I spent last weekend down in Devon and visited Lydford Gorge on the edge of Dartmoor. This is the deepest Gorge in the South West, with an impressive 30m waterfall set amongst lovely forest walks. There’s also some cool platforms that allow you to climb down into the “Devils Cauldron”, a deep well that has been carved out of the rock by fast flowing rapids over thousands of years.
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Just went to watch Cirque du Soleil perform Quidam in Manchester. A truly spectacular show, with lots unbelievable displays of skill and ability. Was rather a lot to take in, but very much enjoyed it. Also saw them in Sydney some years ago, but it was a different show.
This sunday Andrew and I scrambled over the Bristly Ridge of the Glyderau. Was great fun and quite challenging in parts. We also threw in the scramble up to the Castle of the Winds and then a scramble down the Y Gribyn ridge. This scrambling stuff is quite addictive… Could this be a new drug? 
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I recently got an Inov-8 Race Pro 12 rucksack for running. It’s of a very lightweight design and intended to serve as a 2 litre hydration pack with storage space for the essentials needed out on the hills. The main pocket is easily large enough for food, map, compass, waterproofs, first aid kit etc. On the back is a useful mesh which can stretch to accommodate a cycle helmet, and there are also two hip pockets for anything you may need close to hand, such as gels or snacks.
What makes the Inov-8 pack different from other packs I’ve seen is the water bladder, which fits horizontally across the hips area. This means the weight is lower down on your body, where it won’t slosh around and affect your balance as much as with a vertical bladder.
I’ve taken the pack out on two runs so far with it fully loaded with water and gear – one road run, and another off-road on a wide variety of terrain. I found the pack to have a good range of adjustment meaning that it fitted snugly onto my back and didn’t move around a lot. I have suffered some slight bruising around my lower back, but no doubt that this will toughen up with a few more runs. Running with the extra weight does takes a little getting used to, and is definitely more noticeable when climbing or descending very steep banks or hills! It does take a little out of your pace, and certainly makes you work harder than without the pack, however on the flat my time wasn’t too far off normal.
Did a very good walk today up Snowdon, ascending via the Rhyd Ddu path then descending by the Ranger path. It was nice to see the mountains from a different angle, and there were gorgeous views across to Y Garn (Nantle) and Moel Hebog. Unusually the weather was bright and sunny for most of the day, however having reached the summit of Snowdon the cloud descended upon us to ruin the view, for what was the only time we saw cloud! The descent down the Ranger path is quite swift going, and near the bottom its possible to take a track that leads roughly south west through a disused slate quarry back to Rhyd Ddu, making a very good circular route. Think this was approx 9-10 miles.
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Today I’d set out to do the Moel Wnion fell race (4 miles, 1600ft) near Bethesda, but due to horrendous and most unfortunate traffic I reached my destination some ten minutes too late. I had my kit with me, so to avoid a wasted journey I decided to run up Moel Siabod.
Starting from Plas-Y-Brenin I slogged my way to the summit (872m) in roughly 40 mins. It was extremely cold and windy up there and probably not the best place to be wearing shorts and t-shirt. Gloves and something long would have been a good idea. I sheltered behind the trig point very briefly to admire the view, then went straight back into the strong winds picking my way through the boulders towards a grassy descent. Running down was wonderful, and only took 20 mins. Got a few funny looks off some walkers I passed on the way there and back.
Have wanted to run this mountain for a while. A good dosage of hill training.
Simple but it might just work…
Each morning wake up and say to yourself, “Hey, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood, or you can choose to be in a bad mood.” Choose to be in a good mood.
Each time something bad happens, you can choose to be a victim or choose to learn from it. Choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to you complaining, you can choose to accept his complaining or point out the positive side of life. Choose the positive side of life.
Decided to go walking somewhere different on sunday and chose the Long Mynd in Shropshire, near Church Stretton. It’s a glacially formed series of hills and valleys that are primarily sandstone, and older than life itself. On the other side of Church Stretton are the Wrekin hills, similar in size and appearance but formed by volcanic activity and much younger. I did a 7.5 mile circular walk which encapsulated the summit of Pole Bank, crossing Cross Dyke, and descending back to Little Stretton. The weather was bizarre, ranging from lovely sunshine, to hail, rain, and eventually snow! Winds were very high all day, but lovely walking (and possibly running) territory.
Today I took part in the “Pipe Dream” fell race in Dolgarrog, North Wales (5 miles, 1700ft). There was a fair bit of climbing involved, a lot of which was spent zig-zagging in a queue of runners all walking up the ridiculously steep gradient from the start. I soon realised that sprinting at the beginning along the road would have been wise, as its impossible to pass anyone up through the forest. As it’s single file the competitors get very spread out, making it difficult to catch anyone up!
Once out of the forest the course runs alongside large water pipes from a nearby reservoir. This is great fun as you can choose which side of the pipes to run along, the left being slightly longer but flatter, and the right being shorter but hard going. The wind was quite fearsome on this stretch, coming directly at us from the west. It was so strong that it felt like running through treacle! There was a fabulous view from here out over the Conwy estuary, complete with several rainbows (as it was now raining also).
After a mile or so the course leaves the pipes and heads north for a bit and then east towards the summit. As soon as I turned eastwards the wind was behind me and practically blew me up the hill! From the summit everything went a bit crazy as the steep descent started. A steep grassy bank to begin with – all of a sudden you realise how hard your legs have been working to go upwards, as going downhill feels so easy! Then followed a fair bit of tarmac and gravel track to contend with, across a few fields, then onto the suicidal combination of wet slippery rocks, tree roots, mud, all covered in leaves… Nimble footwork required. There were a few runners in front of me who nearly lost it down here. I got down in one piece, albeit after a few scary slips. Near the bottom the course joined an unbelievably steep concrete track, not the best thing to sprint down in fell shoes, but after a while momentum took hold and it was time to disengage the brakes for a flat out sprint. Back on the main road there was a 1/2 mile or so dash to the finish at Dolgarrog visitor centre.
Don’t think I did particularly well in this race, as I’m sure the results will show, but great fun in all and very glad I did it. Also, there was tasty soup, refreshing tea and cakes at the visitor centre later, all of which I felt obliged to sample.
