Frolicking through the Festive Season

As some of you may remember towards the end of my last blog entry (assuming any of you read that far) I mention I was planning a bit of a back-to-back running extravaganza between Christmas and New Year. I was going to wait until next year to tell you all about it but as I seem to have a few hours to kill until its time to open the champagne I thought I'd write about it now.

As I mention in the last blog the opening event was a three legged navigational event organised by one Mr Ian Brazier who I met on the Saltmarsh 75. Incidentally by three legged I mean it had three sections, not that it was like the horses my Father-in-law bets on. The sections were 12 miles, 12 miles and 6 miles - however being a navigational event these were the minimum mileages necessary to reach the checkpoints, if you wanted to go further (or did so involuntarily) that was up to you, this would become important later...

I was planning on doing at least the first two loops and possibly the third dependent on how I felt, bearing in mind I had another four 20 mile runs planned for the following days. It had rained a fair bit before the great day and more was predicted and so I dutifully turned up at the start  (which was at a local pub, always a popular venue to start and finish a run from) with a map, compass and snorkel. To be honest I had more idea what to do with the snorkel than the map or compass - something which would become very evident before the end of the day...

Ian welcomed me, signed me in and gave me a card with some numbers on it. The numbers were grid references, more of them than I expected, which I dutifully marked on my map. Just before 8 a.m. Ian gathered us all outside the pub, gave us our briefing, wished us luck and sent us on our way. I felt quite confident at the start as the first part of the route took me out over paths I know well. The first checkpoint was actually a footpath post I pass probably three or four times a week whilst running - so it would have helped if I hard marked its location correctly and not instead put my 'x' on a random piece of road a couple of hundred metres further on... I eventually realised my error and had to suffer the embarrassment of passing several of my fellow competitors going the other way as I doubled back to the signpost.

After this things improved and I found myself in the very agreeable company of (I think) Fran, Lloyd and Richard from Southend. We all agreed to run together for a while as they had a better map than me and I had local knowledge (I didn't mention checkpoint one to them). Frighteningly they even deferred to my navigational skills on a couple of occasions and only once did we have to cross a ditch to get back onto the right path. We found the aid station, a chap called Darren Coates - someone I was particularly keen to meet as it was rumoured his navigational skills were worse than mine. After orange squash and a biscuit we set off toward more checkpoints and race HQ (the pub).

As we ran back towards the A12 the issue of how to cross it arose. It was perfectly safe to cross the double mini roundabout at its junction with the road we were now running on but I decided to go back the the bridge (and checkpoint one, just to prove I could find it twice in one day) I crossed it on at the start. The others felt there should be an underpass on a footpath by the junction. I agreed there should but did point out I'd never found it. So we went our separate ways and I arrived back a few minutes before them as this was one of only two occasions I was right all day...

Ian welcomed me back and tried to hide his relief that I'd found my way back and gave me the card for the second loop. Strangely I was feeling confident now, especially as I definitely knew where the first three checkpoints were - even to the extent that I quizzed Ian on whether or not I would need my snorkel as one was by an underpass I knew had been completely flooded the week before. I was assured it was 'absolutely fine' and set off, confident that this time checkpoint one really was where I thought.

One horizontal hailstorm later I arrived at it and, whilst 'absolutely fine' was possibly going a bit far the underpass was passable. Checkpoint two was quickly found as was (apart from a small error involving the wrong side of a hedge) checkpoint three. At this point the numbers 'four' and 'five' became confused in my head and so as I left the gentlemen driving their Landrovers through the ford at checkpoint three I set off on a slightly less than optimal route to Danbury. Fortunately I realised on the way and readjusted my route to make sure I reached checkpoint four. This was important as this was the aid station and they would be waiting for me - wouldn't they?

As I reached the location I saw a large truck with a sign in the window. 'Aid Station'? - no, 'For Sale'. A solitary car in a nearby car park, surely that was it? No, it was just a car. The pub car park? Yes (the second time I was right this day), except that due to a slight miscommunication race HQ thought I'd gone through and as I was running (a long way) last the aid station had packed up and gone. This bothered Ian a lot more than it bothered me when I phoned to enquire exactly where said aid station was. So long as no-one was looking for me I was fine as I had enough water to last until the finish (and beyond) and even if I hadn't I was in Danbury, its not a place I know well (as became clear on my journey Back to race HQ) but I'm fairly sure I could have obtained food and water if I had needed it. Mistakes happen, overall the organisation and effort that went into the Frolic was excellent and an errant aid station in no way impacted my safety or affected my enjoyment - actually I was quite relieved that no-one was having to wait for me to find my way through Essex...

Predictably things still weren't quite going to plan. Fortunately I allowed the compass to override my in-built sense of direction or I would be in South Woodham Ferrers now waiting for the 2014 Saltmarsh 75 to start. A slightly hidden footpath and a map that was  about 14 years out of date caused some back-tracking. I knew exactly where the checkpoint was, it had masqueraded as checkpoint two several hours earlier, I just didn't know how to get there directly. 

A final run in from Great Baddow to Galleywood saw me arrive 6 minutes past cut off, not bad as a 12 mile loop had taken me 15.9 miles to complete! Add to that my bonus miles running round checkpoint one in the morning and I had covered over 29 miles. Ian generously offered to allow me to go out for the third loop as he blamed my over-time on the missing aid station (it really wasn't) however I felt the aim of the day had been to have a good time and run about 30 miles so mission accomplished and... hey, I'm in a pub, my £6 entry fee included a £2 drink token, so time for a beer!

Many thanks to Ian, Darren, Bob and anyone else that helped with the Frolic. Apart from possibly one moment somewhere outside Danbury when I had no idea where I was, it was raining and my map was disintegrating, I enjoyed every minute of it and hope to take part in the Frolic 2014!

The rest of my long runs were no where near as exciting. Saturday saw me doing 20 miles round Hylands park as I had a family commitment in the afternoon and so didn't want to risk getting lost. The highlight was Sharon joining me for one of my laps and so alleviating some of the boredom. Sunday I relived loop 2 of the Frolic. Having spent the previous evening studying (an up to date) map I found most of my bonus miles, although I did seem to climb more of Danbury Hill than appeared strictly necessary. By now I had had enough of mud, the weather was getting worse and a few niggles were making themselves felt so the last two days simply consisted of road laps with my house as the checkpoint (even I can find that). Sharon accompanied me on the last lap of each day once again alleviating my boredom. I have to say the support she has given me has been amazing - even I'm starting think I'm becoming a pain in the backside with all the running but she is bearing it with no complaints - yet!

So there you have it, 111 miles over 5 days, no day less than 20 miles of running. hopefully that will stand me in good stead for the next big event, The Pilgrims' Challenge. However before then there is just time for me to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope that you will continue to follow my (mis)adventures through the first part of 2014 to the Marathon des Sables!

Trying to Excel

As anyone that reads my blog regularly (Hi Sam) will know I try to have a vague theme for each of my posts. Something that has started to figure more and more in my preparation is spreadsheets, hence the blog title (if you are viewing this on an iPad or if you use Open Office it may have been lost on you - sorry, its a Microsoft thing). I will say very quickly thisisn'tanarticleaboutspreadsheets. hopefully that was quickly enough to avoid losing readers - I don't have enough of you to lose any this early in the ramble. However my training, my body weight and my equipment list - including food - is now all on various spreadsheets.

My main preoccupation at the moment is weight - mine and my pack's. Why am I interested in weight? Well as I may have mentioned in a previous blog (or I may not - can't remember) the rule of thumb is 1 kcal/km/kg of body weight. We have been told that this years MdS will be over 224 km of Saharan splendour ( also we've been told - 'the first stages will be surprising in terms of difficulty and distance' but we'll worry about that later). So every kilo I'm overweight is 224 kcal more I'm going to need. I think its fair to assume the same applies to my pack weight so every kilo I pack over the maximum is another 224 kcal I'm going to consume. If we look at it the other way round it gets even worse. My target calorific density for my food is a minimum of 3.5 kcal/g. This will make each days food weight 571 g. At 3.5 kcal/g every kg I carry in excess flab or unnecessary kit could be 3500 kcal of food - that's a a lot of food!

While we are talking about food, my food plans are probably the least formed part of my preparation. I've tried the original plan of a 'Peperami and cereal bar' diet and I've come to the conclusion (which everyone probably arrived at when I first suggested it) that, whilst I could survive on it, the lack of variety would probably seriously curtail my appetite and lead to a rapid decline and possibly a DNF. DNF (Did Not Finish, if you were wondering) is not an option and so food plans are changing. I still don't want to take a stove but I have been told that freeze dried (not dehydrated) food can be rehydrated in lukewarm water and heated in the sun. As I often eat food when its lukewarm (or even cold the following morning) I think this may be more palatable than processed meat and compressed rabbit food. However I will admit that the two freeze dried meals I've bought to experiment with remain unopened in the cupboard...

Apart from food and weights I also have a spreadsheet with my training plan on it. So far I haven't really had a plan as such, just some vague idea that doing a bit of running was a good idea. The reason for a plan is two fold, firstly it allows me to keep track of the amount and type of training I'm doing each week. This should help avoid over-training and (more likely) stop me from slacking off too much. For each week I have the planned activity and the actual. I don't really mind if they don't match day to day but it keeps track of the amount and type of training each week and the total mileage. My current 'plan' has two 'effort' sessions per week - one tempo run and one hill session, two long runs - with rucksack, on consecutive days, and a couple of easy runs. This gives me one day off per week. Every third week is similar but the long runs are shorter, possibly have two days off, and the total mileage is less. A 'standard' week is aiming for around 60-70 miles, down to 30-40 on an 'easy' week. The second reason for having a plan over Christmas is that I can rearrange it to fit in Christmas events while still making sure I do the required training.

Now its time to worry about 'the first stages will be surprising in terms of difficulty and distance'. I've done a few long runs with around 6 kg of pack weight and its hard - its also over 2 kg less than my pack is likely to be on the start line (6.5 kg minimum pack weight, 1.5 kg of water and a flare). In the past the first stage of the MdS has often been a relatively (compared to later stages anyway) gentle introduction to the Desert. Earlier in the blog I suggested I'd have something over 500g of food per day so by Day 2 my pack weight will already be reduced. If its going to be 'surprising' from Day 1 I really don't want to be carrying any excess weight, either on me or the pack. The only exception is the camera - sorry all you ultra-minimalists but I want photos!

My method of weighing my pack is to weigh myself with and without the pack and work out the difference. The reason for doing it this way is that it avoids trying to balance the pack on the bathroom scales. It also showed me that with a 6 kg pack at the end of my run I was 70 kg. Its only a few years ago since I was running at that body weight so why is it so much harder with a pack? I guess the reason is that when its body weight you 'train' with it all day every day, whereas the pack is an occasional addition and hence my muscles aren't used to it - maybe I should put on 8 kilos and then crash diet just before the MdS - although that may be the worst training plan ever invented... 

Speaking of madcap training ideas - another one of Rory Coleman's suggestions at the Druids' Challenge was to do a mini-MdS of 5 consecutive 20 mile days over the Christmas break. A truly ludicrous idea - so why have I entered 'The Festive Frolic' a 30 mile navigational extravaganza on the 27th of December with four 20 mile days pencilled in afterwards on my training plan?... Spreadsheets, nothing but trouble...

Anyway in case this is my last blog entry before Christmas I would like to wish you all a very, very happy Christmas and hope you will rejoin my adventures in a few weeks time as the Big Day draws ever closer...

The Druids' Challenge - Day Three

My previous blog entry left me, at the end of day two, safely tucked up in bed. What I hadn't mentioned was that I was also safely tucked up with a very sore right foot. I wasn't sure if it was my trainers, my calf guards or maybe the fact I'd run 56 miles over the previous two days, but for some reason the top of my right foot was quite painful and causing me some concern...

Anyway Day Three started in much the same fashion as Day Two except that muesli replaced porridge. today would also start with a minibus ride, although at least we weren't going to then be asked to walk up a hill just so we could run back down again. Today, we were assured, was definitely less muddy. It would also see the end of the rain and allow us to finish with glorious blue skies and sunshine, which always helps.

My plan right from the start was simply to get through Day Three. Day Three was as step into the unknown. I'd done two day ultras - ok I'd done a two day ultra - but three days was definitely new territory and I was expecting it to be tough. My foot had recovered a bit overnight but I still decided that the sensible move would be to start near the back and see how things unfolded - following Rory's suggestion from the previous night was definitely not going to happen, run all 28 miles? Not a hope.

As today was Remembrance Sunday we held a minutes silence before setting off - another one of the details of the weekend that XNRG got absolutely right. As I started to shuffle forwards my quads hurt, my knees hurt - to save time just assume that every muscle, joint and tendon from and including my hips downwards, hurt. However after the first mile or two things started to loosen up and actually running didn't feel too bad - or possibly my body had realised pain signals were going to be ignored and had given up. Someone once said the secret to ultra-running is to listen to your body - and ignore it.

After a couple of miles not only were my legs moving, I was overtaking people! What many people don't realise is that the brain and the muscles both rely on the same energy source, i.e. glucose. As a result brain function can be significantly impaired by excessive exercise - at least that's my excuse. I was running with only quite a lot of pain and I was overtaking people, so why not try and keep running? No walking, not even up hills, until the first checkpoint. A combination of blue skies and a lack of glucose to my brain got me to said checkpoint and even after refuelling with some of the excellent goodies available there my brain still decided we were going to continue to run, at least until half way. Half way wasn't far before checkpoint 2 so I decided to keep running at least until there. I had also by this point had my first (and only) 'proper' encounter with Ridgeway mud and was a uniform light brown colour from the knees downwards...

Checkpoint 2 was followed by the least pleasant part of the whole event in terms of a location to run. This was in no way the fault of XNRG but unfortunately the next mile of the Ridgeway followed a fairly main road, however excellent instructions and marshalling allowed us to negotiate it in safety and be rewarded by a return to proper cross country running - up a slope of not insignificant gradient and duration. By now I had 20 miles in my mind as the next point to keep running until, so run up it I did. A pattern was starting to develop, on each uphill stretch my dogged insistence on running meant I overtook three or four runners that chose to walk up - all of whom then instantly overtook me as soon as we started to descend again as my legs wouldn't allow me to run downhill any  quicker than I was running up.

By checkpoint 3 I had run over 22 miles and was going to run at least to 26.2 miles, marathon distance. This was only made possible by the fact that, as on previous days, checkpoint 3 had cocktail sausages. I suspect I could run the MdS perfectly happily on a diet of freeze dried apple pie and cocktail sausages.

The next section was predominantly up but undulated enough that the 'overtake on the ups/get overtaken on the downs' pattern continued. At one point one of the elite runners congratulated me on my efforts in running up the hills whilst politely refraining from pointing out that he was actually going faster than me whilst walking. This might be a good point to mention just how encouraging the elite runners had been every day. On day 2 one of them, unfortunately I'm not sure who, even took the trouble to read my name off my number on my back and shout an encouraging 'Good work Colin!' as he passed me. Ultra runners may be a bit strange to the rest of the world but they are strange in a good way.

As I left the Ridgeway at about marathon distance the sting in the tail of this event revealed itself. Contrary to what  non-runners may believe, downhill can be much harder than up, especially a 1 in 3 downhill, on tarmac after some 82 miles of running. not surprisingly the usual suspects overtook me as I staggered down the hill. Eventually, well after only about half a mile but it felt much longer, the slope flattened out a little and I decided as this was it, the last couple of miles, I would give it all I had to the finish, it wasn't a lot if I'm honest but its the thought that counts, right?

As I came into the last half mile the road climbed again, not much nor for very long but it was enough for me to overtake those that I'd been swapping places with. This, along with my decision to completely ignore my body and run as fast as I could to the end, gave me the impetus to finish actually quite quickly and strongly. OK, it probably wasn't very quick or strong but I'd just run the full 28 miles of day 3, finished my second ultra and I felt great. Neil shook my hand and gave me my medal - fortunately he doesn't model himself on Patrick Bauer (the MdS race director) and so didn't feel the need to kiss me as well.

Very close behind me were the guys I'd been battling with up and down hill, and soon after those finished Sarah, my running partner for the end of day one and the start of day two.

So what had I learned from my second ultra? Well I'm pretty sure I'm a lot fitter than I was before the start of my first ultra, probably due in no small part to my Fuerteventura training trip. I learned that I can run a lot harder than I ever suspected, I would never have believed I would run all of day 3 before I did it. I should have pushed harder on day 2, on reflection I walked far more than I ever needed to that day. Overall I've gained more confidence and learned more in preparation for the MdS 2014.

However the final words are for XRNG. On the MdS, calorie deficit is going to be a fact of life. Unless I take a rucksack the size of a shopping trolley I won't have enough food to replace all the calories I'll consume. On an XNRG event there is no need for calorie deficit, in fact it is probably possible to put on weight during an event.  XRNG really do live up to their promise to look after you from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave. if you enter one of their events all you have to do is run. That's all you have to do but if you don't find yourself smiling as well I'd be very surprised. Thanks to Neil and all the XNRG team, volunteers and support crew - see you at the Pilgrims' Challenge!

The Druids' Challenge - Day Two

Day two of the Druids' Challenge started quite differently from Day One. For one thing I was already at the start and so didn't have a long train journey on which to ponder deep existential questions. It also started with breakfast, which was porridge and toast - a great improvement on the improvised cereal bar 'breakfast' I had eaten between Chelmsford and Tring on day one. 

Another difference was that there would be no minibus trip to the start - this was possibly a good thing as XRNG apparently didn't have a lot of luck with minibuses that weekend, although this never appeared to cause any issues to those of us running. Sarah and me had decided to start together and see how it went - each of us convinced the other was faster. Neil pointed out that the sun was shining at the start - and then pointed out the large black cloud blowing in from the west, more of the same as yesterday was the weather forecast. He also told us there would be less mud. I'm not saying he was wrong but personally the difference between 'a hell of a lot' and just 'a lot' is lost on me so I couldn't honestly say I found the underfoot conditions any better on day two than on day one.

Anyway we retraced our steps for a little over a mile until we were back on the Ridgeway proper. Today's route was relatively flat for quite a long section as we would be following the Thames for around 6 miles of the days running. We would also run across a golf course and through a churchyard - both institutions were less than 5000 years old and could therefore have no complaints about us crossing 'their' land and to be fair neither did.

Long before I got the Thames I started to have some major chafing issues. If I didn't sort them out then it was fairly certain that I would be doing the 'John Wayne' run before very long. I had gone through the first checkpoint oblivious to the impending irritations and mentioned to Sarah that I would have to try and get some Vaseline at checkpoint 2. She told me that not only did she have Vaseline but she was happy for me to have some regardless of where I was going to put it. My discomfort significantly reduced we continued on.

I was becoming aware that, reduced chafing levels regardless, Sarah was in much better shape than me and once we got onto the flatter section by the Thames she started to pull away from me. I caught up with her briefly at checkpoint 2 but the attraction of the sausage rolls was such that I spent nearly 5 minutes stuffing my face by which time she was long gone.

Refuelled I carried on until I crossed the Thames and and turned away from the river and eventually back to the chalk (and mud) pathway that characterises much of the Ridgeway. I spent slightly less time at checkpoint 3 than I had at 2 but only because I filled my pockets with cocktail sausages to eat on the way to the finish rather than simply stopping and eating. Day 2 took me 5 hours and 25 minutes for 27 miles, a slower average pace than the first day, which was slightly disappointing but not unexpected - especially given the high level of consumption of sausage based products at the checkpoints.

Today's finish was actually on the Ridgeway and a minibus took us to our overnight halt at Wantage Leisure centre. Having learned from the first night I got my wet kit over a five-aside football goal to dry and grabbed a gym mat as soon as I arrived. Tonight we would be fed baked potato with chili and again apple pie was my pudding of choice. If anyone knows of a supplier of freeze dried apple pie please let me know as I'm convinced it would be perfect fuel for the MdS.

Saturday night was also the night we were to be entertained by a couple of speakers on the subject of the MdS. The first was Joey Sharma who entertained us with the story of her MdS, completed in the company of Cedric the Blister. The second was 10 times MdS finisher Rory Coleman. Apart from emphasising the importance of intervals and hills, and not being fat, Rory made the ludicrous suggestion that we should 'have a go' on the final day and stop walking up the hills. My plan was simply to complete day 3 and not to countenance anything as foolish as that which was being suggested...

I understand there may have been a party afterwards but after being up at ten to six, running 27 miles and having it all to do again the next day I retired to bed to rest ready for the final day of the 2013 Druids' Challenge...

The Druids' Challenge - Day One

'What am I doing here?' This is the sort of existential question many people have posed themselves, from Aristotle to Bez from the Happy Mondays - although to be more accurate the latter is probably more likely to ask 'How the f*** did I get here?' Anyway its not the sort of question one should be asking oneself while sat on a train on the way to the start of ones second ever ultra marathon - a 3 day, 84 mile epic along the Ridgeway National Trail - The Druids' Challenge. I was nervous to say the least, my first ultra had been a fantastic local event, it was my first time and its first time as well, it was over two days, it was flat. This was a well established (its fifth year), 3 day epic over hills and mud (a lot of mud, I was to discover). It was a long way from my home, it started near Tring - all I knew about Tring came from a leaflet I once picked up at a beer festival and all I could remember from that was that a beer called 'Side Pocket for a Toad' was brewed there, or perhaps that was somewhere else... Oh and I'd be racing (among others) Danny Kendal, the highest placed Briton ever in the MdS. However this fazed me less since in September I had raced a double Olympic champion in the Great North Run so I was used to losing to great athletes.

Anyway as I'd only bought a single I decided against turning round and going home and got into a minibus at Tring station that dropped me at a barn on a farmyard where a lovely lady gave me a number and some safety pins and explained my name was only highlighted in yellow because I was in the 2014 MdS and not because they thought I had the plague.

The changing facilities seemed to be 'find a quiet corner in the barn' so I did and was relieved to find that actually once changed my impersonation of an ultra runner looked quite good, I was blending in nicely. I found a couple of my fellow MdS competitors and was immediately concerned to find one was running with his full MdS pack. I had my MdS pack but it was kind of on the empty side... Anyway at about 10:30 Neil Thubron, the driving force behind XNRG, the organisers of the Druids' Challenge, gave us a combined pep talk, safety briefing and weather forecast - at which point I put on my waterproof, a good move and one I would repeat each day of the challenge. We were then driven to the bottom of Ivinghoe Beacon, where we had to walk to the top just so we could run down again. This was my first introduction to wet chalk as a running surface and my first impression was that greasing it would probably make it less slippery. So at sometime just after 11 we were counted down and sent off, down the Beacon and on our way to Watlington.

One of the 'rules' of the Saltmarsh 75 was that all competitors must occasionally look up and appreciate the countryside. I so wanted to this time too, unfortunately the countryside wanted to kill me and so I had to spend most of my time looking down into the mud and chalk and running through all the wettest, muddiest, slipperiest bits anyway. When we got onto a road and I could look round I saw Tring railway station again... In all seriousness it was a lovely route despite the rain. This was my first time running properly muddy off road and once I gained some confidence I was able to look around and enjoy the scenery. I hadn't really looked at the actual route beyond the elevation profile and so I had a surprise when I suddenly found myself in familiar territory. There is a Highland dance competition held in Wendover each year and so I have visited several of the pubs and shops (mainly pubs if I'm honest) in Wendover and was quite bemused to find myself running down its main street past said pubs and shops.

Sometime after Wendover I found myself being mesmerised by the bright pink flashes on the running tights of a runner some 100m or so in front of me. I followed them in a sort of hypnotic trance for around 20 minutes until she slowed a little and I caught up with her. We had a bit of a chat and I discovered her name was Sarah, she was also doing the 2014 MdS and she was running for Cancer Research UK! This was her first ultra and she was going well. However it was starting to get towards the end of the day and she was worried about being alone in the dark and so decided to stick with me for the rest of the day - to be fair to her she had only just met me and so could be forgiven for assuming this was a good idea and that I had any sort of sense of direction.

Sarah was primarily a road runner, something that became evident as we left the Ridgeway to go into Watlington whereupon she took off like a woman possessed - or perhaps she had just realised the foolishness of linking up with a strange man in the dark - anyway we fairly raced into the finish taking 5 hours 37 minutes for the day. My target had been under 6 hours so I was very pleased with my days work and we headed indoors to take photos of our muddy shoes.

Once I got into the school that was the overnight halt it became clear that there were those that knew the ropes and those that didn't. I didn't and so didn't get a gym mat to sleep on and had to squeeze my wet clothing between everyone else's to dry. However a shower, some pasta and apple pie (not in the same dish, although I would still have eaten it if it was) later the lack of gym mat wasn't a problem as I crawled into my sleeping bag to sleep. Neil proved just what a class outfit XRNG are when he brought round chocolates and ear plugs for everyone just before lights out. Day 1 completed, what would Day 2 bring?

What I did on my holidays

The standard first piece of school work I used to get in an English class after the summer holidays was to write an essay entitled 'What I did on my holidays'. Obviously in those days it was written in chalk on a slate, or as I got older with a quill on a piece of parchment. OK perhaps I'm not quite that ancient but certainly the idea of writing it on a computer was many years in the future. Well here I am, many years in the future, and writing that very essay on my PC.

So less of the nostalgia and more writing I think. The reason I'm writing about this particular holiday on my MdS blog is because the location was chosen to allow me to do some   running and equipment testing for the MdS. The location was Fuerteventura, Corralejo towards the north of the island to be precise. The reason for choosing this particular location was that a) it has sand dunes and b) it was cheap. There was also the possibility to run along various unmade roads, rocky trails and of course beaches.

I won't go into a detailed breakdown of every run I did as that would get a bit tedious and anyway I can't remember the details of every run. The shortest was 3 miles up and down some cliffs and along a beach, the longest a 27 mile round trip to El Cortillo and back. I also did a few runs up and down some beaches and of course across the dunes. After a while the the sight of naked men (and occasionally women) became just part of the background and not as off putting as it was on the first run I did along the beach. It may not be very PC or even very fair but years of watching Eurotrash makes me automatically assume that all men who are naked in public must be German and so I started to think of my beach runs as being signposted with bratwurst...

Anyway away from the Euro-nudists, in Corralejo main street in fact, we came across a poster advertising 'V ½ MARATON INTERNACIONAL “DUNAS DE FUERTEVENTURA” y II CARRERA 8km "EL QUINTILLO"' from which, with our mastery of the Spanish language, we deduced was a half marathon and a 8km race. Even better it was on the 2nd of November, our last full day in Fuerteventura. Obviously we were fated to enter and after some further research we popped into the local sports shop and left with an entry for the half marathon for me and 'El Quintillo' for Sharon. The day before the event we picked up numbers and t-shirts before going along to a briefing on the following days challenge. Either Spanish takes a lot longer to say anything than English or the English translation was heavily summarised, either way at least they took the trouble to translate the key points, mainly how the route was marked, where the two routes diverged and the location of the drinks stations. Many of the attendees appeared to be from a local running club, and everyone there looked quicker than me. I wasn't too bothered by this as I'd covered over 110 miles in the previous 10 days and knew that because of this, and more importantly the sand and heat, it would be my slowest ever half marathon but I was fairly happy I could beat the 3 hour cut off time and would accumulate some valuable experience on the way.

Two hours and eighteen minutes later I'd run the full length of the dunes and back again, was completely drenched in sweat, clutching my finishers shirt and, most importantly, a free glass of ice cold beer. I was utterly spent but had thoroughly enjoyed the experience, the organisation was good, the atmosphere great and the support from everyone from holiday makers to the police was fantastic. Sharon also did very well in 'El Quintillo', finishing in 49 minutes and cheering home all the half marathoners that finished before me.

So how has this advanced my MdS preparation? Well I'm completely happy with my 'stereo bottle' hydration system. Extensive comparison has left me 99% convinced that road shoes are the way forward, and that a compression top is probably better than a loose one. I also think that a suntan might be a good thing to have to reduce the chance of burning - although that may just be an excuse to go back...

All in all a successful two weeks, around 130 miles run, a couple of scuba dives fitted in and some sightseeing. I also completed my second ever International event and my first in daylight.

On Friday I have a complete change when I go to Buckinghamshire to run 84 miles in 3 days in 'The Druid Challenge', watch this space to see how I get on...

The Saltmarsh 75 - Day Two

So we left me about to settle down for the night at the end of Day One. I had a cardboard sleeping mat, no pillow, someone snoring in a nearby tent and the car park light shining into my tent - it may not surprise you to hear I did not sleep well. In reality the light and the snoring were dealt with with some earplugs and my buff over my eyes/ears - but I really need to work out how I'm going to improvise a pillow on the MdS as it appears I'm not able to get comfortable without one and the whole sleeping bag/mat issue is far from resolved. However the thing that really seemed to be keeping me awake was that, bizarrely having just run nearly 40 miles, I wasn't tired!

Anyway after a couple of hours sleep and plenty of rest(ish) I got up to my delicious breakfast of 200 grams of gluten free granola and reconstituted skimmed milk. It was OK and will probably do well for the MdS but 200 grams is quite a lot and best eaten over a period of time or it does become a bit of a challenge. I finished breakfast, put my running kit back on, packed everything up and eagerly awaited the start of Day Two.

The most noticeable thing about Day Two was that there seemed to be a lot fewer people than on Day One, especially as runners and walkers (in my case it was getting hard to tell the difference) were starting together. I believe only 53 of the 100 individual entrants started Day Two. I might have misunderstood that (I was tired) but there certainly seemed to be less of us.

 I had used my sleep deprived night wisely and had formulated a strategy to try and get me through Day Two. The first stage was 3 miles so the plan was to jog that slowly to get my legs moving and then adopt a 2 mile run/0.25 mile walk strategy, reducing the running progressively depending on how I felt once I was moving. The first stage was made a lot easier as I spent some of it chatting to a couple of fellow runners one of whom is also a fellow 2014 MdS entrant, so stage 7 went to plan and my legs didn't feel quite as bad as I feared - however given that I feared I wouldn't be able to stand up on the second day this wasn't saying much.

Stage 8 was for me probably the hardest stage of the day, The grass, whilst not very long, was soaked in dew and I was concerned that my wet feet might start to blister. As a result I can only apologise to my friends that came to Maldon to support me for not appearing very pleased to see them - I was, it was just that all energy was being used up just to keep moving! fortunately the next stage was on firmer and drier ground and I found, if not a new lease of life, then at least a second wind - even if it was the only stage on which I went (slightly) the wrong way.

Stage 10 inevitably followed stage 9, by now the sun was out, the course was dry and I was feeling tired but reasonably confident I would finish before dark (probably). Stage 10 involved running past what seemed to be the longest caravan park in the world but which I suspect in reality was quite short - it was just I was moving very slowly by now. I think it was on this stage one of the organisers took my photo. She then caught me up on her bike and rode alongside me chatting for a while which was nice, until I think she realised it wasn't really possible to cycle as slowly as I was running and headed off to the next checkpoint.

Checkpoint 10 had flat coke and crisps available - a testament to the responsiveness of the organisers as I understand this was a last minute addition in response to requests for said items the day before. I drank plenty of the coke but one thing I was finding very hard (apart from running) was eating while running so I passed on the crisps and the lovely home-made cakes at all the other checkpoints. This is something I need to sort out for the MdS, I need to find something I can eat while running - although after Day One I might be trying boiled sweets.

Finally I was at Tollesbury and the last checkpoint before the finish. It was also the point at which some more of my friends came to support and so I tried to be a bit more sociable this time. By now I didn't care if I had to walk, stagger or crawl to the finish, nothing was keeping me from getting that medal! Not everyone shared my enthusiasm apparently as one competitor dropped out at this point to go and pick his dog up from the kennels...

The last stage was mainly a long loop around a deserted marshland. Very scenic and an entirely appropriate ending for a run through such beautiful terrain. Once again the locals didn't disappoint and a large 'WELL DONE!' banner was in someone's front garden, along with the family who cheered and applauded as I ran into Salcott. A fantastic gesture which set me up for, if not a sprint finish, a strong run along the final couple of hundred metres to much applause and congratulations from the organisers, volunteers, those that had finished before me and of course Sharon - who had had to out-sprint me up the road to take a picture of me crossing the finish line.

I guess the question I have to answer is 'did you get what you wanted from it?' The answer is a resounding yes and so much more. For the MdS I know I need more pace discipline, to sort out sleeping and, while the food was OK  I'll need more variation. From the event, yes I can run 76.35 miles over two days, blister free and I can now call myself an ultra runner. The really important stuff though is that I met some fantastic people and made some new friends - I also received great support from my old friends and of course Sharon who pulled me through to the end of so many stages.

The last words however I will save for the organisers and the volunteers - I don't know how you did it, or even why, but I am so glad you did and it will be one of the great memories I will be taking to the desert with me - thank you.

The Saltmarsh 75 - Day One

The step up from marathon to multi-day ultra-marathon is quite significant and it's probably a good idea to go via a few one day events. however if someone organises a 2 day 75 miler on your doorstep it would be rude to refuse.

So this was how I came to be picking up my race number for the first Saltmarsh 75 on Saturday morning. The first things I noticed at registration was a) most people there appeared to be younger than me and b) I appeared to have a lot more kit than anyone else. The age thing I'm getting used to and from the kit perspective I had intentionally took the pack I was intending to use on the MdS complete with stereo front water bottles. I did also have a front pack which I'm not taking on the MdS. The only reason it came this time was because a) it gave me somewhere to put my camera but mainly b) because I'd bought it. This was not a unique reason for doing something as it turned out, one of my fellow competitors was camping simply because he had bought a tent and not used it before.

I was also far from unique in having never run further than 26.2 miles before, which surprised me slightly but was also quite reassuring, maybe I wasn't taking quite such a big leap as I thought. Anyway registered and with a number pinned to my front pack - I was ready to race! One briefing and a short ride in a minibus later and we are at the start - this efficient and fuss-free aspect of the organisation would continue throughout the weekend and undoubtedly contributed hugely to the enjoyment of both myself and my fellow competitors.

Pretty much spot on 10 'o'clock the hooter sounded and we were off. As is usual with my racing I had really got it wrong right from the start. Starting quite near the front meant I was tempted to try and stick close to the lead bunch, which meant checkpoint 1 disappeared in a blur and Sharon barely beat me to checkpoint 2 in the car - although to be fair most of her time was spent trying to find somewhere to park - something she would spend a lot of the day doing. Anyway roughly one third of Day One complete and I'm far too far ahead of my schedule and am about to find out why this is a bad thing...

Stage 3 was 13.6 miles around the Dengie Marshes. Fortunately a local running club had volunteered to man a water station half way along as I was getting through a fair bit of water. I was also beginning to pay the price for my fast start and was starting to stop and walk... and stop and walk... and walk.... There is no shame in walking during an ultra, I'm expecting to do quite a lot of it on the MdS. However its important to have a plan or you end up doing what I was doing and not really getting anywhere. I had been passed by a group that had adopted a 12 minute run/3 minute walk strategy from the start. As I find working out and remembering times whilst running challenging I decided to adopt a run 1 mile/walk 0.25 mile strategy. This at least allowed me to get back to making forward progress. The end of the stage was fairly remote so my 'support crew' (Sharon) wasn't meeting me there but I was just relieved to have made it and completed two thirds of the day's mileage.

Between variations on my run/walk strategy and huge encouragement from Sharon at the end of each stage I completed the final 3 stages without major incident. Highlight of the day came on stage 5 (I think) where a little girl was handing out boiled sweets to runners as they passed her. Never underestimate the wisdom of little girls, a boiled sweet was the last thing I would have thought of eating at that point but actually was exactly what I wanted.

Much to my relief I finally reached the finish at Steeple Village Hall in a fairly reasonable time but knowing I had asked far too much of my body, especially given that I had to do it all again the next day. As a result I 'cheated' on my MdS strategy and took up the offer of a massage. I sat in the hall and chatted to a veteran of 2 previous MdSs as well as one of my fellow campers (the man with the new tent). The general camaraderie and support at the finish of Day One was amazing and certainly helped me face the fact Day Two was still to come.  Ultra-runners may be mad but they are a nice mad!

As I was trying out MdS ideas I had foregone the idea of a delicious home cooked pub meal in favour of Peperami and energy bars, although I did go into the pub for a pint of lemonade in order to be sociable. The organisers had put up our tents for us so it at least had that much in common with the MdS and I decided to settle down for the night. Would I regret forgetting my Thermarest and so having to sleep the night on the cardboard-like 'sleeping mat' that formed the back pad of my rucksack?.....

Its Great up North

Much of my training takes place on the streets and trails around my home, which is fine but its always fun to run somewhere new. This is why I always like to look out for any 'running potential'when I'm going somewhere else, it gives me a chance to view some different and hopefully interesting scenery - and on one occasion to nearly get locked in a park in France!

For reasons primarily connected with Highland Dancing we went to the Chatsworth Country Fair recently. I've been to the Peak District a few times and so knew the running potential was high. I was tempted to run the Derwent Valley Heritage Way from our hotel in Derby all the way through to Chatsworth, however as this was going to be over thirty miles I decided to get dropped off at Ambergate which should have left me with about seventeen miles to run.

The first five miles was a fairly easy and very enjoyable run along the Cromford Canal. The highlights were running through the canal tunnel (well, walking carefully - as I wasn't expecting to be running in the dark I didn't take my head torch!), Leawood Pump House, and crossing both the railway line and the River Derwent on canal aqueducts. After reaching the end of the canal my unerring sense of direction took me through Matlock Bath and - needing a change from running along a nice flat tow path - up and over the High Tor. Coming down from the High Tor my unerring sense of direction erred which is one of the reasons I ran 19 miles rather than 17. Once I was facing the right direction I got back onto the trail just outside Matlock and had a very pleasant run by the river, across some fields and amongst sheep until I reached Darley Dale. At this point I would like to put in a plea for more signs for the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, I found one that lead me into the middle of a field with no obvious way out but that was it. I could have tried to find my way on my map but decided to take the advice of the locals and followed the road from Darley Dale until I was into the grounds of Chatsworth where I rejoined the Derwent and arrived at the entrance of the Country Fair 3 hours and 19 miles after I started in Ambergate.

Saturday and Sunday I decided to do no more running but just enjoy the sights, sounds and free food (and alcohol) samples of the Fair. However on Monday we decided to have a final run in Derbyshire around Carsington Reservoir.My experience of reservoirs is limited but I assumed a path around the edge would be flat - this is probably true if the path follows the edge of the reservoir.... Anyway it was a nice run if a little harder than I anticipated!

One event that is far from home but becoming very familiar territory is the Great North Run. This year was to be my 15th in total and the 14th consecutive one. I really had no idea what sort of time I would do, I knew I was fit but most of my running had been done with a rucksack at 9-10 minutes per mile so would I be able to run the 7:30-7:40 minutes per mile pace I would need to beat an hour and forty minutes, my target?

The best that can be said for the weather is that it wasn't as bad as forecast! Actually it wasn't too bad, the rain was only heavy for about a mile and the wind was more with me than against. I felt good while running, overtaking people on many of the uphill sections and generally feeling the benefit of the hours of training. By eight miles in I was fairly confident that sub 1:40 was reasonably assured, however due to some overly pessimistic calculations I was 800m from the finish before I realised a personal best was a possibility. In the past I've never dared really push before the 200m to go mark but the park runs have given me a better idea of how far and fast I can run at the end of a race so at 800m I pushed may pace to 6:30 minutes per mile and finished in 1 hour, 34 minutes and 36 seconds, 8 seconds faster than my previous best! Celebratory wine and fish and chips soon followed.

I always enjoy the Great North Run, the people and the atmosphere are always fantastic come rain or shine. This year was particularly encouraging though as it shows my training is paying off. My next challenge is however is very different, 75 miles over two days around the coast of Essex. I've got three weeks to recover from the Great North Run and rise to the challenge that is the Saltmarsh 75. How will I get on? I'll let you know...

Money, Money, Money

Since my last blog entry training has been going well, mileage has been increased to 50+ miles per week and by listening to my body I'm remaining injury free. Well, free from running injuries anyway. The cut on my head was due to a low flying ice cube and had nothing whatsoever to do with running. I would just like to thank Chelmsford St Johns Ambulance for sticking me back together so well and so quickly, it doesn't look as though I'm even going to have an interesting scar to make up a story about.

I don't know if its that I notice runners more now or if there has been an increase in their numbers but I'm sure there are more people out running than there were say ten years ago. Obviously as a runner I see this as a good thing. My theory on why this is (even assuming it is) is entirely formed in my head and I have absolutely no evidence to back it up. So if I'm honest its more of an uninformed opinion than a theory but anyway here it is. For many years people that wanted to get fit would sign up to a gym, pay an extortionate amount of money per month and get to exercise in an air conditioned room while watching TV. This is all good apart from the extortionate amount per month, and even that's OK if you can afford it. When the recession hit many people had to cut back on  unnecessary expense. A decent pair of running trainers can be had for less than two months membership of many gyms and if you've been exercising anyway you've probably got all the rest of the kit you need, so cancel the gym and go running! As I said I've no evidence for this but since 'Colin's theory of gym vs. running' is unlikely to be published in New Scientist I'm not too bothered.

So why am I suddenly interested in the cost of running? Well as a general way to keep fit its quite cheap. Running around the streets, parks and countryside is free and the only piece of equipment you need to spend money on is shoes, and even there once you know what sort you need there are bargains to be had on last years colours etc. - and then there's ultra-running...

This month, apart from buying new trainers, I've had to pay the second instalment of the MdS entry fee and I've entered the Druid Challenge and the Pilgrim Challenge - which may sound like the home and away fixtures of some sort of Pagans vs Christians game show but are actually a three day and a two day ultra marathon and a key part of my build-up to the MdS. My salary just passed through my bank account this month! I've also booked a couple of weeks in Fuerteventura later this year to do some dune training and some more challenging off road runs up the odd volcano. Add to that backpack, sleeping bag, GPS...

However, the cost of the MdS is high but if you really want to do it you can find a way. You have to sign up almost two years before the event so the cost is spread and you've got a couple of Christmases to drop heavy hints about exactly what kind of socks you'd like this year - and there are always bargains to be had if you shop around. The other ultra marathons aren't essential either although its a good way to meet your fellow nutters (MdS entrants). There are only two valid reasons for not doing the MdS. One is that you have a physical problem or injury which means a doctor would tell you not to do it. The second is you don't want to - this is not an event to enter half-heartedly. I think I'm healthy enough and I want to, when I'm in the desert I would probably kill for beans on toast so living on them for a month will do me no harm at all!

Training body and mind

I try and update this blog, on average every one or two weeks. Some newspaper columnists have to produce several hundred words of prose every day. This explains why some newspaper columns are full of such random drivel. As I only have one topic to talk about its becoming harder to think of anything different to write. It probably doesn't help that the posts are becoming longer and so leaving less and less to talk about....

One thing I've said very little about is my actual training. This has been fairly deliberate as I never wanted to write a training blog. However the second most common question is 'How's the training going?' (the first most common is still 'Why?') so perhaps its time to update everyone on where I'm at and how it fits into my mental approach to the MdS.

I've been steadily building my mileage back up since my holiday and am expecting to be back to 50 miles this week. I recently received some very good advice and that was to make all changes gradually. The reason for this is that the cardio-vascular system can be built up quite quickly but muscles and ligaments (especially old ones like mine) take longer to adapt. The result is that its very easy to increase mileage too quickly and injure something - as I'd found earlier in my training as those of you that have been following my blog since the beginning may remember.

My build-up has been achieved by doing multiple runs of six to eight miles rather than any very long runs. There are a few reasons for this. The first is that I think - and I have no evidence for this which is why I don't publish my training plans - that a couple of runs with a few hours break between them should stress my body less. OK so my employer probably wouldn't be too impressed with me referring to my afternoons work as 'a few hours break' but you know what I mean.The plan is to increase the length of some of the runs and reduce the number until I'm ready to increase the mileage again.

I said there were a few reasons for the length of the runs. The second reason is simply that a run of this length can be fitted into my life without too much disruption. This is important as some people find it very hard to balance life and training, fortunately I have some flexibility in my working hours and, most importantly, a very supportive wife who doesn't mind if I get home an hour or two late - although I suspect if I was going to the pub it would be different. Apart from anything else she'd want to know why she wasn't invited.

The last reason for six to eight miles revolves around the mental approach I'm taking to the MdS. The distance varies year to year but a hundred and fifty miles is the usually quoted distance. Its a big number and a mile is quite far so lets try kilometres, they are shorter and more French and so more in keeping with the MdS. Unfortunately being shorter we get more of them, two hundred and forty in fact which is definitely too big a number to tick off in my head. However on the MdS every ten kilometres or so there is a check point. So looking at the distance in terms of check points we get the answer twenty four, still a big number but much more manageable  For instance on the long day there will be (about) eight checkpoints. So by the time I'm at the second twenty five percent of the day is over. After four I'm half way. Easy eh?

Well no, of course it won't be easy but I feel that if I break it down into checkpoint-to-checkpoint chunks and take them one at a time it becomes manageable and that's the important point. Hence the six to eight mile runs, that's the sort of spacing the checkpoints are at. Obviously there is much more to training - I've found a decent hill to train on for a start - runs will become longer, weekly mileages will increase, it will get cold and dark and I'll still be running... however I've always believed the mental test is as tough as the physical for the MdS and I think the 'checkpoint game' will help me get through it but like everything else in this race its all personal, different things work for different people. Will this actually work for me? Watch this space to find out...

Hot, Hot, Hot!

In my last post I mentioned I was going on holiday and that I might take the opportunity to see what running on sand in hot weather was like. Now as it happens due to the vagaries of the British weather I could have simply gone 20 miles down the road to Southend and had a run along the beach in thirty plus degree temperatures, however, as I'd already booked my flight to the Maldives, Southend would have to wait until another day.

After a 10 hour flight a quick lap or two of the island seemed the ideal way to try and get the knots out of my legs and hopefully stave off DVT for a while longer. The primary purpose of going to the Maldives was for the scuba diving but I reckoned a few sessions of eight to ten miles could be squeezed in....

 After a single lap the enormity of running in thirty degree temperatures and eighty percent humidity over soft powdery sand hit me with all the force of a ripe coconut dropping from one of the palm trees providing some merciful shade around at least part of the lap. After a few sessions I quickly realised my pace was going to be little more than half that I could achieve in the UK - also recovery (or at least stopping sweating) after each run would take around half an hour.

As a result most of my runs were four laps round the island, a whopping five kilometres in total! The longest run I managed was eight laps, a little over ten kilometres. I drank about a litre and a half of water whilst running and a couple of litres after stopping. After that I started drinking beer for its well known pain relieving effects. That was the only run Sharon didn't accompany me on at least part of. I understood that well enough, what I didn't really understand was why she came with me on any of the runs as she had sufficient willpower to resist the allure of the MdS and hence was doing it purely 'for fun'...

The staff and other guests were by now giving us that worried smile I'm coming to know so well and, strangely, explaining what I was training for didn't seem to help. However as they were all trapped on the island with me they pretended to be very impressed and said nice things while backing away nervously...

Anyway this is supposed to be a blog about my MdS not my holiday so I won't bore you any further with details of my holiday but mantas, sharks, eagle rays, sting rays, moray eels, octopus and about a million fish just in case you were wondering what we saw diving. Did I add to my font of knowledge? Yes I did. My running shoes and socks performed perfectly over sand, no blisters or overheated feet. A litre and a half of water per ten kilometres (about the rate its dispensed on the MdS) should be enough, particularly as I'm hoping for lower humidity and slightly less sweating on the MdS. However the main thing I learned is that training has to move up several gears from here on in. Leg strength and endurance is going to be a big factor on the energy sapping sand, so hills, hills and more hills will have to figure heavily in my future - there must be some somewhere in Essex....

Lessons Learned

Oscar Wilde apparently said "Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes." If this is the case then I have vast amounts of experience and seem to add to it almost weekly. He also said "Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught." As far as the MdS is concerned I believe there are people out there that can certainly give one a bit of a leg-up by sharing their knowledge but to really learn one needs to have 'experience'. I've already had a day with Rory Coleman to get the benefit of his 10 MdS finishes and have also signed up for a couple of MdS seminar days.

What I would rather not do is collect experience on the MdS itself. Far better to get the mistakes over with before the event or I'll only have myself to blame for failure. Not surprisingly Wilde has views on this too - "There is luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel no one else has a right to blame us." Anyway enough of literary quotes and on with the blog...

Last weekend was hot, very hot - not Sahara hot but hot enough that I thought I should gain some experience of running in hot weather. My first plan was to run Saturday and Sunday, however for reasons that will be explained later only the Saturday run actually happened. The plan was quite simple, full MdS gear (apart from sand gaiters, many of the people I passed gave me that sort of look you give someone when you are considering whether or not to call the men in white coats - sand gaiters would probably have sealed the deal as far as they were concerned) and run about 20 miles off road in the sun and see what happened. It's this kind of attitude that has caused me to become so experienced...

Later analysis of my run revealed that I made my first mistake pretty much as soon as I started putting one foot in front on the other - I set off way too fast. The result of this was that I got slower and slower and had to walk more and more frequently once I got beyond about 15 miles. The main issue was that I hadn't sufficiently allowed for the effect of the heat. Sure I know it slows you down, its not the first time I've run in hot weather (Edinburgh Marathon 2010 was possibly the worst) but its the first time off road and with a pack. Pace management is going to be absolutely crucial to the MdS and is something I'll be working on quite extensively over the next 9 months.

The other thing that I had heard but hadn't really noticed before is how exercise can cause one to feel the cold a bit more than usual after exercise. I think I noticed this time because it was still scorchingly hot when I finally staggered home and showered and I found myself putting on more clothes than I had earlier in the day. This may raise some issues for the MdS in terms of clothing for the evening and sleeping bag ratings - no long sleeve top and a thin sleeping bag may be lightweight but will I need more even in the desert? This is another area for research - I can ask questions of past finishers but I suspect a lot of it is down to individual physiology.

One thing I am fairly happy with is my shoe and sock combination, which again worked perfectly. Less successful was my shorts/pants combination. Without wishing to describe my underwear in excessive and almost certainly unwanted detail, I believe the waistband of my shorts is pressing the stitching of the waistband of my pants into my skin around my waist. Add sweat and a rucksack and I'm getting a fair bit of chafing around my middle. New pants or no pants, that is the question - but possibly not one I'll put the answer to on my blog.

Most of the other experience I gained shouldn't be an issue for the MdS. Mountain bikes, tree roots and wet dogs are obstacles I'm not expecting to have to avoid too often. I'm also not expecting to be able to buy cans of Pepsi en route through the Sahara so I'm unlikely to have to cope with running whilst burping with bubbles coming down my nose. Another unlikely hazard is nearly falling in a river whilst being distracted by bikini clad women. Bikinis don't appear to be popular as Mds race kit and if I'm running beside a cool clear stream I'm probably very lost (or hallucinating).

I will admit I have tended to highlight the 'experiences' in this ramble, actually the run was tough but OK and very instructive - however if my blog was 'went for a run, it was a bit hot, I survived' it would be quite boring. Whilst I don't pretend to have the eloquence and wit of Oscar, I do feel I should at least try and make what I write interesting - I must be doing fairly well if you've read this far...wait, come back, I've nearly finished...

I did say earlier I would explain why the Sunday run didn't happen. There were a couple of reasons, firstly Saturday's run let me know that it takes more than a fortnight for my legs to recover from the Three Peaks. However the main reason was that on Saturday night I went to one of the best party's I've ever been invited to. No, it wasn't a hangover that stopped me running, it was the Beavers! (www.thebeaversonline.co.uk) Easily the best party band I've ever seen, I danced so much that on top of 20 miles of running even getting down stairs was a challenge by Sunday!

I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks so blog updates are unlikely. I've just done some measuring on Google maps and reckon one lap of the island I'm going to is about a mile - now has there ever been a Reethi Beach Marathon I wonder?....

Home Advantage

One of the areas of the MdS that I think is going to be most difficult to prepare for is the psychological challenge - how am I going to keep motivating myself to do it day after day? There are a few reasons why I'm talking about this now, partly to do with me and partly due to some of the recent sporting events. Starting with me, I haven't trained for a few days now due to slight health scare which fortunately turned out to be nothing serious. However it did mean I had to take my first sick days off work for well over 10 years! So what relevance does this have to the mental side of the MdS? Well it's all about what makes you feel good. Obviously feeling ill isn't great but the lift from the good wishes of my friends made me feel so much better.

Some of the big sporting events over the weekend were the British Grand Prix and of course Wimbledon. Both events featured 'home' competitors. And lets not forget Brazil won the Confederations Cup in Brazil. So what is 'home advantage' and is it something I can tap into for the MdS? On the face of it, of course not, it's in Morocco - I've never even been to Morocco so I can't claim it as a 'home' event. However....

Lets look more closely at what factors come into play when you are at 'home'. For some sports there are very prosaic factors such as a knowledge of the nuances of the field of play or being acclimatised to the conditions - its probably not unreasonable to suggest that Mohamad Ahansal's MdS performances are down to the fact he is a superb athlete in an environment he knows very well.

One of the sports that seems to have a particular preoccupation with home and away is football. Its fair to say that all grounds are different and there is some variation allowed in the pitch size but is that such a significant factor? My belief is that psychological factors make a far bigger difference. When you at home you are in your environment, there are friendly faces around, you know where everything is and how it works. However I think the biggest factor is the support, when you are at home the majority of the people watching are urging you on to win. Andy Murray has commented on the importance of home support as he heads into the second week of Wimbledon.

However for the MdS there is no crowd roaring you on but there is something I hope will be almost as good - the daily emails. Technology allows competitors to make phone calls to family and friends during the event, although it is discouraged, but I want to stay true to the event and restrict my connection to the outside world to my daily email out (if I'm not too exhausted to send one!) and the daily emails sent by friends and family. For those that don't know anyone can send a message to a competitor via the MdS website, they are collated and handed out on a daily basis.

I want to feel that people at home are interested, that they care about how I do. If I want that I have to give something back - I want to feed off their energy but not drain them. That's what this blog tries to do, its why I talk about my preparations to anyone interested. I'm also planning a 50th Birthday/MdS Farewell party just before I go to try and further enthuse my friends and family. What will keep me going is those daily messages and imagining my friends and family tracking my performance on the MdS website and urging me on.

So yes, I do intend to gain 'home advantage' even if I'm a long way from home!