I made good use of my Saturday run yesterday by leaving early and driving to the Brecons; it seemed a good idea to recce a bit of the ultra I am running in in two weeks time and get a blast of fresh air at the same time. I parked at Pontsticill reservior north of Merthyr Tydfil and after an age of faffing finally hit the moorland. I hadn't noticed the three empty car parks and so stuck the car on the approach to a fire track; I chuckled to myself when I got back to find the previously empty spaces jammed with cars.
Up a track then a bit of navigating where there was no path to join a thin track that threaded its way toward the dramatic peaks of Pen y Fan and Cribyn. The higher I went the windier it got until I was forced to put my waterproof on. It was still quite early and not a soul was to be seen. I had the whole fells to myself and enjoyed the unpressured feeling of the only interaction taking place being between me and the ground. As I reached the ridge that eventually rears up to Pen y Fan I saw a tent hugging the ground adjacent to a trig point, and some figures in the distance. There were some rather tired looking soldiers running down the hill - I guess the tent was a checkpoint for a training event for them. There were also a few groups of walkers, unsurprising as this is quite a popular area for walkers even early in the morning.
The wind increased until I was having trouble running in a straight line. I was however having better luck than the walkers I went past; they looked frozen, but my movement kept the blood rolling around nicely. Up onto Pen y Fan and Cribyn where ice had been driven onto just one side of the peak, and I stood bemused as the wind blew ice particles up into the sky and then rained them down like space junk. There were quite a few people up there as there always is, some wearing quite inappropriate clothing that grated with my very careful packing of survival bag and compass.
There were a number of walkers enjoying the scenery on their own, and I reflected that the terrain seems to encourage solo activity. There was me running on my own, partially because no-one else would want to get up so early on a Saturday morning but also because I like running on my own. I am not pressured by another's pace; I can make my own decisions about the route so it matches my needs exactly; and let's face it, should I fancy a walk then there is no obligation to keep going. Not a good strategy for training I admit, but I was there for me, not to be pistol-whipped by expectations. There must be something about outdoors that nurtures the individual: I certainly feel that I have a relationship with the Brecons that is between me and them - a monogamous relationship with no room for putting the keys in the fruit bowl.
Later in the afternoon there was to be the Cribyn fell race - I ran it last year and it is a fabulous race, up Cribyn and down the ridge in the picture. I was tempted to text Lucien who I knew was running to warn him about the temperature on the top but decided it was for him to find out - not out of meanness but because he is also in a relationship with these hills and it isn't for me to influence that.
I cruised down the track that led all the way back to the car.
You can see where I ran - the pointy peak in the middle is Cribyn, the flatter hill to the left is Pen y Fan, and the rounded peak to the right is Fan y Big. Just after this photo I walked for quite a while, not because I needed to but because it was a nice day and I wanted to stretch it out. The sun was pushing through and in the valley it was sheltered causing Chaffinches to bustle around in the warmth.
Back to the car, a good stretch and change into dry socks, and a drive home extended by the need for petrol and overshooting the turnoff for the M4.
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