Big practise run :o)

Time has been playing games with me this week.  Being a horribly busy week between the babies being back in school, my Mum back in hospital and needing to do a last big run before my taper.  As such, updating the blog had to take a back foot, sorry.

Anyway, Thursday was the day for the big run.  I'd done a couple of leg openers in the evenings as well but Thursday was the tester that was to decide whether the 30 miler is feasible.

I'd decided on a testing 20 mile run off road between Pontypridd and Treherbert figuring there was no point making it too easy and set to sorting my feeding strategy.  Leaving things late didn't allow me to buy things online so there was a Wednesday trip around the local pharmacies trying to secure salt tablets and isotonic drinks.  It does however seem that Ponty is more suited to providing supplements for steroid boys than more useful aids for endurance sports. :oS

So my kit list was

Nike 3/4 running tights (oh so unflattering).
Endura base layer.
Windproof shell jacket.
Captains cap.
Salomon Speedcross.
1000 mile socks.
Camelback mule with stabilising strap removed. (more later).
Isotonic drink tablets.
Glucose Tablets.
Dioralyte sachets.
Cereal bars.

I'd taken a day off to make the long run possible and had hoped for reasonable weather at least.  The run was all on tracks that i'd ridden in the past on a MTB but despite knowing what i was in for i still didn't fancy what the weather could threaten at nearly 600 metres.  On the day, the weather certainly looked reasonable, hence the decision to go with a windproof shell that offered no rain protection.

The plan for the day was to start off with Arch, nice half mile walk to warm up then over a 250 metre climb and a a 100 metre climb to some spectacular clifftop singletrack before descending to meet Lis' and drop off Arch after 9 miles.  Oh yes, the stop was also going to involve curry and chips.  :o)

View of Porth at top of first climb

Top of clifftops over Williamstown

Now i know this doesn't sound like the most traditional energy food but i figured salt and carbohydrates, got to work right.  The 9 mile stop also allowed me to refuel at what is the best chip shop in Wales, and we have a lot of chip shops. :o)

Lis' walked with me for half a mile while i ate and then it was time for the big climb of the day, a 450 metre climb at which point i'd top out at around 580 metres.  Almost inevitably the weather closed in me and to the amusement of an old guy walking his dog there hung over me the very real chance of a good soaking.  Bugger!

Fortunately though it didn't come to pass.  The drizzle intensified to heavy rain which lasted for a grand total of about twenty seconds.  I was relieved, the coat really wasn't even water repellant and i'd not brought any sort of protection for the phone.  My iPhone may have survived a trip to the bottom of a full bath but i knew it didn't have the stomach to survive another soaking.

Now i'd ridden these tracks a number of times before on my MTB though not for a couple of years now, nevertheless i was confident in my routefinding.  This confidence was misplaced.  It seems like one of the fire roads has been diverted to accommodate an upcoming round of the World Rally Championship, unfortunately i only realized this when i found myself coming down into completely the wrong village.  Doh.  In a sign of things to come and a decision that probably wasn't the brightest due to fatigue and slight dehydration i decided to use the GPS to hack across open ground to the right road.  Like i said, fatigue is my excuse but i was lucky to get away with just losing ten minutes stuck in a swamp before back tracking.  I went down a number of potholes and could easily have turned over an ankle and screwed things up.  Hopefully a lesson to learn.  If you're in a hole stop digging.

Classic Rhondda view from the top of the Bwlch Mtn

Back on track i approached my favourite part of the route.  The descent into Blaencwn is fantastic.  The track is steep and technical in a few places and the views are about as spectacular as you can get in South Wales.  To say i enjoyed this section is an understatement.  If i ever need reminding why trail running is so cool, this is the place i'll come.

Blaencwm in the distance, literally the land of my father

The descent into Blaencwm was a little wet

I know it doesn't look it but this is soooooo steep and tricky.

Off the mountain and down the road to my parents house and the original plan was complete.  21 Miles done and I still felt ok.  I had however been cooking up a back up plan of adding a couple of miles as the valley is in the fortunate situation of having a train station every two miles all the way back to Ponty.  It'd be silly to not cover a Marathon distance now i was this far in and feeling relatively good.

This is when i realised how quickly things change 330 minutes into an effort like this.  I went short of salt again and despite realising it still managed to bypass two shops in a stupor because i didn't want to spend 5 minutes stopped.  Another lesson.  Massive moodswing then with salt and calories has me singing aloud to Bruce Springsteen as i ran through the village where i grew up before hitting another wall and hanging out my ass for the last mile before i finally stopped at a train station.

So, 26.8 miles it was.  More than a marathon. :o)
20 miles of it offroad including 2 technical singletracks, one large technical climb and a large technical descent.  I got what i needed out of the run but it has left me with a healthy respect for the effort needed next weekend to cover 30 miles in hillier terrain.  Time to taper and eat now. :o)