Clwydian Mountain Biking

MTB Route: Cilcain Short Loop
The usual consensus is that 48 hours post-marathon is the low point, so it seemed a good idea to loosen my legs by cycling to and from work today. Due to numerous roadworks, this ended up being much longer than the usual 20 mile round trip - but certainly relaxed the limbs. A beautiful evening seemed in prospect, so I managed to continue the cycling theme by persuading gaming enthusiast M to turn off the Xbox and do the short Cilcain mountain bike loop from the viewpoint car park. Superb spring weather, at last. No wind, blue skies and a nice gentle climb up the drover's road to the ridge: good views of Aran and Arenig. M found it a little tough, but the hills are wonderfully dry underfoot at present, perfect MTB conditions, and he loved the fast grassy descent down the bridleway and track to the Pump House. He wasn't so keen on the climb back up, so I had to get the car and pick him up!

Manchester Marathon

Race: Manchester Marathon
Time/Position: 2:54:01 (78th from 7000)
Some way outside my 2:49 target time, but still a PB by almost four minutes - so it would seem churlish to be too disappointed. Boston was perhaps a little too close, less than 13 days, despite holding back so much with a view to a serious PB attempt today. But the main problem was the same as ever, the sticking point that that has afflicted every one of the 17 marathons I've done: not enough 18-20 milers in training. The event was a lot better than I'd expected, however, even if it was rather distasteful to have to park underneath the Fergie statue at Old Trafford (and pay £9 for the privilege). Perhaps not the most scenic or atmospheric of courses, but the crowds were friendly and supportive, and the whole event had a nice local feel - and could perhaps become a decent northern alternative to London. For me, it was a huge advantage to sleep in my own bed and, even more importantly, to be in my own bath by 1pm! I started out at target 6:30 per mile pace, keeping this churning over quite precisely and comfortably. Went through 10k in 39:59, got in with a decent group through the leafy streets of Sale, which sadly started breaking up at 9 miles. The halfway point comes in Altrincham, and I went through bang on target in 1:24:30. After a gel, I felt even better on the return leg (at least initially!) and enjoyed watching the waves of runners coming through on the other side of the road. But at around 19 miles I began to suffer, the inevitable result of my lack of training, and really hit a low point as we entered bleak open fields near Flixton. The headwind, which I'd worried about all day, became a problem here and I couldn't stay with any other runners. My situation was semi-desperate for a while, but at least I'm no stranger to this kind of pain, so managed to steady my pace and luckily grabbed a gel in Urmston at 21 miles. This allowed me to just about resume my sluggish progress back towards Stretford. Chip times were a little dodgy: my watch had me at 2:53:56 or so, whilst my chip time came out initially as 2:52:30, which was definitely wrong!

Wrexham Border League

Race: Wrexham 4m+ (Border League race 7)
Time/Position: 22:05 (10th from 274 [3rd V40])
The climax of another league season, and it was as tight as ever: just a few points separating 2nd from 4th in my category. The final race of the season is usually the most competitive of all, so it was a big surprise to record my first ever top 10 finish (after over 40 BL races) given that my target was just to maintain this season's run of top 20 finishes. I did feel good for some reason, around this very familiar one lap circuit of the lanes east of Wrexham: the best I've felt at a race for months and months, come to think of it. Felt comfortable at around 5:25 per mile, and kept a reasonable pace churning over, picking up numerous places right through to the line. The results were unfortunately wrong at the presentation afterwards, as this final performance hadn't been recorded for the male vets! But eventually I ended up 2nd V40 for the season, same as last year, and 6th overall. Finished with 91 points, which is my lowest total in seven or so years of competing in the league.

Boston Marathon

Race: Boston Marathon
Time/Position: 3:15:16 (4783 from 23000)
The oldest marathon in the world by a considerable margin, and the only one that requires a qualifying time. It has always been the US marathon that most interested me, so I thought I would use last year's sub-3 run at London to get a place last September. I had no intention of racing today, but wanted to use it as a final (rather extravagant) long brisk run before going flat-out for a sub 2.50 PB in Manchester at the end of this month. As a result, I could enjoy myself the day before, walking around Boston and soaking up the ambience despite continuing jet lag. It's a unique and historic point-to-point course through a series of lovely New England towns, with a fantastic atmosphere which started the moment I got off the train from New York on Sunday (I particularly liked the fact that the race was so closely linked with local Massachusetts identity). A one-hour bus journey takes all the runners from Boston to the start at Hopkinton, where we all relaxed in the early morning sunshine. The race itself was fantastically enjoyable - freed from any pressure to go for a time, I just jogged gently along the classic course and soaked it up as a 'tourist': the only problem was that my qualifying time put me near the front in Wave 1, so I had to concentrate on not holding up the other runners. From Hopkinton it goes very gently downhill through Ashland and Framingham to the famous 'scream tunnel' of college girls in Wellesley, which you can hear almost a mile away. I went through half in 1:33 or so, which was a tad quicker than I'd intended. The crowds built throughout, and all the towns were delightful typical New England settlements. After Newton, a series of hills build up to the infamous 'Heartbreak Hill' at the 20 mile point. If I'd been going for a time, this would have been extremely unpleasant. As it was, it just made for a bit of variety with superb crowd support. My Welsh flags got lots of attention from the crowd, and the support got even better as we entered Brookline and saw Central Boston getting closer. Then it was through the suburbs, past the Red Sox stadium at Fenway Park - with a match in progress, as is traditional on Patriot's Day - then down Beacon Street to the finish on Boylston. It all reminded me a bit of when I did London in 2010, again consciously taking it easy before going for a later PB: marathons are so much more fun when you're not eyeballs out! I carried on jogging through the finish and back to the hostel on Stuart Street, and was enjoying a reuben and some craft ale in the wonderful Jakob Wirth bar next door when I heard the dreadful news about the explosions.

Central Park run

I've always fancied running around Central Park first thing in the morning, so after flying into NYC midday yesterday, I had a 6am breakfast at a classic diner then jogged up Lexington/Park avenue as the sun lit the tops of the skyscrapers. A big relief after the cold, wet and windy weather I'd arrived in yesterday. I jogged through the park, enjoying the contrast of the towers rising above the verdant greenery, then stopped for a few hours birding in the Ramble. Peak spring migration: highlights included purple finch, pine siskin, carolina wren, northern cardinal and many more. Then jogged through the park past hundreds of other runners to the Upper West side, to get the subway to South Ferry and Staten Island.

Deeside Border League

Race: Deeside 5.5m (Border League race 6)
Time/Position: 32:14 (20th from 291 [4th V40])
Slightly longer than previous BL races around these tracks and roads, which made it a bit more enjoyable. I set off quite slowly and felt a bit better than I had on the Spring 5 last week, although this was still my worst finishing position of the entire season. I concentrated on catching up with Jez during the first half of the race, and we worked quite well together, gaining a few places before he sprinted away from me in the last 200m. I just about maintained my record of top 20 finishes in every race this season, although there is no doubt that I've got progressively slower!

Kinnerton-Llangollen run

A family pub lunch booked in Llangollen, and me needing to get one last long run in before the forthcoming Boston and Manchester marathons: serendipity! The obvious response was to run there from home in a reversal of the route I'd done with Dave in preparation for the Icelandic ultra marathon back in 2008. It was a lovely outing, in cold but refreshingly still conditions of milky sunshine. Left Kinnerton for the gentle climb up to Hope followed by the savage triple kick climb from Abermorddu to Cymau. From here, Minera moor loomed ahead: clearly under a great deal of snow, and I began to suspect that the road might be closed! I descended to Ffrith, then up the bridleway towards Bwlchgwyn. This was blocked in 15-20 places by trees that had fallen over under the weight of snow. A mixture of slush, ice, running water and snow underfoot - much branch vaulting and limboing to make progress. With some relief, I gained the little lanes leading to a snowy Bwlchgwyn: several feet of snow have been lying in places here for over a fortnight now. Down towards Coedpoeth then up to Gegin and Minera and finally the start of the climb up to the moor on the World's End road. As I suspected, the road was closed, and after a mile or two of tarmac I realised why: it was choked with snow. Cue an interesting 4 or 5k section across the moor, unable to see the path of the road, forced to locate myself by the masts on Cyrn y Brain and other landmarks. Mercifully, the snow was still relatively solid at this time in the morning, although deep drifts and some surface breaking made the going pretty tough at times - good for the tan, though, with warm sunshine giving the moor an Alpine feel. The deep snow continued across the entire moor and down to World's End: it will surely be some time before this road is open. As soon as I gained the Eglwyseg valley floor, however, the road had been cleared. Superb running along this towards Dinas Bran and the final long descent to Llangollen: glorious views of the valley below. Met the family in town in good time for lunch (by strange coincidence, I'd also run from home to the Grosvenor Arms in Aldford last Thursday).

Idwal ice climbing/Y Garn mountaineering/Famau run

Crag/Peak: Cwm Idwal/Y Garn, Glyderau
Routes: Central Route (wIII 3,3,2:led p.2), Banana Gully (wI:descent)
The truly extraordinary winter conditions continue in Eryri, so it was great to have another opportunity to briefly get out there during my Easter break - shame I was a little restricted by various embarrassing injuries. Mick was free too, but only for the morning, so we started early from Ogwen and ploughed up to the crags in superb conditions of gradually rising cloud and relatively light easterly winds by recent standards. Central Route is one of the few remaining gaps for me in terms of the accessible ice climbs in Idwal, so Mick led up the long shallow ice groove which gives the climb its identity (my arm and neck still aching after 'whiplash'). This is a good pitch, more open than neighbouring climbs South Gully and Chicane Gully, albeit not as memorable as either of these. In contrast to Face Route on Monday, however, progress was eased by the amount of traffic this climb has had over recent days: hooks possible, and some precise little steps kicked out in places. A steepish initial section of water ice leads to an easing on good neve, before another steep but excellent section of quite brittle ice goes up to a ledge and screw belay. I led off up the second pitch, which takes in a few more steps of enjoyable water ice before easing into a snowy gangway. This gently spirals off to the left, above South Gully, and I ran the rope out to belay on screws on another water ice step. Mick led up a final slabby section of ice and we split up above the drifts on top of South Gully: Mick descended and I ploughed up to the ridge of Y Garn in the familiar strong easterlies (back again!) but also some hints of sunshine: the line of Monday's outing, Face Route on Cyrn Las, is particularly notable from here. At the summit, I got out of the wind for lunch, and enjoyed a superb show as the cloud lifted from every peak and the sun started to peek through. As I descended the NE (Banana) ridge, two chaps emerged from Banana Gully. They reported nice neve conditions, so I traversed across to the gully from the ridge. This was pseudo-Alpine in the sunshine: deep, crisp neve, and absorbing movement across to the gully. This gave an excellent descent, and was particularly enjoyable as Banana Gully was the first winter route I ever did - with Tim in 1989 perhaps? The snow wasn't particularly consolidated at first, but wasn't too bad, and got better as the gully narrows a bit as it curves. Cwm Clyd is beautiful in these conditions, under metres of snow with the lake frozen solid. After a quick bite I descended quickly to Llyn Idwal, removed crampons and jogged to the car. After the long drive to Cadole via a coffee in Mold, I joined the Friday night run up Famau: a mixture of drifts and slush, but it was nice to look across to a sunlit Ogwen (and Y Garn!) from the summit in the same day, and the descent remains snow-covered and very good fun. As usual after this kind of day, I bonked on the steps above Loggerheads and was virtually walking by the time I got back to the pub.

Chester Spring 5

Race: Chester Spring 5m
Time/Position: 28:46 (23rd from 295)
A little tired going into this race, still suffering after Sunday's long run and Monday's full day of winter climbing. Worse, I'd sustained whiplash injuries in an absurd sledging accident! This was always going to be a bit of a struggle as a result, but it was still a very disappointing outing. I went through 2 miles in 10:50, the quickest part of the course, feeling quite good and aiming for sub 28m. I know every inch of this course, as it is a few hundred metres away from my office and a regular lunchtime training run for me, but despite this I still blew completely after the hill at 3 miles. The last two miles were a real struggle as a result and I lost a lot of time and places.

Cyrn Las winter climbing

Crag: Cyrn Las, Llanberis

Routes: Gwter Fawr (II:sol), Face Route (IV 4,3,3,3,3,2:led p.3,5,6), Cyrn Las Ridge (I/II:sol)

Unprecedented ice climbing conditions for the time of year, so it was good to finally get the chance to take advantage on April Fool's Day. The Pass was almost deserted as we started the walk-in under disappointingly leaden skies - the ferocious easterly still blowing hard - perhaps some explanation for the lack of crowds on Easter Monday. We were both tired, me after yesterday's 21 mile run, Vic after a triathlon, so took almost an hour to reach the crag. All very atmospheric, though, with huge drifts in places and the ice-streaked cliffs of Cyrn Las towering above. Indeed, apart from the winter trade route of Sergeants Gully, I'd only previously visited this crag for the ultra classic rock climb of Main Wall, 20 years ago. Our chosen line of Face Route is immediately obvious, even from the road, a series of linked icefalls leading to a snowfield and exit gully. It looked good and lengthy, and we moved up easy slopes to gain the start of Gwter Fawr, a simple but spectacular grade I climb that traverses the face via a narrow gangway - rather like a more exposed version of Jack's Rake. It was very icy today, and we enjoyed good sport taking a few steeper variants until we arrived higher up Gwter Fawr at a belay. I then followed Vic up the superb first pitch of Face Route: solid water ice up to a steep bulge, which was solid grade IV throughout but went a little more easily than it looked, even with my archaic tools! It eased a little after an exposed move round the bulge, and led to a more delicate traverse on frozen turf and snow-ice. The second pitch, conversely, was harder than it looked and remained more Vic's territory than mine: slabby water ice, a little more fragile, and quite sustained, frontpointing made harder by fierce gusts of wind, and very little evidence of previous ascents. From here I led a short third up to a niche before Vic led through up another steep little pitch to an easing. The route wasn't over, however, and I led a long pitch up a series of easy slabby little walls, just an inclined snowfield really, to gain the bottom of the long exit gully. This was a very nice contrast to the climbing below: a classic gully, much easier, but atmospheric with great rock architecture and tremendous views across the valley. An icy chockstone was fun, and a couple of other short bulges led to a final easy angled exit funnel. After descending to free a jammed rope, we continued up the top section of the fine Cyrn Las ridge: a superbly contrasting finale, making this long route even more varied, a splendid 1000ft blend of steep technical water ice, easy snow climbing, exposed gangways, atmospheric gullies, and a narrow Alpine ridge. And it had seen very little traffic, which added to the pleasure. Surprisingly good snow conditions on the ridge (in comparison to last Tuesday, for instance!) but quite challenging: as was the walk along to Cwm Glas in a very strong and very cold wind. It was hard to make progress in places, and we took some time to locate the complex descent, which weaves through troublesome ground right of Parsley Fern gully to gain the base of Cwm Glas: a glacial bowl of deep snow, completely deserted. From here, a mixture of glissading and jogging got us down to the Pass in half an hour or so.