Technology to the rescue

Between been "Dad's Taxi" and other domestic duties I squeezed in 15 miles of trail running. This takes my mileage in 5 days to 38 and tomorrow I should bring that total to 50. I tried to avoid all the dogs that were interested in my gaitors as one bite of those would give me a major issue for my trip to the Sahara Desert next week. There was one wee terrier (it's always the wee ones), whose owner was to distracted by his headphones, who really wanted to take a chunk out of me and when the owner noticed the confrontation he didn't seem to bother. Obviously his dog didn't bite, in his opinion, but any closer and he'd have been testing his flying ability - bloody dog owners, get a hold of your dogs please! I then went to visit my poditrist who is experimenting with different material on my orthotics to spread the load and reduce the heat in my feet. The results were amazing and it will soon be a published case study once I've returned from the Sahara. Anything that takes the pressure off my feet gets my vote as they will be taking a substantial amount of punishment running 5.5 marathons in 7 days carrying 10 kg in 40 degrees. It's really getting high tech and I have the experts on my side - thanks Robbie.

I'm so lucky

At 4.30pm today I had my second training session of the day having started the day with a 6.15am yoga session. As I was running through the beautiful countryside it occurred to me how lucky I was. I have a wife making things happen while I'm away, the kids put up with my training and the team at the office make sure that everything runs smoothly while I'm away. I'm fit and healthy and in a weeks time I will be at a training camp in the Sahara desert - how lucky am I? I'm breaking in my new shoes which have the gaiters stitched in. They are getting loads of strange looks however today a delivery lady had commented she had seen me running with something strange on my legs. When she found out what they were and what I was doing she donated to my cause, Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres. If you would like to support my endevours please go to https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/derekstewart. Every day we should look around, take time to smell the roses and appreciate everything you have in your life.

Xmas comes early

My kits arrived. How exciting opening the package - just like Xmas. Now I can spend the weekend practising packing my rucksack for next weeks training in the Sahara. This takes a degree of planning and skill. So much so we actually have a session about how to pack your rucksack. You don't want the weight to be in the wrong place or something rubbing. You definately don't want to be searching for your Venom pump because a snake bitten you and you only have 60 seconds to take action! I'll have fainted anyway so I'll leave that problem to my pals! Fortuantely the weather was ok this morning so I managed a wee run after my yoga. This is me re-introducing my legs to running or at least that's how it feels. The good news is today there were no aches or pains although bum cheeks were well clenched as I had a pressing need to get back home to the loo if you get my drift! Wonder what that will be like in the desert? Horrible will be the short answer but hygene is a major factor over there and one drummed into all competitors as it could finish your race and all your "tent mates" quicker than saying, pass me the bog roll! Looking forward to my yoga lesson tomorrow and hope I can make some progress with handstands because I was crap last time. Hmmm, bit of a theme going here. With those mutterings I will leave you to enjoy Valentine's Day - another load of crap if you ask me! I can be romantic the remaining 364 days.

Alcohol free zone

I've been enjoying a few glasses of wine more than normal over the last few weeks. It just seems to have crept up on me. So on Monday I took the decision that no alcohol would pass my lips till I get back from my training camp in the desert next week. It's not that I'm a big drinker (cheap night out actually) but I was feeling a bit sluggish. So three days in and I'm amazed at how good I am feeling but part of this is also to do with my early morning yoga practise. At 6am I am on my mat and it always feels tight when I start but quiet quickly I start to loosen up and now am extending my practise by adding in more exercises. The morning snow meant no run and the torential rain and strong wind has kept me indoors tonight. Tomorrow come rain, hail or shine (probably all three) I will need to be out there. Hopefully my package full of goodies will arrive and I can then start packing for my training camp. There's always something to do in preparing for the trip of a lifetime!

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!