10 Peaks – The Brecon Beacons - 7th September 2013

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).

More about the event can be found here and results here.

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 is raising money for The Welsh Air Ambulance charity, more information can be found here, go on click it. Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me so far it is much appreciated.

Barry.