Trail running to explore the unbeaten path
One of my ‘stretch’ goals this year was to try and improve my 5K PB (personal best) time. The problem with this goal and where I live, is that it’s actually really hilly and difficult to find a flat stretch of road. (I actually love getting elevation work in usually!) A few weeks ago I … Read more
Recently, I embarked on a side quest to find shoes that are better able to deal with the extremely muddy and slippy trails we get here in the UK during the wetter months. I’ll share my findings and initial impressions of what I ended up going with – the Scarpa Spin ST shoes. Background – … Read more
Summarised, the Dragon’s Back Race was a week running the ‘spine’ of Wales in a week of particularly intense heat. This week-long adventure was interspersed with lasting memories and friendships forged in the shared enjoyment of the mountains of Wales (and the hardships we endured). The Dragon’s Back Race (Ras Cefn y Ddraig in Welsh) … Read more
The third day of the Paddy Buckley Round Recce Experience with Climb South West had us starting in Llanberis and finishing in Capel Curig. This would cover legs 4 and 5 of the route. See other posts in this blog series: Paddy Buckley Round Recce Leg 1 Paddy Buckley Round Recce Legs 2 and 3 … Read more
Continuing on with the Paddy Buckley Round blog series, this post details the experience over legs 2 and 3. These experience or ‘recce’ days were done with Climb South West as a group effort. See the the previous part 1 (leg 1) blog post here My Strava activity shows we covered about 38km (24 miles) … Read more
Over the last week I spent 3 days in North Wales doing a Paddy Buckley Round ‘experience’ with a group organised by Climb South West. The Paddy Buckley Round is a fell running challenge in Snowdonia, Wales (Eryri). The full route itself forms a circuit of a bit more than 100km, with around 10,000m of … Read more
The tag line of Ultra-Trail Snowdonia, part of the UTMB World Series of events, is “Beautiful beyond belief. Savage beyond reason“. And the events certainly live up to that claim. Eryri (Snowdonia) is one of the most beautiful locations in the UK. The terrain, from the mountains, to the bogs between can be cruel and … Read more
Last weekend I got to run the Preseli Beast. A 24 mile fell race with 4652 ft (1418 meters) of elevation, here in my local county of Pembrokeshire. I’ve posted about the Preseli Hills before in this blog post. They can be surprisingly challenging to run, but are a lot of fun. A few weeks … Read more
Massage guns seem to be gaining popularity amongst fitness enthusiasts, athletes, and those who suffer from muscle pain and tension. With a wide range of options available in the market, finding the right one can be a daunting task. Recently I received a Bob and Brad C2 massage gun for the purpose of reviewing it. … Read more
After a string of successful ultra marathons in 2022, and wanting to push myself further, I signed up for my biggest challenge yet. The Wild Horse 200 South Wales. The Wild Horse 200 is a 200 miles (a bit more really) continuous multi-day ultra marathon, and features around 10,000 meters (32,000 ft) of vertical elevation … Read more