Welsh 3000's Challenge

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. 

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.

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.