Thursday hill training: Waunfawr

I might just admit that I am likely to blog about every single Thursday hill training there is! But we are coming towards the end of the season anyway. Soon it will be too dark to be running through the hills in the evening. But for now we are persisting.

I was a bit nervous about this particular training! I had slightly rolled my ankle only a few days earlier, and I also had an off-road race coming up. I wanted to do this training to see if my ankle was good enough for such a race. So I taped it up, was of a firm mind to mind my step, and then hoped for the best.

We gathered in Waunfawr. The meeting point was busy! And I ended up talking to a bloke in a Steepest Street in the World Race (SSitWR)T-shirt. I told him it was my favourite race and I was sad it wasn't run anymore. He thought one of the other runners would know why, but that wasn't the case; he said the Harlech triathlon had lost its access to where they did the swimming, and if the triathlon isn't happening, it’s not lucrative to do the SSitWR. But this year there was a Harlech triathlon, but no SSitWR. So I'm none the wiser! Maybe one day I'll find out why my favourite race was binned. 

We set off, and within 100m we were in a field with no discernible path. This was going to tell me if my ankle was good enough. But soon we were just walking. The path was really bad! A lot of clambering over tree trunks, threatened by brambles. All festooned with some generous bogginess.

The fields early on

The path deteriorated 

It seemed to take forever until we were out of the woodlands. And then it looked like we could really run! And it was about time; by then it was 7 pm. And we set off at speed. I ran as fast as I dared, as the path was quite slippery, and there was plenty of opportunity for injury.

After a while, a delegation peeled off. Two of them were our medical couple, as the bloke had a shift at 9 pm. We the others carried off in another direction.

As usual, the scenery was fantastic! It is so beautiful there. And it was a beautiful night.

Spoil heaps of Alexandra quarry in the distance 

We were on the Slate Trail for some of the route

Gorgeous ruins

I was running on a different slippery path when I suddenly heard a sound behind me, and when I turned around, I saw one of the runners flat on the ground. That doesn't have to be serious! Everybody who saw her stopped and asked her if she was okay. She wasn't immediately sure. She got up and thought she might be able to walk to where the others, who by now had clocked there was something wrong, were waiting for us. But after a few steps she realised that might be a bit ambitious. And another lady said that her sister lived very close by. We could see an asphalt road not far away; I was sure the injured lady would be able to get there with some help. And then someone from the aforementioned sister’s household could pick her up and bring her back to her own car. So that was the plan! And I wasn’t needed for it so I went back to the others with another runner. We intercepted Dyfed, who leads the Thursday evenings, and updated him. He made sure there was someone who knew the way, and then made his way to where the injured lady was. And we continued our way. 

The route took us over Moel Tryfan and Moel Smytho. It was starting to get a bit dark! When, close to Waunfawr, we ended up in the woods again, some people got their head torches out. It was getting hard to see where you were going! But soon we were back on the road, and then at the cars. And almost immediately after, the car with the injured lady appeared. And not much later, Dyfed and another runner, who hadn’t fit in the car, on foot. Everyone was accounted for!

The top of Moel Tryfan in twilight

This run had not gone as intended, but at least my ankle had held. And although the running vest hadn't quite done what I hoped it would do, at least it hadn't rubbed my skin off. So a successful night! And I hope that the injured lady will recover swiftly, and join us again before too long…