Spirit of Hualapai, Strength of Smith

New hashtag - #sohsos

As Claire has convinced me that I should still take part in the Beacons Ultra next week (if I really want to!!) I thought that I should test myself with some decent mileage. A 50km was always on the training programme so I decided to give that a go and duly set off to Newborough Forest at a not too indecent hour.

I was almost immediately pissed off as Map My Run app was refusing to play ball and kept crashing. Eventually I gave up and just carried on with the run. Fortunately I had planned the route and knew the distance of the loop that I was intending to run a few times. The planned distance was therefore 46km, a sort of metric Beacons Ultra if you like!

As a runner, I have always been a little schizophrenic and there have been many times when Weak Dan has made suggestions to Strong Dan and got his way. Today, after lap 3 and 23km in the bag, it began to rain quite heavily and Weak Dan started to do his thing, asking Strong Dan how would it be to step off after 4 or 5 of the 6 planned laps. This went on for about 5 minutes until Strong Dan remembered the promises he had made to think of Claire's strength and 'never give in' attitude and woke from the trance that Weak Dan had instigated. All thoughts of not going the full distance were put to one side, I got my Montane rainproof smock, quaffed a Complan shake out and happily trotted on.

For some reason I also started to think what my G2G Hualapai tent mates would have done and I know that none of them would have taken the short option. From then on the hashtag at the top was born.

I eventually got back to the car after a shade over 5hrs. Considering the terrain and weather plus carrying full race pack plus an extra 2kg in water, that wasn't too bad an effort. 46 miles next Saturday now doesn't feel so ominous. It's still going to hurt but that doesn't matter and I know I'll make it to the pub in time for the quiz.

Conscious that I haven't posted any pics yet on this blog and have failed miserably to try and upload some now so it's just words again I'm afraid. Soon though...soon.

BRAVEHEART

I’ve spent the last week coming to terms with one of the worst set of events that have befallen me for many a while. Those of you who are familiar with my blogs will know I’m a bit of a karma person who is ready to accept events in my life happening for a reason and purpose. Last weekend did challenge that belief quite significantly. It all started with a phone call on the Friday, which I’ll get to in a minute. Sunday morning saw the disqualification for a minor infraction of rules of my Cambrian Patrol team that had been in preparation and training for the best part of 8 months. I then returned home on Sunday evening to find a notification from North Wales Police road safety bods to say that I had been clocked at 35 mph in a 30 mph zone – A546 from Llandudno Junction to Deganwy. Have a look next time you’re on that road and tell me how you think it looks like a 30!! That is a whole story in itself but not one for this post. Suffice to say it was the final kick in the nuts on a weekend of very sore balls!

Back to the phone call. I was running round the perimeter of Sennybridge Camp filling time while the team were out on the ground and news of disqualification was still over a day and a half away. In February Claire had undergone a series of tests to establish whether or not she could go on the list for a double lung transplant. 8 months later, on that Friday morning, we received news from those who decide these things that, due to poor bone density, they would not take a risk on the operation. This news immediately condemned Claire to spend the rest of her life dependent on oxygen and the knowledge that she now, almost certainly knows her killer.

After we both hung up, neither of us being able to say anything, I decided that I should not spend any more time away from her side than was necessary and immediately emailed Kevin at Likeys to say that I was pulling out of the Beacons Ultra.

I returned home on Sunday, still unsure how to cope with our news and, I’m ashamed to say didn’t handle it very well. My usual play it cool and keep the situation in the background was not appropriate in this case and I probably did more harm than good, with Claire obviously upset but me too numb and tired to do anything. The next day I apologised and pledged to support Claire anyway she wanted me to which was appreciated. What I also found was that, between that phone call and me returning home, Claire had not simply locked herself away and felt sorry for herself but had busied herself working on our garden bar so it would be ready for me when I got back. Unfortunately it still isn’t quite complete but I appreciated this massive act of selflessness massively.

Next surprise was Claire’s insistence that I take part in Beacons Ultra after all. She didn’t want me to focus all my energies on her and none on myself, saying that this wasn’t fair. Another amazing act of selflessness, which I aim to repay by getting round the course even though my training has been woefully inadequate. I have remembered my statement on the header of my Just Giving page when I was doing G2G Ultra, which said I was running 170 miles because some struggle to walk 170 metres. It would be very wrong for me to not use the little talent I have when others would give anything to be able to have my opportunities.

So on 14^th Nov I will be lining up with a couple of hundred other like-minded fools to wobble 46-ish miles around the Brecon Beacons, although I doubt too many will have the same inspiration pushing them round the course. I know it’s going to hurt but I can live with that because I know the pain will pass. Isn’t that why we run anyway?

Claire won’t thank me for posting this because she never wants to put herself first but I am going to because I want people to know the strength and bravery of this incredible lady. Small in stature but with a massive heart and inner strength that most people can only dream of.

After The Gold Rush

Fortunately I'm not the type of guy who feels life is over after a sporting contest going the wrong way. I have to accept that Australia were the far better team on the night and wish them good luck for the rest of the tournament. The sun is shining, my outside bar is almost complete and I have put together a training plan to prepare myself for Offa's Dyke. All is well in the World.

The plan is not a detailed day by day one but a series of increasing challenges culminating in Offa's Dyke Race itself. I have named these the Terrible 10 and details are as follows:

January - 7 x metric marathons (26.2km) in 7 days
February - 5 x marathons in 5 days
March - Anglesey Costal Path (135 miles) in 3 stages
April - Welsh 1000 course x 2 (44 miles and 17500 ft of ascent)
May - Cemmaes in Powys to Cemaes Bay in Anglesey (79.4 miles)
June - Welsh 1000 course x 4 (88 miles and 35000 feet of ascent)
July - Anglesey Costal Path in 48 hours
August - North Downs Way 100 Race
September - Ring of Fire Race
September - Offa's Dyke Race

Pretty intense by my own admission but a plan that should see me complete ODR with as little pain as possible!!

In the meantime there's the small matter of the Likeys Beacons Ultra to get through in just under 6 weeks. A pleasant '46 mile wobble' around some of the nicest scenery in Wales. I have a PB of 10hrs 30m for this race and am hoping to get that down to under 10hrs this year. Achieving that will give me more confidence in taking on the Terrible 10.

Now to go out and enjoy some of the aforementioned sunshine!

Here I Go Again

Once again I've fallen to the sucker question "Hey Danny, have you heard about this race? Looks pretty awesome." No sooner has the exchange complete than I have read up on the Offa's Dyke Race and am waiting for the entry to open. Once it does, a few days later, my deposit is paid and I am accepted onto the start list with 99 other hardy souls.

For those still in the dark, the race totals 185 miles with 9085 metres of elevation along Offa's Dyke Path from Chepstow in South Wales to Prestatyn in the North. Competitors have 96 hours to complete the route.

http://kingoffasdyke.co.uk/schedule/

My G2G tent mate and G2G 2014 champion Michele Graglia was taken aback by the length and time to complete, which gives some indication of the challenge I have signed up for seemingly on a whim!! However, I am not undaunted and, as I type, I have 1 day short of a leap year to get myself prepared. I have scheduled in a number of interim challenges along the way, each of which will give a gauge of progress.

I am hoping this blog will do the preparation and race justice. I have written 2 previous blogs for Marathon des Sables and Grand to Grand Ultra, one of which was very rewarding and, if I say myself, a bloody good read. The second was laborious and uninspirational. Here's to this one jumping in the former category.

So, here I go again...