Yesterday I took part in the Likey’s Brecon Beacons Ultra both as an individual, and as part of an Elagen sponsored team.  It’s a fantastic race organised by Martin and Sue Like and now my favorite event of the year.  This year I had the pleasure of running with friends as well as meeting some other runners.  I’ll blog a race report in a few days once the results are confirmed.  I havn’t posted since the Caesars Camp 100 (CC100), so this is a brief account of what happened over the last 4 weeks. 

I knew during those 4 weeks that the focus would be solely on recovery and I wasn’t sure how long it would take for me to recover from the CC100. The first 3-4 days were spent in the flat as the ankles had seized up. Before the end of the week I did a couple of spins on the turbo trainer and a swim. On the following Tuesday I had a session with my local sports physio and she told me that I had residual swelling in the ankles and knees and not to run for the rest of the week.

The Civil Service 10km cross country champs were taking place on Hampstead Heath on Wednesday 9 November. I really wanted to turn up for the race and give the legs a run out in advance of the Brecon Ultra on 19 Nov. I went for my first training run on 6 Nov with a friend around Richmond Park for 2hrs and although I struggled at a steady pace I knew my legs had recovered enough to get around an xc race at pace. My only concerns were if the knees could take the pace on uneven ground.

It was a good solid day for the Defra AC team. I personally managed to finish just 1min slower than two years ago on the same course but 4 places higher (11th) and gained a place on the Civil Service XC team to take on the RAF at Halton in Jan. Pleased I made the decision to turn up and with 10 days to Brecon I thought I might be able to recovery most of my fitness in time. Confidence was back.

Elagen were good enough to provide sponsorship for a team(s) taking part in the Brecon Ultra, which was going to be a race packed with talent including world record holders, world champions and plenty of race winners in their own right. We got together 12 team members to form 4 teams of 3 and Elagen provided the Sport and Beta Alanine pills leading up to the race. Once the results are confirmed I will post a blog of the race.