Fashion Police

Today I picked up my running shoes for the desert with the full length gaiters stiched on to prevent the sand getting in. So before Morocco next week I need to go a few runs to break the shoes in. The looks I got from my wife, kids and anyone else passing me in the street was comical - or was that my look. Fortunately there will be no fashion police in the desert and the benefits out weight the looks. Sadly I will need to wear them in the local area until I leave for MdS in April. Testing equipment is essential and I'll get plenty of chance next week. But tonight my two water bottles started leaking so better I found it out before it became a worse problem in 40-50 degrees. I'll also get to test my diet of freeze dried food - hope I like it? A short 10k run tonight was my first since Saturday and there was no reoccurrence of the abductor problem. So the rest and the stretching has worked, so far. I'll build the mileage up till Tuesday and then have a rest before Morocco.

Equipment ordered

The MdS is becoming a reality. I've ordered the bulk of my equipment from the manditory venom extractor (which doesn't work) to the flash signal mirror in case I get lost (or need to sort my make up!). I dropped my brand new running shoes off and tomorrow they will have gaiters stitched onto them to protect my feet from the sand. They are knee length (not a good look but there are no fashion police in the desert!)and one of the critical parts of the kit. If sand gets into your shoes it will take the skin off your feet - just search on MdS and you'll see plenty of examples. I am finalising my travel and accommodation for my training trip next week to Morocco and that will really get me focused. At the moment with the abductor niggle and the cold weather I can't say I am putting in heavy mileage but I am balancing that against getting there in one piece. So the nerves are starting to creep in but again that's what next week is all about. Back training tomorrow and looking forward to it. I was tempted by the sunny day today but wanted to give the niggle another day to get sorted. Once I've got all my kit I'll post a picture! A few comments have been passed about my weight loss. I'm actually as heavy as I've ever been, 11 stone. However my legs have got bigger with muscle and my body is losing any spare fat so maybe that's the issue. I'll just need to keep eating!

1st priority

The first priority in training for an endurance event is that you make it to the start line. It's all too easy to get injured with the amount of training you do and today I had to remind myself of that. I had planned a 22 mile run which consisted of an 11 mile out and return. But my abductor muscle which has been playing up since The Great Glen run started to become very uncomfortable. I made a decision to change my plan and cut the run short to protect my leg against injury. I took the opportunity to practise my walking. This is an essential part of endurance running especially when I will be running for 6 days on many different terrains and some incredibly steep sand dunes where there are ropes to help you up and down the hills. So rather than feel down hearted about only covering 2/3rds of the target distance I channeled my energy into an aspect of my training that I had largely ignored. Walking isn't easy especially when you have to start running afterwards. But the number 1 priority is to avoid or minimise injury. I will be doing a loy of stretching to get rid of this niggle because in 12 days time I am heading off to the Sahara Desert for 4 days training and don't want to be carrying an injury. I am also going to rest tomorrow, except for a yoga session, to give the niggle a chance to heal. I have to say I do feel a bit of a wimp as I'm watching the rugby and any one of those tackles would have me hospitalised! Each to their own as I couldn't see many of them running the MdS!

Seeing the world differently!

I had another short fast run last night as I cruised the streets with my head tourch and rucksack getting funny looks from the dog walkers. Why is it that it's always the wee ones that have a go at your ankles? Bloody owners should have them on a short leash not an expandable one! But this morning I had a very differnt experience. My yoga teacher was trying to get me to do a head stand. Scary stuff. The fear factor really got to me and I couldn't get into the headstand without collapsing. Part of the problem was being upside down - the world looked completely different and I was confused. I couldn't tell where my feet or my bum was as I was so confused. But how could I fear doing something so realatively simple? Good practice for entering the new teritory later on this month of the Sahara Desert. Long miles for Saturday & Sunday as I build the mileage back up. Once I get back from my Sahara training at the end of Feb I'll probably have 10 more days of hard training before it tapers off as my body gets time to repair and rest. Happy weekend folks.

Number 836

It's getting close - 8 weeks to be precise and I've even got my number, 836. For 2 years I have dreamed about setting off for the desert. What it will be like running in that heat, in all sorts of different conditions underfoot? Cooking my freeze dried food on a small stove, repairing my feet and sleeping under the stars while avoiding any beasties! I'll get a first glimpse of it at the end of the month when I will spend 4 days in the desert testing out my gear and myself. Between now and then I will be building up the miles in my legs. Tonight by contrast I went out for a quick 10k run with my rucksack on my back. Lit up like a xmas tree as I was running on "b" roads with no streetlights. Dodging the potholes and avoiding the ice wasn't easy but running in zero degrees is going to be completely different from 40-50 degrees. Perhaps in the double marathon day when we run through the night the temperatures will be near freezing but by then I'll be exhaused and running on empty. I can't wait but there's a lot of work to be done before then.

Wise words from a Scottish caddie!

Gail force wins, sleet & hailstones - thank goodness my training plan had this down as a rest day. However it won't mean my son misses his outdoor athletics training tonight - that'll toughen him up! I had a yoga practice this morning and as usual, following a running weekend, I was as stiff as a board. It's like 1 step forward, 2 steps back but I knew that after the practice I'd feel the benefit of it and if I keep this up all week, which I will, then the results will be so worthwhile. That's the thing about training. Sometime you really can't be bothered especially if it involves getting up on a dark and cold wintery morning. But that's when you have to question "why am I doing this?" I've explained to anyone who will listen that to achieve something worthwhile you have got to have a reason, a desire within you or else you'll give up when the going gets tough. My reason for going through the hours of training / pain is to raise money for Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and this afternoon I visited the Glasgow centre. I had a cup of tea with two of the fund raisers and the boss of the centre. Everywhere I looked people were smiling and engaged in conversation. Not a sad face in the building. It took me a few minutes to realise that those smiling faces were on either cancer patients or family members of cancer patients. This is because the whole ethos of Maggie's is about life, not death. We'll all die one day and getting cancer isn't necessarily a death sentence. A positive attitude helps and in the wonderful, beautiful Maggie's Centre there was plenty of that around. I'm sure it's not easy to be positive when tackling cancer but as a wise old Scottish golf caddie once said to me when I was moaning about a bad shot, "at least you are the right side of the grass sir" - meaning not buried under the ground. That brought a smile to my face and I stopped moaning and guess what? My game improved. So to all those wonderful people I saw at Maggie's today, keep smiling. There is a magnificent support mechanism around you and if through my small efforts I can help raise some well needed money then I will. Thanks for making my day.

Recovery running

Last week was all about recovering. I felt very lazy doing only 2 yoga sessions and I had planned a few turbo sessions but was too tired. The rest did me some good and allowed the massive blister on my heal to repair. It now looks like a 2 inch oval shape of raw skin. But as it's been exposed to the air it's lost its senitivity. On Saturday and today I ran the same 10 mile trail route with my 6k rucksack. I was 2 minutes quicker today but that was probably because I had a running partner. However it wasn't easy as my legs were tired which was to be expected. I'll take a couple days off running now and concentrate on yoga, rest and recovery. I also need to set time aside to finalise the equipment I am taking and my nutrition. 8 weeks and 6 days to go!