Big Wales Thing - Food

Cooking Supper in the Wild

You can't do a 200 mile journey without sorting out the food! So here are a few thoughts on what I ate and what I learned along the way.

Jiva Coffee Cubes

I love good coffee. I normally start the day with a couple of cups of freshly brewed strong coffee, and one of the things I miss when out hiking is a decent cup of coffee to get me going in the morning. Sometimes I take a small stovetop espresso pot, but there was no way that I had space or weight for that on the Big Wales Thing trip. I know there are the real coffee pouch/sachets that you add water to, but they were just too bulky and expensive. What I needed was some sort of instant coffee that had the taste and kick of the real thing.

So I was very interested when I came across a review of Jiva Cubes in an outdoor blog. Good tasting instant coffee cubes?  Sounds perfect!

Big Wales Thing - I did it!

224 miles and 15 days of running and walking and the Big Wales Thing was all over. I stood on the cliff edge by the lighthouse on Great Orme on the North Wales coast, grinning at the blue sky and sea, and I had completed my journey on foot from one end of Wales to another.

I'm Off!

I think I am ready to go.

Food selected and packed.

Bag packed. (Too heavy. Repacked. Too heavy. Threw out a few things. Repacked. Still too heavy. Too late!)

Off to get the train in a bit. Overnight with a friend in Cardiff and then starting at 0700 tomorrow.

Weather looks good :-)

Updates via Twitter (@jell and #BigWalesThing) and Facebook (jellellis)

Wish me luck!

Jell

Quick Microadventure and Kit Check

A magic snatched night on Dartmoor.

Big Wales Thing - Clothing

I have pondered long and hard on what to wear and take on the Big Wales Thing, trading off weight, protection, safety, comfort and general smelliness. I also only want to take tried and tested kit, as I have discovered how something comfortable for 10 miles can decide to rub after 15 miles in the wet.  I think I have just about decided what to take now...

Minitarpology

I've been playing in the garden with my Alpkit Rig 3.5 Tarp in preparation for the Big Wales Thing.

Getting there....

The big day is getting closer, and I am going through a final burst of training to get me ready, before I ease off for a couple of weeks to be ready for the big day itself.

Big Wales Thing Kit

I have pretty well decided on the kit that I am taking on the Big Wales Thing. In fact I already had most things that I need, and so most of it is well proven and familiar. I’m sure I could have shaved off a few more grams by buying lots of new ultralightweight stuff, but as I use a lot of this stuff on mountain marathons, it is pretty light already.

Reviewing this post, I realise how much of my gear comes from Alpkit and BackpackingLight . They have provided me with so much good quality, lightweight kit over the years, along with Marco at As Tucas who made my new quilt.  Thanks guys!

Journeyman

I learnt (or relearnt) a lot yesterday. About running and travelling and having a goal.

I had to go and see Mum and Dad. It was a beautiful day and I didn't relish the prospect of getting stuck in New Forest holiday traffic. So I decided to let the train, and my legs, take the strain. My plan was to take the train to Brockenhurst and run the 10 miles to Mum and Dad's from there. Then in the evening, run the 7 miles back to Lymington to get the train home.

Resting and PBs

Last week I was worrying that I was training too hard, and the the endless daily runs inspired by 5x50 were getting to me and slowing me down.  It looks like I was right!

Why?

It's a good question. Why? 

Why, in my mid 50s, have I decided to do something as silly, foolish, impossible, difficult, hard, pointless (pick your own adjective) as running over 200 miles through the length of Wales over all the largest mountain ranges? It's a question that a few people have asked me, and I haven't really had a good answer. So while out running today I had a good think about how I came to be here with this bizarre plan laid out before me....

Back to the Pack

I knew that putting my pack back on after a break of a couple of weeks would be hard... but not this hard!

The Big Wales Thing

It is time to come clean. I have been planning and pondering a long hilly run for months. Longer than 13.1 miles. Longer than 26.2 miles. In fact 212 miles! But although I was thinking about it a lot, I wasn't sure if I could actually do it, so was hesitating about turning the plans into reality. Well I still don't know if I can do it, but my running over the last few weeks has convinced me to get off the fence and just go for it!

In my mind it has become The Big Wales Thing, and, as you might guess from the logo, it is a run of the length of Wales.

I plan to run from the South Coast (Breaksea Point, near Cardiff) to Great Orme, running off-road wherever I can and taking in all the major mountain ranges (Pen y Fan (Brecons), Pumlumon, Cadair Idris, Y Llethr (Rhinogau), Snowdon Horseshoe, Glyderau, Carneddau). That's some 40,000 feet of ascent (and of descent).