Cader north

Peaks: Pen y Gadair, Mynydd Moel, Gau Graig

Area: Cader Idris, Eryri

A lovely circuit around the northern ridge of Cader. If I have been up Gau Graig before, it is only once. It lies at the end of the ridge gained from Pen y Gadair. I parked at Ty Nant then took the standard pony path to Rhiw Gwredydd: memories of Ras y Gader, which I have done three times and am doing again next month. From the broad col, the route steepens with a few joggable sections until the rocky final climb: 47 minutes from Ty Nant. This was the best weather of the bank holiday weekend, with cloud peeling away from the ridge and superb views over towards the Rhinogs, Llyn and the sea. I was last here with Morgan almost exactly a year ago, and again I jogged slowly over to Mynydd Moel. This eastern end of the ridge is superb - empty and wild, under big sunny skies. It's a bit boggy in places but leads to the lovely highpoint of Gau Graig, with superb views to Aran Fawddwy and down to the delightful lower slopes around Afon Arran. This is classic Welsh scenery, and gets better down the northerly ridge of Gau Graig which was another unexpected bonus, a lovely route with a clear, twisting path and some rocky steps. At the bottom, a little track is gained then little lanes lead north then west back to Ty Nant through wonderful oak woodland with calling cuckoo.

Moelwynion east

Peaks: Allt Fawr, Moel Druman

Area: Moelwynion, Eryri

It has been so long since I've been up Allt Fawr from the Crimea Pass that I had completely forgotten it. The ridge is delightful, surprisingly well defined, nicely logical. I am guessing that the path is clearer these days - whatever, I enjoyed it and was pleased that the weather was reasonable, cool and cloudy but the tops were clear. There isn't too much climbing above lonely Llyn Iwerddon until the final rise and the views down to Blaenau are interesting. From the top of Allt Fawr, a lovely jog leads past the delightful lakes and pools around Llyn Conglog. I have been this way several times before but usually on long outings and the easy tone disappeared as I ploughed down steeply into the unnamed cwm (the source of the Lledr?) below Moel Fleddiau and Moel Dyrnogydd. It would have been easier to climb the latter than do what I did: descend towards the hidden gorge at the bottom to eventually gain the tiring twisting path that leads back to Crimea.

London Marathon

Race: London Marathon

Time/Position: 2.57.16 (2428 from 40000)

As is often the case, I knew I was undertrained coming into this, my 12th London marathon. No training manual would advise four mountain and road races the week before! Neither would they advise just three longish road runs. So I had no intention of pushing it today, just holding a steady pace and enjoying myself. This I did, and again recorded a negative split - as I did with my 2.53 in 2021. Every single kilometre was between 4.10-4.16, with the vast majority at precisely 4.12. Weirdly, I felt a bit tired at the start, a bit tired in the middle and a bit (more) tired at the end, while never feeling I could have pushed harder. I started at Maze Hill on the green start: going back to my first London in 2001 I can't remember going off this start before. I felt it lacked the atmosphere of Blackheath, but it did mean that the first 5k was all new to me, which was nice. After this I settled in, and the weather was ideal: drizzly rain and chilly temperatures. Despite this, the crowds around the Cutty Sark had returned to pre-covid levels and the atmosphere was brilliant. As ever, this reaches a crescendo at Tower Bridge, which I thoroughly enjoyed and then felt very relieved through the Isle of Dogs as I realised I had the legs for it, despite only three long road runs in training. As it was only six months since the last London, and I contracted glandular fever shortly afterwards, I concentrated on savouring the run in along the embankment.

Horseshoe reverse

Peaks: Lliwedd, Yr Wyddfa, Garnedd Ugain, Crib Goch

Area: Snowdon, Eryri

There was a time when we had something of a spring Snowdon Horseshoe tradition - the late 80s and early 90s. Since then, less common, but this time of year is always best. I did it in reverse today - which I have never done in its entirety before, although all the 'reversed' sections were familiar from various events and days. First comes the Pedol Peris route up Lliwedd and then the direct approach to Snowdon. Lots of low cloud initially, but it was lifting as I slogged up Lliwedd after jogging up the Miners to the green hut. I remembered bits of the racing line up Lliwedd (contouring) but took in both main summits - half an hour from Llydaw. The descent is very awkward, bringing back painful memories of the Pedol, which I've done three times. Lots of rock across Bwlch y Saethau, but the views were now stunning - a day of perfect spring clarity was developing. The direct route up the east face is another Pedol memory, extremely steep with some scrambling. The summit was less crowded than it might have been given superb weather, but a biting easterly may have been some explanation. This got stronger on Garnedd Ugain, where the crowds melted away (9 mins from Yr Wyddfa). Then a real treat, the whole of Crib Goch in reverse (again, familiar as it forms the start of the Welsh 3000s). This was a little windy initially down to Bwlch Goch, and refreshingly empty. Then the wind dropped for the pinnacles and the ridge itself. I have been lucky enough to enjoy this in perfect clarity quite a few times, but it is always special. Not quite as satisfying in reverse, but still good. The descent down to the pyg track is awkward and time-consuming, yet another reason the horseshoe is rarely done this way round! But I got back to PyP in 2.30 (2.07 moving time) which isn't too bad. Then it was the usual relaxing 3k cycle back to my free parking spot just across the Conwy county border: very satisfying.

Ras y Moelwyn

Race: Ras y Moelwyn (15k/900m)

Time/Position: 1.53.02

Yet another personal worst, but I don't really mind because this is a classic route that always provides a memorable experience. I'm not sure times are strictly comparable, as it was probably longer in 2019 and possibly shorter in 2009 (my two previous outings). Also, it was a beautiful spring day and with London approaching all I really wanted was a nice outing in the hills. But suffice to say I have gone a lot quicker than this in the past and didn't feel good today at all: in fact, I felt like I did at the Fron Four last Saturday, slow and sluggish, struggling on both the climbs and the descents. All rather odd, as I am going reasonably well on the road at present. I can't think of a more varied route than this one - from the rugby club up to Tanygrisiau, then through the quarrying landscape of Cwmorthin, up to the steep climb above the highest quarries up to the Moelwyn Mawr ridge. Then comes the mountaineering bit, along the Craigysgafn ridge. I know full well that the racing line heads along grassy terraces to the right, but always lose my nerve and end up with the worst of both worlds. I did the same today: 16 minutes from Mawr to Bach. After this comes the memorably steep descent down a narrow gully to Llyn Stwlan, across the dam wall, then up a short, steep climb to gain the incline across to Moel yr Hydd. From here, a view straight down to Blaenau, but the race route takes the open valley down to Cwmorthin to regain the ascent track for a quick but long return to the rugby club.

Spring 5

Race: Chester Spring 5

Time/Position: 29.33 (33rd from 374 [2nd V50])

The poor weather remained a factor tonight, although as with last year the back-to-back race routine worked reasonably well and I didn't feel too bad for the very fast start down towards Picton. The next stretch, into a headwind, slowed times in these conditions - as did the mud on the farm lanes back to the crossroads. I ended up almost a minute down on last year, so I was lucky to be first Buckley finisher on this, the first in the revived club championships. Always a very competitive race: I'm not sure how many times I've done it over the years.

Foel Lus

Race: Foel Lus (5.2k/340m)

Time/Position: 30.02 (25th from 110 [2nd V50])

Dreadful conditions for this evening race, part of the North Wales championships this year. I was around three minutes down on last year's time, and even more on my 2017 course PB. Still, the weather made this memorable and gave a good excuse to take it easy, with tomorrow's Spring 5 in prospect. Capelulo is sheltered, of course, so it was deceptively calm at the start - although also extremely wet, with torrential rain sweeping across the tight valley. Emerging from the zigzags, the wind hit, making life difficult for the double climb up to the summit. This race is all in the descent, however, so the full-on headwind on the initial descent made even downward progress difficult. It turned to a tailwind for the first section of the jubilee walk, although the path was very wet. I got the shortcut that I infuriatingly missed last year - it provides a big advantage, and limited the damage to an extent. Completely soaked to the skin my the finish, after which it was into the river, as usual, minimising muscle damage with tomorrow in mind (although I didn't stop shivering until the Albion).

Fron Four

Race: Fron Four (13.5k/770m)

Time/Position: 1.24 (7th from 25)

Fron is a great place, in the remote badlands above Caernarfon: it reminds me of the Caucasus with its bare mountains, tracks going nowhere, and livestock wandering around the unenclosed landscape. It is also a very distinctive Welsh quarrying landscape, but it takes a while to get to. So I had only done this race once before, in 2017 (although I have also been up here to climb on Craig Cwm Du). I must have been going well in 2017, as I was a massive eight minutes slower today, in perfect conditions (but a small field). Around 10 minutes to the low top of Moel Tryfan, and then a very slow climb up Mynydd Mawr, which is where I suspect most of the damage was done. I had no recollection of this: it is longer and steeper than you would expect. Then comes the slightly arbitrary additional sections, down the first spur to Craig Cwmbychan, then the horrible trackless traverse (which I did remember) to gain the spur down to Foel Rhudd. In the spring sunshine, this was delightful despite my less than frisky condition. Back up to the Mynydd Mawr, and then the long descent, again with disappointingly fading energy levels. I was due a really bad race, and the long run on Wednesday may have something to do with it.

Conwy double 20

The usual last minute London training. I was torn between a loop around Betws and Capel, or a more relaxed outing from Conwy to Llanfairfechan. I opted for the latter given constant rainfall and generally unpleasant conditions, but after Sychnant I infuriatingly missed the bike path westwards from the far end of Penmaenmawr. Instead, I headed back to Conwy with a tailwind then appended an extra loop around Maesdu and Llanrhos to complete the 20 miles. Never felt particularly good.

Nantwich 10k

Race: Nantwich 10k

Time/Position: 36.23 (15th from 998 [1st V50])

As with the Wigan half, this was something of a speculative 'rangefinder'. With very little specific training, I had no idea how I would do, so aimed for around 37 minutes. In the event, I was able to hold a reasonable pace and picked it up for the last 4-5k. Perfect conditions, cool and clear, and a potentially fast course which heads west along Water Lode from Nantwich town centre to take a short loop around Swanley Lane. It certainly seems like something to build on, only 30 seconds down on my Farndon time from last October (although two minutes slower than my 2012 PB!).