Update: Little Welsh Girl V Big Welsh Mountain Challenge

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Catrin Hughes

I have been back in the UK for over a month now. My Great British training regime started well: I ran from my parent’s village in the Conwy Valley to picturesque Rowen and back again. I did the five mile round-route in 45 minutes. I felt good. I felt like I could carry on. I’m improving! A couple of days later, my co-founder Rob and I took on Snowdon. I’ve climbed Snowdon many times but this is the fastest I have ever climbed it. We summited in 1 hour 50 minutes – not too shabby a time. We took up the Rangers Path – it’s up-hill all the way with little respite. The weather was not on our side either – sheets of rain and strong winds buffeted us, making it even more of a struggle to get up. But if you are in the Welsh hills, wind and rain is a given. I barely noticed it. All I thought about was I wanted to get up in less than two hours and I did. Continue Reading →

Training on the Road: Part Two

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Catrin Hughes

Training while making a 2,700 mile journey across the American west coast is not easy. There are vast distances to cover, and it’s far more tempting to grab some cider and watch the Pacific’s waves crash over the black rocks while the sun sets.

However, train I must. After some indulgent sunset watching with a growler of craft cider from Portland, the next day I get up and take on the Cape Kiwanda sand dune. Located in the surf town of Pacific City on the Oregon coast, the dune gives some spectacular views of the surrounding capes.

I’ve not been able to find how high the Cape Kiwanda dune is, but it’s one of the biggest I have ever climbed and running up it was hard. In fact the running part was a bit of a fail. I walked up it. I was out of breath almost straight away and my calf muscles felt like they wanted to snap. Of course Rob (co-founder of Sea to Sky) managed to make it up without so much as a drop of sweat.

The view from Cape Kiawanda sand dune.

The view at the top is worth every painful step. The beaches sweep into the horizon and sandstone has been eroded to make dramatic natural sculptures. In the distance, sea stacks stand proud resisting, for now, the force of the ocean.

Knowing how hard I found that short but sharp climb, I am dreading the vertical kilometre during Man V Mountain.

Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach

The beaches of Oregon have been the perfect place to train. On Cannon Beach I ran three kilometres along the beach to a sea stack, which becomes accessible at low tide. A natural marine garden, there are star fish, sea anemones, puffins and cormorants. The coastline is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It’s easy to forget the pain of running when you have such scenery to concentrate on.

Marine life in on Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, OR

However, even with the cool temperatures and National Geographic standard vistas, I still have trouble with my breathing while running. When I trained for the Vancouver Sun Run I had the same problem, and it eventually went away on its own accord. This time it’s taking a long time get under control. Any tips anyone?

Training on the Road

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Catrin Hughes

I’m running up a newly-tarred road, and at the end of it I can see water. My legs feel tried but I carry on. When I come to a stop at the boat launch, the landscape opens up. I am at the mouth of the Columbia River, a natural boarder that separates the states of Washington and Oregon. In the grey distance I can see the Oregon town of Astoria, made famous by the Goonies. To my right is Cape Disappointment, shrouded in mist with ominous dark clouds hanging over it. The tide is out and I can see ducks and other water fowl on the mud flats.

I am here because my co-founder Rob and I are on a three week road trip from Vancouver, British Colombia, to Phoenix, Arizona. During these three weeks I still have to train for Man v Mountain.

Today I am running through the town of Chinook, Washington, a small fishing town that by luck of geography is on one of the most picturesque highways in the world. Highway 101 stretches from Northern Washington to the Mexican boarder and snakes along the coast.

Running gives ample opportunity to explore Chinook. I pass the only bar in town, whose special today is fried spam and eggs for $6.99. Yum… In less than a mile I see two churches, a drive-through espresso shack with Wifi, and another shack selling crab meat. There are a smattering of houses, many flying the Star-Spangled Banner. It’s not much of a town. A stop-off to other places. However, the view over the Columbia river and Cape Disappointment did not let me down. Next stop: Portland.

Little Welsh Girl V Big Mountain

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Catrin Hughes

I have signed up for Rat Race Man V Mountain. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s an endurance race that will find me running from Caerarfon (at sea level) to the top of Snowdon (3,560 ft), and back down again to Llanberis. During this grueling 20-mile race, I will have to run up a ‘vertical’ kilometre and abseil down again; navigate an aquatic obstacle course, and swim across a river that links Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn.

You may think, as I am the co-creator of a magazine for extreme sports and the outdoors, that I am very fit. Well, you are wrong – I have had a very lazy winter, and in all honesty I’ve barely hiked, ran or cycled for months.(This is due to most hiking routes being closed in the winter in Vancouver) The most exercise I have done is a handful of snowboarding sessions, and the odd guilt-motivated jog of about 1k. The longest I’ve ever ran is six miles (10k) which I did once, last year, at the Vancouver Sun Run. So Man V Mountain – or as I have dubbed it in my head: Little Welsh Girl V Big Mountain – is going to be a quite a challenge.

Why have I signed up for this? Well, my lazy winter means I have gone up a dress size – I blame the cider, wine, meat and bread (the best sandwich shop in Vancouver), and my own laziness. I do want to get fit again. I felt so much better, and I was much happier with my body.

Also, the race is taking place in Snowdonia (Eryri) – where my family lives, and have done for many generations. No matter where in the world I live, Eryri is always home, and after living abroad for two years it will be nice to reconnect with the land of my fathers and mothers again.

So – to training! Getting motivated to start has not been easy, and to be fair to my co-founder and partner, Robert McCrimmon, he has had to put up with me moaning about my lack of motivation. To break the cycle, I needed to do something hard. I persuaded Rob, to drive me to Deep Cove, a beautiful suburb of Vancouver.

Rob and I currently live in Vancouver but are emigrating back to the UK soon. The aim of going to Deep Cove is to run up Quarry Rock. According to the Vancouver Trails, this is an easy hike. It is easier than others, as its short – just 3.8K – but it has steep sections and many steep staircases. All the hills and mountains in the Vancouver area are steep, so it makes for a perfect training ground.

Quarry Rock is not however easy to run up – especially with a hangover. As I pick my way over rocks and roots in a slow jog, Rob is walking not far behind telling me to go faster. He ran parts of the route with me and didn’t even break into a sweat – the guy never works out…

I didn’t manage to run the whole trail. I walked some parts and ran others, and my lungs still felt like they were going to burst. My legs felt incredibly heavy, and I failed to get up any real speed going uphill. I have a long way to go to be ready for Man V Mountain.

The view at the top of Quarry rock, however, is worth every lung-bursting step. As hard as it was, I was glad I did it, as it did the job – it has given me the motivation to start taking this challenge seriously and train a harder. No more 1k jogs.

Full disclosure: I was invited to do the race by the outdoor brand Merrell who are covering my race fee.