Mud glorious mud

Ok, so it was only 2 weeks since I dropped from the UTMB. I've been feeling knackered, my injuries are not yet healed, and I still can't run downhill comfortably.
But I'm also daft as a brush.
So, last weekend I went to the Black Mountains to sample some more delicious trail laid on for us by the team at Might Contain Nuts. My aim was to test out my endurance and hill legs and treat the race as a long training run ahead of the 3x3000 in October.

I've done one other race in the Brecons this year. The midnight mountain marathon (put on by Brutal Events) was a wonderful marathon(ish) race which included the summit of Pen-y-fan. I went into that one with fresh legs, but a stinking hangover, which was completely cured by the time I finished!

I've decided to start keeping a bit more of a record of training and kit now (having previously been someone who keeps no training log and doesn't run with a watch/garmin).

Training Week leading up to the race:
Saturday - 12 x 1 minute hill sprints. Sunday - 2k swim. Monday - 9 miles hilly road. Tuesday - cycle to and from work, then post-cycle 6 mile tempo run plus extra weight. Wednesday - 2k swim, 5 miles steady run. Thursday - cycle to and from work. Friday - 3 miles steady.

Clothing list: Shorts, long-sleeved running top, Hilly single-skin socks, Nike sports bra, Asics gel Fuji Trabuco trail shoes.
Kit list: waterproof trousers and jacket, long running tights, gloves, hat, headlight, compass, map, water and food.
Estimated food consumed during race: 1 pack shotblocs, 2 x SIS gels, 2 pieces of flapjack (picked up at checkpoints)

Here's my bullet-point race rundown, comprised of snippets of thought that I can recall.

*Ok, I can run, slowly but I can run

*I can't run fast and I feel very heavy. This is hard

*This climb is AWESOME! I feel like a mountain goat!!

*Yay, rain! The best kind of ultra-weather!

*Damn it, I'm lost. (This was a recurring thought throughout the race, as a lot of the course markings had been blown over)

*Oh hell, major energy slump. When will I learn to fuel properly?! (1 packet of shotblocks and 2 SIS gels were not enough for this run)

*It's really hot, I wonder if anyone would judge me if I ran in just my sports bra....no, I just can't do that to the world.

*Why the hell do I always seem to feel so short of breath and lethargic these days?

*Woohoo, I made it into first place! Thank you hill-legs!

*Boo, I still can't run downhill properly, I'm back in second!!

*This is the best macaroni cheese I've ever had in my entire life!!! (The catering company doing food at the end of the race were amazing)

Thanks Might Contain Nuts, another brilliant event!!