Snowdon run 24/11/09 and failed Peris recce

An attempt to recce the last section of the Peris horse shoe fell run . Started from the Victoria hotel with the intention of going straight up Llamberis path to Snowdon summit , then , try to find the route back that the Peris race takes .

Unfortunately the weather wasn't on my side . When I started running it was raining and windy , which I don't really mind . But , as I got higher up the route the wind picked up more and more . I had to stop a couple of time to put more layers of clothes on because of the wind chill on my wet clothes was making me pretty cold . Further up the route the wind really started to pick up . So much so that I was having to lean into the wind but then it would suddenly stop and I would fall onto my hands and knees . A few times I was getting gusts that would blow me across the path . Twice I had gusts that felt as if they would lift me off my feet . I tried to take shelter under a bridge for a while and had some coffee out of my flask . Even under the bridge the wind was howling . It was there that I came to the conclusion it would be very difficult to finish what I set out to achieve . Even if I made it to the top it would have been almost impossible to find the route down with the rain lashing in my face and stinging my eyes . I was in cloud as well which would make it even more of a task to find the route . The other thing that I didn't like the thought of was being so far away from any paths . If the worst were to happen , it would have been impossible for any one to find me (I hadn't seen anyone else on the mountain since I set off , which is unheard of for Snowdon). So , reluctantly I turned round and headed back , trying not to get blown off the path .
I usually enjoy being out on my own in crap weather (It gives me chance to use all my kit) but that was a bit extreme and I wasn't enjoying it . I think it was getting quite dangerous .

I was out for about two and a half hours . I should have been able to cover that ground it less that half that time .
When I got back to the car I had a real feeling of failure . Very disappointing . A couple of days later and I think I did the right thing . I will return to Snowdon soon to finish the job .

After this I drove to Brum and did a session of kickboxing to get my head in order .

Wrekin Wrecker Fell Race 22/11/09

Great race ! 8.1 miles and 2400ft . Just down the road from where I live and this was the second year I did this race . Last year , as well as the excellent spread of food we all got long sleeve tshirts . This year , instead of the tshirts we all got a bottle of "Wrekin Wrecker" beer . I think Newport Running Club's generosity is why the numbers swelled this year to 160 plus runners .

Photos courtesy of Alistair http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/ and Phil Johnson

12 months on from last year and I think I came in within 30 seconds of last years time . No improvement ,but , I put it down to still having a dodgy ankle . I was deffinetly slower going downhill than last year so I must have been faster going uphill which is good news .

Kickboxing 19/11/09

The usual warm up , stretch , pad work , sparing , 60 mins . Ankle still not right , but , hopefully good enough for the Wrekin Wrecker on Sunday anyway .

Multi Gym 18/11/09

Very quick . 20 mins
Shoulder press
Flies
Triceps/biceps
pull ups
4 sets of 10 reps each , increasing weight each set .

Kickboxing 17/11/09

A light workout due to still having a dodgy ankle . Warm up , stretch , pad work , sparing . 50 mins .

Corndon 3 Peaks Classic Fell Race 15/11/09

A great race !
Started at "The Miners Arms". (nice pub)
This was the second year of this revived race (I don't know when it used to be run before). After twisting my ankle earlier in the week I was really pleased to be able to run (very carefully). Some local friends popped down to give some support . It's great having people cheer/jeer you on when you're struggling around . It gives a real boost . Thanks Sarah , Kate , Chris and Noel . And thanks also to Alistair for the encouragement on the last hill and some excellent photos .

The route

Photos courtesy of Alistair http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/


Next weekend I'm hoping to do the "Wrekin Wrecker". My local hill .

Lawley Caradoc training run 11/11/09

A quick run in the church stretton area . Parked at the North end of the Lawley's . Ran up and over Lawley , then up Little Caradoc , then Caradoc . I would have run down the other side of Caradoc before returning but realised it would be dark by the time I got back .

The cloud base was low so ended up doing most of it in the mist .

Eeri shapes in the mist .

I was wearing an old , wornout pair of roclites and slipped in some mud on the way back down little caradoc . I ended up slidding down on my backside in a great deal of pain and realised I had turned my ankle . It took a while to get moving again and I was in pain all the way back . I hope this doesn't effect the chance of me doing a race on Sunday .

Just after the this photo is where I slipped .

Kickboxing 10/11/09

The usual , warm up on pads followes by some sparing . 1 hour in all .

30 min upper body 9/11/09

Quick work out to maintain upper body strength . Extra srength upstairs doesn't help at all in the running , as it's just extra weight for the legs to carry round . It does help with the martial arts though .
bench 20x50kg warm up
10x80kg
8x90kg
6x100kg
some fly's , triceps , pull up's , pull downs and rows .

Over did it on the bench and pulled a muscle in my back . Stupid .

Rhobell Fawr Fell Race 7/11/09

A great fell race in Wales . 6 miles and 1900ft of climb . It started with a nice easy climb through a forest , across a few fields , up a path and then steady climb to the top . The weather wasn't very kind to us . It started raining right at the start and ' apart from a brief spell of hail at the top , continued until the finish .


A few words of wisdom before the start .



Me running back down . Photo courtesy of Alistair http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/ . It looks like I have a strange hat on but is actually another runners arms (good timing Al).




The forest on the way down .









The finish line .

Snowdon training run 4/11/09

Went up to Snowdon and had a look at part of the "Peris Horse Shoe". Started at pen-y-pass car park(where the half peris finished(which I did earlier this year)), started to run up the "minners track" then cut off left at Llyn Llydaw reservior to head S/W towards Y Lliwedd then followed the ridge round to the N/W and up Snowdon summit . The cafe was closed ,so no hot chocolate . Then instead of running down to Llamberis(peris route)I took the Pyg track back to pen-y-pass car park . I was out for about 2 hours 30 mins . I could have gone faster but stopped to take photos and enjoy the views .

These photos are taken from the Pyg track looking south towards Lliwedd and the ridge which I traversed .

kickboxing 3/11/09

The usual warm up followed by loads of sparing