Long run

This was vital, but too little too late: only my third genuinely long run in preparation for two forthcoming marathons. Left early to repeat the route of three weeks ago: HK-Bretton to Grosvenor Bridge, then along the Dee to Queensferry and up to a snowy Hawarden. I extended and flattened the homeward route, taking in Dobs Hill and Penymynydd to get up to 20+ miles.

Clwydian runs

The snow has stuck around, on the Clwydians and elsewhere: a remarkable spell of Easter weather. After sledging in Cadole on Thursday, I went back later on with Jez and we ploughed through some deep drifts on a run to the top of Famau. A superb descent on soft virgin snow in Alpine weather of blue skies and warmish sunshine. Repeated the outing with a bigger Friday night group this evening: equally enjoyable.

Crafnant/Geirionydd Skyline run

Peaks: Grinllwm, Mynydd Deulyn, Crimpiau, Craig Wen, Craiglwyn, Creigiau Gleision
After leaving Chester post-work, set off from Trefriw with John B and Mick for initially delightful running in soft snow past Fairy Glen and up through the trees on the slopes of Grinllwm to the extraordinary Llanrhychwyn church. Had a break while we looked round this (the oldest church in Wales?) before heading through more enchanted snowdraped woodland to open hills and glorious running over the slopes above Geirionydd. The hills of the Carneddau materialised through the mist as we ran south towards Castell y Gwynt (near the Marin MTB trail) then down to the lake before climbing over the shoulder of Mynydd Deulyn to Crafnant. Along the lakeside path then up steeply south towards Clogwyn Mannod and the Capel Curig path. Some icy stretches on the climb up Crimpiau, but superb views towards Ogwen and Mymbyr: reminded me of northern Norway, almost glacial in appearance. I was particularly pleased that US guest star John could finally get a decent impression of Eryri. We hit the first major drifts as we traversed across to Craig Wen, then the going got really tough for the climb over the side of Craiglwyn. We were on the leeward slopes: a mixture of the anticipated waist-deep drifts and unstable thin snow crust. This is always an exhausting combination, running was impossible, and John began to fall behind. Despite some sunshine, the now familiar bitter easterly wind scythed into us as we struggled to gain the summit of Creigiau Gleision through the drifts - felt similar to topping out on an Alpine 4000er, such was the effort involved! The windward slopes were little better, not scoured as we'd hoped and we waited for John before the final descent to the forest. Lucky we did, as it became immediately obvious that he was semi-hypothermic. Mick and I wrapped him up in our spare clothes (he had none), fed him, then supported him down. I left Mick to descend with John, ran through the forest, down to Crafnant and all the way down to Trefriw (a good speed session!) so I could get the car back up to meet John at the lake. He'd thawed out by Colwyn Bay.

Wilmslow half marathon

Race: Wilmslow Half Marathon
Time/Position: 1:19:59 (64th from 5000)
Rather like the Twin Piers race in January, it seemed almost impossible that this race would go ahead when I looked out of my window at 17cm of snow on Saturday morning. But, Wilmslow was completely snow-free, although I wouldn't care to guess what the windchill factor was. With 20mph easterlies forecast, it was obvious that a PB was not on the cards, but I felt fairly good initially. However, even going through 10k in 36:30 or so wasn't entirely comfortable and I had the wind at my back for most of this! In short, I'm not sure I had the legs to run my target time today whatever the weather. I went through 10 miles a minute slower than I'd done in Wrexham (59:40) and only then did we face the worst of the weather: a devastating freezing headwind that made life very hard on the surprisingly hilly run in. I lost a lot of time here, didn't enjoy myself very much, and just scraped sub 80m in the end. All a bit unfortunate, as I was hoping for sub 77m at worst, but at least it made for a long run on a very well organised rural circuit which, strangely, I've never done before (although this was possibly my 40th half marathon). Extended the run (and day) by parking car and family in town, then driving for a curry in Manchester!

Vale of Clwyd 10k

Race: Vale of Clwyd 10k
Time/Position: 36:03 (1st from 149)
As this race starts just a couple of miles from where I went to school, I'd been quite keen to do it since it was launched last year. It is indeed a lovely circuit round hilly rural lanes above the Vale, but the day ended up being memorable for reasons other than the view. I won the race overall, but it was all slightly unfortunate and very much 'by default' as lead runner Gary Norgrove took a wrong turning in Llangynhafal. The race starts from Llandyrnog, and a group of four or five of us set off ahead of the rest of the field. I gradually worked my way into second place on the very long but fairly gradual climb up to Llangynhafal and had a comfortable gap on third by the time we turned right towards the village. I could see the leader up ahead, although he also had a big gap on me by the time we approached Llangynhafal over a series of short hills. The route to this point is quite tough, with a lot of climbing, and I was looking forward to opening up on the descent when I passed the water station near the Goldie to suddenly find myself right behind the lead vehicle at the front of the race. This was puzzling initially, but I began to suspect Gary may have gone wrong when I failed to see him in front, even on the long straights. I still didn't fully realise what had happened though, and had a big (1 min+) gap on the next runner, so didn't need to push it too much on the excellent fast descent back to Llandyrnog. A couple of sharp climbs led back to the village where I got the full story on what had happened and we tried to work out a fair solution. Nice event, though, and far more attractive than the average 10k.

Erddig Orienteering

Race: Erddig Orienteering (Light Green, 3.2k)
Time/Position: 39:37 (20th from 39)
A steep learning curve! This was the second time I'd taken M along to Scouts Orienteering, and he didn't want me to shadow him today, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to have a bash at short course orienteering for the first time. I selected the Light Green ('Improvers') course, thinking it would be a gentle jog in advance of tomorrow's important 10k in the Vale of Clwyd: lovely sunny weather throughout and a nice, interesting field of play in the varied terrain of the Erddig estate. Whilst it wasn't physically demanding, I hadn't anticipated quite how different this form of short course orienteering is in comparison to more familiar mountain marathons and the style of navigation with which I am familiar. Here, bearings are largely irrelevant: it is all to do with map orientation and micro navigation. Although I knew that in theory, I was still taken aback by the technical difficulty of locating the checkpoints in the middle of thick forest, gullies and the like. Two controls were particularly difficult for me, as I hadn't properly concentrated after leaving the previous position, and I took an embarrassing amount of time to complete the course. But it was all very enjoyable and I am keen for more. M seemed to enjoy himself too, as he ambled round - finding time to take some film footage - to complete the yellow course in an hour.

Longer run

Yet another year in which I find it difficult to fit the marathon training around other, shorter races. As a a result, I really had to seize the opportunity for a longer one today, so left the house just after 7am for a reversal of one of my standard 20 milers (almost!). The reason for the reversal was an icy easterly, which I had no wish to run into from Queensferry to Handbridge! So I ran HK-Bretton-Saltney-Chester, then got on the Dee path and ran with a tailwind in snow showers all the way to the blue bridge in Queensferry. This is always psychologically demanding, but at least the snow was a novelty today - as was a tidal bore that charged down the Dee as I passed Saltney Ferry. The final leg up the hill to Hawarden and back was challenging, but in general I was very surprised to feel quite good throughout the run.

Marsh Tracks 5k

Race: Marsh Tracks 5k (Rhyl)
Time/Position: 17:11 (7th from 49 [3rd V40])
My slowest 5k for several years, although I felt reasonably good throughout the race and was quite surprised when I saw the time. The course is flat, with a superb smooth surface - very like Ty Croes last month, although this is actually a road cycling circuit in the wilds of West Rhyl - so no excuses can be found there. However, there was a sharp headwind which affected half of the 1k+ loop, so therein perhaps lies the explanation. Still, it was a good workout under floodlights and combined very well with a family visit to St Asaph with M.

Brecon Beacons run

This was supposed to be the Tour of Torpantau fell race, but it turned into a ramble around the Brecon Beacons as a result of a schoolboy error I may never live down! I was in two minds about the long journey, but the promise of cold weather and low cloud encouraged me to join Richie and John for the long drive to the southern side of the Brecon Beacons because I tend to do better in those circumstances. It was obvious that the navigation would be challenging, which is something I usually relish, so I put map and compass in front pocket as a precuation. However, as we emerged from the very steep climb to the plateau and entered the mist, I found myself immediately behind two Mynydd Du runners. As this is the local club, I assumed they knew the shortcuts and just followed: a classic error, but not all that surprising given the pace we were going at. I began to get uneasy after 5 mins or so, got the compass out and saw to my horror that we were heading east. I voiced my concern, but nobody around me seemed particularly interested so I assumed they were taking a further shortcut. But we just continued further and further east - well away from Cribyn and the checkpoints. By now, it was too late, and the featureless, frozen moorland didn't allow for reorientation - and me and a couple of others helped a group of 10 evacuate the hill by heading south on a direct bearing until we were above the final checkpoint.