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I woke up on the day of the drive to Wales thinking: I love training and running around the South Downs, so why am I going to Wales? Sacha couldn't make it so I was going by myself again. What would that be like? What am I doing!? A coffee or two later on the way in a service station I remembered that this trip was an experiment: Could I get the same feelings running and racing in UK mountains that I had in the Alps? Can I reduce the cost to myself and the environment if I travel to a nearer challenge? Also I was interested in seeing if I've become a 'better' (= faster) trail runner in mountainous areas, after all the training I'd done recently. So where's the nearest mountains? Wales.