The MdS is probably the biggest thing in my life at this moment. Everything is considered from an MdS viewpoint. I want to know how many kcal per 100g in everything I eat, regardless of how likely it is to be used as an MdS foodstuff - olive oil isn't really something I want to drink and cheese would probably end badly after a few days of desert heat but I still want to know their calorific content. Holidays are starting to be planned around MdS training, for now life is the MdS.
However I still want to enjoy myself and do the things I want to do not just the things I have to. Over the last week a couple of events have come up related to work, both of which I've done whilst making them part of MdS preparation.
The first was quite straightforward. Every year a local firm of solicitors organises the 'Race 4 Business', a 3.3 mile run around Chelmsford for runners from local companies. As I've been using the Parkrun (3.1 miles) as my weekly tempo run and as I wouldn't be around for the one last Saturday it was easy to slot the 'Race 4 Business' in as my weekly tempo run.
The reason I wasn't doing Parkrun this week was that on Saturday (and a bit of Sunday!) I was part of a team of four (plus a driver) doing the Three Peaks Challenge, also organised through work. For those that don't know this involves climbing up (and down) the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales; Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. The challenge is to do all three including travelling between them in under 24 hours. This isn't an event which appears to be part of most conventional training for the MdS but conventional is overrated anyway.
Originally I was hoping to test a lot of my MdS gear on the challenge but due to the appalling (in other words British Summer) weather that was forecast I just used the socks, backpack with water bottles, GPS and head torch that I was planning on using for the MdS. I also decided to try some of the foodstuff I was planning on taking, i.e. savoury energy bars, Peperami and Nuun tablets.
Without going into a lot of boring detail I can report that the equipment was a success, especially the socks. Only one small blister under my big toe, which given that I had a lake in each boot for most of Scafell Pike and Snowdon, I thought was pretty good.
Nutritionally I was certainly left with food for thought. This was my first time with Nuun tablets and my first impressions were that Grape tasted much the same as Strawberry Lemonade and both tasted much like upmarket bathroom cleaners smell! However I had Nuun in one bottle and water in the other and found myself always drinking Nuun in preference to water so I'll continue with those a few more times before making a decision. Peperami and pizza flavoured bars were great after Ben Nevis, good after Scafell Pike and beginning to get a bit dull by Snowdon. I think more flavours of bar and perhaps beef jerky as an alternative to Peperami sometimes might help. I also found I had a bit of a craving for salted peanuts (which I stole off my wife) and so will add this to the food list.
For anyone still reading we completed the challenge in 21 hours and 52 minutes, got thoroughly drenched and I'm typing this whilst wearing compression shorts and calf guards today in order to try and regain some semblance of movement. We also had a great time and were the fastest team of the weekend! In terms of the MdS I feel I learned some things about my equipment and food, also walking around 26 miles and climbing over 3000 metres gave me at least as good a workout as any ultramarathon would have given me at this stage in my training. So there you go, the MdS and life do not have to be mutually exclusive - the next 'crossover' is going to be some nice warm holidays for heat training!
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