A Little Catch Up...

It's the start of a new week... the sun is shining down over the mystical land of Wales. My morning run along the trails done... Climbing over fallen trees, floating through the fields. Now it's time to gather my thoughts and bring you all up to date with what's been happening recently. 

30th July 2016: British Athletics trial for the World Mountain Running Championships, Skiddaw

Skiddaw, Jenkins Hill. What a hill. What a test. Walking the course the day before the race, I knew the race was going to be a toughie. A real mental battle. 

Ultimately, I knew the race was not going to be against the other runners... it was going to be against yourself and your own head. Against your own desire to do your best, leave it all out there on the course and get up that hill as fast as you could.

The start of the junior women's race was fairly flat, with a gradual climb. I knew if I went off too fast I would be suffering when I got to the brutal climb so the plan was to go off steady and meet the hill at an easy pace when I got to it.

Sticking to the plan, I led the pack along the easier section, trotting along nicely, skipping over the stones. All too soon, we met with Jenkins Hill and the fun began. 

A little bit of running, a little bit of walking when the pain gets too much. Up and up, feeling like my lungs were going to burst. I'd honestly never ran up anything so steep before.

Running up into the misty clouds which were hanging over the hill, around the final steep switchback, I knew I'd done enough and managed to run relaxed along the more gradual last km to the finish. 

By winning the race, I'd automatically qualified to run for GB at the World Mountain Running Championships alongside my Welsh team mate and friend Bronwen Jenkinson who finished in second place. 

Well done to everyone who competed in all the races that day, just completing that brutal course is an achievement in itself. 

Time to put the hard work in for the big one in September. 

The British team for the World Mountain Running Championships on September 11th in Bulgaria can be found here.

Working hard during the trial

British Junior Home International Training Camp, Caldbeck YHA

This past weekend, I travelled up to the Lake District once more, this time for a training camp with some of the other up and coming young mountain runners in the UK. 

Let's be honest, it wouldn't be a training camp if I didn't fall over or damage myself in some way.  I again managed to do just that by slipping on a rock during the first run of the camp shortly after we arrived. This resulted in a very cut knee that wouldn't stop bleeding for about 24 hours. I'm just lucky I don't damage myself more seriously when I fall!

The camp was a lot of fun, learning new things and getting to know some people better. 

We did a hill session on the dreaded Jenkins Hill up Skiddaw into driving wind and rain but this was good fun even though we were all soaked through when we finished. 

There were talks about massage, warm ups, winter training, nutrition, the mental aspects of running, international opportunities and many fun team building activities. 

Thank you to everyone involved in creating such an inspiring weekend.

Sunday long run with the rest of the juniors

Team building activities involving getting the pole to the ground

******

I've got some more exciting news as I am now very thrilled to say I am an inov-8 brand ambassador! I'm so proud to be supported by this brand and can't wait to get running successfully (I'll try not to fall over!) in more of the kit and shoes and also write some blog posts for the brand. 

A big massive THANK YOU to inov-8 for giving me this opportunity. 

I am excited for what the future may hold. Nevertheless, for now as we learnt at the training camp on the weekend... it's time to focus on the three p's. 

positive, present, process

Until next time, 

Heidi x

Tales from the British Athletics Mountain Running Training Camp

I write this on the four hour drive back to the mystical land of Wales from attending the British Athletics Mountain Running Training Camp up in Georgia Malir’s neck of the woods, Leeds. (I should probably be doing Welsh revision for my speaking exam on Thursday but this is obviously way more important!) 

Upon arriving at the very posh Weetwood Hotel I found I was roomy with Rebecca Hilland who actually lives in Norway! I hadn't met her before but as is normal for most mountain runners she was lovely and we were soon chatting away. I knew pretty much everyone else on the camp and it was nice to see everyone again and catch up.

The Weetwood Hotel

Sarah Rowell started the training camp with a look back at the GB team’s success in 2015 and the highlight of this was definitely a first time viewing of a short video of the British team at the home World Mountain Running Championships last year. Those championships will always hold a special place in my heart being my first home World Champs and my first team medal at a major champs. Everyone loved the clip and it definitely brought goosebumps to look back, reflect and remember such massive British success on that very special day! When I look back and think about it; that day when I got to wear my GB vest competing against the best in the world on home soil seems kind of surreal. If I could go back and relive that weekend I most definitely would. Nevertheless we must all look forward to future.

Team GB at the World Mountain Running Champs 2015

So, Sarah then described in detail the major champs this year in Arco and Bulgaria. I've been very lucky to have actually already raced on the course in Arco, Italy near Lake Garda for the World Youth Cup two years ago. It is such a beautiful part of the world and all the lovely pictures Sarah showed us are going to be a definite motivation for all of us towards making the team and being able to race there at the European Championships this year.

Arco is a beautiful location for a mountain race

Racing in Arco in 2014

Next up was food and I think it's fair to say that we all felt a bit under-dressed in the hotel surrounded by people who were all neatly dressed for weddings and what not. We mountain runners didn't mind though and the food was delicious. 

The look on the waiter's face when Katie Walshaw asked for custard “and possibly a banana please?” was priceless. He had probably never heard of such a combination asked for in the posh hotel, but he did oblige.

I never knew that arranging a training session could be so confusing as we all planned to go to the local hill called The Chevin to do a hill session on the Saturday. Of course; us girls easily decided what we wanted to do without much debate, but the men were not so quick to decide… “Oh, let's just run around the hill and the paths when we get there and decide what we want to do then”

So after a nights sleep and breakfast we made our way to the famous Chevin, where sometimes Johnny and Ali Brownlee train. After a gentle jog (it wasn't that gentle really as us girls tried and failed to keep with the men) the boys finally decided they would do long hill reps from the bottom to the very top, with us girls doing shorter faster ones half way up. 

I felt really good during the session and was pleasantly surprised as this was my first big hill session of the year. It was great to turn around after each rep and fly back down to the start. And, I DIDN'T FALL OVER!!! Can we just take a moment to appreciate this achievement as I'm forever renowned for falling over running fast downhill. May I even dare to believe that this is a thing of the past? We'll just have to wait and see! 

The Chevin was a lovely setting for a hill session and I can see why GB team mate and friend, Georgia Malir uses it a lot for training! 

The men seemed to be running well up and down the hill too, so a good training session for all.

The view from The Chevin

After some much needed lunch, it was time to get our brains in gear with a talk from Jamie Pringle all about preparation for altitude. This was particularly useful as he talked a lot about how altitude effects the body physically and how it is best to prepare for this. The World Mountain Running Championships this year are at altitude in Bulgaria so this was highly relevant.

Talking altitude

A quick trip down to Leeds Uni followed, for a drills session with Alison Rose. This was useful as it helped everyone to identify their weaknesses and how we could address them in order to improve. 

A talk about training for mountain medals revealed that Andrew Douglas likes his magic 8 hours sleep, Rebecca Robinson has such a crazy lifestyle balancing running with being a doctor (I thought training around exams was bad enough!) and also Chris Smith’s ability to overcome challenges as he lives in London with hardly any hills but has learned to make use of the environment around him. 

An extremely yummy vegetable lasagna for tea followed. (Don't worry though Mum; yours is still the best!) The meal presented a slightly less amused waiter when Katie changed her mind on food once again, but to be fair to him he did once again oblige.

Yummy vegetable lasagna

Georgia and I had fun talking Strava, blogging, so called gimp masks, altitude training etc with the fell running legend: Ben Mounsey after the meal. I'm not sure Ben and I successfully persuaded Georgia to start writing a blog though. You can check out Ben’s epic blog here.

I think its safe to say that we all probably ate more jelly beans between us than the number of miles we ran cumulatively. A never ending bowl always seemed to be there tempting us to eat just one more. As Sarah said, Gary must have been “buzzing around on the ceiling” with the amount he seemed to eat.

Andrew, making the most of the free snacks!

The arrival of Sunday brought the Sunday long run, full of sunshine and shared miles. Georgia was a very good guide showing us get local routes.

Finally to end we had a session led by Liz Birchall on ‘How to market yourself on social media’. This was interesting and provided an insight into how British Athletics use social media to promote the sport. Everyone probably felt that Ben could have lead this session as he's obviously the social media king! 

I'm lurking behind Ben's head there somewhere

So as we've just crossed the border back into Wales, it’s safe to say that I'm suitably excited to see just what the friendly GB mountain running team can produce this year. Time to put the hard work in...

but for the moment, back to reality and to revise for that Welsh exam.

PS: A big thank you to all the British Athletics coaches and managers involved with organising and creating such an inspiring weekend. 

PPS: Also thanks to Georgia for showing us around her local routes. Next time we will have to make it to the cafe for pancakes.

2015: A Year To Remember

Hello again,

So another year has almost come to an end and when I was thinking about writing a blog post to summarise my experiences and adventures in 2015, the saying ~A picture paints a thousand words~ came to mind. 

Here are my a thousand words and then some in the form of pictures. 

British Athletics Cross Challenge-Cardiff

Welsh Cross Country Championships

British Inter-Counties Cross Country Champs

A run along the coast path at St Davids with Dad

The forest tracks in Mid Wales are perfect for 
mountain running training

Buttermere 10 Mile Trail Race

British Athletics Mountain Running Training Camp
in Betws-y-Coed

My last ever Mini London Marathon and with it my highest ever placing: 4th

Luke hitching a ride on a deer

UK Inter-Counties Fell Running Champs

British One Mile Road Championships

Ullswater

A perfect day for a long run

GB Trial for Euro Mountain Running Champs

Natural Swimming Pools at Porto Moniz, Madeira

The Team GB team at the Euro Mountain Running Champs

Junior Girls at Euro Mountain Running Champs, Madeira

On the top of Pen-y-Fan

The view from the summit of Pen-y-Fan

1500m 

A Welsh sunset

A damp hill session in the trees

A speed session

A post-run cool down in the sea

Fish and Chips at the seaside

Another Welsh sunset

GB World Mountain Running Championships trial race

Toby examining my Walsh fell shoes

Team GB at the World Mountain Running Champs

A jog along the sea front in Llandudno

Start line at WMRC

Feeling very tired after finishing 5th at the WMRC in beautiful 
Betws-y-Coed

Team GB junior girls post race at WMRC

Earning team silver at WMRC

One of the best things about mountain running is the amazing people you meet along the way

A very sleepy Toby

A bike ride around the lanes of Mid Wales

Touch-down in Italy

The Walsh PB Elites on tour in Italy

A stone in my shoe, resulting in a very painful and disappointing race

The British Girls at Trofeo Vanoni

The finishers of Trofeo Vanoni in Morbegno

A fab high terrain trail running weekend in the Keswick area

My Dad and I enjoying a long run around the area of Keswick

Fantastic scenery for trail running

Running to the summit through the snow and ice covered bogs during a long run at the trail running weekend

Racing at the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Liverpool

A windy long run around the hills of Mid Wales

A long cycle ride around the Elan Valley Dams

2015 has been a year to remember. A year of many ups and a year of some downs as every path in life should have. A year where many precious memories have been made and a year where I have learnt more about myself and life on this amazing planet that we live. The ups have allowed me to appreciate life through the wonderful experiences that I have had the privilege of being a part of, whilst the downs have also allowed me to fully appreciate the good times when they come along and made me more determined to reach success and whilst being happy along the path that life takes me. 
As always I would like to thank, Norman Walsh UK, The Metropole Hotel and The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund for the support this year.  Without the support, I am sure that 2015 would not have been as rewarding and meaningful.
Furthermore, I would like to give thanks to my family and friends that have made the year memorable by being with me every step of the way. Without you, I would no doubt not be where I am today.

Finally I hope that you had a very Merry Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year.

2016...

~The best way to predict your future is to create it~ Abraham Lincoln

See you in 2016,
Heidi x

Follow my blog with Bloglovin