I run, so you dont have to
The sunshine begins to fade on the empty Glyderau plateau. As the otherworldly rocks, like kryptonite, draw long shadows across the moonscape, the sky and the stones all yawn in a deep yellow glow. I’m all alone, running up to the summit of Glyder Fawr. A sunray breaks through the vanilla sky, finds my brain, and floods it, with a long forgotten memory, from decades ago…
I need something to focus on. I decide on the Quarry Incline Challenge. A bloody big incline around 240m long and 31% gradient. You can see it from everywhere in town, once a track to pull slate up and down the quarries.
Monday morning, I am a daisy that has been crushed under a pile of bricks. Getting out of bed is herculean. I am sneezing and aching and everything hurts. I try to convince myself it’s all in my head. My head tells me to fuck off.
I have to slap myself around the face. The truth is, I am nervous. I am doubting myself. I could just close the curtains, crawl into bed, and let the big bad world go to hell.
I down a coffee, listen to some Beyonce, and start to feel much better.
I know that Owain Williams is running really well, so resolve to try and hang on to him for as long as possible. Calf gets looser as race goes on. Gosh, I am really enjoying it. So exhilarating and different from the monotony of road running.
We climb Tryfan on Thursday morning. There is no sun. Yesterday was sunny, tomorrow will be sunny, but today is wet, cold and windy. After 30 minutes of non-stop protesting, they both realise I am not listening, and they do not complain again. Tryfan is mine and Nina’s favourite mountain, it cannot be walked up. You have to scramble and climb. The rocks are wet, both Theo and Isaac get cold hands, but they don’t complain. The way down is even more difficult, jarring and slippery. They just get on with it. I don’t have to teach a single thing. The mountain explains it all.
