At mile 31, I couldn’t even manage a power hike up to the
summit of Carnedd Llewelyn. It’s a flat
summit, and I couldn’t see the need in it being there. I also couldn’t see the reason for the
previous peak, or indeed any peak at this point. It’s safe to say, on the way up Llewelyn, as
the Welsh 15 Peaks was drawing to an end, that I had had enough of mountains,
running, and indeed any thought of being capable of executing 100 miles on
similar terrain. As the Americans would
say, I had ‘bonked’ big time, and my ‘quads where totally blown, man’.
The reason I had decided to take this on, is that my
training schedule told me I needed to run 55km to finalise the first 16 weeks
of my conditioning programme. I’ve never
met the person that wrote this, and don’t recall their name. Therefore, I was being dictated to by a piece
of paper on my kitchen wall, covered in Sharpie notes. I was thinking a few hills, and some flat to
ease the pain. My running partner Tom, decided
that the 3000’s was the way to go and road to road (as opposed to peak to
peak), would give me the required distance. And that was that. One 4am start later, again my right foot hit
the rhyolite, and the journey began. 32
miles, 14,000ft of gain, in under 10 hours.
Sometimes, I wonder whether to refer to the ranges in North
Wales as hills or mountains. Some days,
they just don’t seem that mountainous.
When you have been overseas, in say Austria or Switzerland, and you
return home, I would say they were large hills.
Other times, when the sky is a pristine blue, I would say
mountains. This is when, as you gaze
towards the ridges, peaks and skylines, that the mountains resemble high
resolution cardboard cut-outs. Almost too
perfect and panoramic to believe. On
this run, they were definitely mountains.
Being up there when the sky is perfectly clear, and you are the first
out, the Welsh mountains are beautiful, and so very wild.
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| The View from Elidir Fawr. Such a killer in the heat! |
Most walk the course, with an aim to finish within 24 hrs (peak to peak), or maybe take a couple of days. Or a long weekend. The record for running the route is 4.19hrs, set by Colin Donnelly in 1988 (my new hero!). We were looking at trying for under 10hrs, on the hottest day of the year. The heat was a huge issue for the most part, made all the more trying as most people that we came across where lying down in the heather, looking at the sky, eating, chatting or sleeping. I felt that I wasn’t allowed to stop, because I’d started. The joy of running. Physically (for the majority of the ‘run’), I felt above capable of the distance and the terrain. Mentally, I learnt a huge amount along the way. Minor doubts came and went. For instance, on the ascent of Elidir Fawr, we took our own route. The steep contour tugged at the soles of my feet relentlessly, which were soaked from the boggy, sphagnum riddled slope. Repeat 1 zillion times.
Coupled with relentless heat, dark thoughts first crept in
here. It was a tough hike, with not much
in the way of a jog. All in though, this
was a short lived ‘mental dip’, and once at the summit, with a clear running
phase down, around and up to Y Garn (via Foel Goch), it lifted and led to quite
an elative feeling as opposed to the ‘doom’ experienced on the way up. I had another one of these fleeting issues up
on Tryfan, the final 3000 of the Glyderau Range. Such a beautiful and exposed environment to
have a ‘moment’. You would think that
the moonscape of Castell Y Gwynt, and the stunning views from Tryfan would hold
these sorts of negative thoughts at bay.
Again, all of this was momentary, and personally all to do with doing
entering into a physical and mental unknown with the wrong food. I stumbled across an old friend on the summit
(Hello, Andy Cave!), which was a much-needed distraction. Running with Tom also makes times like this a
lot easier. He has a great sense of
humour, which also helps in these scenarios.
Again, once on the down, with some real running and good pace, the brain
came back around.
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| Running high above the clouds. Castell Y Gwynt, Glyderau. Stunning. |
The final push up into the Carneddau was hard. Simple as that. We had been fortunate enough to have had a
top aid station in the form of my dad’s van at the Ogwen Cottage. Real food, Coco-Cola, dry shoes and a general
re-calibration and we were good to go.
Up on Tryfan, I was debating internally whether I should carry on. The moment you set foot to ascend Pen Y Ole
Wen, you are locked in it. It’s
sometimes that simple a decision. The
time to dip out has gone, and you have entered in this case into the final leg
of the task in hand. Despite having to
take time due to the temperature, once at the top, running came about again and
moving up and over Carnedd Dafydd, towards the dog-leg of Yr Elen was pretty
rapid, and there was still gas in the physical tank.
 |
| Looking back to where we had come from. Such an amazing view from the summit of Pen Yr Ole Wen |
It was here though, that I began learning quite a bit about
my capabilities, and that everything began slowing down. Mentally, I entered into a quite a difficult
place. I know enough to keep it in the
moment, and to not think about the distance remaining. To not think is the key, and to let thoughts
drift in and out. One foot in front of
the other, repeat. Take in the positives
and the beauty of it all and remind yourself how lucky you are to be able to do
this. None of this worked this time. With each step, I was digging deeper, with
the only thought being how much I needed this to be over. At mile 30, all I could focus on was the 100
mile race and how unprepared I was for that.
Entering the 1000’s as a training run became a ridiculous idea – what was
I thinking! Despite trying and knowing
my own mind very well – I was quite stuck at this point, so close to the finish,
with the gloom and nausea running wild.
As with anything, darkness passes, and things do come to an
end. In the clear light of day, on
reflection, everything falls into perspective.
I’d convinced myself on the hill that I wasn’t capable, therefore I
wasn’t. I knew at the time that this was
all due to nutrition and the lack of it, causing the mental failings, which in
course led to physical hardship. In all
reality, with some proper food another 20 miles would have been more than
possible. The entire experience was
needed, with a focus ahead on the Snowdonia 100. Without tests like this, it is impossible to
get stronger. You need to be able to
gauge yourself in real-time, in real situations to assess your capacity. To be able to admit your short fallings and
to learn, is key to growth in distance running.
It only took until morning coffee the following day, until I began to
analyse what had happened, what I could improve on, and how I would change the
route for next time to get a faster, more efficient time. The 1000’s is back on, as is the GB Snowdonia
100. A new plan for the Paddy Buckley
has also hatched and been voiced. The
next 18-week cycle of training is underway.
I just need to run fast, eat slow, learn and enjoy.
