When I joined the Eryri Harriers I also joined its Facebook page, and that was a good source of information. From that I understood that they do Monday trainings which are often on the track, and Thursday trainings which are generally in the hills. I had already joined two Thursday trainings. And then I was available to join a Monday training as well. This time it would not be on the track; it would be on Faenol (Vaynol) Estate, and the run was advertised as a gentle run. I didn't really know how to interpret that. Did that mean short? Did that mean slow? I did gather it meant not much up-and-down, as the estate is quite flat. I would find out the rest later.
I biked there from the office, and saw a few men at the gathering spot. And then more appeared. I had a bit of a mine exploration flashback; where were the women? Luckily, one appeared, so I wasn't going to be the only one. In the end we were some eight people. And since several of us were new, the bloke who had organised it did a little introduction. And then we set off. And it was indeed a gentle run. This was going to be a social occasion, as this would do nothing for my fitness levels! Luckily, the others were up for a chat too.
James, the organiser, at some point asked me if I knew Moel y Ci well. Maybe I could organise a run there? I was happy to! He was also interested in Moel Wnion (where I like running too, although that doesn't tend to reach the blog; on bike it did, though). That sounded good too. And one of the other runners actually lived in Rachub, so maybe that task gets passed to him.
Then I saw there was a message on my watch. It came from the cave rescue team. Oh dear! I was kilometres from my bike, and my bike was quite many kilometres from home. I wouldn't be able to respond to anything in a hurry! But I saw we had been put on standby.
During these runs, the front-runners periodically wait for the stragglers, and during one of these breaks, James said that anyone who was too tired to run the entire run could do a shortcut back to the vehicles. I took that opportunity. I thanked the group, said goodbye, and then legged it back to my bike. I didn’t think I would get home in time to be of use in case of a rescue, but I figured it was still worth the try!
I had never biked back from Faenol estate! It's actually quite a nice route. And when I got home I saw we had already been stood down. Which is good news! The person that had inspired the standby had been found at the surface.
I quite like this option of biking to a running training. I don't think I'll do it next week, for reasons I'll get into, but I'll be back! Even if it's on the track, even though I find athletic tracks inherently a bit dull. But if you get a physical challenge, surrounded by nice people, then that doesn't matter anymore!
No comments:
Post a Comment