an email with lots of useful ultra
running tips on, so it was time to put some of these into action. A large pot
of Vaseline was produced and I went to work......</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDLGBVyPPq0DwQMvZw8oniL0KK1MF69gCairhJJL_ykm5Qp2fCvpWBs9vPemEl_TEJUOQTTf4WFx1RkuMP8lnLNCqu9eMY7T6Df5PVzRClVGZyoueOo79MZPHwpw1bppZvKpFN4AfKGQ/s1600/image017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDLGBVyPPq0DwQMvZw8oniL0KK1MF69gCairhJJL_ykm5Qp2fCvpWBs9vPemEl_TEJUOQTTf4WFx1RkuMP8lnLNCqu9eMY7T6Df5PVzRClVGZyoueOo79MZPHwpw1bppZvKpFN4AfKGQ/s1600/image017.jpg" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">So it was 30 minutes before the start time
and I turn up at Capel Curig greased up and wearing my skins with a big floppy
hat….my, I’m so fashionable. We met in the National Trust car park behind the
Pinnacle Café and Joe Browns climbing shop. It was fantastic to see so many
people who had turned up to support me on <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh76oDb1SUAQBkv6hVM8WKL1AeX5CxlXB2BLj1NjIA2UI9291QnxaxyzCndRF8LRoF3f120hQ3iwQcpSeOPZs7cMGBJp2Rq5fLivLvZyIPYKmr9sG398C4-DWIx0XV8XBTX3MH13_7-pM/s1600/image019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh76oDb1SUAQBkv6hVM8WKL1AeX5CxlXB2BLj1NjIA2UI9291QnxaxyzCndRF8LRoF3f120hQ3iwQcpSeOPZs7cMGBJp2Rq5fLivLvZyIPYKmr9sG398C4-DWIx0XV8XBTX3MH13_7-pM/s1600/image019.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fashionable me!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
the forth coming leg or to just watch
me start. Jon Whilock and family, George Bate, Simon Reed (Bob, Paddy &
Ramsey Round completer) and family, Dave Harrison, Bryan Carr and family
(including Holly the fell Collie), Den & Dale Colclough, Mike Perry, Shane
Godrich , Dickie, and Gaynor & Dave
equipped with an air horn! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">At 11am myself, Jon, George, Dave, Bryan
and Hollie were off. It was down the road in glorious sunshine, through Plas y Brenin
car park and then up through the wood to start the ascent of Moel Siabod. In
the woods much to the dismay of George, I started to use my poles. Four weeks
previously I had badly torn my ankle resulting in an afternoon in hospital,
with x rays and lots of prodding…ouch. Nothing was broken but there was
extensive tears and bruising on both side of my right ankle so to help take the
strain off it I had decided to use poles and had purchased a pair of Black
Diamond Ultra Poles from Racekit (<a href="http://www.racekit.co.uk/">www.racekit.co.uk</a>).
I had never used poles before but they really did help with the ankle so I was
going to take them with me on all the legs….besides I’d got George to carry
them when I wasn’t using them ;) By the top of Moel Siabod it really was
evident it was going to be a hot sweaty run across the Moelwyns. I was reminded
on the way up to keep drinking at least every 20 to 30 minutes, I had decided
on this leg to drink nothing but nuuns as I am a hairy monkey and due to the
heat I knew I would sweat a lot. The leg was going by fantastic. Chief
navigator Dave Harrison was doing a brilliant job and Jon was keeping a beady
eye on pace (I had decided on a 23:30 schedule). By the time we were at Cerrig
Cochion we were 5minutes up on schedule which I was pleased about as I had
“tweeked” my ankle on the run to it and was muttering some anglo-saxon
terminology under my breath. The run from Allt fawr to Moel Ddu was breath
taking. I love the remoteness of that part of the run with the stillness of the
small lakes.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9x7crr6XEck_I0ihKH8IBQcxn3W8ddf0xeZJlNhrn-T4iy1jWcEg3Kq4PtF6GBe_kv9CnPZsOS43y9xPqoEXNddnZO7ZPB4XSwc499mlrsVs44KY3cN1h9ZJ3G9DhBTYSbbBse1lLJ-8/s1600/image006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9x7crr6XEck_I0ihKH8IBQcxn3W8ddf0xeZJlNhrn-T4iy1jWcEg3Kq4PtF6GBe_kv9CnPZsOS43y9xPqoEXNddnZO7ZPB4XSwc499mlrsVs44KY3cN1h9ZJ3G9DhBTYSbbBse1lLJ-8/s1600/image006.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the Moelwyns on a Spring Recce</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> It
was at this point that all of my support crew bar 1 also swerved off to fill
their water bottles. I had not realised at the time but due to the 26-27 degree
temperature everyone was drinking far more than they had calculated on and even
at this early stage the risk of dehydration was becoming a problem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">They had kept this worry hidden from me
though and assured me they would catch up very quickly. In the quarries we were
met by Dale, Simon and Mike who had decided to join us for this last part of
the leg before continuing on with the next to get a few extra miles in (at the
time Dale was training for the Lakeland 100 and Simon for his Ramsey Round). It
was good to see them all along with fresh faces and fresh smiles we were soon
heading up Moel Ddu. We got to the top 14minutes up on schedule. It was then
into the Moelwyns proper all went well except for the run Craigysgafn to
Moelwyn Mawr where I had another ankle moment and lost 6 minutes on the
schedule. Right it’s just Cnicht then an easy run in I thought to myself and
some ice cold drinks </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-US"> With that in mind another 4 minutes was clawed <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJceKR9o4kIyRJT6o9rL8DXUZ9HiBEIC3yKpqKSmshQTf-A55thsbpVsgTr1ZLp19XtuOfrK-aqLQGuakZ7DHw_XgUpjzITsWpQWzTgJHYO0M4l5PyQglOjX189g1-9FbaEBL_fd-_oI/s1600/image023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJceKR9o4kIyRJT6o9rL8DXUZ9HiBEIC3yKpqKSmshQTf-A55thsbpVsgTr1ZLp19XtuOfrK-aqLQGuakZ7DHw_XgUpjzITsWpQWzTgJHYO0M4l5PyQglOjX189g1-9FbaEBL_fd-_oI/s1600/image023.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cnicht Spring recce, George begging Chocolate of Tracy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
in going up Cnicht.
Then the run in began. My road stop was at the National Trust car park so there
was the 1.5mile or thereabouts road section to run at the end of the track. I
was met at the bottom of the track by Gaynor wearing a bikini over her running
kit and some flower necklaces with Orange juice in hand for me. Brilliant it
was beach party time at Nantmoor. I walked with Gaynor for a while whilst
drinking my orange juice before her Sensei voice kicked in and told me to start
running again. I got to Nantmoor 11minutes up on schedule but more importantly
I was greeted with a fantastic sight of a make shift beach set up. Deck chairs
with water wings, mini surf board, wind break, bikini clad women (albeit over
running kit). Haha it was just brilliant, all thoughts of tiredness or possible
dehydration vanished from my mind. I finished the first leg feeling great.
Although later Gaynor confessed when everyone saw me initially they thought “O
hell, he looks awful” haha, sometimes ignorance is bliss.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWCR2PlWQV7VVt3Vhl5TR78cp0x3AftDfPzLBhW8nThTL0aLXVgf8HOjP1KPcRmmo9RqZAqmTVqwryJkdE39M1ljqcJIpQzbKHeM5OHmCm3ut5MM6QT0jruIepcq-tkSwjtM-7-h66vc/s1600/image025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWCR2PlWQV7VVt3Vhl5TR78cp0x3AftDfPzLBhW8nThTL0aLXVgf8HOjP1KPcRmmo9RqZAqmTVqwryJkdE39M1ljqcJIpQzbKHeM5OHmCm3ut5MM6QT0jruIepcq-tkSwjtM-7-h66vc/s1600/image025.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach Stop!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Dave Prior served me up some of his home
made spag bol, it was gorgeous and a whole bowl soon disappeared. I’ll state at
this point Dave is a most excellent cook and over the last few years I’ve been
fortunate to munch down on a few of his creations. I was also handed some cold
flat coke which was fantastic at washing the spag bol down with. And whilst
that was going on they had made me a cup of tea (funny how you always crave tea
after long runs…well I do), I tried it, mmm perfect and just the right amount
of sugar I said. Dave and Gaynor looked at each other a bit wide eyed but said
nothing. It was not until later they told me they had put 8 sugars in it!!!! Haha.
Suddenly the beach boys music stopped playing and my 10minute warning came on.
Gaynor had also done a themed music playlist for each stop but at 10 minutes
warnings came on to get my backside up and <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaocU2N8USsUKpxRVwYIf6BDEs3YY8mfVjKXMz1QeZRMXJOUynQ3bnq41WT5uHxdhPcYI3MOJdBtAk6lm9TVK6cfIpW07NQV8DFd6tC-7GHEeYsqyog7X7POXMgKrMoD3-8LhanY94K2A/s1600/image027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaocU2N8USsUKpxRVwYIf6BDEs3YY8mfVjKXMz1QeZRMXJOUynQ3bnq41WT5uHxdhPcYI3MOJdBtAk6lm9TVK6cfIpW07NQV8DFd6tC-7GHEeYsqyog7X7POXMgKrMoD3-8LhanY94K2A/s1600/image027.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pain!!!!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
running otherwise I would be subject
to Noddy Holder and Slade! Bryn Banog had my name on it, so without further a due,
Simon, Dale, and George were joined now by Tracy and we all set of at a trot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The sun was still beating down and
temperatures were still high even though it was now going into early evening.
We left Aberglaslyn woods and came out to make our way across to the lower
slopes of Bryn Banog. I was at the back of the team as they merrily chatted
away up front. At one of the field boundary’s the team started to
circumnavigate a small incline but I didn’t follow them. I was just in my auto
pilot stage from doing my reccie runs. I normally swung to the East of this
mound and not the West so off I went to the East. When we hit the lower slopes
of Bryn Banog I had emerged some 2-300metres ahead of the team. Theoretically
great for reducing my effort over distance, but practically and actually not so
great. I had removed myself from my water sources as I wasn’t carrying any
myself, not very clever of me given that I was sweating heavily and was
starting to feel quite thirsty. I was annoyed with myself and barked back at
the team about getting some water. As soon as I done it I felt awful. These people
are my friends who have willingly given up their time and travelled to Wales to
help me get around these mountains and achieve my goal. What a complete
immature selfish diva I had been for that moment barking orders. I sat down on
the slope thinking to myself what a plonker I was whilst Dale trotted up the
slope to me with some water. Dale handed me the water as I immediately
apologised to him for my outburst. Dale is a very experienced UK fell runner
and has helped out on countless Bob Graham Rounds (an excellent navigator on
any of the BG legs) and with all this experience and knowledge he knew straight
away that my outburst had just been an anxious panic moment. As soon as he said
this I knew he was right, on some level I was worrying about the end result of
the journey rather than just enjoying the point where I was, the right here
right now moment. So with just a couple
of sentences from the wise man of the hills I had come back down to earth and
felt grounded although still quite sheepish. I apologised to the rest of the
team for being a plonker as we all made our way together to get up to the
summit point. It was an incredibly beautiful evening with a clear blue sky <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXUhX1ymL2ptHwfVz6gfxoMeF8fl6SOLOEBZEAxOmWG87ncxE4rVpJDJrKXwwCBuCWWhuymNj3neKvKV3a7nT5i0jtjNujeb5qWjoOuwbBMKKKCP_YjGQRdPln1NyU2TQWwwnG2Yc9QUE/s1600/image029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXUhX1ymL2ptHwfVz6gfxoMeF8fl6SOLOEBZEAxOmWG87ncxE4rVpJDJrKXwwCBuCWWhuymNj3neKvKV3a7nT5i0jtjNujeb5qWjoOuwbBMKKKCP_YjGQRdPln1NyU2TQWwwnG2Yc9QUE/s1600/image029.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracy dress for the <br />
Typical weather on a n Y Garn Recce!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
and
fantastic views. I had done this leg a few times with Tracy on training runs in
Wales. I used to rave on to her how beautiful this leg of the Paddy was and on
every occasion the weather had been claggy/foggy with no great views at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I remember saying to her it will most
likely be perfect on the day of my attempt just when you can’t stop and take
5minutes to take everything in. And low and behold it was. By the time we had
run across to Y Garn the last mountain on this legs hit list the sun was
setting and the evening was drawing in. We descended at a steady pace and
entered into Beddgelert Forest and I steadily plodded along the forest tracks
to the next road crossing. A few of the crew trotted on ahead to let the road
support know we were on our way. As I rounded the last bend I nearly doubled in
laughter on top of a grass mound were 2 of my next two support runners Shane
and Richard they were gyrating to some 70’s music whilst dressed in afro wigs,
big sparkling sunglasses and completed by dodgy shirts and ties! Brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-Ws9rcXjI2MvffIN7faapTF1XNxQqT9_odcgOHxEblS53xkufPXMEjUtNhKywI95gatSHpPKJigdj9ExTJQeQjeaRPBUyH5sOvlwr166ocmY-MNDgeegMl52zHEGBYJnZv_WMkDYzj4/s1600/image031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-Ws9rcXjI2MvffIN7faapTF1XNxQqT9_odcgOHxEblS53xkufPXMEjUtNhKywI95gatSHpPKJigdj9ExTJQeQjeaRPBUyH5sOvlwr166ocmY-MNDgeegMl52zHEGBYJnZv_WMkDYzj4/s1600/image031.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albert resting before the 70's Disco!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Gaynor & Dave had got the pit stop
sorted for me like a super-efficient formula 1 racing crew. Some 70’s Disco was
blaring out, Dave was being Matre D and asking what I’d like to eat and drink.
“Any more Spag Bol & Coke?” I enquired. “Certainly Sir” came the reply ha.
Gaynor had got my new sock and shoes ready, whilst disco Shane and Dickie were
sorting my gear out. First class service all around. We were expecting another
support runner at this point to help us Nav over the Snowdon leg. But alas no
sign of him yet, “not too worry though” I thought as I knew I knew the leg well
enough to nav myself. I just needed to engage the brain. Just as we were about
to set off a car came driving into the Pont Caer-gors car park in a cloud of
dust and out jumped Iain Ridgeway. I had forgot that we were up on the schedule
by around 22 minutes so no wonder we had nearly missed Iain. It’s a good job
that he WAS actually arriving early. Ever the efficient mountain runner though,
Iain had in no time got his shoes on and grabbed his rucksack and was alongside
us in the blink of an eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Once
again it wasn’t long before we were all nattering about bits and bobs and
within no time we had ascended Craig Wen in 18minutes quicker than had been on
the schedule! I was 44 minutes up at this point.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1c7EdjX8LtCq_pZxQywxNB-bM25C9dvij20HDBEL520vvzplNgyqihgBa09d2eDLo81gSU5_qnvpeGaY0_Ti6asvspyKRq7wIrGhEVmyniH96tYjc-7B3BSlQoF4VJQJKz9LNyNm-LQ/s1600/image033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1c7EdjX8LtCq_pZxQywxNB-bM25C9dvij20HDBEL520vvzplNgyqihgBa09d2eDLo81gSU5_qnvpeGaY0_Ti6asvspyKRq7wIrGhEVmyniH96tYjc-7B3BSlQoF4VJQJKz9LNyNm-LQ/s1600/image033.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iain Ridgeway & Clive ascending Elidir Fawr</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was a little worried that
perhaps I was travelling a bit too quick, but I felt ok so decided that I’d
just go with the flow and see what happens. The ascents up Yr Aran and Cribau
Tregalan went well and once again we just pipped under the scheduled times. It
was about here though that the weather started to change and the clear sky that
had been with us gave way to a low cloud base coming in, along with an increase
in the wind a little. I remember cooling down quite rapid with the change to
night time. So it was time to get the
trusty Hagloff on and march up to Snowdon’s summit. At the summit visibility
had dropped down to around 20 metres but the paths are well defined so it
presented no problem. We descended from the peak with Iain leading the way to
Carnedd Ugain (Crib y Ddysgl). At the trig the visibility hadn’t improved so
Iain took a compass bearing as we were travelling “off piste” from here to pick
up the Snowdon Ranger Path. A few minutes later and boom, Iain had led us on
the path and down we trotted to then ascend Moel Cynghorion. From there on in
it was easy running over the last few peaks to Moel Eilio. As we started the
descent from this final peak of the Snowdon leg the twinkling lights of
Llanberis at 1.30am could be seen. Which was fitting as the next stop was also
about twinkling lights; it was the Rave theme<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-US">.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aDT5gaj5Fxp1KbagO34sBy66zF-ukjXlg1knYapjc8v_3XciCis9wIdV2xqBA893aWElN3q2MaWzCYlAKGOP6MEwhRp5bdh_fd_fZr6Nx49rUZTItWekx2K4QOSsSfl_90j64IBebvU/s1600/image035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-aDT5gaj5Fxp1KbagO34sBy66zF-ukjXlg1knYapjc8v_3XciCis9wIdV2xqBA893aWElN3q2MaWzCYlAKGOP6MEwhRp5bdh_fd_fZr6Nx49rUZTItWekx2K4QOSsSfl_90j64IBebvU/s1600/image035.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glo hoops abound at the Llanberis pit stop!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">As I scuttled into Llanberis at around 2am
I was once again chuckling to myself. I was greeted by a load of hooped glow
sticks around the support van with Rave music blasting out and Gaynor, Clive
and Tracy wearing day-glo leg warmers and skirts (although I think Clive opted
out of the Skirt wearing) ha. Jon Whilock was also ready and waiting but wasn’t
as keen on the day-glo look. Tracy had convinced him to at least wear a glow
stick which he did and duly covered up with his sleeve. Once again the pit stop
crew were amazing. Iain had run on ahead to let them know I was coming so
everything was ready, food, drink and my own rave T-shirt. Just before Noddy
Holder started to blare out of the music system I was off on my way to ascend
the Glyders leg. My support runners for this leg were Jon, Clive, Iain for the
first few ascents, and also joining us was Sarah Ridgeway and Brian Carr. We
were missing Bryan though, no one seemed to know where he was (I later found
out he was in the car park around the corner from us and wondering where we
were!). I remember chatting to Sarah saying that we had another collie coming
along to join her and Iain’s 2 dogs for this leg. But alas Hollie the Collie
was going to miss the nightlife on the Glyders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The Glyders leg of the Paddy route was
really my make or break leg. I knew that if I could get through this leg fine I
would complete the round. It’s never been my quickest of the legs when I was
doing the</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMq4huq-iGUwegV3t9HVjJdJZx8cx_e1olgcYh7YvsPCCTRewbkbY_Ij4N692YUGzw4gV8ecXWak3fdup-1WfOchRIqXTxWgEFZVWQm3zbmoFjfIQGiVS7Q_Q3ote_9xd8lq-G5iugwg/s1600/image041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMq4huq-iGUwegV3t9HVjJdJZx8cx_e1olgcYh7YvsPCCTRewbkbY_Ij4N692YUGzw4gV8ecXWak3fdup-1WfOchRIqXTxWgEFZVWQm3zbmoFjfIQGiVS7Q_Q3ote_9xd8lq-G5iugwg/s1600/image041.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glyders recce and those rocks!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
recce’s. I don’t think even when I was fresh I ever made it from
Glyder Fawr to Glyder Fach in the scheduled 16 minutes. Obviously the dodgy
ankle going into a night section over probably the most rock infested of the
Paddy legs didn’t help; I knew I wasn’t going to be fast and I was glad to have
the extra time I had gained earlier on in the bag. About half way up the first
ascent to Elidir Fach tiredness also started to<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoV-169upmFCtFC7WatRpDIxPxI4_ahgcUrKF1epIBBFP94UtLbWNP3xeZuXAKX1MRKwmZdw0UP5sAufvrMKeOpOyx2MQE9bkk9oPkKm2hyphenhyphen-mJ20Apg_MVkdz-Ml_3atA_tJpTYO6lQv0/s1600/image038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoV-169upmFCtFC7WatRpDIxPxI4_ahgcUrKF1epIBBFP94UtLbWNP3xeZuXAKX1MRKwmZdw0UP5sAufvrMKeOpOyx2MQE9bkk9oPkKm2hyphenhyphen-mJ20Apg_MVkdz-Ml_3atA_tJpTYO6lQv0/s1600/image038.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blah!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
affect me. I think the
combination of the exertions so far plus the changes from my usual sleep
pattern zone were beginning to build up. It was also around this time that my
ability to eat was beginning to reduce. I have a vivid memory of trying to eat
a cheese and onion sandwich on the way up Elidir Fach and not being able to. In
the end I managed to discard the filling and just eat the bread and butter. It
was a bit of a task so I decided to switch to gels for the rest of the leg. Clive
then became my right hand Gel man. At the base of each summit ascent he would
hand me a gel already open and ready to consume. John was back into time
keeping duties whilst Sarah and Iain were undertaking the navigation. There was
still quite a bit of swirling night cloud around as we ascended Elidir Fawr.
But there was no hesitation with the navigation and we were on the descending
path from Elidir Fawr with no problem heading towards Mynedd Perfedd. Despite
my looming tiredness and my impression of Tom Hanks in “Big” when he tastes
Cavier (except in my case it was the onion), I had only lost 2 minutes on the
first two peaks of this leg over a 72minute period. However, looking at my
schedule afterwards I then went onto lose 10 minutes over a period which should
have taken me 27minutes! Looking back now I would say that the short ascents to
Mynedd Perfect and Foel Goch were my lowest energy points. I was also being
very cautious about my ankle. I knew I was tired and that is normally when my
concentration levels drop and accidents happen. In no uncertain terms Jon told
me at the summit of Foel Goch I was losing time and that I <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFQM-qFgf9mT2tchx3axMUJD4PBg01oV_3d5WbLPmyIyfyMuR_kh0Gog7Sm84POJEcYDKWdqz0Y1s2H7F2ES55OUFcJl7hjZFxQyNBX8Dm1MZJ1d4Jb_w8XsCq045y5ldtRW9Qkltls0/s1600/image037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFQM-qFgf9mT2tchx3axMUJD4PBg01oV_3d5WbLPmyIyfyMuR_kh0Gog7Sm84POJEcYDKWdqz0Y1s2H7F2ES55OUFcJl7hjZFxQyNBX8Dm1MZJ1d4Jb_w8XsCq045y5ldtRW9Qkltls0/s1600/image037.jpg" height="162" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up in the Glyders at sunrise. Photo Sarah Ridgeway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
needed to get my act
back together again. He was right, so I decided it was time for my ipod. I
probably lost a couple of more minutes with faffing about trying to unwind my
ear plugs and getting it set up but pretty soon I was skipping along at a reasonable
click dancing around rocks to the sound of “Korns Greatest Hits”. I ascended Y
Garn only being a minute of my schedule time. I was now feeling more energised
and raring to go for the rest of the leg. So Jon, Clive Sarah and myself
pressed onto Glyder Fawr (Iain had dropped back done to Nant Peris at this
point to get some well-deserved sleep). Sarah took us up to the summit of
Glyder Fawr with a perfect line. Dawn was also upon us at this point. I made my
way to the summit as some spectacular views of the Glyders unfolded before me.
I felt my spirit lift as the early morning sun shone upon us. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzYrehkF0jDqMpFHKtdlKq2kGvJX388CnE2zu9DCDaF8xeJ9HMybLTZRcxfNL897a88tCzlQZxf85XME9ClZ0xA3VlpGghmlQmSEAklBQ-iJNUi40pFmIbA3HgfHbix4jlhnUIrEarhk/s1600/image043.jpg" height="136" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Summiting Glyder Fach with my rave shirt still on<br />
photo Sarah Ridgeway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
The summit was
bagged with a 2minute gain on the schedule. 20 minutes later we had also
summated Glyder Fach. It was 4 minutes slower than the schedule I was using but
I was not going to worry about that as during my earlier recce runs I normally
took at least 18minutes. Just one more summit to go; Tryfan. I grabbed an extra
gel from Clive at the top of Glyder Fach scree slope descent in anticipation of
the Tryfan ascent. I was not descending fast due to being over cautious about
my ankle and although I found using sticks beneficial from a support
perspective I found that they did hamper my descending speed. Looking back
though it may have been a good thing and reduced the amount of impact damage my
quads were receiving. I liked the ascent up Tryfan. The combination of a cool temperature and a
scrambling ascent, allowing me to use my upper body strength, meant that I only
lost 2 minutes on the scheduled time. I think all of that was lost on my
cautious scree slope descent from the previous summit of Glyder Fach. The
descent <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKH1jgogDTYeklnvY_drthg4CySSDYJ-gAZ6TsJ7MBuHfLzfeZYVpMvp1nG9sY1rFM46N5e5kXa76E_B8jZ7kLhgwl0Xcev2GKt1c2rku9g8n3vFWn9p9bY4TvkxFv3vlS4IcCe6fLwZs/s1600/image045.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Tryfan from Ogwen that morning.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
from Tryfan however was fuelled with a little excitement of reaching my
“Rock” roadside stop. I trotted down to the Ogwen layby to see Dave and Gaynors
trusty Bongo van with a massive skull and crossbones flag flying and once again
some rock music blaring out. It may have been 6.30am but it was time to rock! <o:p></o:p><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUau7x13qQ9jpifPsX35Ps_BxZ7BTAel5mhfmd5gdFacFjvDQTtpQ3pOumYnYqnowYWu32FoQ8jAXeowg-SoItt5aElNw2Qp9eVKg31gnkwSif8Q11mZe8BCT6La_M3HfpfgHFYQkAutM/s1600/image049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUau7x13qQ9jpifPsX35Ps_BxZ7BTAel5mhfmd5gdFacFjvDQTtpQ3pOumYnYqnowYWu32FoQ8jAXeowg-SoItt5aElNw2Qp9eVKg31gnkwSif8Q11mZe8BCT6La_M3HfpfgHFYQkAutM/s1600/image049.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bongo & skull & Bones Rock stop!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I think I had ate all of Daves spag bol by
then so it was a more traditional breakfast of porridge and a nice cup of tea.
Within what seemed like a very short time Noddy Holder was heared on the music
system….eeek time to get a move on. The Carneddau leg had my name written on it
and it was time to get the job finished. So I set off with Tracy, Dale, Dave,
& Mike. First up was Pen yr Ole Wen, one of my favourite little scrambles
in Snowdonia. I can’t say I was up it at a fast pace as I could feel the
tiredness beginning to bite into the muscles. I remember get a little shove from
Tracy at one of the climbing points as if to give me a little nudge to get a
shuffle on. It worked I put my head down and concentrated on getting to the
summit. I knew once I was up I had completed most of the ascent for that leg
then and it would be reasonable running after that. About three quarter of the
way up the ascent the weather changed and a small low system moved in. Within
about 5 minutes our view had been cut to about 25 yards due to low level cloud
base. The associated drizzle and plummet in temperature meant that we all got
our jackets on, but despite this we still managed to reach the summit in
57minutes, only 1 minute off schedule. We grouped at <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZ1b41VjLfHafG2X_UAJs6iRX5KMme1rqjzqas2Cls8BUCGrtV7aVmK3RVrQkZxcHCnYU5vuHus_X2jO1PODVfrjvDgz2NiXTxXaq7oaWXQlyY36wdZhm93w3_jp5_YSmbj6Jgb0UWg4/s1600/image047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZ1b41VjLfHafG2X_UAJs6iRX5KMme1rqjzqas2Cls8BUCGrtV7aVmK3RVrQkZxcHCnYU5vuHus_X2jO1PODVfrjvDgz2NiXTxXaq7oaWXQlyY36wdZhm93w3_jp5_YSmbj6Jgb0UWg4/s1600/image047.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albert congratulates his Dad at the finish!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
the summit and headed off
to the next peaks. The lack of visibility did not present any problems over
this section. I had ran it that often I was beginning to recognize certain
rocks on the trod’s. There are only a couple of key turns to get right and as
long as you get them right it’s a fairly straightforward leg. However, the coldness and rain made the going
slow on a few of the descents due to the rocks being extremely greasy and
slippy. We lost about 15minutes in the middle of this leg due to the
conditions, but this was fine as the end was in sight. Approaching the last
ascent my acknowledgement of completing the round was sinking in the weather
started to brighten. The cloud was starting to lift and it was warming up as
the sun gained height in the sky. I felt
energised (easy to do when you aren’t carrying anything!) and pushed on towards
Pen <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56tw5UHNRuGtsCINuhyphenhyphenGdTeQUA1F7Q_7fiC5GXeqAvie4nA2pY89HSsT1PCsq0P_J_gxct40UfOPIkuojAfVOYai-F2bNTxZeQl-7yoKBOwl2HBq6V1qM3-6myQjSvbFfmxp21QjvL28/s1600/image051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56tw5UHNRuGtsCINuhyphenhyphenGdTeQUA1F7Q_7fiC5GXeqAvie4nA2pY89HSsT1PCsq0P_J_gxct40UfOPIkuojAfVOYai-F2bNTxZeQl-7yoKBOwl2HBq6V1qM3-6myQjSvbFfmxp21QjvL28/s1600/image051.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy me at the end :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Llithrig y Wrach. I got to the summit and turned to start the descent but
realized a combination of my energy burst and the team getting waterproofs off
we had spread out. Dale’s experience once again shown through as he halted us
all till we had regrouped. The descent from this point is one of those funny
lines that is only on a minor trod and if missed you can end up getting way
laid. So it was important for us all to do the descent together. The descent is
great fun and we all really enjoyed the run down to the main road into Capel
Curig. The cloud lifted and the sun shone down on us on the last few glorious
miles. We all got to the road with big grins on our faces. Tracy then shouted
out, “Right Ant, lead us home”, so of we set along the final kilometre on the
road traveling at a fair pace (Tracy’s Garmin registering 6min mile pace!). We
came into Capel to be greeted by a large banner across the traffic Island
saying “Finish” it across it and everyone cheering myself and support home. It
was a fantastic and welcome sight. Within a minute Gaynor had produced
champagne and beers. The final black tie road stop began, but this time with no
threat of Noddy Holder interruptions!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKpYFatFZY98HYYpQJEE1v_yVgN3o0pdP61ye02xUyq35V4Wb-BTtegKm00V0FvxxTfY3Ms3z3aQnoi5lOf5lhWSngV5dxiiVb2SUzwZ33NRQCNShOm2CyitDu-2wxoGPxo4-oLm3hgE/s1600/image055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKpYFatFZY98HYYpQJEE1v_yVgN3o0pdP61ye02xUyq35V4Wb-BTtegKm00V0FvxxTfY3Ms3z3aQnoi5lOf5lhWSngV5dxiiVb2SUzwZ33NRQCNShOm2CyitDu-2wxoGPxo4-oLm3hgE/s1600/image055.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Champagne & Black tie finish!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The completion of my Paddy Round is without
a doubt one of my proudest moments of life. There is also no doubt in my mind I
could not have undertaken it with the help of all my friends that were there to
help me. So thank you George Bate, Bryan Carr, Dale Colclough, Shane Goodrich
(& Dickie), David Harrison, Clive Hevey, Mike Perry, Gaynor Prior, David
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Prior, Simon Reed, Iain Ridgeway, Sarah Ridgeway, and Jonathon Whilock. Last
but no means least a very special thank you for Tracy Dean for accompanying me
on many, many, many runs over the route, and for her support not only over the
weekend but on the months of buildup beforehand. I raise my glass and say
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjg160bXuLRg97STz2Ha0q9gWzD1NiUgPYPlNTyMIT9TvvKubRqv_ZgHR9-P3f2AYe9RC8ju4ei2Cvyb5_RHjuKDteWESNXBGjDhkP3_OjBfvKYNUdfSQroZazQmsDpAv40cSH8AnbSI/s1600/image053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjg160bXuLRg97STz2Ha0q9gWzD1NiUgPYPlNTyMIT9TvvKubRqv_ZgHR9-P3f2AYe9RC8ju4ei2Cvyb5_RHjuKDteWESNXBGjDhkP3_OjBfvKYNUdfSQroZazQmsDpAv40cSH8AnbSI/s1600/image053.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George, Simon & Dale.<br />
<br />
<div style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">
“Cheers!” to you all and my father for putting me back on the trod again. </div>
<div style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">That one was for you Dad </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
</div>
<a name='more'></a><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 890px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3620; mso-width-source: userset; width: 74pt;" width="99"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 4461; mso-width-source: userset; width: 92pt;" width="122"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1499; mso-width-source: userset; width: 31pt;" width="41"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5522; mso-width-source: userset; width: 113pt;" width="151"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1316; mso-width-source: userset; width: 27pt;" width="36"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1792; mso-width-source: userset; width: 37pt;" width="49"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1901; mso-width-source: userset; width: 39pt;" width="52"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 877; mso-width-source: userset; width: 18pt;" width="24"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2304; mso-width-source: userset; width: 47pt;" width="63"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2230; mso-width-source: userset; width: 46pt;" width="61"></col>
<col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
<col span="2" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl84" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; width: 74pt;" width="99">Leg</td>
<td class="xl84" style="border-left: none; width: 92pt;" width="122">Start and Finish
Point</td>
<td class="xl86" style="border-left: none; width: 31pt;" width="41"></td>
<td class="xl85" style="border-left: none; width: 113pt;" width="151">Summit</td>
<td class="xl93" style="border-left: none; width: 27pt;" width="36">Split</td>
<td class="xl87" style="border-left: none; width: 37pt;" width="49">Actual</td>
<td class="xl86" style="border-left: none; width: 39pt;" width="52">Yay</td>
<td class="xl64" style="width: 18pt;" width="24"></td>
<td class="xl109" style="width: 47pt;" width="63">Scheduled </td>
<td class="xl110" style="border-left: none; width: 46pt;" width="61">Actual</td>
<td class="xl101" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td class="xl64" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td class="xl64" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl84" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl90" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl91"></td>
<td class="xl85" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl93" style="border-left: none;">Time</td>
<td class="xl87" style="border-left: none;">S/Time</td>
<td class="xl86" style="border-left: none;">Boo</td>
<td class="xl64"></td>
<td class="xl111">Time</td>
<td class="xl112" style="border-left: none;">Time</td>
<td class="xl101"></td>
<td class="xl64"></td>
<td class="xl64"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl88" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">1 Moelwynion</td>
<td class="xl78" style="border-left: none;">Capel Curig - start</td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl70" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none;">0</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">11-00</td>
<td class="xl76" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">11-00</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel Siabod</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">58</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">56</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">11-58</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">11:56</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl118" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Support
Runners</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">2</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Clogwyn Bwlch y Maen</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">18</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">12-16</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">12:12</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl119" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Jon Whilock</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">3</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Carnedd y Cribau</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">10</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">10</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">12-26</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">12:22</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl119" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">George Bate</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">4</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Cerrig Cochion</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">38</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">37</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">13-04</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">12:59</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl119" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Dave
Harrison</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">5</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel Meirch</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">13-18</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13:13</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Brian Carr</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">6</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Ysgafell Wen </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">22</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">22</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">13-40</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13:35</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Holly the
Collie</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">7</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Mynydd Llynau yr
Cwn </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">4</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">4</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">13-44</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13:39</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">8</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">(Unnamed top)</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">7</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">6</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">13-51</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13:45</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">9</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel Druman </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">10</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">9</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">14-01</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13:54</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl119" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">From Quarry</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">10</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Allt Fawr</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">11</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">14-15</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14:05</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl119" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Simon
Reed </td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">11</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel Ddu </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">39</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">35</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">14-54</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14:40</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Dale
Colclough</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">12</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel yr Hydd</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">9</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">9</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">15-03</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14:49</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Mike Perry</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moelwyn Bach </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">31</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">27</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">15-34</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">15:16</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Craigysgafn </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13</td>
<td class="xl133" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">15-47</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">15:29</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">15</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moelwyn Mawr </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">10</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">15-57</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">15:45</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Cnicht</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">52</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">48</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">16-49</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16:33</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl81" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl82" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Aberglaslyn - arrive</td>
<td class="xl75" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl137">Beach Party Time</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-top: none;">50</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">55</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">17-39</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">17:28</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td class="xl66"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Road Support</td>
<td class="xl65">Gaynor</td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl95">15</td>
<td class="xl92">10</td>
<td class="xl63">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl89" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">2 Eifdnydd</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none;">Aberglaslyn - depart</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73">17-54</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none;">17:38</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">17</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Bryn Banog</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">50</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">45</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">18-44</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">18:23</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Support
Runners</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">18</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel Hebog </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">34</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">36</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">19-18</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">18:59</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Tracy Dean</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">19</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel yr Ogof </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">20</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">18</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">19-38</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">19:17</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Dale
Colclough</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">20</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel Lefn</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">12</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">11</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">19-50</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">19:28</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Simon
Reed </td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">21</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Y Gyrn </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">24</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">26</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">20-14</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">19:54</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">George Bate</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">22</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Mynydd y Ddwy
Elor </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">12</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">11</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">20-26</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">20:04</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">23</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Trum y Ddysgl </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">27</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">24</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">20-53</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">20:28</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">24</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Mynydd Drws y Coed</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">9</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">8</td>
<td class="xl133" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">21-02</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">20:36</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">25</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Y Garn </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">12</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">21-14</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">20:49</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Pont Caergors -
arrive</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl137">Disco Party Time</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-top: none;">26</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">31</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">21-40</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">21:18</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td class="xl66"></td>
<td class="xl66"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Road Support</td>
<td class="xl65">Gaynor</td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl95">15</td>
<td class="xl92">11</td>
<td class="xl63">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; page-break-before: always;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">3 Snowdon</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none;">Pont Caergors - depart</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73">21-55</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none;">21:29</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">26</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Craig Wen </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">57</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">39</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">YAY</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">22-52</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">22:08</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Support
Runners</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">27</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Yr Aran</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">19</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">23-11</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">22:24</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">28</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Cribau Tregalan </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">55</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">54</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">0-06</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">23:18</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Iain Ridgeway</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">29</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Snowdon</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">18</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">0-24</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">23:34</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Shane &
Richard</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">30</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Crib Y Ddysgl</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">11</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">0-35</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">23:48</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">31</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel Cynghorion</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">49</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">44</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">1-24</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">00:32</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">32</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Foel Goch</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">23</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">24</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">1-47</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">00:56</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">33</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Foel Gron</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">17</td>
<td class="xl133" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">2-03</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">01:13</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">34</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Moel Eilio</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">2-19</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">01:27</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Llanberis - arrive</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl137">Rave Party Time</td>
<td class="xl96" style="border-top: none;">36</td>
<td class="xl83" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">36</td>
<td class="xl75" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">2-55</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">02:03</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Road Support</td>
<td class="xl65">Gaynor</td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl113">15</td>
<td class="xl114">12</td>
<td class="xl115">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">4 Glyders</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none;">Llanberis - depart</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73">3-11</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none;">02:15</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">35</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Elidir Fach</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">55</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">57</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">4-05</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">03:12</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Support
Runners</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">36</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Elidir Fawr</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">17</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">17</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">4-22</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">03:29</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Jon Whilock</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">37</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Mynydd Perfedd</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">15</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">20</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">4-37</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">03:49</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Bryan Carr</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">38</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Foel Goch</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">12</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">17</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">4-49</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">04:06</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Clive Hevey</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">39</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Y Garn</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">22</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">23</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">5-11</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">04:29</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Iain
Ridgeway*</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">40</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Glyder Fawr</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">35</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">33</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">5-46</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">05:02</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Sarah
Ridgeway</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">41</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Glyder Fach </td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">20</td>
<td class="xl133" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">6-02</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">05:22</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">42</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Tryfan</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">35</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">37</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">6-37</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">05:59</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl80" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Llym Ogwen -
arrive </td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl137">Bikers/rockers Party Time</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-top: none;">30</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">28</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">7-07</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">06:27</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Road Support</td>
<td class="xl65">Gaynor</td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl95">15</td>
<td class="xl67">10</td>
<td class="xl63">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl77" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">5 Carneddau</td>
<td class="xl78" style="border-left: none;">Llym Ogwen -depart</td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl70" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none;"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73">7-22</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none;">06:37</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl119" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Support
Runners</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">43</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Pen yr Ole Wen</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">56</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">57</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">8-18</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">07:34</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl140" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Dave Prior</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">44</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Carnedd Dafydd</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">8-34</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">07:47</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl119" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Tracy Dean</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">45</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Carnedd Llewelyn</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">30</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">37</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">9-04</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">08:24</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl119" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Dale
Colclough</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">46</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Pen yr Helgi Du</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">26</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">34</td>
<td class="xl133" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">boo</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">9-30</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">08:58</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;">Mike Perry</td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">47</td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Pen Llithrig y Wrach</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">23</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">22</td>
<td class="xl132" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">9-53</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">09:20</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl79" height="17" style="border-top: none; height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl80" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Capel Curig - finish</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"></td>
<td class="xl139" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Black Tie Breakfast
Time</td>
<td class="xl94" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">37</td>
<td class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">34</td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">yay</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl73" style="border-top: none;">10-30</td>
<td align="right" class="xl141" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">09:54</td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl136" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Ants Mobile</td>
<td class="xl137">O7968788009</td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl95"></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl102" style="border-top: none;"></td>
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<td></td>
<td></td>
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<td class="xl136" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;"></td>
<td class="xl137"></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl116">Running Time</td>
<td class="xl97">0</td>
<td class="xl135" style="border-left: none;">Total</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl142" style="border-top: none;">22:11</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
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<td class="xl137" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;"></td>
<td class="xl137"></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl116">Rest Time</td>
<td class="xl98" style="border-top: none;">0</td>
<td class="xl134" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">mins</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl142" style="border-top: none;">00:43</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
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<td class="xl65" height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl137"></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl117">Total</td>
<td class="xl99" style="border-top: none;">0</td>
<td class="xl74" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">0</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl142" style="border-top: none;">22:54</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
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<td class="xl138" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
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<td class="xl95"></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl100"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
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<td class="xl104" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
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<td class="xl95"></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td></td>
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<td></td>
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<td class="xl105" height="24" style="height: 18.0pt;">Notes</td>
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<td class="xl67"></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td></td>
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<td></td>
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<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
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<td class="xl95"></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
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<td></td>
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<td></td>
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<td class="xl126" height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">Leg 1</td>
<td class="xl143" colspan="12">Ermm by eck it was hot
wasn’t it, around about 26-27 degrees C I was told. Hurrah for Nuuns. Cheers
to Dave Harrison for that great line of Allt Fawr</td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl126" height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl143" colspan="11">Thanks to Gaynor for
meeting us with orange juice at the start of the road after Cnicht, it was
worth the time loss :)</td>
<td class="xl128"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl126" height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">Leg2</td>
<td class="xl120" colspan="3">Ermm yep I was a bit
fast on Bryn Banog, sorry folks.</td>
<td class="xl123"></td>
<td class="xl121"></td>
<td class="xl121"></td>
<td class="xl122"></td>
<td class="xl121"></td>
<td class="xl122"></td>
<td class="xl125"></td>
<td class="xl122"></td>
<td class="xl122"></td>
</tr>
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<td class="xl126" height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl143" colspan="12">Lost quite a bit on the
run in but that was me being over protective of the ankle as I did tweak it a
little over that grassy descent.</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Leg 3</td>
<td class="xl143" colspan="11">Yep I pretty much think
I've got a good line to Craig wen. We were talking all the way so no silly
speed was needed.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl143" colspan="12">The clag came in as we
were heading up to Snowdons summit. Cheers to Iain for great navigation in it
to and off Crib y Ddysgl</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Leg 4</td>
<td class="xl143" colspan="12">Ta to Sarah and Iain
for great nav on this leg. I lost time mainly on the descents due to my ankle
phobia, although I did gain on the Tryfan descent.</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">Leg 5</td>
<td class="xl143" colspan="12">Pen yr Ole Wen was a
tough climb for me; thanks to Tracy for constantly feeding me the Nuuns out
of her not very light rucksack. </td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl143" colspan="12">The last part of the
ascent took us into cloud and light rain which stayed until the last summit,
so alas no great views for the last leg.</td>
</tr>
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<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td class="xl65"></td>
<td class="xl95"></td>
<td class="xl67"></td>
<td class="xl63"></td>
<td></td>
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<td></td>
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<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td class="xl144" colspan="12">BIG THANKS TO ALL OF
YOU WHO SUPPORTED ME. YOU ARE ALL SUPERSTARS AND CONTRIBUTED TO A LIFE
ENHANCING FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE :)</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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</tbody></table>
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Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-78765759707440732952013-03-17T11:22:00.002-07:002013-03-17T11:22:19.066-07:00Ketchup, Pies and VO2max<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well 2013 seems to be trundling on at a fair old pace already and in what seems like a blink of the eye it’s March already! Blimey I’d better have a ramble about my winter meanderings then before its well and truly mid spring. First things first I suppose I’d better do a quick Ketchup or even a catch up for that matter.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCaonkr78SSP71lhbd2qOvJse799j8yAEqoDIFVmqgiHFRwjIxFwG-YXmyXdsKu3l4nHYCR8ydG2aTuLuXK1LUzdwH1RLm5YAYLOP0HrTj2-_CnxbFT9xXPN-jtyemM1koJgJSzGRhz74/s1600/ketchup+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCaonkr78SSP71lhbd2qOvJse799j8yAEqoDIFVmqgiHFRwjIxFwG-YXmyXdsKu3l4nHYCR8ydG2aTuLuXK1LUzdwH1RLm5YAYLOP0HrTj2-_CnxbFT9xXPN-jtyemM1koJgJSzGRhz74/s320/ketchup+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In my January post I forgot to mention a couple of little races that I stretched the legs over. The first was the Tour of Pendle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m still a newbie really at this fell racing malarchie as I’ve only done 5 races (Mow Cop 2010, Lantysilio 2010, Long Mynd Valleys 2011, Y Garn 2011, and The Roaches 2011). My last race on the fells had been over a year ago! Well slap me with a wet kipper I thought back in the Autumn I need to address this. So I opened up the FRA race calendar and I noticed that the Tour of Pendle was only a couple of weeks away. It was close to the Roaches Fell Race but as in my limited race calendar I had already done the Roaches I thought time for pastures and fells anew. Print the form, lick the stamp post the envelope, jobs a good one.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fellrunner.org.uk/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="69" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKTxFog6lTbzxA8BX1jxObxS4VmFzrIh3ntxjFOJrrHp4LxIvITbmIdGT6yC_7x6GrZGOSwy5QBtAhsMEFGvr3RMhmHbWuPU8-lN3ZdX69QH5gmBdj6j1QHPtwIlh0OqBGVN3edgQ5IU4/s320/fragraphics.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The home of slightly crazy mountain folk</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I managed to make it to the start venue on the day of the race in reasonable time; which for those who know me will realise is an achievement in its own right! I went and registered, then on the way back bumped into a few familiar faces that all came out with the same comments along the line of “What are you doing here? It’s a bit short for you this one? Etc. And I suppose on my previous training and running that year they were right on all accounts. But as I said earlier I explained I had not done one fell race all year and I felt I needed to do one and I had heard there were exceptionally nice cakes afterwards! Conditions were chilly for the race but clear on most of the course. On the highest tops though the clag was down in a few places. Before long we were off, well Carl Bell was, with a few other speedy chaps in hot pursuit. Cough, wheeze cough! My body had been used to the ultra shuffle and this brisk pace at the beginning was a bit of a shock to it. By the time we reached the first ascent the lungs were calming down a bit. “Finally!” I thought, a speed I could cope with. I liked the ascents, it was familiar turf for me and the quads still had some strength in them from my summer excursions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the race was a bit of a late decision for me I had not recce’d the course and I had not ran or walked at Pendle before. It was all new terrain; so this dictated my race tactics….follow someone and hope they knew where they were going! Yep not the brightest of strategies but one I was willing to take the risk on as it would be a fun run no matter what the outcome. Luckily this worked well for most of the race as I was following a Clayton Le Moor Athlete (Gary Wilkinson I think), with the small exception towards the end. Somewhere on the top of Pendle moor in the clag I lost sight of the chap I was following and I immediately knew I hadn’t a flipping clue where I was, whoopsy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about 30 seconds I realized I was going wrong so I cut left back towards my last point where I had seen the runner and luckily for me some other chaps came into view from out of the mist and I legged it off down a slope not too far behind them. Within about 15seconds we had descended from the clag and I could see the line of runners in front of me. Phew, close call that one. I probably lost about 1minute or just over, but no more, so I felt very lucky. I speed up a little on the descent to try and catch a few folk but my lack of fell running this year showed and I ended up practicing my face planting technique <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a couple of times! I enjoyed the final ascent though and managed to pull a few places in. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just beginning to feel warmed up and was chuckling to myself about the fact it had taken over 2 hours for me to feel ready to get a wiggle on! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ryvNFF1x3FYAotxzU6YpH5K-XJ5JA1ptnQ9HqTrEULki572AGS7ixUtZLAWIc6r7U_JMIKD5GxVDnyx4yAPi4Ciz6IdkCsKftbABfivErcxZKGxZfyDLCQSzBSlhNBRM2NoswXQYG-M/s1600/FToP+2012_0075%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ryvNFF1x3FYAotxzU6YpH5K-XJ5JA1ptnQ9HqTrEULki572AGS7ixUtZLAWIc6r7U_JMIKD5GxVDnyx4yAPi4Ciz6IdkCsKftbABfivErcxZKGxZfyDLCQSzBSlhNBRM2NoswXQYG-M/s320/FToP+2012_0075%5B1%5D.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moi on the last ascent at Pendle; still chuckling.. :)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The last descent was a fun run down and I managed to take in the views a little. When we hit the track at the bottom I remember running past a reservoir thinking I don’t remember this. Ha, obviously we had ran past it at the beginning but with my body being in a state of shock at the starting speed I must have had tunnel vision. I eventually finished in 22<sup>nd</sup> place in a time of 2:46:34 which I was quite happy with. Fun on the fells had definitely been had that day and as predicted the cakes afterwards were brilliant, so much so I think I had to try 3 pieces just to be sure!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5i6VE7fUVO-dJsWx6eVgriiBdse6rM0RnFIC4vnAfWEmbRqsSdNiVCyn1I_d0CmumFtXOv-llgZq_xz5DyH5WxwqZ5Q0_M7641Iy-x3X5Wce3HAPZV15LRchh0PFfJFrJ0C6j7yZXlPc/s1600/602434_10151363649943714_1788040021_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5i6VE7fUVO-dJsWx6eVgriiBdse6rM0RnFIC4vnAfWEmbRqsSdNiVCyn1I_d0CmumFtXOv-llgZq_xz5DyH5WxwqZ5Q0_M7641Iy-x3X5Wce3HAPZV15LRchh0PFfJFrJ0C6j7yZXlPc/s320/602434_10151363649943714_1788040021_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cake tasting with Lee Knight after the race. Photo Tom Philips.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other couple of races I have done so far have been Cross country; the horror the horror. I like doing XC races but by ‘eck they are hard work. Let’s not mess about here; XC races tend to be fast. All the 10k thoroughbreds are out starting their winter training etc along with all the other road distance and track thoroughbreds. It’s like a formula one grand prix after the starter yells GO! But they are great opportunities for speed tempo runs for me. There is no way I would run as fast as I do in an XC race if I was training on my own. So they serve a good purpose in creating a great speed endurance workout. I run for Eryri Harriers in the North Wales XC league and this season I managed to get out to three of the 5 fixtures. My first was Wrexham on the 24<sup>th</sup> of November, a week after Pendle, I managed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a 40<sup>th </sup>position. The second was 12<sup>th</sup> January at Telford. My first outing since my December off and I funnily enough improved to 31<sup>st</sup>. The last run was at Oswestry on the 2<sup>nd</sup> Feb and I managed another improvement to finish in 20<sup>th</sup>. I also picked up a couple of medals as Eryri Harriers had won the team event and also the Male master’s event and I had managed to count for both teams. Legendary Arwel Lewis later told me it had been 10 years since Eryri had won the masters previously. So overall I was quite pleased with my outings and I think it showed the December rest period helped and that my training was going forward. With that in mind I was lining up the next day for the Alsager 5 mile road race. Yep back to back speed session what could possibly go wrong!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf88ZQfmHIlb1dVviB-im09Zj-au4Dj5xTwpHBpsNXLPZVmtH2PNnuOsezxdHI3EpMpcD-nl6fETloA1ssh7V5ftqF4OqnL57xGsv7NetJtmi42E-aU7lMLViS7W3s44Nars-HaZH6drg/s1600/560966_10151075399214262_367329616_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf88ZQfmHIlb1dVviB-im09Zj-au4Dj5xTwpHBpsNXLPZVmtH2PNnuOsezxdHI3EpMpcD-nl6fETloA1ssh7V5ftqF4OqnL57xGsv7NetJtmi42E-aU7lMLViS7W3s44Nars-HaZH6drg/s320/560966_10151075399214262_367329616_n.jpg" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Legendary Arwel Lewis</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well for a starter I nearly missed the start! Back to my old self then. I had arrived in time to get my number. On the way back from registration I met an old fell friend Brian Lomas (Congleton AC) who was surprised to see me there…comparisons of it being like Mo Farrah lining up for a 200m race were made ha. I then caught up with Fell fairy and her son who were out for a gentle trot around. I then meandered of up some road, bumped into Dale Colclough (Trentham AC & Mercia) and had a natter with him then looked at my watch, cripes! Twas nearly start time. I dashed back to my car chucked my kit in and raced back to the start. I had 30seconds grace; then the gun went. Phew unlike my chin, that was a close shave. I settled down in the race and was trundling along quite nicely until about the 3 mile point and then the odd spasm and twitch started to occur in my left hamstring. Whoops, “keep going” I thought “and just relax, the body will sort itself out”. Well in a fashion it did; half a mile later it was just a constant pull and I could tell it was not well at all. Now I could have dropped out at this point and done the sensible thing easing my leg off to reduce any further damage. Nope, I told my hamstring it was its own stupid fault and that I was going to make it run all the way to the end now. I had been feeling good and was looking at pushing the last mile or so but that all went out of the window. I just eased slightly for the last 1.5 miles and settled at a pace were the leg just hurt rather than one where it sent sharp pains through the rest of my body. Not what I wanted but heyho I was not quitting (Ego was a go-go me thinks). Still I managed to get to the line in 29:02; it would have been nice to have been low 28’s but perhaps that will be next year’s target. I was 81<sup>st</sup> overall (801 starters) and 4<sup>th</sup> in my category. So considering my leg, not too bad. Needless to say I was straight to see Mike Perry my local physio the next day. He confirmed a grade 1 tear and immediately got to work on it.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqrvSMHRfb0QGbbhMl7whs-mvwOpccDaON2Nbo2dpy3vL8ztF6b732wVEqDDx4PQPzFT4kl3Hybkva94giG2-vJtZrSSHFSZCMq-u1MkOf6-2vr3H9FxNTs5rJPPBfttgol_L6SlpLZM/s1600/alsager+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqrvSMHRfb0QGbbhMl7whs-mvwOpccDaON2Nbo2dpy3vL8ztF6b732wVEqDDx4PQPzFT4kl3Hybkva94giG2-vJtZrSSHFSZCMq-u1MkOf6-2vr3H9FxNTs5rJPPBfttgol_L6SlpLZM/s320/alsager+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Alsager 5 at the 1 mile point: Photo by Racephoto's</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Due to the hamstring issue my plans for February changed. All planned speed work was dropped; I also had to bin a few races including the North Wales XC champs which I had been looking forward to. I spent the immediate 3 weeks of February following the injury with gentle jogging concentrating on my ultra shuffle and looking at just doing some distance work as speed was a no no. I don’t mind a little bit of chaos as it breaks up the monotony of what I call structured boredom. It always allows me to learn to adapt and be flexible, which I think are useful attributes in life anyway. So although a little miffed that my speed work and races were now in the dustbin I was already excited about the challenge of coping with a damaged hamstring and seeing how quick I could recover. The first thing I did was to not stop running; my logic being to try and allow the injury to heal under a little stress would give it more flexibility when it finally did heal. Admittedly my running pace was down to over 10min miles but hey I was still moving so result. After a few more sessions with Mike and upping the protein content in my meals and daily stretching <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could sense an improvement within a couple of weeks. This was just as well as I had planned to join up with Tracy (aka the Fell Fairy) for a recce of the Highland Fling route. So on Feb 15<sup>th</sup> we set out for an overnight stop in Glasgow and then onto Drymen early Saturday morning. Tracy had spoke to Terry Conway recently and he advised her not to bother with the first 12 miles as it was a bit flat and boring. So the plan was to get our backpacks on and run to Tyndrum that day. Stay overnight in Tyndrum and then run back to Drymen the next day. And that’s pretty much what happened. The first day was a bit drizzly so it was not the best for views. I set myself a challenge of running all the ascents from Drymen to Tyndrum as part of my training to get used to running ascents rather than breaking into my usual Fell/ultra walk. Over the 2 days I only ended up walking one ascent and that was Conic Hill on the return leg as I was drinking a coffee, so overall I was pleased with that. The return leg was great. Tracy and I were treated to some fantastic views across Loch Lomond which well and truly made up for the drizzly dull day before. I should also mention that we stayed at the <a href="http://www.tyndrumbytheway.com/" target="_blank">ByTheWay</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hostel in Tyndrum where the owner is also a keen runner having completed the Highland Fling and I think the West Highland Way Race. We were greeted very enthusiastically by her and made to feel very welcome. I can highly recommend this well equipped and lovely warm hostel to anyone who is looking for a base to explore the surrounding area. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a good weekend of running with the Garmin registering just under 84 miles for the 2 days; which put my weekly total up to 103! This is the largest mileage I have done, ever, excluding the week of the TDG race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily when I got back to the car the local shop in Drymen was still open so in no time at all it was pie time! My favourite time of the day </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfChKCcZ0itoUPJiJFLMG_bs_kE7arF0XK-PP3YGYCpglOK9J5sZBebGWXxskuM_epqXf5kS8DcuiiwE3sQHWuICllTTpJ4qVhHUD5fF-RKCe3_qJ3-XepTazVvLkMqu0gJH-crjGiik/s1600/hf1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfChKCcZ0itoUPJiJFLMG_bs_kE7arF0XK-PP3YGYCpglOK9J5sZBebGWXxskuM_epqXf5kS8DcuiiwE3sQHWuICllTTpJ4qVhHUD5fF-RKCe3_qJ3-XepTazVvLkMqu0gJH-crjGiik/s320/hf1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start of day 2; the return run of the Highland Fling</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Northern view of Loch Lomond<br />
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The things you find by the Loch side.<br />
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The sunset from Conic Hill; a great end to two great days of running.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think a may have mentioned it a few times that I am rather fond of pies but alas no matter how much reading of books and internet trawling on diet I have done I can’t find any information stating that a pie diet is the way forward to increasing ones athletic prowess, mmmmmmm. This shocking and startling discovery is beginning to get me to think that perhaps my pie based diet is not as beneficial towards helping me further my running as I would like it to be, rats! And yes I think I am at that point where I would like to improve my running performance. Following the TDG it’s something I’ve given a bit of thought too, primarily because I wasn’t doing much running after the TDG due to destroyed feet! So I decided to have a look at my training or lack of it I should say. One thing is for certain when you are a self employed single parent ultra runner there’s not a lot of spare time in the day. But if you want to get to some where different in life then you usually have to do something different to get there. I thought as a useful starting point I would go and get myself assessed. So I spent the next couple of weekends out at various night clubs asking ladies to assess me....... quite a fun experience, particularly when you sometimes wear a kilt, but after a couple of weeks I thought the gains to my training from this tactic although fun were minimal. So I decided to gave Mark Laithwaite a call (Organisor of the Montane L100 & L50, owner of the Endurance store and well known for his Talk Ultra chats with Ian Corless about training/coaching). He suggested I came in for one of their assessments and they would formulate a training plan for me to get the improvements I was after. So on the 23<sup>rd</sup> of October 2012 I went and filled a load of paperwork in and ran on a treadmill with the whole oxygen mask on etc to work out my VO2max and heart threshold rates etc. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhowCuTtuq2J4rM6_yEOMwfoJxBHZ80IKd2MDmwlYYxaMdYXJA6bIn0OJwDpvva3R5Ns4BsBsR1uklWxY1g-XyRKNjjJJQb9HkDhcwFxitLHUPQnREhWhiqlbTmD6_XyXbwZDagY0vfeHw/s1600/550122_522970137725635_213031370_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhowCuTtuq2J4rM6_yEOMwfoJxBHZ80IKd2MDmwlYYxaMdYXJA6bIn0OJwDpvva3R5Ns4BsBsR1uklWxY1g-XyRKNjjJJQb9HkDhcwFxitLHUPQnREhWhiqlbTmD6_XyXbwZDagY0vfeHw/s320/550122_522970137725635_213031370_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kilian showing how the VO2 max test should be done.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well this was a unique experience; I must admit it was strangely claustrophobic running with an oxygen mask on but my curiosity about the whole thing was overriding my weird perceptions about breathing in a mask on a treadmill. To cut a long story short I really enjoyed the day and Mark and his staff were great at sorting my results out and putting a plan together for me. The results? Well I was told I have a VO2max of 78% and my threshold heart rate was around 172bpm, with a max incline of 5% being achieved over a total aerobic time of 8minutes. What did this mean? To be honest I hadn’t a clue but apparently with this information a training plan could be developed and it was. The primary change in my training was to increase my basic speed so intervals and fartlek sessions were a stable part of my drafted training plan. Over the next few days I did do a bit of reading about VO2 etc and heart rate threshold training. First stop as usual was Wikipedia; it reveals that apparently my VO2 max is on par with the Elite Female athletes but a bit behind Elite male Athletes (85%).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was told that you can improve your VO2 max by around about 10% via the influence of training and body weight. So it got me thinking that it may be possible for me to get over the 80% level and get closer to that 85% point if I address my training and dietary issues. I should also note that Wikipedia also states that Prof. Tim Noakes claims that VO2 max is a “relatively poor performance indicator in runners”. So I knew it certainly isn’t a be all and end all but I thought it maybe a specific starting point for me to aim for where I would need to not only improve my training but also address my diet of pies over the next year. So all the ingredients were there for S.M.A.R.T. goal setting. Great I thought. So November came and I started the program; December came and I stopped running! Holiday time, Mmmm hadn’t thought that one through I muttered to myself as I wondered back into the seedy world of mince pie eating.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But they taste so good!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So where am I know with it all? Well I'm on the path the lets say, though not that far along it. During my December break I re-configured my training plan. I have taken some of the aspects given to me by Mark and his team and I have incorporated them into a broad plan that I devised myself that I could tailor more accurately around my work and family commitments whilst building in a degree of flexibility that allows to me change things on a weekly basis. Things seem to be going in the right direction even though I have had one or two minor hiccups like the hamstring strain. I am really viewing the whole year as an adventure and a stepping stone to put me in a better position for next year. I am looking forward greatly to this year’s race events and the fun they will bring. I will no doubt learn a lot from them and hopefully use this to improve my performance and enjoyment for next year. The dietary side of things has been slow in changing; in fact I reckon snails move faster than I have in implementing any changes. I am without a shadow of a doubt hooked onto the food industries triad of sugar, fat and salt with their carefully construed bliss points. All three are also the key ingredients of pies! Awareness is a great tool though and so a starting point has been reached albeit slow. I have recently down loaded the “Paleo Diet for Athletes” by L Cordain and I am about half way through. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very interesting reading and I would recommend it to anyone, athlete or non athlete, although I imagine most people reading this have already done so. I have not managed to make any big changes but I have very slowly been reducing my intake of processed food and increasing the amount of fruit, vegetable and nuts etc. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still early days for me yet and I shall no doubt keep you all informed on how I am coping with my reduced pie intake over the next month or so. It will make for a future blog post or two I’m sure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So on that note I better go off and eat a few almonds or something :D</span></div>
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Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-39094105058732643882013-01-08T03:28:00.000-08:002013-01-08T03:47:44.701-08:002013 & Time to fly<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Once again it’s been a while but hopefully I shall keep up with myself this year, ha well we’ll see anyway.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I suppose I’d better sum up what I’ve been up to since my last post which was ermmmhhh at the end of last Summer…whoops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well since the Lakeland 50 I think I did about 4 more races. The first was the Long Tour of Bradwell. This was part of the excellent Runfurther Series and was 2 weeks after the Lakeland 50. I was feeling a bit tired and was not what I would call in tip top shape for the race but my brother Dave had just developed an interest into fell and ultra running and was up for doing this race as prep for the Long Mynd Hike. It would be his first race and I thought it would be good to accompany him for this. David gives a good account on how his race went in his blog site <span style="color: yellow;">“</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://runningthoughtsdb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/long-tour-of-bradwell.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Running Thoughts</span></a><span style="color: yellow;">".</span> I won’t go into too much detail about my race but I ended up running ok despite a steady start and finished 2<sup>nd</sup> to Ian Symington (who had finished 4<sup>th</sup> in the Lakeland 100). Dam, there went my excuse about having tired legs ha. Ian did thank me at the end for being a sport though, I’d had to shout him back a couple of times because he was either running of in the wrong direction or had missed a dibber check point. He truly deserved the win though as he was far spritelier than I was and finished 6minutes ahead of me over the 33 mile Peak District route.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRUYr6f7UvlDk-urRTBEer_G8qbqe1I8t8ZjwYB4uCtFUss_K9UALHve_wdiDF95iZTSLnfVejh4QxFrWLQPA2SWJ9eVi-cQ9e_9dzAqYqETWIApnYGws0u1egoPDsaW7VUfE5bFeeUSA/s1600/T12-3111a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" eea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRUYr6f7UvlDk-urRTBEer_G8qbqe1I8t8ZjwYB4uCtFUss_K9UALHve_wdiDF95iZTSLnfVejh4QxFrWLQPA2SWJ9eVi-cQ9e_9dzAqYqETWIApnYGws0u1egoPDsaW7VUfE5bFeeUSA/s320/T12-3111a.jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPji3OZY-8x7TDx8152ITB5xAE_KUMgQWyi1t9bw2C9Qda_h1saXNKDXIhbSKzjB1r0rfhibE_YTR_EFKhq3U2Xlj9CY4n6Ah6WCs6nRjWuh0HqaQq_ckbCWUxeXwT1BAMNls7w4RFJNI/s1600/Col+du+Loson+the+highest+pass+in+the+race.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" eea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPji3OZY-8x7TDx8152ITB5xAE_KUMgQWyi1t9bw2C9Qda_h1saXNKDXIhbSKzjB1r0rfhibE_YTR_EFKhq3U2Xlj9CY4n6Ah6WCs6nRjWuh0HqaQq_ckbCWUxeXwT1BAMNls7w4RFJNI/s200/Col+du+Loson+the+highest+pass+in+the+race.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After now completing two Ultras as such; the Lakeland 50 and the Long Tour of Bradwell, I had come to the conclusion I was becoming an Ultra runner with a liking for the mountains. Which is just as well as my next outing was the Tor Des Geants in the Aosta Valley Italy. The race is 330km through the Alps with around about 24000metres of ascent. Trail Running magazine had described it as the World’s Toughest Ultra. I remember reading the article giggling to myself. This race was to be my third ever Ultra and people were saying how they had trained for years and done several 100 mile races in prep for it etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just brought it home to me how ignorant I was about the whole thing and what was truly involved. But I was entered and that was that. There would be no shrinking from responsibility and I was determined that I was going to complete this race even if I had to crawl. Before embarking on this adventure I had also been very fortunate to speak to the excellent outdoor clothing company Montane. They were incredibly generous to me and said they would help out with supplying me some kit for the race as long as I would report back to them on how it all went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well blow me down with a feather; I accepted that one straight away. So big thanks to all at Team Montane for your support. My account of this little journey into Europe can be found on their web site (</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.montane.co.uk/news/reliving-the-tor-des-geants" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Montane</span></a>). In summary I did complete it along with my good running friend George Bate. Out of the 630 starters only 73 made it to Courmayeur; George and myself were lucky enough to be part of that small number finishing 64th & 65th. Here's a you tube clip of some moments from the event.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt-Z8_bApSQ&feature=related" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Tor Des Geants Aerial Video</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well my feet were certainly in a mess after the Tor Des Geants. But I had 3 weeks to recover and then it was off to do the RAB Mountain Marathon with my running friend Tracy. I got to the start line of that race and my feet had not fully recovered but I thought they were good enough to get a reasonable run in. As it happens they were. We were blessed by good weather for this event once again. Tracy has done a write up of this on her Blog “The Trivialities of a Mountain Runner” which can be found here (</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://tracymdean.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/dark-and-white-and-heathery.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Dark & White & Heathery</span></a>). This event went well although it was a little too close for comfort on day 2 due to a couple of minor nav errors by myself, but these aside we still managed a win in the mixed category. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkljqc2428ltoSrSE0pEBV0lVctUL-lfxOCWdaTZYStl30qCl5OpFHAJthxn9ODerpPKvBtkU0OvsyoYNnE3Uzb1r82MACC9ml41VRx_dwARl5PnG7vWhGw2Dqy_erDVMEDp52tix9uY/s1600/121010095245_R.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" eea="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkljqc2428ltoSrSE0pEBV0lVctUL-lfxOCWdaTZYStl30qCl5OpFHAJthxn9ODerpPKvBtkU0OvsyoYNnE3Uzb1r82MACC9ml41VRx_dwARl5PnG7vWhGw2Dqy_erDVMEDp52tix9uY/s320/121010095245_R.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start of Day 2 RaB MM</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another 3 weeks later and Tracy and I were at this Mountain Marathon thing again running in the OMM. We were both determined to have a good run and put behind us last year’s run. We ended day one in a strong position 9th overal in the A Class & 2nd in our catagory. We could sense that a good run on the Sunday would yield a podium finish. However, it all came crashing down as I dropped I clangor with my nav. I had decided to split from a path to drop down into a valley to pick up a check point. However I was using a spot height as my marker on the map and tying that in with my altimeter. Visibility was very poor and rain was coming down (normally conditions for the OMM then). Big mistake as when I took the bearing we dropped into an adjacent valley. What I should have done was to keep running another 4-600metres to a trig point; hindsight is a wonderful thing. By the time I had realized my mistake and contoured around to the next valley I think we had lost somewhere in the region of 15 to 20 minutes. It was game over for a podium finish. So with the wind from our sails completely knocked out Tracy and myself called it a day. A lesson well and truly learnt by myself. Once again Tracy reports this better on her blog (</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://tracymdean.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/12th-october-2012-26th-october-2012.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">The OMM</span></a>). </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So 4 races done, 3 I was pleased with and 1 I was not.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I ended the 2012 season quietly by taking 5 weeks off from running and for that matter any training what so ever. I started training on December 26<sup>th</sup> again. This is just as well as I was eating rather a lot of mince pies (warm ones with a side serving of ice cream ….mmmm yummmy), which resulted in me successfully putting on 9lbs in weight, whoops. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQaLWlXyxidaEOdwAG_u1EOWLiwZDaXutYIBlqQCPoclkI_BzuPcAxxLmWkRrt_GBSxzL1LBnQXD17_T80gyjevQhVNHoIspa7KTOuHLrMzJBTCj0n7V7JZ4MSLm_JE8iSO4lKP4UsqKQ/s1600/hm__1254831628_MINCE_PIE_AND_ICE_CREAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" eea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQaLWlXyxidaEOdwAG_u1EOWLiwZDaXutYIBlqQCPoclkI_BzuPcAxxLmWkRrt_GBSxzL1LBnQXD17_T80gyjevQhVNHoIspa7KTOuHLrMzJBTCj0n7V7JZ4MSLm_JE8iSO4lKP4UsqKQ/s1600/hm__1254831628_MINCE_PIE_AND_ICE_CREAM.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I am still glad I took the rest though I think it was needed more from a mental stance rather than a physical one. It felt good just to shut off from running and go back out and socialize again. One of the things I have noticed about training for longer distance events is that I have most definitely become more of a hermit and rarely socialize with people outside of my running circle of friends. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This break though has served a purpose I have come back full of enthusiasm to start training and racing again. The problem now is my brain is racing faster than my body. It has taken me a couple of weeks to just start getting back that feeling that I can run fluidly rather than like an old wheezing donkey. I have though in my enthusiasm to get training and set goals, gone and already planned my race calendar for 2013. The one thing I adored about the Tor Des Geants was the crowds and their enthusiasm for the racing. I was blown away by how big the Trail running scene is in Europe. The energy that the spectators supply to these events is fantastic. With this in mind I decided I would like to experience this again so with a desire to run back in the Alps again and experience other breath taking mountainous courses I decided to enter the Sky Running Ultra Series. I must admit I’m pretty excited about the whole thing. It will certainly be an adventure, which is the way I like most of my running to be.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So looks like I’d better get booking some flights….</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_1RWlvpv7Ac-ZOKZ60-sKmyDyuTnES99tEdo3M_zksJsnC9Q0PDHPflwepNwNBTu0mFcuV7W0gHD6cO5gBTvNhDLPlnMwMiQ81f7irRxrGc0elRaYPEifbsPVgqTHgI6XBXzZQ0n0a0/s1600/Skyrunner-World-Series-90.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" eea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_1RWlvpv7Ac-ZOKZ60-sKmyDyuTnES99tEdo3M_zksJsnC9Q0PDHPflwepNwNBTu0mFcuV7W0gHD6cO5gBTvNhDLPlnMwMiQ81f7irRxrGc0elRaYPEifbsPVgqTHgI6XBXzZQ0n0a0/s1600/Skyrunner-World-Series-90.png" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></b><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">ULTRA</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">1. SPAIN: <a href="http://www.skyrunning.com/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/transvulcania-ultramarathon.pdf" mce_href="/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/transvulcania-ultramarathon.pdf" target="_blank">Transvulcania Ultramarathon</a> - 83k, La Palma - May 11</span> <br />2. ANDORRA: <a href="http://www.skyrunning.com/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/ronda-dels-cims.pdf" mce_href="/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/ronda-dels-cims.pdf" target="_blank">Ronda dels Cims</a> - 170k, Vallnord - June 21<br /><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">3. FRANCE: <a href="http://www.skyrunning.com/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/ice-trail-tarentaise.pdf" mce_href="/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/ice-trail-tarentaise.pdf" target="_blank">Ice Trail Tarentaise</a> - 65k, Val d’Isère - July 14</span><br />4. USA: <a href="http://www.skyrunning.com/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/speedgoat-50k.pdf" mce_href="/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/speedgoat-50k.pdf" target="_blank">Speedgoat</a> - 50k, Park City, Utah - July 27 <br /><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">5. USA: <a href="http://www.skyrunning.com/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/ultra-race-of-champions.pdf" mce_href="/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/ultra-race-of-champions.pdf" target="_blank">Ultra Race of Champions “UROC”</a> - 100k, Vail, Colorado - September 28</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;">SKY<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-highlight: yellow;">2. FRANCE: <a href="http://www.skyrunning.com/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/mont-blanc-marathon.pdf" mce_href="/images/stories/schede-sws-2013/mont-blanc-marathon.pdf" target="_blank">Mont-Blanc Marathon</a> - 42k, Chamonix - June 30</span></div>
Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-78704097669885371052012-08-28T18:04:00.000-07:002012-08-28T18:04:35.947-07:00A Long Coffee Break....<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: white; font-family: Calibri;">“<span style="color: yellow;">Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the past is a resurrection; the past then lives in your words and you are free.”</span></span></span><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jessamyn_west.html"><span style="font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: white; font-family: Calibri;">Jessamyn West</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">Well it’s been a while hasn’t it! I set my blog up to help myself in my build up of trying to get fit for my Paddy Buckley Round (</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Buckley_Round"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Buckley_Round</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: lime;">) in 2011. With being new to mountain/fell running I had the idea it would help to keep me enthused about my training and just be a bit of fun writing about it. And it worked. It did all of the above. However, after I completed the round in June my initial objectives had been met and this little ole blog has laid dormant for a while. A couple of months ago I came across the above quote by Jessamyn West and the penny dropped with me that this is what I needed to do. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGUlFSP5eL0evAajMWiIYdbArTaWVd1BX5m2a4FSU7-mBJUDhJSkGdrHfwmgUc4Dv_7P5a7ysVxDsJloLG7Jnp7ro-gm-broQJi9T6AfMyd5iYwPmPJwcvx76_K3S51-FZ3M7NYGQhPI/s1600/5804488740_fd8fa28cda_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: lime;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGUlFSP5eL0evAajMWiIYdbArTaWVd1BX5m2a4FSU7-mBJUDhJSkGdrHfwmgUc4Dv_7P5a7ysVxDsJloLG7Jnp7ro-gm-broQJi9T6AfMyd5iYwPmPJwcvx76_K3S51-FZ3M7NYGQhPI/s320/5804488740_fd8fa28cda_m.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">Road stop on my Paddy in June 2011</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">The last year had been a strange one for me; at first I soared on the euphoria of doing my “Paddy” and decided to help out with as many “Paddy” attempts by other people last year as I could so they too could experience that elation of finishing such a beautiful Round. That was pretty much how my summer went, apart from doing a couple of recce runs with another good running friend Gaynor (</span></span><a href="http://shoeaholicsguidetorunning.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">http://shoeaholicsguidetorunning.blogspot.co.uk/</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">) of the Lakeland 100, helping out three other friends John Whilock, Bryan Carr and Simon Reed to do a successful joint Ramsey Round (</span></span><a href="http://www.ramsaysround.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.ramsaysround.com/</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">) –Simons report was published in “Fellrunner” last year, and a moment of madness in August when I woke up in the morning with a little hang over and went and entered the British Masters Half Marathon Champs as it was in Leek that year (my home town). The Leek half is known to be a tough road half marathon due to its ascent up the Roaches but that suited me and I was pleased to finish in the top 20. It was my first race out on tarmac in well over a decade and a half and it completely reassured me that fell and trail is most definitely the way forward for me.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8T_iE3qmSOgi5G8uShbkFUwLJ803GXuFL9VUXcFNWAQHsHUEU-T5e8aTmgL1j28YlNZ53ovZj668lm4hOSsxlcknkR1tXFffptE1Lt-V6nmdKMY3NKZOuzfRYCPGQZl0M1s3_LJrzH-A/s1600/We've+made+it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: lime;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8T_iE3qmSOgi5G8uShbkFUwLJ803GXuFL9VUXcFNWAQHsHUEU-T5e8aTmgL1j28YlNZ53ovZj668lm4hOSsxlcknkR1tXFffptE1Lt-V6nmdKMY3NKZOuzfRYCPGQZl0M1s3_LJrzH-A/s320/We've+made+it.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">John, Simon and Bryan after their succesful Ramsey Round</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcasI0NjO7yA2_udCW1iZ8zgby9xpd_T1g15wCMKaulQ9ObacRryTMpuW9iv6uMxka6I43jLkwXv2ZzBZTUzqwwT27STUz2fAPUlrrQmFmgBK0qy_cx2lbmkiJbVUVzIshVFEw3RuOpo/s1600/leek+half.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: lime;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcasI0NjO7yA2_udCW1iZ8zgby9xpd_T1g15wCMKaulQ9ObacRryTMpuW9iv6uMxka6I43jLkwXv2ZzBZTUzqwwT27STUz2fAPUlrrQmFmgBK0qy_cx2lbmkiJbVUVzIshVFEw3RuOpo/s320/leek+half.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">Tarmac treading at Leek half Marathon</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpxL1MaArSZbjyZaMErOwWq-5rJDihM_XNfFlm0kv55ipf5FrrbvdVTN9IDO78Ejj535bw03_2dKSVVyrIXm2r0NfIqYbrgUalJ3AWmrIev_pJe7LE2DH2dnXNbKvKJrBTBSP59UH9lM/s1600/215557_10150152704730378_550015377_7037819_7389303_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: lime;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpxL1MaArSZbjyZaMErOwWq-5rJDihM_XNfFlm0kv55ipf5FrrbvdVTN9IDO78Ejj535bw03_2dKSVVyrIXm2r0NfIqYbrgUalJ3AWmrIev_pJe7LE2DH2dnXNbKvKJrBTBSP59UH9lM/s320/215557_10150152704730378_550015377_7037819_7389303_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">A fun day in the Welsh Mountains with George Fell Pony, Fairy, Johnny W, Bryan & Hollie the Collie 2011</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">All in all it was a great summer with some awesome experience’s where I also met some amazing people. The autumn however brought a change not only in the weather but in my running focus. The two day navigation Mountain Marathon races of the RAB and the OMM were undertaken with Tracy in September and at the end of October. Probably one of the hardest things I had done in a while was trying to put a tent up in a freezing cold Scottish field with numb hands in the dark after running day one of the Elite category. In-between these two events were the highly enjoyable Fell Relays, it was the first time I had competed in the event and was lucky enough to be selected and make the Eryri Harriers Vets team. I mixed in a couple of North Wales Cross Country Races as well just for fun. It was, though, at one of these meets that I noticed all was not well with my back/hip. It had been niggling for a while but after one of the Cross Country races in November I think my body was telling me that all was not great. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">Fell Relays, photo by Chris Upson</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">So as the ever diligent athlete that I am, I ignored it and raced the Roaches Fell Race the very next day. I was pleased with my run, my body wasn’t. It finally stopped playing the next day when I found out I could only walk 20 yards then my whole right leg would lock up….whoops. A week later I found out I had been selected to run for North Wales in a Cross country race…double whoops. I didn’t run at all during the 3 week period up to the race and just stretched. It worked to a degree as I got around and completed the race but I knew I was not running at all well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time was called and apart from about 4 occasions I didn’t run from December until the middle of February again. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise great year. I put a lot of “spin” on the situation but beneath it all I was well and truly fed up with it.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheE8qN9p7GfERs_c-JdCquxwZQN0ezB6-r9_DYgngGBzkqu_xV11wN5GeA1Qdo-on0SDiOpu1j3HewThnCObDoLZZ7y1Hp7OIbtkZgqlVTc6pFK4edBVQWcfk8QSndTSRi2MvYQYmCytM/s1600/397774_10151051613610551_898530550_22052621_1367675451_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: lime;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheE8qN9p7GfERs_c-JdCquxwZQN0ezB6-r9_DYgngGBzkqu_xV11wN5GeA1Qdo-on0SDiOpu1j3HewThnCObDoLZZ7y1Hp7OIbtkZgqlVTc6pFK4edBVQWcfk8QSndTSRi2MvYQYmCytM/s320/397774_10151051613610551_898530550_22052621_1367675451_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">Having some fun on my last run out of 2011 with Tracy at the Christmas Cracker</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">The first half of 2012 from my running perspective has been about trying to get going again. I started to pick up the reins in February and get out into the fells for some jog outs. Its here I must truly thank Tracy for helping me to get on with this task in hand. For those people who don’t know the “Fell Fairy” she is incredibly enthusiastic about her running in every aspect and it has something she has put her heart and soul into over the last couple of years. This enthusiasm is infective and gradually through soaking this up on various weekend runs and the telling me like it is phone calls I managed to start getting the desire to push it once more.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXaN6OzJIneyjbLuas79kgvdlpacgu8lp_-X65HZaPxm31DpR8EgUaG_ioGdOhyUL32PhDlNxDHx04ZM_HhKkESKHakdkN4-5sn_kXjvLYMLeleDVBeHazMTvhNgJcYwaYVF2-xogf_Ug/s1600/556617_10150644456922473_742682472_9586973_1769319161_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: lime;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXaN6OzJIneyjbLuas79kgvdlpacgu8lp_-X65HZaPxm31DpR8EgUaG_ioGdOhyUL32PhDlNxDHx04ZM_HhKkESKHakdkN4-5sn_kXjvLYMLeleDVBeHazMTvhNgJcYwaYVF2-xogf_Ug/s320/556617_10150644456922473_742682472_9586973_1769319161_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">First Mixed Team; Buff lightning 12 hour</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">Gaynor suggested a run out in early spring at the Buff Lightning Ultra event at Eastnor Estate. I was unfit and was still carrying my winter weight (nothing new there then!), but thanks once again to some excellent running by the Fairy, a first place in the Mixed Team was bagged. This really helped with my motivation and after this I managed to keep my weekend running momentum going. This was just as well as I had entered the Montane Lakeland 50 (</span></span><a href="http://www.lakeland100.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.lakeland100.com/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: lime;">) <span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: lime;">with another good running friend George Bate as a male pair Team. George is well known in the fell running fraternity being the founder of the Fell Ponies…a fell running club with no rules, no committee and no membership; brilliant (</span><a href="http://ukfellponies.org.uk/"><span style="color: lime;">http://ukfellponies.org.uk/</span></a><span style="color: lime;">). He is also the person I can blame for suggesting I do a little jog in the Alps with him and wham the next minute we are in the Tor Des Geants! (</span><a href="http://www.tordesgeants.it/"><span style="color: lime;">http://www.tordesgeants.it/</span></a><span style="color: lime;">). So I have managed to pick up the miles on the mountains by having some consistent weekends out. The training is not where I would like it to be at this moment but I’m working on that and hopefully things will change over the next few months. The Lakeland 50 ended with George and I winning the Male pairs in a new record time; a good run but a great effort from George who endured some intense quad cramps for around 40 miles and still kept going! <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">The start of the Montane Lakeland 50 </span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: lime;">The Fairy also had a truly fantastic race at the Montane Lakeland weekend. She won the ladies 50 smashing the old record by a <span style="background-color: black;">huge margin. Since this win she has also started a blog (</span></span></span></span><a href="http://tracymdean.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="background-color: black; color: lime; font-family: Calibri;">http://tracymdean.blogspot.co.uk/</span></span></a><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: lime;">)</span><span style="color: lime;"> and after not reading many blogs for a long time I found myself reading her report, then clicking on a link and reading another blog and so on. It was great to find so many people out there enthusing about the fells/mountains; it was once again intoxicating and has helped to spur me on with new goals for the year ahead. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reading all these brilliant reports once again reminded of the Jessamyn West quote and I concluded a resurrection of my blog would be good…well for me anyway </span></span></span></span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="color: lime;">J</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: lime;"> So with that in mind I had better finish my 14 month overdue Paddy</span> <span style="color: lime;">report very quickly....:) </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">Team Fairy at the finish of the Montane Lakeland 50; myself, Fairy & George. Photo Nick Ham</span></td></tr>
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Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-33760144580299648582011-08-08T15:07:00.000-07:002011-08-08T15:07:29.614-07:00The Lakeland 100....and the winner is... :)Okay I admit it, I'm pants at keeping my blog up to date in the summer months. Its just I like to get out and play when summer time is here and yep I've been playing alot. So I have an awful lot to catch up on, which I'll do in a few subsequent blogs. But whilst I am here I may as well add a bit of meaning to my subject headline.<br />
Yep I had the privilege of going up to spectate the Lakeland 100 with my running friend Tracy to show some support for our mutual running friend Gaynor Prior. We also had the duty to try and bring her back in one piece or at least the pieces in one bag as her significant other was working in Russia...as you do. And what a treat it was. The race was very well organised and it has to be one of the best Ultra's in the UK at present. I don't really class myself as an ultra runner but I do admit that I did leave with a thought about 2012 and entry forms...ha.<br />
Well there's not much point me writing about the event when the first Lady and new record holder Mrs Gaynor Prior has now started her own blog page and has covered it all in wonderful detail. The site is called "shoeaholics guide to running", hopefully the link is below:<br />
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<a href="http://shoeaholicsguidetorunning.blogspot.com/2011/08/lakeland-100.html">http://shoeaholicsguidetorunning.blogspot.com/2011/08/lakeland-100.html</a><br />
<a href="http://shoeaholicsguidetorunning.blogspot.com/2011/08/lakeland-100.html">http://shoeaholicsguidetorunning.blogspot.com/2011/08/lakeland-100.html</a><br />
Gaynor is also the lady who won and smashed the record at Caesar's Camp last year. So if you are interested in following her random running world just subscribe. I promise she'll be far more prolific with her writing than me and no doubt very informative.<br />
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Right I'd better get my arse into gear and start writing a catch up post, which will no doubt have lots of photo's.<br />
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Toodlepips for now.Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-11861310183687227582011-05-09T13:05:00.000-07:002011-05-09T13:05:15.722-07:00Apologies, gifts from the Gods and eeeeeeeek!Cripes!!! How long has it been since I have posted something....flipping ages is a polite phrase that comes to mind. So my <strong>apology</strong> to those who have wondered what has happened to me (well all one of you, haha). Basically the weather has just been so good that it was necessary to strap those mudclaws to me feet and head out into the fells for days of fun. And fun it has been.<br />
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Well quite a bit of running has happened in the meantime and if I go on one of my normal rambles I'll be nattering for ages. To avoid masses of drivel and the possibility of sending people into a state of comatose I have decided that I should just bullet point a few sentences and post a load of pictures. <br />
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So here goes......<br />
1. Training for my Paddy Buckley Round on the 4th of June has been going well during April :)<br />
2. All but one weekend of April was spent doing recon runs in Snowdonia.<br />
3. The one weekend I missed Tracy & I ran the Dark & White Mini Mountain Marathon and won the Hope Valley Mixed Team event and therefore the overall Series for the Mixed Team. Which we are both pleased about as we have not ran a navigation race before until we ran this series.<br />
4.I have been eating like a horse (and enjoying it) with out putting weight on...pass me the chocolate :)<br />
5. I have a first class support team for my Paddy attempt now finalised.<br />
6. <strong>The Gifts from the Gods!......</strong>Whilst out running the Moelwyns section I realised I had put some old socks on and blisters where beginning to form...drat. If I had only remembered to pack my padded compression socks....3 miles in hanging of a barb wire fence what did I find...yes a pair of socks that where perfectly dry and my size! The rest of the run went well needless to say. Thank you sock gods! Mmmmm I could do with some new fell shoes..I wonder if there is a God that deals with this? I might have to email Terry Prachett to find out :P<br />
7. <strong>Eeeeeeeek</strong> as I said training went well in April. May however is a different story. I lost concentration coming down the Roaches after an easy run and yes the ankle went in one direction I went in the other. Anglo-saxon terminology filled the air in a very colour full way. To cut a long story short the police drove me to the local hospital where I was transferred to Macclesfield for an xray. Luckily no fracture or brake but several badly torn ligaments.I've started physio and I'm still aiming for the 4th June its just looks like I'll be having a longer taper period than I thought. Time to buy some ultra light trekking poles me thinks at least I can then aim to be the first person to hop around the Paddy :)<br />
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Hope everyone else there has been having loads of fun on the fells! Here's the pictures then :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracy survives, but only just, the bogs of the Moelwyns.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jon & Tracy climb out of the Moelwyn quarries</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of the Moelwyns.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja44FAKfZgX3b7KoeoPhmBiuIFGoedZimCknon7Q6K5jfzZ74-PS4z652Repox2jxS3sIriBQODHKc2WY-pGgsFNkuJ5OIxYAljoPgkbgF3umivhoHV4-NOVUdUvMaps_hIIhpRyx15nU/s1600/20110424_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja44FAKfZgX3b7KoeoPhmBiuIFGoedZimCknon7Q6K5jfzZ74-PS4z652Repox2jxS3sIriBQODHKc2WY-pGgsFNkuJ5OIxYAljoPgkbgF3umivhoHV4-NOVUdUvMaps_hIIhpRyx15nU/s320/20110424_002.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just before starting the climb from Llanberis slate mines</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WDUgVdlI6GAwMugriJkw4JRSzQQcr4BIFHzCmlT-k6bsJu4CDOOTFBGN8gLjs8rah80c6JyGqqeUEeWf1MobRKbDDqna4c5RaaDq2c0oM8bsN10HjEfo8hnpE5tUr10_swv7lyNDPXU/s1600/20110424_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WDUgVdlI6GAwMugriJkw4JRSzQQcr4BIFHzCmlT-k6bsJu4CDOOTFBGN8gLjs8rah80c6JyGqqeUEeWf1MobRKbDDqna4c5RaaDq2c0oM8bsN10HjEfo8hnpE5tUr10_swv7lyNDPXU/s320/20110424_004.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great views and great weather along the Glyders section.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65p7ahqpUk9HhhESGrvgF_o11tum8FV9Q2dEstpfHsJkoRFcOZP1LbTxNratDWSd1n1vs8ma9iQwwzdgPoD7pWoSTw66RF2lCi7qOsS0pxpqWSROiHfrIAWxqPVufUsSlQm45ID4iyOw/s1600/20110424_006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65p7ahqpUk9HhhESGrvgF_o11tum8FV9Q2dEstpfHsJkoRFcOZP1LbTxNratDWSd1n1vs8ma9iQwwzdgPoD7pWoSTw66RF2lCi7qOsS0pxpqWSROiHfrIAWxqPVufUsSlQm45ID4iyOw/s320/20110424_006.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back to the Snowdon section from the Glyders</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTC88joy8p_2MdmEV6eyAn26CoYs8eAuam-EdLZtwL8b7Np2Bdx_itvylHGyNmwE0Rqtf9TYnz1PaHTrp8ZOnvLqWndUVKVsPRz4dQCGAwhbVbLvwGKdGBxpcwMaWH7nJBNIXLog-kCWk/s1600/20110424_008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTC88joy8p_2MdmEV6eyAn26CoYs8eAuam-EdLZtwL8b7Np2Bdx_itvylHGyNmwE0Rqtf9TYnz1PaHTrp8ZOnvLqWndUVKVsPRz4dQCGAwhbVbLvwGKdGBxpcwMaWH7nJBNIXLog-kCWk/s320/20110424_008.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lunar landscape between Glyder Fawr and Glyder fach</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-u59nzPG4BkYaGwWpLsPR4CGcFNNh-G7IkBKZGXKKQFgMRDN13xWe_lEkXM8aJ5UDqwd6ZQUWqXpwUvoJbMWXGKfqsNSQGdHpfEauBDwCTU5CfRD5SwimcO3HdQYM5lJC6Pcqn9ewrw/s1600/20110424_013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-u59nzPG4BkYaGwWpLsPR4CGcFNNh-G7IkBKZGXKKQFgMRDN13xWe_lEkXM8aJ5UDqwd6ZQUWqXpwUvoJbMWXGKfqsNSQGdHpfEauBDwCTU5CfRD5SwimcO3HdQYM5lJC6Pcqn9ewrw/s320/20110424_013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scree slope of Glyder Fach...if you tilt your head sideways ha</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYM42wPLDzhmaL3uRTaKwWwVsZvJJ8F1Dc3iAYET6GIfTZbHqNQRnxtwEpgeNYNVsajBfoLHii02xWB5_cES0b7uCvrVKJv4xTf1mtUHS_pBt2EvgD5KwQNNvBT8CqxhuXEv1M0VWMjY/s1600/cnichtascent2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYM42wPLDzhmaL3uRTaKwWwVsZvJJ8F1Dc3iAYET6GIfTZbHqNQRnxtwEpgeNYNVsajBfoLHii02xWB5_cES0b7uCvrVKJv4xTf1mtUHS_pBt2EvgD5KwQNNvBT8CqxhuXEv1M0VWMjY/s320/cnichtascent2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dale, George (on his hands & knees) and Tracy doing the Cnicht ascent.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_ZGKi9FXVIxsNvR_im_dlkmIVOCCX-sV-_RFmluOx_6-gCIF9uAUZkkVzC3N51xM7aX2fTv_6qSYLPdUS1YdtQ4DBY5i6n7njH7sCHUGaWBxYMaRRNK2PxRZLmDOySZuFOCrdQnXplo/s1600/fellrunningonMoelwynMawr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_ZGKi9FXVIxsNvR_im_dlkmIVOCCX-sV-_RFmluOx_6-gCIF9uAUZkkVzC3N51xM7aX2fTv_6qSYLPdUS1YdtQ4DBY5i6n7njH7sCHUGaWBxYMaRRNK2PxRZLmDOySZuFOCrdQnXplo/s320/fellrunningonMoelwynMawr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George, Dale, Tracy and Jon take the views in from Moelwyn Mawr</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRxOdGDjLRS2HwPdtl3iEmF1OD0qVoy2qhGnKApSb-UMCW0OP3zMf94CxDO-C-voG_p4eYLq1-4gleNhimTwndW_p0AQWof5yzamRFIwUKmVloxySfeYLsxi2talu8hPd7eP0iEm3YJI/s1600/paddy+buckley+trip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRxOdGDjLRS2HwPdtl3iEmF1OD0qVoy2qhGnKApSb-UMCW0OP3zMf94CxDO-C-voG_p4eYLq1-4gleNhimTwndW_p0AQWof5yzamRFIwUKmVloxySfeYLsxi2talu8hPd7eP0iEm3YJI/s320/paddy+buckley+trip.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moi, Tracy, Dale, George and Jon still on Moelwyn Mawr</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazkjPnUdomI7BaFPver9sS0B5x9XKEH8ivimzVPyOaHzhYKCFfIzph9EE2ERVDQiEkBGPcphu2VKAzPDBkJWs4qRySTf4ySjrcgH4DLO7rStOt4RKzCAkuhKdc7v1TrfeV5YrvOL3acI/s1600/P1010420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazkjPnUdomI7BaFPver9sS0B5x9XKEH8ivimzVPyOaHzhYKCFfIzph9EE2ERVDQiEkBGPcphu2VKAzPDBkJWs4qRySTf4ySjrcgH4DLO7rStOt4RKzCAkuhKdc7v1TrfeV5YrvOL3acI/s320/P1010420.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracy and Moi at the start of the Dark & White Hope Valley MM (Photo's from Dark & White)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMTPfClIqyRIuf8nAv4Qggzn3t-dn7Px-pQCgOtNOkUO-CNPhJShWqt9fmAGKOz-uPgsoQCyGi7V4Gt_aB_SyL8LHTqAd0NaXqME4-YBwTUtAfvfecGjdpmozSy63M8-sit_slt8L3Yo/s1600/P1010492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMTPfClIqyRIuf8nAv4Qggzn3t-dn7Px-pQCgOtNOkUO-CNPhJShWqt9fmAGKOz-uPgsoQCyGi7V4Gt_aB_SyL8LHTqAd0NaXqME4-YBwTUtAfvfecGjdpmozSy63M8-sit_slt8L3Yo/s320/P1010492.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running to the end of the Dark & White and still energy left for a smile (Photo's from Dark & White)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5PxALEN_R8QD4oYIPlsMQYqoPSiRJFZPTjOb5zL5MxX12FOR4pmd1Kbqd5YISm1VwdpaahbZwoh2_ZcKQ-SEVhBouqSZ8xloVCI_OCPcAyuqpoqh8A_8fe5tf3eL-8aIUkV-3XbXnvE/s1600/20110424_018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5PxALEN_R8QD4oYIPlsMQYqoPSiRJFZPTjOb5zL5MxX12FOR4pmd1Kbqd5YISm1VwdpaahbZwoh2_ZcKQ-SEVhBouqSZ8xloVCI_OCPcAyuqpoqh8A_8fe5tf3eL-8aIUkV-3XbXnvE/s320/20110424_018.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The result of weekends away running the fells in Wales. Time for new shoes for Tracy me thinks.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjohgOYXboW1wM9i-CX-v5jtEUuBVhQAB4oZKWWIa0ORmB2SPxKVzKbK3ySLhj_jwXjtwIJl1w_dkZCkXP6tZ_IR_I888QffoDZlOkWPrWuNheIQiotme6H1dlQ_5OXV5Q-7tXKFFMwyYI/s1600/20110422_009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjohgOYXboW1wM9i-CX-v5jtEUuBVhQAB4oZKWWIa0ORmB2SPxKVzKbK3ySLhj_jwXjtwIJl1w_dkZCkXP6tZ_IR_I888QffoDZlOkWPrWuNheIQiotme6H1dlQ_5OXV5Q-7tXKFFMwyYI/s320/20110422_009.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And what do fell runners do after a hard day on the fells...get down to Pete's Eats in Llanberis and eat like a horse...well I do anyway. Tracy and the ex fell runner, legendary cafe owner that is Pete; who has a brilliant beach running theory which I shall share at a later date :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-10186373896615745722011-03-14T15:44:00.000-07:002011-03-14T15:53:45.756-07:00“You win some you loose some; it’s all the same to me” Lemmy, Motorhead, from the Ace of Spades.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/EfCnfweLw9U?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well once again it’s been a while since I whizzed over the keyboard and published some random running rambling. However, with all the current crises in the world it does seem somewhat frivolous to go on about my aching legs or something. Yet I suppose I am not that different to most people with a passion and no matter what is going on at some point your thoughts turn to it. So with that in mind what the blinking flip have I been up to over the last few weeks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well the first thing was entering my first navigational running event; the Dark & White Mini Mountain Marathons. The first event of the current 3 race series was held near Chesterfield on the 27<sup>th</sup> of February. So it was another early morning start (not so good when you’ve been to your cousins wedding celebrations the night before) that comprises of stumbling around trying to make a flask of coffee, pasting on loads of deep heat on the war wounds, rubbing yours eyes because you are not quite awake then realising that that strange burning sensation in your head was because you still had deep heat on your fingers and rushing to the bathroom to wash your eyes before they become burnt out of their sockets! Luckily for me my team mate Tracy is rather more awake and we hit the road to chesterfield with exciting anticipation as this was also the first time Tracy had run this type of event. In fact it would be her second ever race having only started running last summer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Vg6e5m4b2epLdZY39jJYAeZqIXQEoIeGBAXRdX5lgs5wOOnce433c9N-w8KP9TBmm2Ud7h-nhAV5fAV9Tr5voNkKQd6LWAzrdBQLQ6gk-cx2-SyTSNt0q0yb3ne3mITMqZgbieNE_hQ/s1600/tracyroaches.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Vg6e5m4b2epLdZY39jJYAeZqIXQEoIeGBAXRdX5lgs5wOOnce433c9N-w8KP9TBmm2Ud7h-nhAV5fAV9Tr5voNkKQd6LWAzrdBQLQ6gk-cx2-SyTSNt0q0yb3ne3mITMqZgbieNE_hQ/s320/tracyroaches.bmp" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">No photo's from the event as we did not have time to take any so here's one from a training mission in the Roaches</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had entered the event as a mixed team running under the Fell Ponies banner, so collected 2 sets of dibbers and the Dark & White chaps explained how it all worked to us. After another coffee for moi we decided to get the show on the road. We started the clocks got our maps and then looked at each other eeeeekkkkk! There were 25 check points and only 3 hours to reach them all for maximum points. It was fairly obvious this would have to be a make the best route we can run and just make do with what we get. It took me around 5 minutes to get used to the maps scale...think I need to eat more carrots. After that though we both got down to business and just kept running making up the route as we went and modifying it every now and then. With around 15minutes left to get back to the start on time realisation dawned on us that we were not going to make it. So it was time for my sergeant major approach and tell Tracy to get a move on....whilst remaining out of punching and kicking distance (well she is a brown belt in kickboxing!). And bloody hell did she move, with a fantastic effort Tracy started running at 7min mile pace. We clocked in 6minutes past the dead line and as such lost some points due to time penalties. We had covered 17.5 miles according to my Garmin so we were both pleased. After a coffee though the interim results came out and we were both amazed to see that we had topped the mixed teams, in fact we finished 16th overall and were the second overall team in! We were so pleased we celebrated by having a fried egg butty each from the local cafe! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was close however, we had won by 1 point! It just goes to show even after 3 hours of running things can be tight in a finish. However, we did also notice that on top of loosing the 9 points in time penalties we also didn’t get an extra 15 points from check point 107 as it registered on my dibber but not Tracy’s. But heyho it will make for a very interesting run on the next event. Now if I can only win the next race I was running in the Long Mynd Valley........ooooo look there’s that flying pig again!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So there it was the Long Mynd mountain range looming at me as I sat in the car with fellow fell runners John Whillock, Ian Ankers, Gareth Briggs and Rod Campbell. Cripes I thought this is serious running. I would honestly say that this was going to be my first proper fell race. Having only ever done 2 before (Mow Cop BM and Lantysilio AS) I didn’t really feel as though I could be called a fell runner until I had entered one of the classic races. The likes of Lloyd Taggart, Dave Neil (and his promising son Will) and Pete Vale were all lining up at the start as this race was a counter for the English Champs. Jon told me to expect 11 miles or there about of hell. In retro spec he was about right ha. I had absolutely no idea how to run the race but everyone had warned me about the last two big climbs so I thought I’d take it easy at the beginning and see what I felt like at the mid stage. By mile 3 I was panting heavily and Jon Whillock had about half a mile on me. No beating him today I thought as another fellow friend fell runner Dale Colclough (Mercia) pulled up alongside me and also commented on how far Jon was in front of us. “Mind you” said Dale “this race hasn’t actually begun yet”. Not begun I thought; tell that to my lungs and legs! At about this point Eryri Harriers runner Jackie Lee went past. O well I thought there’s a vest I recognise after running for them in the North Wales Cross Country League; time to see if I could follow it. I was running as a Fell Ponie as I had managed to get in the event by default as injured Simon Reed had signed his place over to me (Cheers Simon!). So it was cat and mouse between Pony and Eagle for the next 5 miles. Jackie came past me then I managed to pass her and so on....that was until I hit the last two climbs or should I say brick walls. Talk about quads on fire, there just seemed to be an awful lot of nerve ends firing in my muscles to get them moving but I think the bottom of my shoes were covered in treacle because I was having real difficulty in lifting them and moving them upwards. Needless to say that was the last I saw of Jackie until the presentations ha. Despite the treacle shoes I was wearing I kept on persevering and then coming down the last ascent before the run home I could see my friend Jon! It was a lift to me and helped to spur me on down the home track and after around 11miles of running with only a quarter of a mile to go I past Jon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did he try to trip me up or cut me up...no being a true gentleman of the fells even though he was knackered he was telling me to get a move on and take a few more places as the finish was only just around the corner. So I did what he said, I came around the corner and was faced with the most amazing finishing straight I have ever run...straight down a steep<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>slope to the base of a stream you have to leap over to get to the tape 10metres away, brilliant </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> I finished 132 in a gruelling but very enjoyable 2hours 2mins. Lloyd Taggart won in an amazing 1hour 34mins and Jackie Lee finished 1min 20 secs ahead of me.....challenge on for the next event haha. I will certainly be turning up for this one next year again, regardless if I get an entry or not, as it had some of the best chocolate cakes after any race I have ever had mmmmmmmm yummmy </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYV2HZTw6hrsdWJ9hsQYz8RK3bhyhbmJm-WlczsrM9xuK-l9uSAh5j4E3u2cyBOpUXctTQgoIb7bR3tqZIKOplYorL2CyD-_4lhKjhOUoFFAjS-37D2_UMvRuDVwqfIOGmDBWUDZS-CE/s1600/20110307_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYV2HZTw6hrsdWJ9hsQYz8RK3bhyhbmJm-WlczsrM9xuK-l9uSAh5j4E3u2cyBOpUXctTQgoIb7bR3tqZIKOplYorL2CyD-_4lhKjhOUoFFAjS-37D2_UMvRuDVwqfIOGmDBWUDZS-CE/s320/20110307_001.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running down to the stream & finish line for a kit kat break :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfCnfweLw9U">Motorhead "The Ace of Spades"</a></span></div>Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-69380127344934644512011-02-22T13:40:00.000-08:002011-02-22T13:40:51.125-08:00Muddy ell!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJ_v3ynFJ3Cbhyphenhyphen4EXax1kgNd9SLUKmyUCX8q5_QiamqFZ3s0vwOUdbFSjkcXdzrIk3k77ScieyKPrlDQrLSmikCJOOUHb4O2Sm-0dGfbZ8HYlxLDNq7uXK3YWIfJDHrobK0qvdNhOtqc/s1600/20110219_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJ_v3ynFJ3Cbhyphenhyphen4EXax1kgNd9SLUKmyUCX8q5_QiamqFZ3s0vwOUdbFSjkcXdzrIk3k77ScieyKPrlDQrLSmikCJOOUHb4O2Sm-0dGfbZ8HYlxLDNq7uXK3YWIfJDHrobK0qvdNhOtqc/s320/20110219_005.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was probably the most solid part of the course!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Well that was an eventful English National Cross Country Champs for sure. The morning of the 19th of February brought with it rain, sleet and snow. O joy I thought as I packed my kit for the journey just up the road to Alton Towers. Still though by the afternoon the onslaught from the heavens had ceased. However, driving over the snow covered ridge of Ipstones Edge didn't do much to enthuse me with eagerness to get out and race. I travelled down with Staffs Moorlands athlete Jon Whilock and I think we were both pleased to see the snow disappear as we descended to Alton Towers. However, when we arrived we were greeted with a scene similar to something from the Somme Battlefields. Mud mud glorious mud......<br />
<br />
The brown sticky stuff had been causing serious problems all day with St Johns rushing left right and centre. It was rumoured that 1 or possibly 2 people had broken their legs. It was correct though that the courses were altered in the afternoon as medics and ambulances could not gain access to certain areas. This was the proviso to keep the event from being cancelled. <br />
<br />
I set of as the sole athlete for Severn AC (the rest of the team quite sensibly staying at home) amongst some 1300+ runners. It was like an early American gold rush, well that was until the mud enveloped every ones feet (this is were if I was sponsored by Inov8 I'd be saying my Xtalon 212's gave me great grip on the muddy course....however, I don't think anything that day gave anyone any great grip...but just in case you are wondering the Xtalons didn't do bad and I faired a lot better than most). The men's course had been shortened to 10k. At the time I was quite glad about that as running was extremely difficult, however in hindsight I think I would have faired better had it been the usual 7.5miles as people were tiring at the end and I think I may have made more places up. In the end I finished a very muddy 543; I think 1302 or there abouts finished. A lot dropped out though that's for certain, many due to conditions and several due to loosing shoes! It was a hard run, one which I didn't overly enjoy but it definitely served as a good training run, so mustn't grumble.<br />
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I rounded the weekend of with a 17mile run with Tracy on a circular route from Froghall travelling up to the Weaver hills. Then down into Wooton Estate (Mr Bamfords place; him of big yellow JCB digger fame), back up to Alton Towers, over the Churnet up to Alton and then into Dimmingsdale Woods (one the FC haven't sold yet Kate!). From there we followed the River Churnet up the Valley, ascended up to Whiston and back down to Froghall. It was a great trail run over footpaths. I'll have to take my camera next time to get some snaps as it is very scenic on most parts of the route. It was a great appetite builder that's for sure and I don't think much of my pizza and chips touched the sides as it went down. So not a bad weekend all in all. :)<br />
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Another just for fun link below. I appear looking heavy and tired at around the 7min50 point. But its worth watching from around 7min10 as a poor runner has a shoe mishap.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kgIO8urUVGY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgIO8urUVGY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgIO8urUVGY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL</a>Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-7147511629801597552011-02-16T13:24:00.000-08:002011-02-16T13:24:26.950-08:00Cross Country a go go<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whoops I haven’t rambled on at all yet in February, and it’s over half way through the month...so here goes. ....</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I must admit I have been reading about everyone’s exploits on the fells over the last few weeks and it’s got me excited about the start of the season. However, even though my feet were itching to get out on the fells as well, I stuck to my back of a postage stamp training plan and just carried on doing the cross-country races on the Saturday and doing a long slow distance run on the Sunday. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqc3xMUOucD7r2gxGL9yNRoOoHi-dvnZAyFB2TnGsfjLREEb5eqEUoqRvCHReJSmZA2wkqLZmDGTYqpQFp_ynS_-T5DzNEyEdu44MOWO6eLTTK92okQYtxu-wXaQ-J8DtUKnqXdhMZoM/s1600/brum+league2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqc3xMUOucD7r2gxGL9yNRoOoHi-dvnZAyFB2TnGsfjLREEb5eqEUoqRvCHReJSmZA2wkqLZmDGTYqpQFp_ynS_-T5DzNEyEdu44MOWO6eLTTK92okQYtxu-wXaQ-J8DtUKnqXdhMZoM/s320/brum+league2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So after the initial shock inductions of the Birmingham league X country and North Wales X country league in January I had a rough idea what to expect at the Midland Championships at Leamington on the 29<sup>th</sup> of the same month. I was running for Severn but Terry the coach had forgot to enter me for the race! Well I hadn’t travelled 2hours down the M6 to not run so I suddenly had a name change and ran as another athlete who hadn’t turned up..a little naughty but Severn had not got enough athletes there on the day for a full team so my running wasn’t going to unbalance any team results. The one thing I have noticed at these races is how people start getting worried about hills and wonder about the place spreading this “dreaded” news. Since I’ve started fell running I now know what a hill really is and I just smile at people when I hear about “the hills” on the course. Most fell runners would describe them as hillocks or a few light undulations. This was the case at Leamington as well...mind you my smile was soon wiped of my face when the usual break neck speed ensued at the off. I must say well done to a couple of local fell running Leek lads; Matt Clowes who <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>finished 4<sup>th</sup> and Alex Derricott who came in 15<sup>th</sup>. Brilliant running. I think we’ll be seeing a bit of them both on the fells this season..well perhaps I’ll see them if I’m a spectator, ha. I enjoyed the race though and kept roughly even splits over the 7.5mile course (around 6:35 pace) and finished in 144<sup>th</sup>. About 300 ran so I was just about in the top half of the field so a good excuse to grab Pizza and beer for a carb loading session that evening prior to Sundays run.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnKIZTowXYZKklS3u9Y5T31fTBjiBvCnyHm0CwSY8EXm1gRaCBlG-GFGS882uN1GUg_hvcxV2p0LD7w2U3OguTuFQNh6E-9ejNtK0LiShxBVwK5IJxoP3Md529mWsfohjsWs3-vuuXVE/s1600/20110209_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnKIZTowXYZKklS3u9Y5T31fTBjiBvCnyHm0CwSY8EXm1gRaCBlG-GFGS882uN1GUg_hvcxV2p0LD7w2U3OguTuFQNh6E-9ejNtK0LiShxBVwK5IJxoP3Md529mWsfohjsWs3-vuuXVE/s320/20110209_002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sundays run was an exploration of a few footpaths around the Chesterfield area in order to get a little familiar with the Dark & White Mini- Mountain Marathons series. Tracy and I have decided to sign up to it and give the mixed pairs ago. As we both have not done anything like this before (Tracy only started running last summer!) we thought it would be a fun thing to try out....well you cant go too wrong in 3hours we assumed.... having had a closer look at the network of paths we are now revising that view ha. O well on the 27<sup>th</sup> of February we will find out for sure. It was an enjoyable run out but got a little dampened when on the way there another car came around a blind bend and added some extra remodelling to the side of mine. Doh!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixpmXW0Wj0paKylFFjpFfc94o461mTtICyvks6hIlwzNr2hDc9LDIUeOkH-agTX3ZTHuNpJADN9_SpsxIPOh1wLhI47vEzddRfvP87v8r4ZyorvvqnwrHbvP-OKxTn3SHygvB0lAG3-P4/s1600/20110130_008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixpmXW0Wj0paKylFFjpFfc94o461mTtICyvks6hIlwzNr2hDc9LDIUeOkH-agTX3ZTHuNpJADN9_SpsxIPOh1wLhI47vEzddRfvP87v8r4ZyorvvqnwrHbvP-OKxTn3SHygvB0lAG3-P4/s320/20110130_008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The following Saturday I and the dented car headed through rain and high winds to the last North Wales X country race at Oswestry. Now that was a fun race, the challenge wasn’t just about running through the mud, or up the reasonably steep gradients but more about not getting blown of your feet. I must admit I went over twice but you just had to smile, it would have been a perfect “You’ve Been Framed” moment if anyone had been mad enough to be outside filming it. I found I had a better race overall though. The long Sunday runs were I felt beginning to pay off, and as the race was particularly sapping due to the winds and mud I found that the strength I had built up from the Sunday runs began to pay off with me making up extra places on the last lap, to finish eventually in 25<sup>th</sup> (121 runners this time).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pleased with my run not only on the greatly improved position from last time but I was also the 4<sup>th</sup> counter for Eryri, and the men’s team won the league title for the first time since 2001/2.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sunday saw the usual jaunt for Tracy & I again over the Roaches to put 20miles under our belts. The weather was quite inclement, but despite this for some bizarre reason we ended up running some 20minutes faster than our previous best time!?!? I certainly didn’t expect that after Saturdays run, but hey I wasn’t going to question it. I must admit though I did feel somewhat tired come Monday morning. Apart from 4miles on the Friday I didn’t do any running from Monday onwards. However, those high winds on the Monday kept me busy in the week climbing trees and lifting logs so I suppose I was getting some sort of a steady aerobic work out </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UCuyq2gQ9J4GeiBGl3aMlXCbISoJgpOkYkYzvPQ1X4RL-jdrwhPrTXe4u41vRza-MZi8TpgcjyXzq9ahy1mmKBrbpqo5pWPGgyB6Sw7VzTg1MO-LV_hPCE9dUFpIAZksUthBswec6kM/s1600/20110204_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UCuyq2gQ9J4GeiBGl3aMlXCbISoJgpOkYkYzvPQ1X4RL-jdrwhPrTXe4u41vRza-MZi8TpgcjyXzq9ahy1mmKBrbpqo5pWPGgyB6Sw7VzTg1MO-LV_hPCE9dUFpIAZksUthBswec6kM/s320/20110204_001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">A work moment; a blown tree that fell over a 11,000 volt electric line, brought the middle line down and set fire to its trunk!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The 12<sup>th</sup> of February came and yep you guessed it another cross country run for Moi. It was a jaunt down the M6 & M5 to Longbridge for the final Birmingham League X country race. The sun had come out to play although the temperature was not reflecting that, and an icy chill was in the air but otherwise perfect conditions. It was the usual stampede at the start, but things soon spread out as the first half a mile was practically up a steady incline. I have got a lot better at my pace judgement and set of at a 6.30 mile pace and as with previous races decided that I should try and maintain this. The course itself had several inclines in it and once again I noticed that this is where I would make positions up. It was a 3 lap race and on the last lap I had a great battle with my fellow club mate Alex. He would overtake me on the flats I would pull him back and overtake on the inclines. With 400metres to go I was just in front of him then at 350 he puts in an extra burst and he’s in front of me again...dam. Then remembering once upon a time many many moons ago I used to be a 4.09 miler I thought I’d better fire up the ole wooden pegs. With 150 to go I past him and then decided for good measure I would overtake the Bournville Harrier some 15metres ahead as well. I did it... just about; it was good to know there is a little life left in the legs yet. Terry (Severn's coach) also gave a similar comment, which is good to know it wasn’t just my fisherman’s tale imagination kicking in. He also pointed out that Alex used to run 1:52 800’s...bloody good job I didn’t know that when he first came past otherwise I may have just rolled over and died. Position wise I finished 80<sup>th</sup>, so a big improvement from my 106 (I think I said 103 in an earlier blog but checked the official results and I was out by 3). Well as far as I was concerned it was a good enough reason for another beer and pizza session as Tracy and I were planning the 3 trigs run again that we did a few weeks earlier for the Sunday. </span></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So not much travelling for this Saturday’s event, it’s the English National X Country Champs at Alton Towers. Just 7 miles up the road from my home, this makes a nice change. It will be the last one of the season for me, which is both good and bad. I have enjoyed the cross country races and they have definitely served in adding a little speed endurance to my legs. But reading about everyone else out on the fells as I said earlier has got me itching to join in as well. So although I won’t see any of the Severn crew till next season I will hopefully be bumping into a few of my fell friends who I haven’t seen in at least 6 months. First on the agenda is the Dark and White with Tracy and then its straight in at the deep end for me and the Long Mynd on the 6<sup>th</sup> March....mmmmm that will certainly be a baptism of fire for me, but I am sure I’ll finish with a masochistic smile on my face </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just for fun here is a you tube clip of the Midland X Country Champs...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p584yRwQXps&feature=fvw<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p584yRwQXps&feature=fvw">The Ditch!</a></span></span></span>Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-46984994144497281412011-01-26T15:18:00.000-08:002011-01-26T15:23:38.839-08:00Mud, Sweat and Beers!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">January’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>summary statement: Golly gosh I’ve been perspiring! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Due to lack of time from work and family commitments trying to train on a Monday to Friday basis is difficult for me. Any session I do manage to get in, even if it is a 2 mile jog I count as a blessing. So to counter this I decided that if I was going to have any chance of a successful PBR this year I would be as active as I could at the weekend. So with a coffee in hand a few weeks ago I pencilled in a race nearly every weekend from mid January to the end of March. Haha I thought, a race on Saturday and a steady 20 miler or so on a Sunday should do the trick. Nothing to strenuous with plenty of recovery and maintaining a weekly distance of around 30 or so miles; or in other words 1 day’s worth of running if you are called Anton Krupicka! The key word here is nothing to strenuous! My first race was for Severn AC in Division 2 of the Birmingham Cross Country League. January 15<sup>th</sup> came and it was a quick trip down to Wolverhampton for the race. It was good to see a few old faces from many moons ago and to meet some new ones as well. Within no time we were off at full tilt on the twisting course. After about 1 minute I realised I had completely forgotten how dam fast these cross country races are. Nothing to strenuous my ar*e! My garmin registered 5:39 for my first mile. I hadn’t run this fast off road for a decade or more and to make matters worse there was some strange liquid dripping down my forehead, ..surely it couldn’t be.., but yes it was; sweat! I had no choice but to slow; I was going to end up in a muddy heap after mile 2 if I didn’t. I eased back to a more suitable pace, which is always a bit disconcerting as for the next few miles I had to put up with a lot of fitter chaps filtering past. By about mile 4 I found my place though I just sat at a steady pace and finished the 6.5miler in 103<sup>rd</sup> place, with my Garmin giving me an average pace of 6:35 per mile and being the 3<sup>rd</sup> counter for Severn. Overall I was quite pleased with the end result. The main thing had been to test my hamstring, which I had pulled badly back in September. Although I felt it knotting up, it managed to keep itself together for the whole race. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTh3LEpK94xCn8depeB-8CBxvTbIEqPGy-Vgs8i7rEOjG1SOoDaD0GcS8sxiTU4utFsiQKOHNm6lbt0RpjD__il_tknmvMsheUKJ-FNBbdB6Gf386SVSYrNX6r0k0PhENzdDzwo6Qa23A/s1600/Running+Aldersley+Stadium%252C+Wolverhampton+15-01-2011.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTh3LEpK94xCn8depeB-8CBxvTbIEqPGy-Vgs8i7rEOjG1SOoDaD0GcS8sxiTU4utFsiQKOHNm6lbt0RpjD__il_tknmvMsheUKJ-FNBbdB6Gf386SVSYrNX6r0k0PhENzdDzwo6Qa23A/s320/Running+Aldersley+Stadium%252C+Wolverhampton+15-01-2011.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The twisty turny route of the Birmingham League Cross Country Race.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On Sunday it was out for a local 20+ miler with my friend Tracy up and over the Roaches. It was a drab and wet day with not much happening on the view front. However, it’s always an enjoyable run no matter what the weather throws at us. We had being trying to beat our PB on this run for a month or so but had always just missed it by a few minutes. The thought of beating it this week didn’t even enter our heads due to the weather, however, with 3 miles to go we suddenly glanced at our watches and saw a great chance to snatch it. So with the thought of a cold Hobgoblin dark beer back in my fridge at home it was time to pick up the pace of Hen Cloud. We opened our stride length and breezed alongside Tittesworth Reservoir to get to Leek 6 minutes under our previous best. Another pleasing run which should hopefully stand us in good stead for the Dark and White Mini’s over the next few months. And o yes that Beer tasted so much sweeter </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnm35UoXZKpvOUnmWOPK9PcFwS_9m_troadfOKA5S37JN5hI40nicXgJ5mEGF5FWjUIZl19cmtqcPP0pNvYPjOeFxbawmCFMefFQye04_2rEO69pivj0E3kQQPagAYaLaJkyrBFwbRqY/s1600/bangor+uni+running.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnm35UoXZKpvOUnmWOPK9PcFwS_9m_troadfOKA5S37JN5hI40nicXgJ5mEGF5FWjUIZl19cmtqcPP0pNvYPjOeFxbawmCFMefFQye04_2rEO69pivj0E3kQQPagAYaLaJkyrBFwbRqY/s320/bangor+uni+running.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probably one of the last times I ran in the North Wales XC league many many many moons ago!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was pretty much the same formula for the weekend of the 22<sup>nd</sup>. This time though I went to Lilleshall for the North Wales Cross Country League. I was running for Eryri Harriers (my second claim club) for the first time in 22 years! And I still had my old vest haha, it just about fits..mmmm must work on the pie thing :P It was a foggy cold day but once again I was soon warm and covered in a mixture of mud and sweat. This time I was a little wiser and ran at a more constant pace all the way around. The garmin gave me a 6:29 average mile pace and I finished 43<sup>rd</sup> whilst also making up the last team counter for Eryri. So I was once again pleased with the result and as a bonus my hamstring had still remained in one piece. Not quite a Hobgoblin beer celebration this time but it was most definitely a homemade cake and tea moment </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sundays run this time comprised of a new route for Tracy and I. I had a daft idea I wanted to run to Shutlingsloe (1660ft) from Leek. So it was out with the map and after a bit of coffee slurping and postulation I decided it was within our striking distance. I christened the run the 3 Trigs. It was up Gun hill (1224ft), then onto Shuttlingsloe with the Roaches (1657ft) on the way back. It was a fantastic day for it and we had some sublime views from both Shuttlingsloe and the Roaches. However, by around mile 20 my legs were definitely tightening. I think Saturday’s effort was beginning to be felt. Good training though I thought then immediately shifted my thought to the beer back at home in my fridge! Well it worked last time :P After 24 miles and a total of 6000ft of ascent we got back to those poor lonely cold sweet tasting beers!! </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJY8T9d8aHAytf9HO-C8oknLbnxHGrAky-vO_6YBKt7Isi5QLdpshNIS8b3x-2ZzKxxWBfMc99SP9j1C9ADkyvGvZbIR39265JW3WjJSh8RHcJRs3YNIWC3to7lhKH9Cy3uCJPEFFbLN8/s1600/Running+23-01-2011.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJY8T9d8aHAytf9HO-C8oknLbnxHGrAky-vO_6YBKt7Isi5QLdpshNIS8b3x-2ZzKxxWBfMc99SP9j1C9ADkyvGvZbIR39265JW3WjJSh8RHcJRs3YNIWC3to7lhKH9Cy3uCJPEFFbLN8/s400/Running+23-01-2011.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sundays "3 Trigs Trot"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-23479521678044736172011-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:002011-01-12T15:01:56.779-08:00Every Cloud Has a Goretex linningWell bless my little compression socks! I emailed Haglofs UK to ask them if it was possible to repair my Ozo jacket after my spill at Edale. Those super peeps there have confirmed that it is indeed possible and to help me on my way with my training for my Paddy Buckley Round they have said they would repair it free of charge! How super is that :) I love that jacket and its one of the best bits of running kit I own so needless to say I was like a Cheshire cat upon reading their response. Now that's what I call back up service.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivL9dvq3e9v5TXHJv9xuc_Bzc-bBCg1MbrK4M5YsMPHt8qz0YMY6bS-aF4OMWT-Vcj6PW8DjD8PWILodvS5Y7cTvGNWoDopqAwHxd3NUbLiCmv9nGEzf08yVBSfqogEfxZ9rbFP2sadIw/s1600/haglofs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivL9dvq3e9v5TXHJv9xuc_Bzc-bBCg1MbrK4M5YsMPHt8qz0YMY6bS-aF4OMWT-Vcj6PW8DjD8PWILodvS5Y7cTvGNWoDopqAwHxd3NUbLiCmv9nGEzf08yVBSfqogEfxZ9rbFP2sadIw/s1600/haglofs.png" /></a></div>So my message to all you people at Haglofs UK is "YOU ROCK!" Thank you so much, and you have made me smile again so I can go and have more Fun on the Fells with my trusty super lightweight goretex Ozo :)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAjRx1QV9wL2q7iFaQqgchhC1I19OvlcgaK-0L201Oyjsnhlad6TXYKJMlCBvkEV0wCLI9ZRil_Q6vKQrxL8ZzdA7EDWvZLVxrfrJLlL1MzVUuD0tF_xD65VGXXy5CFrxFWtNofC6eZw/s1600/me.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAjRx1QV9wL2q7iFaQqgchhC1I19OvlcgaK-0L201Oyjsnhlad6TXYKJMlCBvkEV0wCLI9ZRil_Q6vKQrxL8ZzdA7EDWvZLVxrfrJLlL1MzVUuD0tF_xD65VGXXy5CFrxFWtNofC6eZw/s320/me.bmp" width="265" /></a></div>See happy again :PForest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-43482420552551682982011-01-10T01:57:00.000-08:002011-01-10T01:57:41.784-08:00Slip, slip, ouch, tear, doh!Well another week done with a few more miles under the belt. I think I have developed a shoe fetish mind you. I had been advised by my fellow fell running friend Jon to include a change of footwear for every rest stop on my up and coming Paddy Round, to reduce the chance of blistering, rubbing etc. Mmmm good idea I thought, but then realised I only owned 1 pair of fell shoes. So that was that, I was caught up in an Internet bargain hunting frenzy. After around about an hour 4 new pairs of shoes had been ordered and were winging there way towards me. Hurrah for January sales as you all know fell shoes aren't the cheapest of things to buy...mmm maybe I should buy shares in Inov8.<br />
<br />
Well the arrival of my Mudclaw 330's saw me all excited and wanting to test them out on Sunday. So as it was new shoes I thought it may as well be a new course. So when my friend Tracy arrived it was a hop into the car and off to Edale. We drove past the Roaches, looking splendid bathed in sunlight, and remarked it would have made a great run today; but onwards to new pastures we thought. Well I say new pastures, Edale is in the Dark Peak so it would be more accurate to say onwards to new heather bogs.<br />
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When we pulled into the car park the sunshine had disappeared and the Dark Peak was living up to its name. I had packed my Haglof Ozo just in case, but as soon as I got out of the car I thought crikey that is going on straight away; the winds were up and temperatures had plummeted. Still though, with map and compass, we made a good start and enjoyed the run along the Edale vale past Grindslow House. We then forked west along Grinds Brook. As we started the ascent the dreaded white stuff became more prevalent. Once again we had to slow due to the ice at the top, as most of the rock stepping stones were covered in ice. The initial ascent took us from around 240 metres to 590 metres so I freely admit I was beginning to get warmer! At the top of Grinds Brook it was a compass reading to check our direction and then off West Crowden Tower and Edale Head. It surprised me to see how much snow and ice was around on the top. I expected it last week in Snowdonnia but for some reason I didn't expect to see the whole top covered at Edale still. But hey ho onwards we went. We picked up the Pennine way at Edale Head and went North towards Kinder Low and Cluthers Rocks still slip sliding our way around. The peat bogs were frozen which helped in one respect but in another way the frozen peat mounds were throwing our ankles all over the place, so we still had to be careful with our foot placement. When we got to Kinder Downfall we were treated with a great sight of the Waterfall with a white frozen sheen covering the surrounding millstone grit. We then bore off to the North West and off to Ashop Head. It was on this section that I didn't pay attention to my foot placement and over I went...<strong>slip, slip, fall, ouch, tear!</strong> The tearing bit was in two parts; a few minor grazes to me- no problem, but then upon looking down...nooooooo...my Haglof Ozo had torn across the middle. Dam! The lesson here I think is to leave race kit at home and wear training kit for training. So needless to say I was then muttering on like a grumpy old man for the next 10 minutes ha.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_nc5AX_ySxzzHJg1I3nCjXCusmLfsS8TKjMrc51kzHfy2zLMJb4dttuCXfdS2VeRnfkTj2XvC5oOLOo9tUEVNiSYBQ3GgP8QJiR3IEqjcVWlTHpjo4FbLHmFYZRYD1VTqGJRrR1bp3TM/s1600/20110109_008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_nc5AX_ySxzzHJg1I3nCjXCusmLfsS8TKjMrc51kzHfy2zLMJb4dttuCXfdS2VeRnfkTj2XvC5oOLOo9tUEVNiSYBQ3GgP8QJiR3IEqjcVWlTHpjo4FbLHmFYZRYD1VTqGJRrR1bp3TM/s320/20110109_008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVIfeiwUyZo9MKtZnX2XObr0k7aWuON_31YWEenu95PcLCpHHtFjjhyzv32Q6d15B5BEMgyqSPdzhsFVEHoReCLURPvpejpZRd5kHcgQ977ej1n5MeMvAR7BRByqY4RLZUF1B93DWfkc/s1600/20110109_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVIfeiwUyZo9MKtZnX2XObr0k7aWuON_31YWEenu95PcLCpHHtFjjhyzv32Q6d15B5BEMgyqSPdzhsFVEHoReCLURPvpejpZRd5kHcgQ977ej1n5MeMvAR7BRByqY4RLZUF1B93DWfkc/s320/20110109_005.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>At Ashop Head it was time to run Eastward to Fairbrook Naze along The Edge. It was also at this time that we noted the sun had probably only got another hour left in it before it set. And yep I had not packed my head torch. Time to get a wiggle on then. So it was as fast as we could go over the snow and ice to Seal Stones along Seal Edge. Past them and along Blackden Moor, buy this time our legs were beginning to realise they had been working hard and it was time to reassess the situation. So at Blackden Edge we took a compass bearing straight South to cut of the corner of our planned route and go over the moor top to Nether Tor. It was the right decision, when we got to Nether Tor and we could see the descent before us the sun was on the horizon just beginning to set. So it was a quick descent past a group of 4 other fell runners coming down from Ringing Roger and a stride out back to the car park. We left Edale just as the sun set; Tracy moaning about how she hates running through heather bogs and myself moaning about my torn Haglof ha. However, we both enjoyed the challenge and will no doubt be back to finish the planned route another day. All in all we were out for 3hours 30mins over 14.5 miles, it wasn't fast but then again conditions were not favourable and it was our first time over the course. But a good training run regardless :)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSeGrPF2adnJpZyn2y6IlVIlta6zCEjGHbNvHGyYTqWRik525MMNdseT4806MGDL_CqILZcmv6DlLq0JA05qxkQlydq0Xpv5A9NSyBFB3LE_NBkcd9_ZtLsA_Y7-59zk94lNMUlJv6r0/s1600/Running+Edale+09-01-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSeGrPF2adnJpZyn2y6IlVIlta6zCEjGHbNvHGyYTqWRik525MMNdseT4806MGDL_CqILZcmv6DlLq0JA05qxkQlydq0Xpv5A9NSyBFB3LE_NBkcd9_ZtLsA_Y7-59zk94lNMUlJv6r0/s320/Running+Edale+09-01-2011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335660132961511065.post-18846334554531897022011-01-03T16:21:00.000-08:002011-01-03T16:27:22.859-08:00A Wintery Wonderland RunHowdydiddlydoo to you,<br />
<br />
Its the start of a new year and as a novice to fell running I thought I'd give myself a reasonable challenge to get my teeth stuck into. I've decided to run the Paddy Buckley Round in North Wales; it traverses 47 peaks, approximately over a 62 miles distance with around 29,000ft of ascent. I am hoping to do this in early June, weather permitting. So to give myself abit of focus and clarity on what I have decided to do I thought why don't I write a blog about my fell running ups and downs and struggle to get fit enough to undertake the challenge in less than 24hours.<br />
So being keen to make headway I suggested to my friend Tracy that we should head into Wales for a little New Years training run over the Pen yr Ole Wen to Capel Curig leg. I checked the forecast and it said bright sunshine for the 2nd of January, so that was the date sorted and booked. We hit the road at around 7.30am and got into Ogwen to find the car park almost full! So we were not the only daft peeps heading into the hills that day. However, most of the other people had ice axes, crampons, and Arctic clothing! Never mind though we had trusty Lycra, and lightweight gortex, whilst not forgetting our trusty Inov8 mudclaws (or should I say Snowclaws). I also packed a mini flask of coffee and a few mince pies, get in :)<br />
The ascents were fine, it was the descents that gave us the trouble. The ice was extremely thick in places and there was no way you could travel at speed on the rocky descents. Where grass and heather was present then the going wasn't too bad, however, if you know this route you also know that around 70% of it is over rock!<br />
Still though it was a great day with breath taking scenery and although we were 30minutes outside the schedule for that leg I think given the conditions we didn't do bad at all. Needless to say after 15.25 miles and 4625ft of ascent it was a quick trip to Pete's Eats in Llanberis for a pint of tea and a large plate of stodge before the journey home.<br />
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Cheers for now<br />
:)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidedwLkPHhCwNCE_R4KKGe47Fgjca-GXvmDjEaYr8tmDExdISGpRB5J3_RRi4dGADQo3dxEgnw2iRaK4fJlyPyRk8l83L_hHSdqIST6VGIi3VOuopFywy_YuMEeVeexKThuCcIGiX05es/s1600/Running+02-01-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidedwLkPHhCwNCE_R4KKGe47Fgjca-GXvmDjEaYr8tmDExdISGpRB5J3_RRi4dGADQo3dxEgnw2iRaK4fJlyPyRk8l83L_hHSdqIST6VGIi3VOuopFywy_YuMEeVeexKThuCcIGiX05es/s320/Running+02-01-2011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/341tbUthSeI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Forest Bethellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12316540279130497120noreply@blogger.com0