Lighten up!

Winter is definately here and we seem to have skipped Autumn. After my yoga session I went out running at 6.50am and had to wear a head torch to enable me to avoid the potholes on the pavements and the roads and as a warning to car drivers that I was approaching. The rain was relentless but I had dressed appropriately and other than wet feet, stayed relatively dry. But it was only towards the end of the run that the darkness started to lift. I suppose there is no choice but to get used to it and not be tempted to pull the covers over and enjoy an extra hour in bed! My long runs will be contained to the weekend so I can do them in day light and having back to back long runs (between 10 - 30 miles) is ideal training for the desert.

Virgin training

I declared today my weekly rest day - I'm allowed 1 day off a week and this was it. However it wasn't exactly rest as I was on an early virgin train to London (Virgin training!) meaning a 5.30am start and I won't get home till 11pm tonight. But the strange thing about training for an event like MDS is that it's never far from your mind. On the way down I laid out the foundations of a training plan to improve my focus. When meeting with clients they ask how the training is going and usually as I lay my head on the pillow, not during client meetings, I turn my thoughts to what it will be like sleeping under the stars in the desert. This really is the adventure of a lifetime and the more I read about it the more excited I become. However before I feel the furnace of the Sahara a lot of work needs to be done and many miles covered. It's hard to contemplate how my body and mind will cope especially when I start to run with a loaded rucksack. But I've stretched the boundaries before and gone through a similar thought process so I'm not going to waste any energy worrying unnecessarily. I leave that to others. In the meantime I can look forward to my yoga at 6am tomorrow!

Being in touch with your body

I am totally amazed by the transformation my body is going through with yoga. Only yesterday I reported struggling to touch my knees after some running at the weekend. However today in my yoga class I got to touch my toes! This might not sound much but it's a major break through for me and it came about because I was able to tilt my pelvis by engaging my core muscles. I have always had good stomach muscles but your core is so much more than that. I also realised yesterday that my bum was higher in the water when swimming therefore improving my effeciency which again was down to engaging my core. The workout is hard and I am sweating buckets but with the support of my teacher Pamela Young (check out www.pamelayoung.co.uk) I am in touch with my body. I feel energised and haven't felt any of my usual hamstring or calf muscle twinges since I started. I've a long way to go but with this kind of progress and feeling so good it's not exactly a task - more of a pleasure.

Stiff as a board

My legs didn't feel too bad when I go up at 5.45am for my yoga session, but when I tried the second move in the 1st sun salutation my hands reached my knee caps and no further - ouch! Most people I know can get close to touching their toes but for me that is a goal. Normally I can get a good six inches past my knees but it didn't start that way this morning. However by the end of the session I had improved and felt a lot looser but it just goes to show how important the yoga is going to be with the running mileage increasing. Then I headed off to the pool for part 2 of loosing up my legs. I have worked really hard at my swimming over the last 4 years to become reasonable at it but I have hardly swam in the last few months so I knew this was going to be tough. My times were all dramatically down but I reminded myself there is no swimming in the desert and the only reason I am doing it is for fitness and something to help my legs recover which it does. As for my times they should improve with some hard sessions over the coming month and this will give me a focus in the pool. Having scoffed a "heart attack roll" (black pudding, bacon & egg) and a coffee I feel brand new!

Building up the miles

Last weekend I ran 22 miles on the Sunday and It feels like I spent the rest of the week recovering. So this weekend I decided to have 2 medium runs to allow my body to recover fully. Yesterday it was an 11 mile run but I could feel the difference running on Tarmac makes. I'm pleased that my running will involve more off road as it certainly has less impact on my body. I was at a wedding last night so took it easy with the liquid carbs (beer) because I was meant to be out with the ultra runners in the morning. However no run details came through, I suspect they were hungover, so I ran around a football pitch while my son played his match. I managed 13 miles and running on soft grass is tiring so good practice for the desert. No for some proper recovery. Feet up watching the grand Prix then the football. Life is good.

Failing to plan is planning to fail

When preparing for Ironman I had a daily, weekly, monthly plan which I followed to the letter as on a weekly basis I had to go over my results with my coach. Having this "control mechanism" in place helped me stick to the plan and push myself through the tough sessions. For Marathon des Sables I have no coach (as yet) and am making the plan up as I go. Part of my reasoning is that in the desert it is down to me so I'd better get used to disciplining myself in training. However the downside is weeks like this one. Having finished the run challenge which lasted the month of September and had me posting my results daily to the rest of the team (a control mechanism)my motivation has failed. I did a hard yoga session on Tuesday morning followed by a tough swim session in the evening. I took Wednesday off to rest (I only normally train 6 days a week) but yesterday only managed my morning yoga. Today I was going to practice my yoga before swimming but didn't manage to get out of bed. Had I a coach there would have been no doubt I would have got up, even though I am feeling very tired. Guilt is a normal part of this journey and I've analysed my week and realise I am tired - too many very early starts and two late nights which is not normal for me. But on Wednesday I will be travelling on a train all day so I am going to set out my plan. That way I won't be like a rudderless ship and get back on track as there are only 25 weeks to go and a lot of hard work to be done before then.

Making improvements

The September running challenge is now finished. As a result I can get back to cross training in the build up to Marathon des Sables. The benefit of cross training is that it reduces the likelyhood of an injury, especially if I'm putting in high mileage on my feet running. So tonight I returned to the pool for a group training session. We spend the beginning of the session on drills to improve our technique. Then the main set is fitness based and because you are part of a group that are all aiming to improve, you put the effort in. You don't want to be dropped in the lane so you hang on and do what ever is required - even if your lungs are screeming to stop and your feet are cramping. All the hard work is done in the winter months and will pay off next season. Bring on the winter!