Serious Sessions

LLyn Llydaw 2011

Over the past week I have seen my training mileage to raise to it's highest level ever at nearly 90 miles. Having said that, the majority of this mileage has been on the hills in the company of 'The Sunday Gang' or latterly, experienced and well respected mountain runner Gary 'The Heath' Rees-Williams. In north Wales, Gary was regarded as one of the best having secured Great Britain vests in the 90's. Whislt he has struggled with injury over the past few years, I have managed to drag him out of semi- retirement and used his superior knowledge of the Snowdonia and Carneddau ranges. He never fails to amaze me with the depth of his knowledge of the fells, and despite having lived and run on the slopes for many, many years, Gary exudes an enthusiasm for his surroundings like no other runner I know. Sunday saw a slightly smaller gang than ususal take to the mountains above Betws-y Coed, for a 17 miler, testing the mettle of the whole group. Initially I was unable to get going, probably as a result of the 'Pipe Dream' race that I had completed the day before at Dolgarrog. I quite enjoy that race and replicated my postion in 2010 when I was over taken on the decent by Andrea. This year, Jenny did exactly the same. I really do need to get Gary to teach me how to decend.... I am having such a buzz at the moment, and confirming in my mind that the endurance aspect of my running is where I want to be and the direction upon which to focus. I seem to find 2nd 3rd and 4th 'winds' when I am out on a long run and I find that the runs get easier as the distance increases. Somehow I feel that I am under no pressure on the longer runs, there is no real speed involved, nor do I have to concentrate on anything except my next gel or energy boost. I did a steady 22 miler on Thursday and I felt more the capable of adding a further 10+ miles at the end of it! It would seem that the training is obviously working and that I may be somewhere close to competitive at Speech House in May....One final point, 'The Heath' met me for a pre-uni' run on Monday, we climbed to the summit of Yr Elen in the Carneddau and at 3000+  it was a real morning wake up. The scenery, the weather, the remoteness of the location made it probably one of the best run's I have ever done...thanks again to the legend that is 'Gary The Heath' Williams!