Fan Dance Recce

This is going to be brief...I have company and she is restricting my typing.

After days of blue skies, cold, crisp, frosty conditions, today it emptied down...a lot. Regardless of the weather, my aim was to run the Fan Dance course against the clock as a training session. I know the course like the back of my hand, so I know exactly where the challenges lie, but I understand that people who undertake this course as part of the special forces selection procedure have to complete the course (weight bearing) in 4 hours. For the event in January I have opted to run the 'clean fatigue' option - so no huge pack - and I was keen to see how a faired against the 4 hour target.

I don't mind rain and wind and cold but from 700m it was very icy and with the rain pouring down, the large patches of sheet ice became treacherous and my worn out old Inov8 319s were just not up to the job. So at the summit of Pen Y Fan I turned around and came back down. Tackling Jacob's Ladder would not have been wise, so I'll head up in better weather and with adequate footwear to do the full course.

Today I was up and down in around and hour and 20 minutes (time spent creeping very carefully along the top!).

Coming off Corn Du heading across to Pen y Fan

Pen y Fan Summit

Conditions on top

Tweet Your Run

It was a perfect winter's day today. Crisp, cold, blue skies and a low sun. A perfect day for getting up high and enjoying the views, so I decided to run an 8 mile loop which focssed on my local hill, the Garth. The day invigorated me and I decided to tweet my progress as I went along to share the day and the views I was lucky enough to enjoy. This record is below:

Might Contain Nuts Winter 40 (actually 42)

I've not written for a while. I've hit a bit of a winter slump, struggling to cope with dark nights and the drop in temperature. I've had 3 different bugs this Autumn and write this as my nose drips onto the keyboard with lurgy no. 3. Work has been busy (I'm leaving one job to start a new one in the New Year), we've acquired a new puppy and all in all, life has been busy. So I've not had the time or the space to think about writing anything insightful or interesting. My brain has been jammed full with other matters. But rather than let my blog die, I wanted to record the race I did last Saturday, just as a memory jogger and in the new year I resolve to write more intelligently and lose the bland stuff ...I'm feeling the pressure already!!

I had an early start last Saturday. Up at 4:15am, in the car by 4:45am and heading for Talybont on Usk for the MCN Winter 40.

I nearly didn't make it, but an opportunity came up at the last minute and on Friday with only a few hours before the start of the race, I contacted the organiser and confirmed that I would be taking part.

I'm so glad I did. It was a fantastic event. The organisation was excellent and support from the check point staff was spot on. The course was challenging with lots of ups and downs, mud, bog, ice, sleet, and due to my speed I did the last section in the dark.

It was nice to see friends before and after the event, and to make some new ones along the way. I remember the last time I did a MCN event I didn't know anyone on the start line, but this time round it was quite a social event.


I got around the 42 miles in a reasonable time (11:20), in good shape (physically and mentally) and was fine the next day - no aches or pains and no recovery time needed, so I've had a quick rejig of my calendar of events to focus on 100km events and 100 mile events in 2013.

I can't wait to get stuck into the new year and some new challenges....

...there's still one date to negotiate in the next month and I haven't made up my mind on what to do yet...19th December UTMB registration opens.

Me, Sarah & speed merchant Leigh (1st ultra for Leigh completed in 9hrs!)

Al, Me & Sarah pre-race delirium