Stage 1: Sunday 7th April 2013

What an unbelievable day!

1050 runners head off into the desert for 38 kms of fun! The temperature was 45 degrees and my rucksack weighed 12.5kg.  It was brutal.

The first 13k I managed to run most of the way but the second 13k were over soft undulating sand -saps all energy. I managed to complete in 6hrs and 4 minutes and came in 529th but I had an issue so I had to visit the medical tent.Blisters on the ball of my foot and also on the side of both. The treatment was painful and tomorrow I will have to rething my strategy. It will probably mean a lot of walking and painkillers as they are really tender. A lot of "rule 5" is going to be required. Now off to cook my boil in the bag and hope I don't get too much sand in it.

This is tough and tomorrow could make or break me so fingers crossed.

Signing out

I cannot believe that tomorrow I head off for my trip of a lifetime to take part in the Marathon des Sables.  It doesn't seem like 23 months ago I pressed the accept button and was lucky to secure a place.  It seemed like a distant dream back then as I has Lanzarote Ironman to contend with first but the journey has been amazing.
I have met so many interesting people in different locations from The Great Glen in Scotland to the foothills of the Atlas mountains.  That experience alone has made the whole training regime worthwhile and i've achieved distances I wouldn't have imagined possible.
So my rucksack and bag is almost packed.  I've done all the weighing and calorie counting that I can take and tomorrow morning I fly to London to meet up with the tartan army - my 7 tent mates.  Together we will endure the pain and pleasure and help each other along the way.  MdS has been described to me as the closest you'll get to heaven & hell at the same time!  So "radio silence" will be maintained probably until next Monday when you can expect a race report from day 1.  That's assuming I have enough energy after a marathon to stand in a queue for the emails, manage to get it through to my wife who will then blog it.
Thank you for following my journey this far and I hope you stay for the final act.  I'll provide a summary of the experience when I get back on 16th April.  Remember I am raising money for Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and if your feeling generous then you can link to my charity page by clicking on the Maggie's logo on the front page of this blog.  Until I return, thank you and good night!

Success - just.

I have worked hard today to try and squeeze everything into my rucksack. I just managed but had to sacrifice a spare top and a rain jacket. I have a really thin wind proof top for the night run so come in handy if the wind gets up which can happen. I'll take my rain jacket just in case I manage to find a different way of squeezing it in. The annoying thing is they are making us carry 2,000 calories for day 6 although at the end they will be supplying dinner as the race is officially finished and it's party time! My rucksack weighs 9.3 kilos and I still have 500g to add plus 1.5 litres of water. It's going to be a heavy load for the first few days which will be a killer with the sand dunes on day 2. Just a few days to collect the last few items and go over my plans for clothes for before and after the event. Exciting times. The last chapter of this journey is about to unfold.

Packing to go

I can't believe how long packing has taken. It started with preparing my food for 6 days in the Marathon des Sables. The key is getting the amount of calories right but at the same time trying to reduce the weight. This is critical because on Saturday the race administrators will be checking our rucksacks to make sure we can are carrying what we need to survive. I have no idea how many calories we will be going through a day, but it will certainly be more than the 2,500 - 3,000 I'm taking. This will result in weight loss of perhaps half a stone but I'll enjoy putting it back on when I get back. I have made one attempt to get everything in my rucksack and it failed. I've got most of it in but not everything. Tomorrow I'll try and pack it smarter but there isn't much room for error. Getting the balance between the weight and how much I'll need to eat is tricky as I am entering new territory. The diet isn't particularly appealing but it's what I need to get me through the toughest physical and mental challenge of my life. Only a few more days of normal life left!

Close call

At 9am I went out for probably my last run before I leave for the Marathon des Sables on Wednesday - actually fly our from London on Thursday. There was a light snow flurry and all I was doing was a 10k with no rucksack. It was a good pace but then I hit black ice. Bloth feet left the ground but somehow I managed to land on one and not do any damage. That could have been the end before I had started. After 10 months of preparation it could have been all over. When I got back home I noticed I had recorded a fast time for me and felt fantastic. Only then did the sun decide to come out! I have also been trying my MdS breakfast. Wheetabix, powdered milk, nuts and raisins. It was surpriringly nice so that's another thing off my diminishing list. Last night my eldest son got in very late and I couldn't get back to sleep. Thoughts of the desert, my food, hydration etc were going round in my head so I think I'll need a wee nap this afternoon to make up for it - all part of my recovery plan. It feels strange not to be training hard and I almost feel I'm not doing enough. But as 3 times MdS female winner Laurence Klein said to me, you should not run within a week of the event. So who am I to argue. Rest, yoga, massage, sauna's (to get used to the heat) and good food (plenty of it) seems to be the plan for the next week as the following week couldn't be more different: Sleeping in a tent with 7 other smelly mates, no showers, no toilets, freeze dried food, gels, 40 degrees plus dropping to 5 degrees at night, drinking warm water all day and running 5.5 marathons in 7 (although technically 6) days. Can't wait.

Technical stuff

I enjoyed a restful day today and had the pleasure of picking up a new car. A convertible for when the summer or even spring eventually arrives! But I needed to go shoping for certain foods I need for the Marathon des Sables. They have a strict minimum 2,000 calories per day and the carboydrate drinks and powders do not count. So this afternoon I measured all the food items and their calorific value to finalise my food for the week. When I weighed the food I realised it was too heavy as it would have been almost 6 kilos of weight for the food alone. So I swapped some of the gels and drop a sports bar a day which managed to lose a kilo but I can't see it getting any lighter. Tomorrow I will go for my 2nd last run just to keep my body ticking over but I can already tell it's getting stronger with the rest and all the good food I am shoveling in at the moment. I need to test a "foot pod" with a different watch as this will mean I don't need to carry a solar charger which of course would mean more weight. The problem is that a foot pod works on roads but where the length of your stride alters due to different terrain it will throw out the accuracy of the data. However it will be better than nothing. If you can picture looking for miles across a flat plain you can imagine how it will be difficult to know how far you've come and how far you have to go. It's important especially in relation to rationing your water so tomorrows test is important. Unfortunately I have a late night as I have to pick my son up and an early morning start as I have to drop my daughter off at horse riding! After that I can head out for my run. Then more rest and more food!

Preparing my body

Early morning yoga was a great start to the day. Then to a full on day of one deadline after another - I just love the end of a tax year! Then to the main session of the day - a sports massage. Grant "went in deep" as I am far enough away from the event to recover. As I haven't been doing big miles in the last few weeks my legs weren't too bad. My back was ok but my shoulders were tight - I put that down to the pressure of work. But I'll be back on his bench on Tuesday for my final massage. He's booked me in for 1.5 hours as he will be making sure everything is in order. So tonight I am relaxing, chilling with some good food. My race food has arrived and tomorrow I will start preparing my rucksack and drawing up the final list, including toilet roll. Mustn't forget that!