The Year So far….

I can’t believe it’s only May! It’s been a full on start to the year at Run Eryri. I’ve put on four weekends of guided running, coaching and trail running and met some really brilliant athletes who are training hard for races in the area and I’m really invested and excited to see how they get on in their races this month.

I absolutely love showing people around Eryri, there’s really no place like it!

The weather has been particularly challenging this year, the rain feels like it’s never stopped, the winds have shown us once more that plans are never fixed in Mountain running. It really highlighted to the athletes how changeable the weather can be and that itself will have been a real insight for what they may encounter on race day, so whilst some of the routes had to be amended, they didn’t miss out on some vital training opportunities.

I was joined by a talented photographer Leigh Rose (leigh-rose.com) who took some pics of one of our training weekends.

Aside from supporting athletes with their endeavours, I’ve been back out racing after a wee break. I find the winter dissolves my energy somewhat and I like to practice what I preach and having learnt over the years of periods where I had over-trained, I now listen to what my body is telling me. I’m a big advocate for taking that extra rest day instead of becoming a slave to a training plan. It’s therefore been difficult to know what to expect. Training has been consistent but sometimes without a race to benchmark, my confidence takes a hit.

It needn’t have done. My first race was a tune up race in Llangollen - a 16k fell race with around 650m ascent. After losing the lead after around 5k, I held on to 2nd place in the inaugural first edition of the short version. I thoroughly recommend it, well organised, good competition, great post race cakes and some lovely local produce for all to take home. The long race here is 17 miles but so close to my main race it was a little longer than I wanted to push myself on.

The first A race of the season was MIUT 85 - a tough race in Madeira which covers 4900m ascent over 85km. I incorporated this with a holiday among a group of 10 friends, most of whom were also taking part in the races. Happy to say everyone did fantastically in their events. I was super surprised to take 8th lady and come 2nd in my age category in a strong field. I was pleased with how I performed, I ran strong on the hills (which included many many steps) and remained consistent throughout. As with all races, I have come away having learnt something to work on. Living and training in Snowdonia has certainly improved my skills and confidence on wet ground, tricky descents, long climbs. Challenging terrain I would have looked upon as technical some years back, no longer daunt me.

I’ll be back in Eryri now for the next couple of months training for my next event, hopefully finishing off my van conversion, supporting friends in local events and a some guiding jobs before heading out to the Alps for a chunk of the summer.

I’m starting to plan for guided running events later in the summer so do check back in and see if there’s anything that tickles your fancy or get in touch and we can build a bespoke adventure for you.

I also have a limited number of 121 coaching slots available if you need any support taking the next step in your running journey, no matter how big or small that is.

Happy Running!