Other than an BGR attempt, I thought it might be useful to set out other racing plans for 2010 so I don't do too much pre and post BGR and racing seems in my life at least to have a detrimental effect on my training.
Jan : Nothing
Feb : Long Mynd Valleys Race [ hard AM ] because it is a great race and I have a target of under 2.30 as a convincer of progress for the BGR
March : Aran Race [ AM] because of the Lamb Burgers and the the Wye Valley Ultra (30 Miles) as long training run. I have managed to persuade one on my neighbors (Ellie) to do this as her 1st Ultra, sucker!
April : Manx Marathon because I have not been to the Isle of Man for years
May : Nothing
June : Welsh 1000m as last big run 3 weeks before the BGR at the end of June. I still have unfinished business with this race as a DNF last year story told here http://blogs.sun.com/clive/entry/welsh_1000m_race_tales_of
July : Snowdon Race
August : Nothing
September : Nant Peris Horseshoe because it is the best race in the calendar and I want to finish in under 5 hours. Plumomon Challange because I will be on the organizing committee next year and it would be rude not to (sweeper runner maybe)
October : Arenig Fawr race because it was fun
November : Nothing
December : Cardington Cracker
Who knows what I might skip, if I will get injured, work, kids, etc will get in the way. Other races might crop up that take my fancy, but it is good to have a plan. Those pre BGR are all convincers. I normally run a few AS and AM in May but have decided to drop a couple of races to concentrate on training instead.
December 30, 2009
December 28, 2009
Plumumon in a bitter east wind
A very cold wind from the east and 2 reps of the upper part of Plumumon as detailed below.
View Pumlumon from the west route in a larger map
Each rep took 35 minutes with some quite deep snow slowing progress towards the top, but decent was great fun apart from the water ice near the bottom. Quite thick cloud on top, so little photo opportunity.
2500ft and 5 miles of the 9,000ft target and its only Monday
View Pumlumon from the west route in a larger map
Each rep took 35 minutes with some quite deep snow slowing progress towards the top, but decent was great fun apart from the water ice near the bottom. Quite thick cloud on top, so little photo opportunity.
2500ft and 5 miles of the 9,000ft target and its only Monday
December 27, 2009
Listen to the dog
A grand plan of 3 reps of Cader Idris went well in terms of an early start from the car park at 7am. Young Mr Fox was the only other inhabitant we saw on the way up the Minffordd Path. All went well, though conditions got more unpleasant the higher up you went, but in line with the forecast for some wind and rain. Underfoot was OK with no real ice to speak of and some nice soft snow patches higher up. When I got over the style at to top of Craig Cau the wind really got up and was pelting stinging icy snow into my face, but persisted for about 10m, then dog decided she had enough and turned round and went back over the style and started down the way we had come.
At that point I concluded that I don't choose to swim in rivers in winter and I don't enjoy rolling in snow. Neither was I breed to retrieve ducks that have just fallen out of the sky in sub zero conditions, all of which are are the case for a typical Golden Retriever, a breed known for disregarding the cold and wet. When dog decided that the weather was OTT, it is probably the right time to turn around.
At that point I concluded that I don't choose to swim in rivers in winter and I don't enjoy rolling in snow. Neither was I breed to retrieve ducks that have just fallen out of the sky in sub zero conditions, all of which are are the case for a typical Golden Retriever, a breed known for disregarding the cold and wet. When dog decided that the weather was OTT, it is probably the right time to turn around.
December 26, 2009
What, why, how
Yet another single issue blog which I hope will on run for 6 months. On a family holiday in The Lakes in Feb 2008, I decided to attempt the Bob Graham Round (42 peaks, 66 miles, 27,000ft of up and down and we hope less than 24 hours). I had read the book "Feet in the Clouds" and meeting a chap on top of the Old Man of Conniston who had done it a number of years before was the clincher.
I started doing fell faces just after, the 1st one finishing 3rd from last. Since then I have managed mid pack placing in medium A class fell races and a respectable time in some of the harder AL races. I have completed a couple of Ultra's with varying amounts of success, including the 53 mile Highland Fling during which I had a "out of mind" experience. What I do seem quite good at doing is setting challenges that are near or beyond the limits of my ability. I am not one of the worlds natural runners, so progress is hard one which makes it sweeter. I have a full time job and two great, but full on children and am keen to ensure neither suffers collateral damage from a BGR attempt.
The majority of my more interesting exploits have been documented on my work blog http://blogs.sun.com/clive, but somehow it does not seem right to document a training schedule and where my head is at there. Also it gets interspersed with bits of technology talk.
The nameless chap on top of Old Man of Conniston said as we parted company, "see you at the BGR dinner". This blog is about the last 6 months of the journey which may end up at the BGR dinner or just in a heap. Tentative date set today of the 26th of June 2010.
I started doing fell faces just after, the 1st one finishing 3rd from last. Since then I have managed mid pack placing in medium A class fell races and a respectable time in some of the harder AL races. I have completed a couple of Ultra's with varying amounts of success, including the 53 mile Highland Fling during which I had a "out of mind" experience. What I do seem quite good at doing is setting challenges that are near or beyond the limits of my ability. I am not one of the worlds natural runners, so progress is hard one which makes it sweeter. I have a full time job and two great, but full on children and am keen to ensure neither suffers collateral damage from a BGR attempt.
The majority of my more interesting exploits have been documented on my work blog http://blogs.sun.com/clive, but somehow it does not seem right to document a training schedule and where my head is at there. Also it gets interspersed with bits of technology talk.
The nameless chap on top of Old Man of Conniston said as we parted company, "see you at the BGR dinner". This blog is about the last 6 months of the journey which may end up at the BGR dinner or just in a heap. Tentative date set today of the 26th of June 2010.
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