So the first of the
'warm up' events is out of the way. One of my first actions was to
update the Just Giving narrative to remove the term 'warm up'. With
hindsight it promotes a perception that I never intended and does not
do the events I have planned between now and Jan 2014 justice.
The reality is that
leading up to this event I was more nervous than I can remember for a
long time. Part of this was I suspect the added pressure of trying to
raise sponsorship but also I recognised early how tough the course
would be, knowing the ground very well.
One of the advantages
of being part of a company that organised events locally is that you
get to explore every corner of the National Park, the downside is
that you get very little time to race yourself. With the time
constraints of a young family and a day job to embrace and enjoy (my
boss in both circumstances may read this :) ) life becomes one big
time and priority management exercise.
So I found myself
waiting to dip to start on the back of some decent training but no
racing for nearly a year and a total of three events in the last two,
not match fit would be appropriate. I was reminded several times
during the day how a lack of racing not only takes the edge of
fitness but performance in every sense of the word. I will not bore
you with the details but there were several schoolboy errors which
quite frankly I should be embarrassed about, so I will not be sharing :) .
So the event, 55 miles,
4,800 meters of ascent (and descent, more of that later), visiting
the 10 highest peaks in the Brecon Beacons and a few more along the
way, generous cut off times, 24 hours being the ultimate. The course
was great taking in some of the classic routes but also incorporating
some less trodden areas, equally stunning. Race Director, Mark
Bottomley has been a top Adventure Racer in the UK for many years and
his planning, preparation and execution reflected all this
experience. He and his team should be very proud.
So how did I get on,
overall I was very happy, lets deal with the only negative first;
Removing the school boy
errors which just required the wake up call duly noted the only real
issue were my knees. They went early, meaning descending was slow and
painful, it really kicked in between CP3 & 4 (approx. half way) and I lost time and
places on the down-hills which is always frustrating. I am making the
assumption that this is purely conditioning and not old age / wear
and tear and the fix is quite simply more long sessions in the
mountains. I plan to book a few half day Fridays and hit the hills to
remedy this between now and January.
The positive's;
Up until CP3 everything
was fine I started steady and was picking up places along the way
enjoying meeting new people especially the European contingent who
seemed to be plentiful.
I climbed fine all day
making up many places (to lose a few again on the descent). The
trekking poles were made for this course.
I was running fine at
the end and could of gone on but was also very happy to stop :)
All my kit choices
(other than head-torch) worked well.
Great to bump in to so many familiar faces / friends either racing or marshalling.
Mark Palmer and Katie Roby smashing up the course, awesome running.
It was a great event
and I enjoyed it immensely (other than the down-hills).
So a week off running
to let the knees / legs recover and then back to the training with
renewed enthusiasm. This more than anything I feel racing gives you, what I need and have been missing. Next stop The OMM and then
options for Nov / Dec (watch this space), looming ever closer The
Spine, Jan 2014.
Barry.
