Past the test!

It was big day today in that I needed my GP to sign off on my ECG. He was very thorough and went through 3 different methods of assessing the data. The good news is I don NOT have "athlete's heart". Part of me feels disappointed but actually it is better not to have an enlarged left ventrical. He signed off on my pulse and blood pressure so all that remains is for the medical team in the Sahara to agree. Tomorrow I will be seeing the nurse for some jabs in case I pick something up in the desert. My training was restricted to yoga in the morning but I will be repeating this tomorrow when I have my 1:1 lession with my teacher - the toughest workout of the week. I'll have a run tomorrow night before some big miles at the weekend. My wife has found some protein pasta and we're going shopping for good instant soup on Saturday. My food plan will be complete by Sunday night which is one more, important, thing off my list. It's getting closer.

Head chattering

I didn't have a good nights sleep last night. A voice in my head kept chattering to me; what about your nutrition strategy for the mds, have you done enough training, you've peaked too soon! Aargh. It's common when big events are approaching to have doubts but the volume seems to have turned up recently in my head. So I needed to silence the voice and there was only one way to do that - have a good workout. At 6.15am I was on my yoga mat for a warm up. I felt a bit stiff but after 20 minutes felt the benefit of it. Then I headed out for a 10 mile run with 5kg on my rucksack. I wanted to make sure I didn't have a re-occurance of my back problem, and I didn't. The 10 miler was easy and I was pleased with the pace that I kept up. It was cold, grey and windy but I needed to get this run done so the voice in my head would say "ok you're in reasonable shape"! Then off to work for a full on day. This evening my paramedic pal Chris called round and set me up with a resting and an exercising ECG. You require this if you are to cross the start line. All readings were normal although normal on the exercising one shows I have an "athlete's heart" i.e. an enlarged left ventrical. Tomorrow at 8.30am my GP will review the results and hopefully sign it off or refer me to a cardioligist. Without this there is no MDS but it should be ok. As for the voice in my head hopefully it will be quiet tonight but I do need to get my food sorted and hope to make progress this weekend as it is vital. I could probably have done more training but you need to get a balance and make sure you don't pick up an injury - especially at this stage. So I'm relaxed, nervous, excited and can't wait to get out there so the second part of the adventure can begin (the first part was the training). Isn't it just great setting stretching goals and working towards them taking yourself into new, unchartered territory?

Sunset running

I love the month of March. The crap months of Jan & Feb are out of the way, the temperature starts to register as positive and there are more hours of daylight. As my back had been sore yesterday and I rested it, I decided to leave my 10 mile run to late afternoon giving me an extra 9 hours of rest before running. I also decided to leave my rucksack off to see how I got on. It was a lovely spring late afternoon and I watched as the sun was going down while I put in a fast run. Having no rucksack meant I had the opportunity of running freely and increasing the pace. This was therefore a good, intense workout and although my pace will be much slower in the desert, it gave me the opportunity of a different type of workout. It also allowed me time to think through my food which is now becoming more urgent. I need a diet that will give me enough calories to sustain me throught the 7 day ordeal - there's no point in thinking it will be anything else. Running 232km in 7 days (225km in the first 6 days), in 40 degrees, in sand, with no showers, making your own food and some huge dunes to climb - it's not going to be a picnic! I need to expect pain and be prepared to deal with it. There will be plenty of times when I will want to give up, but that's not an option. That's where you come in. Knowing you'll be following my every step and that you've supported Maggie's with your sponsorship means I will drag myself up any dune in my way. So thank you for your interest and support. As the sun settled below the horizon tonight I was on the home straight. In just over 4 weeks time I'll be watching the sun setting in a completely different world - I can't wait.

Counting calories

After yesterdays trail running my back was protesting from the pressure from my rucksack. Perhaps I had't taken enough care to make sure it was sitting properly when I started or maybe having it loaded with 7kg for the first time in a week was asking a bit much. So today I "listened to my body" and decided to rest. But that doesn't mean do nothing, I went for a sauna. Now I know you are thinking that isn't training but I only lasted 15 minutes in the heat, and it was only 80 degrees! In the next 5 weeks I will be having a lot of sauna's to get used to the intense heat as temperatures in the desert will be higher than anything I've ever experienced. I am now turning my attention to my food plan. It's changed in that I am trying to find suitable alternatives to freeze dried food which I didn't enjoy in Morocco. This afternoon I am starting a spreadsheet for my meals over the 7 days, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks & hydration. I need to make sure I have a minimum of 2,000 calories per day which is manditory and will be checked. It's not something I have done before but I am sure it will be an interesting exercise. So although I am not out running, I am still working and it is the minute detail that could mean the difference between success and failure.

Back on the trail

20 miles of trail running with the rucksack this morning in beautiful sunshine. A nice steady pace for 3.5 hours got some miles in my legs which is necessary as there are only 5 weeks to go before I head off for the adventure of a lifetime. I ran with a pal who is training for Ironman and it was good to have company of somoene who understands what I am going through at this stage in the training. The start line is so close yet there is hard work to be done before the tapering starts. At the same time you are trying to avoid injury but need to put in the miles. Tomorrow will be a recovery run and I think I'll leave off the rucksack as my back is feeling the pressure. Time for rest and recovery.

Back on the tarmac

After a couple of days well earned rest I was out on the tarmac tonight. No rucksack on, just a fast 10km which is easier said than done when I've been running slowly for months. No stunning scenery, back to normal altitude and the hard regular impact of tarmac took it's toll. The fronts of my shins complained but this is just because I've had a couple of days off. I certainly never felt out of breath which is the positive result of the altitude training and come the weekend I'll be back to long slow trail miles with the rucksack on my back. I've been advised to incorporate some interval training over the next few weeks and this is intensive so it's going to be tough. It reminds me of the training in the run up to Ironman last year. But MdS is taking my physical and mental endurance to a new level. The lessons I learned in Morocco need to be worked on especially around the food I will be taking with me. I'll report back when I have finalised my plans. But until then, the training continues. Only 5 weeks to go!

MDS training camp

I've just returned from a 4 day training camp in the amazing hills in Morocco. It was lead by Laurence Klein, 3 time MDS female champion, and Damien Vierdet, who finished 4th in MDS 2 tears ago. Along with 9 other athletes we were put through our paces covering 75km and climbing over 3,300 metres with base camp at 1,400 metres. We were in the foothills behind the Atlans mountain range which was a spetacular back drop with the snow capped hills. The territory was more suited to a mountain goat and the terrain was either hard packed trail with stones and rocks or dried mud with stones or rocks. We also ran on dried river beds and no matter what surface, every step was a potential ankle breaker. On the 2nd day it rained making the mud tracks / roads slippy and unfortunately for one athletes he slipped and empaled himself on a catcus plant which left him sore and requiring over 20 needles removed! Ouch. The one surface we didn't run on was sand but it was more important we learned how to handle this terrain as there is a lot of it on MDS. We has 2 night runs with head torches. Up until then I though the odd pothole was dangerous in the UK but this required 100% concentration due to the conditions underfoot. We absorbed the top tips we were given and on 2 occassions cooked our food out in the open - only edible if desperate! The objectives were to test myself and also my equipment. The outcome is I have another 2.5 weeks of really hard training before starting to taper and I'll be changing my food plan based on what I learned. It was a well organised trip and I have made new friends despite the language barrier - they all had a reasonable grasp of English fortunately and one of the UK guys (David - thank you) was fluent in French. The staff and the accommodation could not have been more helpful. The food was out of this world - probably similar to what we will eat in the desert except that will be food from a different planet! As for the leaders Laurence and Damien, what a privilege to run and learn from world class athletes. Thank you Laurence and see you in the desert in 6 weeks. Damien I hope we meet again and you still carry the tune of "Flower of Scotland" in your head. Maybe someday someone will sing it to you properly.