Forgive me because i havent blogged a while, ve been too busy/excited/tired/at work/forgetful - any of those or all of them....
So, last blog id dne a long run and was heavily into foraging. Wales has happened since then, and what a great time was had, I did do a race report (try to do these as i forget stuff about different races) Heres my report:
This races reputation preceded it, and I entered it on a whim after my first lap of Thunder Run a couple of weeks back. About Weds last week it dawned on me that I would be driving almost 400 miles to run 14 -ah well, in for a penny and all that.
Over 1000 runners on the start of this 14 mile race, the idea being that you try to beat the train running on the narrow gauge railway (the passengers are family and friends of the runners) the atmosphere was amazing, Tywyn is a small coastal town in North Wales and the arrival of a huge amount of runners filled the town. There were four races on, a three mile, five mile, 10k and the fourteen mile. The 14miler was the big event starting at 2.05pm. Weather was windy and warm, I say 'was' for a reason. The first few mile or so was on the road, a little congested due to the volume of runners but this soon sorted itself out as we ran onto the fields. Going out you could hear the train, and sometime see the steam above the treeline. As we progressed it began to rain a little, the marshals were amazing, all smiling and cheering us on whilst getting soggy. There were a few sharp hills, some uneven surfaces and some small streams to pass through, all the time the wind was behind us, by the turnaround point everyone was pretty soggy, and loving it! At 7 miles we turned boom! the wind was straight in our faces, pushing us back and it remained this way almost to the end, we then ran up the hill we had been running next to, it got very steep and narrow so walking and single file running was required. Some of the course was fairly technical, you really had to focus, the rain by this time was coming across sideways and very heavy, brilliant!! We passed through the bog of doom (I may have had a little incident here) and soon were out on to the open mountainside. The camber was just ridiculous, so difficult to run on, you really needed one leg shorter than the other! Soon we joined the original path we had run out on, seeing the same smiling soggy marshals and back on to more familiar territory. To beat the train you needed to be faster than 1.47 and a few did achieve this, about ten per cent I believe.
Personally I managed 2.13 which gave me 14th of 35 in my age category...but this race was not really about getting a time, it was about having a good time! Amazing medal, blingy t shirt, biggest race goody bag I've ever received, wonderful marshals, more water stations than you could imagine, with isotonic drinks and smiley faces, brilliant after race social, disco, hot pasties (£1) this is THE race to tick off, and what's more it's set in the most stunning North Welsh countryside, I almost stopped at about ten miles to admire a waterfall! The campsite I stayed on was great, clean and cheap with warm water and good wet room style showers. Nearby is Aberystwyth Parkrun and there's also the beach if you fancy it.
Thats the running angle of it, what i didnt really mention is that i met some really cool people too, James (previously met in a shower queue at Thunder Run) Cat, (James friend) and a few fetchies (see fetcheveryone.com) that i knew. I even had a Twitter moment - i was walking down he high st in Tywyn, as you do, out pops a fella with a wide angle lens fnar - 'are you Sarabop?' he asks 'whos asking' i reply (with Sarah written all over my club shirt - clever me) Turns out this chap - Dan, is the voice of 'Race The Train' on twitter and also the photographer (id been tweeting him and he recognised me) so we had a chat and he took a few snaps. Im beginning to realise that the mahoosive hair and yellow vest are making me stand out a bit - and this helps people to spot me at events, i was oblivious to this until RTT when people kept on coming up to me to say hi.
After the race i spent a bit of time with Cat and James discussing how marvellous it was and our plans for future fun and games in the running genre. Turns out these two are even more mental than me, think there's a couple of new friends right there - although i do fear they may lead me astray...and James has a positive twinkle in his eye if the subject is running - oh dear....
After mud removal there was much beer consumed, although not enough to give too much of a headache the next day -i said farewell to my friends, packed up the tent and then managed a nice walk along the beach, some crappy stone skimming and a few pics.
En route home i stopped at Welshpool for fish and chips for one and really enjoyed them.
Its been a bit of an anticlimax since Tywyn - but this has been helped by James and Cat sending my links to ultra marathon races - some not even in this country (!) and ive been seriously thinking about perhaps having a go at a long distance one day.
Bike training and running have happened every day since my return, both going well. Planning to do a short plod this Saturday with the lovely young chaps from work and then a little something called the Pathfinder Walk on Monday. After spending ages looking for something that would fulfill my LSR requirement this weekend i found this little gem - a choice of 14, 24, 32 or 42 km walk or run, theres a bit of a history too, something about aeroplanes and the war etc... will find out more and post after the event.
This week has consisted of, a wasp sting, a pyramid session, a nice countryside bike ride, a lovely off road run and some bike commuting. Tonight is a rest night, i know its a necessary thing to do and am trying hard to embrace it...except it means i have the time to do the boring stuff like hoovering, cleaning and admin, spose id better suck it up.
ION i purchased our clubs cycle jersey - eeek - the first step to perhaps doing a sportive at some point. #
Things i need to do:
Make a race calendar for the next year (ideas are stacking up but there will be a danger of double booking)
Facetime my older sister
Visit my younger sister
See my youngest son
Run a bit, cycle a bit
Forage a bit
Spend less time on the interweb and more time reading.
Get some more trail shoes (one wet and one dry - good plan)
Think about winter commuting on hybrid - if and how etc
Lose a few pounds
Find some kind of core work that you will actually do
Lets see if i have achieved any of this by next blog.....
Bop
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