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...