thanks

Thanks - I've booked myself in for the 80km Arc in January!

Thanks - that's kind of you to say so

@@grahammethold You’re welcome. I also did the 50k in Snowdonia the other weekend. Looks like I came in about 15 minutes behind you. So very well done 👍

Don’t worry - it was cheap Prosecco that my daughter bought for the purpose of wasting !!

Thanks - much appreciated and good luck for next year. Plenty of hills during training, plenty of water and electrolytes during the race - do this and you won’t go too far wrong!!

That’s great to hear! Even up to the last moment, I was undecided re water capacity. Water is heavy. Having run in rain for 4 months it is easy to forget how much water one gets through on a hot race. However 2l of capacity was definitely the right choice, even though I only filled up 1.5l at the start. Having that extra flexibility to load up with more water en route was invaluable and the water filter was a great buy. It just gives you that confidence to push on knowing you always have a plentiful supply of water. Purification tablets are good too but I just found that the taste of anything artificial was really off putting near the mid/end of the race. Many congratulations for completing the 25km - some of the comments remind me how boggy and hot the section after the checkpoint is. And, yes, I am proud!

Thanks - glad you enjoyed it

Well done. It sounds as if we all went through it on those last couple of hills. What an experience, eh?! Once I crested Mynydd Mawr I was fairly certain I was going to make it, as I remembered from my recce that Moel Elio is not a 4 hr trek. That said, I hadn’t taken into account the long run home so it was perhaps tighter than I had anticipated and I’m glad I kept going.

I have a local race in June - the Martian Half - on Horsell Common, but otherwise not much planned. Any ideas of what I should do next? I can apply for a UTMB in Chamonix for next year but I probably need to get something in the diary for this year. I am going to the Lakes for a weeks holiday so perhaps a good opportunity to recce the Lakeland races?

Mynydd Mawr was by far the low point. Still undecided what’s next, although I am running my “backyard” Martian Half in June (“Martian” because it is held on Horsell Common where HG Wells has the Martians landing in War of the Worlds!)

100k may be too much for me - not sure I have any ambitions there but let’s see. I’m more inclined to do the 25k with some friends - a group run with more time to enjoy the rest of the day, finish line and event village. Let’s see.

@@grahammethold any race with 100 in the title doesn’t interest me either. It’s nice to go out there and enjoy the experience knowing you can get to the checkpoints. Enjoy your recovery 👍

I remember thinking exactly the same thing last year. TBH I think the people that the 25k runners see ARE the better 50k runners. Most of us were still at the bottom of the Watkin path when the 25k people hit the top!

Ahhh interesting -- I did the 25km and felt like when I saw them on Snowdon, the 50kms were in a different league on speed of descent and how fast/fresh they looked. Gives me more hope I could do the 50 next year reading this!!

100%. The 25km runners will have seen the sub 10hr runners. The majority of 50km runners will have arrived atop Snowdon well after that. If you can do the 25k you can ABSOLUTELY do the 50km - if you put in lots of hill work

Thanks - i'm glad I took 2 litres of water capacity!!

I got it on my recent trip to Barcelona from Mango Man. Good value stuff in that shop!! It is actually green/ grey in real life. I can’t find the exact one on the website but these are similar. shop.mango.com/gb/men/polos_c20667557

@@grahammethold top man

Yes, I agree. Since I did the video the forecast seems to have got warmer, so I will be packing 1.5l to start

Good advice!!!!! 2 litres it was, in the end, and I needed every bit of it!!

Me too! Think I had about 7l of fluid by the end and I was still dehydrated! Congratulations.

I just saw you finished. Hardest thing I've ever done by a long way! Well done!

Have a great time - it looks like the weather is going to be kind so you should be rewarded with some good views too!

At least you can console yourself knowing that you had a good test of all your kit!

Thanks - have fun and maybe see you there. I shall look out for a fellow orange cap wearer!

Thanks - hopefully see you there!

Thanks for the tip. I’ll be back - Monserrat is on the list of things to do next time!

Great - see you there!

Good question - I haven’t looked into the quantities in detail yet. But it is something I need to look into

@@grahammethold Not sure if you have seen the Precision Hydration online calculator (free). They also do a free 20 minute video consultation. I sweat a lot and it turns out the amount of electrolyte I need is massively more that you get from a few crisps / electrolyte gels etc. Anyway, long story short I tried it last week on the Beast of the Blacks and it seemed to make a huge difference to that mid race sinking/soggy legs feeling which I have been struggling with for years, so might be interesting if you find the same thing. Definitely needs to be tried out well before race day though! (and no, I am not sponsored by them, I am sure other brands are available :-)

That’s really helpful - thanks. I did a “sweat test” last summer in the heat and lost 1.4 litres in one hour! In more moderate conditions this March I was still 1 litre down in weight after 1 hour of running. So hydration and electrolytes could be key.

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I suppose I was thinking about parts of the course where you need to free up you hands to scramble down rocks. But, yes, there are lots of downhill sections where poles are useful. I guess that's the advantage of using a quiver - easy access so you can choose when to use them. All the best with the 100k. I hope the training is going well!

I do have the Salomon Adv 12. I think I will buy a quiver. Today I went on a long run with the poles strapped where they were in the video but the cinches kept coming loose. I thought that the quiver was more expensive than it is but £30 seems reasonable.

@@grahammethold Me and my husband both have the quiver, it’s well worth the investment if you can get it! Well done on your progress, we have just done a run with 2400 ft of elevation today, all of this training will eventually pay off!

Just ordered one. Good for a selfie stick too!!

What are you training for?

@@grahammethold we are training for the UTS 25k

Thanks for the tip re the Box Hill FKT - that will be more interesting. As I said in the comment above, the cinches kept coming loose when I went on a long run today, so it looks like the quiver option for me!

Are you training for anything in particular?

@@grahammethold yes like you the UTS 50k hence why I watched then I have OCC in summer

Having just DNF’d at UTS 25k looking at the efforts you’ve put in at Box hill has given me the proverbial kick up the backside to get out and do the same, thank you. Going to see if I can find the FKT loop on a gpx file somewhere so I can give it a go

@@Rhino_12 It was a little bit boring just going up and down the Box Hill steps all morning but it was a novelty. Overall, I tried to keep the training - particularly in the back end of the training - as varied as possible, running around any hilly areas I could find!

That's very kind of you to say so - thanks very much. Did you see my 25k vlog where I almost DNF'ed, with hindsight due to lack of water and food!? Notwithstanding that, I loved it!! Freakily hot which hopefully won't be repeated this year.

Yes, I watched your 25k vlog, well done for completing it, it was so hot on that day, we went to watch the runners as we knew someone who was running the 165k. So that then gave us the bit between our teeth to run it this year! Hopefully see you there 😊

The seal skinz I took to Snowdon got very wet inside because I kept taking the gloves off to film. As you say they became very sticky inside and were difficult to put on and off. But next Snowdon recce I have waterproof sealskinz mittens with a touch sensitive finger which should mean I don't have to take the gloves off. Let's see.

Last year's heat made it particularly tough. I suspect that this year a lot of people will be packing a water bladder or extra bottle, just in case!! If you made it to 40k in that heat, I'm sure you will complete it this year. Out of interest, approx how much elevation are you doing each week? I'm going around 1,000m per week which is about all I can get in but not sure whether that is good/ bad or indifferent? See you at the start line!

@@grahammethold yeah I have experience, and proceeded to make bad choices on the day, didn't fill up my third bottle for the South ridge, and fell off nutrition, and sat at cp2 to take on water and nutrition, charge watch, for too long, I've never stayed at check point before, I'm not fast enough for the luxury 😂 Last time I was doing 3 normal runs, a long run and one gym session where I was getting the elevation on a treadmill, doing about a 1000m of run/power hike.. think I needed two sessions of that instead of just one. Going to try to do that this time as I get closer to may. Just can't trust my body not to break so have to be careful. Yeah see you on the start 🤞 line

@@grahammethold also hoping to get a recce in if I can get to Wales before a good recovery period before the day.. didn't get a chance last year,. At least I'm not doing London marathon this year. 🤦

Two main tips (1) if it is looking like it is going to be warm, think about how much water you will need. For me, it was nearly 3 hrs (up and down Snowdon) to the first checkpoint and I only took 1 litre with me. Nowhere near enough on a hot day. There were no water stops on the way. I should have taken more for that section. I subsequently did a "sweat test" in the summer and worked out that I sweat 1.4l of water an hour on a hot day! It was unusually hot last year, though, so hopefully less of a problem this year. (2) Keep moving. If you are tired or need to eat/drink, just keep the legs turning over. Easy to lose lots of time looking at the views or in checkpoints! Have fun and see you there!

Thanks - that’s really helpful. I think I’ve been up the ravine by Silent Pool once before - I shall have to check it out again. Box Hill via Denbies is also a good shout. thanks