Team Pursuit 18

First race of the year, you run it fit or not fit it's a great event for the team and to see all the locals. 200 runners in total.

10 days earlier Cadi RHYS was born so I didn't expect to make this morning race.

NOT bad run 39.45

Cross Duathlon Coed y Brenin 17

Actually racing again, entered this to get some motivation on training, off road mtb and trail running, what could be better.

Odlo Coed y Brenin Duathlon. 10k, 25k, 5k

Bit of a crazy few days where I borrowed my friends mtb and ran around for shoes. Living with my mother in law for 3 months I didn't have a clue where I had all my gear. Put all my gear in a builders bucket and off we went.

Very cold 4 degrees wet and windy it was going to hurt, lined up the Specialized cross country and my inov 8 180. Long sleeve top and tri suit it was a good move. Started steady with 5 guys heading off on the gun, long climbs for the first 4k  then a tough decent on way grass I gained a lot of time on the others, another climb and flat I lost a little ground heading over the tops, but in 3rd the end decent to the finish was brilliantly tricky with rock, trees and lots of mud. Coming down I passed 3rd and 2nd and came up short on the leader Paul Jones. Feeling quite strong.

Looking at the transition splits I was 2 min slower than the leader at the switchover. I had a bucket of clothes but had no idea what to wear. It took that Long! Very embarrassing looking back.

I hadn't ridden the bike before today just around the Car park and only worn the shoes the night before, it took a while to get things going.  The bike was a little small but a superb bit of kit, top end stuff and felt fast. I got going on the bike in 5th position, the route was very kind to me and avoided the tricky slops sticking to fast flowing single trail and forest roads. I caught the guy in 4th and came in back to transition in the same position. Enjoyed 'the bike except for a couple of silly falls and the chain coming off. Should have been quicker.

The run from transition started off climbing again, very cold and tough going. The feet numb!  Had no vision of 3rd so tried to keep going as quick as I could.

I caught the 3rd guy on top of the hill and went passed only for him to hold on to me. Then on approaching the last decent we caught eyes on 2nd. We kept going and hit the last decent. Full on free running at its best I passed the 2nd guy with 200m to go, and finished with a smile. Great race.

All through the race I dodnt have a clue what position i was in, so to be 2nd was a big suprise and 2min down on the leader I was kicking myself.

4 weeks later I put my interest towards GB QUALIFACTION. IBIZA here we come.

Welsh hill climb 17

Cardiff 10k 2017

Cardiff 10k. Looking for a fast 10k to just get a pb in the bag, was running ok.but hadn't had any speed sessions all summer after our training group struggles to get time. House building taken priorities.

Great event with 8k people at the start line Inc the best in the UK.

Started off steady as I dare and picked up the pace seeing how the legs felt. Bit tentative to get going as my pace was definetly not with me but strong enough to hang on. Got passed by a few going to half way then I was able to keep the same pace in the legs as we hit 7k.

The faster starters started slowing and I picked off a lot of runners of the last few miles. Kept my splits the same all the way around and managed the 2nd half slightly quicker. Very strange but had no company for 90% of the run. People to quick at start and to slow at the end.

Saw the clock going to the last mile and I was close to sub 35. Passed 3rd lady and gaining on a few more but wasn't to be. 35.03. Pb for a 10k. But 10sec slower than my splits in Cardiff half marathon though.

Motivated after to get the training in order.

Nol yn rhedeg

Tally 5k

Friday's night in summer are made for these races. Fast and scenic. 17.03. Friday night sunshine run.

A large turn out. Started off chasing Mr Payne who went off like a rocket. Caught him after mile one and slowly kept the pace going. 2 runners from Carmarthen kept going with one only taller than my left knee. Started pulling away up the first hill and kept a solid pace to the finish.

1st place 1min ahead of a 14 year old.

Builth wells trail Race. Welsh champs

Not sure how this came about, winning the West Wales trail race this was now the Welsh. A new race based in builth show ground to go with the spring fair. So a large turn out and plenty to do. Some top runners in action and me and sion feeling strong were up for the race. Half marathon distance with plenty of climbing.

Had a fall 2 weeks before on Cader idris resulting in me missing the mountain race and missing 2 weeks of running. 3 stickers on knee cap falling on the last step by car park. At this point was training very well. Typical !

The race started with a big climb up from the show ground, some fast girls ahead of us which was a suprise. Very quick. Kept it steady then slowly upped the pace and picked of some runners. 2 lap course we knew we were getting close to the end so put an attack on to try and push on. Hung on to Sion and Aberdare runner with some great trail running, fast and flowing. Coming around to the decent to the finish were were a mile short of half marathon, me and another aber runner finished confused as it was 1.5 miles short. Don't think i would have gained much more with the distance. The Marshalls missed a loop of the show on the first lap.

Hey ho finished 5th. Sion in third and qualifying to represent Wales in France end of month. Or so we thought. It was called off and he was put on the reserve list. Then few days later he was told he was in the squad but on that morning twisted his ankle so had to decline the invite.