History

 I hated PE at school – I really was rubbish at everything! 

In my 20’s I briefly joined a gym and maybe did a little bit of running (around the block was about all I could manage).  I did like getting out into the countryside but easy poddles in the peak district were all I could manage.

Then in January 1999 aged 29 I met my husband who was into all things outdoorsy – mountaineering, climbing, kayaking and I did a lot of activities with him.  I certainly upped my game, but just went along with whatever he had planned and didn’t really take much of an interest in the what, when, where or how.

Moving along years 14 years, something changed.  I decided I wanted to get to the top of Ben Nevis.  Rather than go up the boring tourist path, I was convinced to go up via the Càrn Mòr Dearg Arête.  After a false start due to bad weather, I made it to the top and was rewarded with a fabulous view of a temperature inversion.

My holidays usually involved a lot of walking - I ticked off the Dales Way, Pennine Way, Coast to Coast, Cumbria Way to name a few.

But I wanted something different - something with a set time and distance to work towards - so I chose the National 3 Peaks Challenge.  As part of the training I did the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge and the Welsh 3 Peaks Challenge.  The National 3 Peaks Challenge was finally completed in 2018 at the 3rd attempt.

In 2019 I did the Lyke Wake Walk - which is approx. 40 miles with 5000ft of ascent and the challenge was to complete this within 24 hours.  It took me 16.5 hours. For comparison the Anglesey Firelighter Race is 35.7 miles with 2880 ft of ascent and the challenge is to complete this within 9 hours.  Tough but do-able!  I hope :-)

#ultra  #angleseyfirelighterrace #2023  #challenge  #running  #3peaks   #lykewakewalk

 

THE CHALLENGE

So, I might have been a bit hasty - I've entered an ultra marathon.  That might not be a big deal to some people but I'm 52 and at this point in time, I can barely shuffle around a parkrun. 

The race I've entered is the Firelighter which is the first day of a larger, 3 day ultra marathon, - the Ring of Fire which follows the beautiful Anglesey Coast Path.   

Race stats: 35.7 miles (57.2km) - time limit 9 hours - elevation c2,880ft (877m).

I read somewhere that, a challenge is only a challenge, when there is a chance of failure - so my personal challenge is just to finish within the time limit and trust me, that will be difficult enough! 

Race date is 1st September 2023 - 37 weeks 4 days from today.

This blog will chart my progress, follow the ups and downs and document my learning process.  Feel free to add helpful comments!