It all began with the annual Outside 9 Edges run. Every year the shop staff do a night run of the 21 mile Nine Edges race route and this year I was curious. “I can do that,” I thought. Then I realised I’d said it out loud, so ok Paul, you're in.
Snowdonia DreamingOn a beautiful clear March night we set off after work. The ‘run’ involved plenty of walking, and eating of Clif bars and shots. An amazingly bright full moon provided all the light we needed and our headtorches were quickly switched off. This was a great experience and I felt inspired to take it a step further.
So here I am, mad keen, ready to start my journey to complete the Scott Snowdonia Trail Marathon in July. It seemed a good choice because it’s a new race and I’m a brand new marathon runner.
Along the way I'll be blogging about my training efforts. There's still a way to go before I'm ready for this trail marathon.
It involves a 20 mile circuit around the base of Snowdon, then a climb up, and down the other side to finish. The ascent is 1685m over 26 miles.
They reckon marathon runners hit the ‘wall’ at 18 – 20 miles – in my case it won’t be a wall, it’ll be a mountain.
I've never run this far before so we can expect a roller coaster ride along the way – I might even review some sparkling new kit as well as my own progress. I think Compeed blister kits may feature a lot.
My training plan from the 70's is dated, I am still looking for another. All suggestions welcome. In the meantime I’m starting slowly – this week I began with a run up Parkin Clough.
For anyone not familiar with our local training favourite, Parkin Clough is a well-known climb up to Win Hill Pike which rises about 300m in ¾ mile. This time it was more of a brisk walk but I was pleased with my sub 20 minute time to the trig point. It was completely knackering but I think it will be useful as a gauge to see how my fitness levels are improving. Up next, a run to work next Saturday. I’m not sure how far it is – maybe about five miles – and I reckon it’ll take about an hour.
By the way I didn't finish the full 9 Edges run. But 14 miles was a solid start.