Mission Accomplished!

I'm fresh back home from my 244 km desert stroll with my feet up and it seems like a good opportunity for a few initial reflections. It still doesn't quite feel like I've done it, after over two years of planning and obsessing about kit and training, its done! Even looking through all my photographs, it doesn't quite seem real yet...

The week I spent in the desert was everything I had hoped for - a great physical and mental challenge and a really intense experience. The landscapes the stages took us through were stunning and other-worldly; every time I was feeling tired physically or mentally I would look up and the views would help me out of head and push me on. The environment was the first (though not only) thing that attracted me to the race and it certainly didn't disappoint!

The time went so fast but when we were out there it was difficult to remember a time before it started. It was a real bubble; the limited communications resulting in isolation (in a good way) from the outside world, along with Patrick's special MdS Time (or Bauer Meant Time as I heard someone call it!) - 1 hour behind Morocco time.  One of the best things about the 'MdS life' you live for those few days is its simplicity 'all' you have to worry about is running, self-maintenance (feet, food etc.) and sleep. Oh, and a lot of queuing!

Definitely one of the best things about it for me is that while it is grueling and a huge challenge, very ordinary people like me can do it. It expands your horizons and opens your eyes to what you are capable of if you put your mind to it.

Despite the efforts to get rid of them, my ITB issues did impact on my race both physically and psychologically. I took the first three stages very easily, not sure how my body would respond to the distance and environment. In retrospect I think I could have pushed quite a lot harder those first few days but I was determined to finish the race and didn't want to do anything to compromise that.  I may have been a little over cautious (a psychological effect of the injury) but better that than ruining the culmination of two years planning and training! I only felt a few twinges when running those first few days which gave me the confidence to push on for stages 4 and 5. I ran most of the way to the first check point on Stage 4 and my ITB flared up - annoying but not unexpected which makes me think it was a good idea I was conservative over the preceding stages. This was a bit of a pain for the rest of the stage because it stopped my making faster progress on some of the flat planes throughout the stage which could have cut down on time on my feet which was one of the things I found most challenging. Stage 5 however was another story, with no further long stage to worry about I could push my leg further and not worry so much about failure - only 42 Km to go by that point after all! A good opportunity to punish it for slowing me down earlier on :)

Overall it is well organised (if inefficient!) event with great support from the volunteers both in the bivouac and especially at the checkpoints on the course. I was fortunate to have the company of some great people in my tent (Tent X) who were very tolerant of me over the week and I thoroughly enjoyed being around them all. We all finished which was a great collective achievement - many of the tents did not have their full compliment by the end.

Almost There...!

Packing done, and sorting the last few bits and bobs before heading to the station and down to Gatwick so seems like a good time to reflect on my preparation....

Its been two years since I registered for the MdS and even longer since the idea first captured my imagination and suddenly its here. Its been such a long time coming and taken so much preparation and this has always been the goal but it always seemed like such a long way off. I can't quite believe its here and I'm actually going to this (or try at least!). I've been through stressed, nervous and excited stages but I'm feeling more relaxed now with background excitement and nerves.

I'm trying not to focus too much on the training - I have worked hard and it felt like it was going really well up until the ITB problems started at the beginning of February. Since then I haven't managed to do most of the dedicated training I had planned, though I have carried on doing the training I could (which is a fair amount in reality, just different to what I had planned). The result is that I think I'm in pretty good shape and my ITB feels ok but I'm not sure what impact all of this will have on my running in the desert. I'm prepared to feel my ITB and even have it go properly like it did before but I'm going to take it easy and see how it goes. If need be I'll just do lots of walking! I'll be needing to do a lot of that anyway I think but I'd prefer to be able to make faster progress with the odd spurt of running.

Food and kitwise, I've put a lot of thought into it - I think it'll differ at least to a certain degree from other people's though hopefully not too significantly. I haven't gone for the ultra minimalist approach but I'm reasonably pleased with the weight of my pack. I think the food could be a little lighter and i might shed a out there but I'll make the decision there.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to a memorable experience whatever happens! And the (hopefully!) well deserved rest after :)

More Sand...

I headed out to the beach again last weekend for some more dune fun - 13 miles up and down over and over with the heaviest pack I have trained with yet - 6 - 7 kg. I met a friend out there to train with again and we ended up egging each other on so that every time we found a good dune, we ended running up it again, and again, and again. Good training but very tiring!

It is a lot of fun in a masochistic sort of way, particularly going down the other side. The views were stunning across the bay over to The Wirral and Liverpool, with the wand whipping across the ground with the wind  - wish I had hand my camera with me. 

My legs were absolutely dead by the end, particularly after having run a mile - probably the slowest mile that anyone has ever run - into a 40 mile per hour wind on soft sand.

The next day got 16 very slow miles in with a slightly heavier pack with the middle 7 miles in the gym getting nice and sweaty on the treadmill (without the pack - haven't quite got to running with the heat and the weight yet, we'll get there though!). The weather was horrendous - not exactly representative of Saharan weather- but I managed to avoid the worst of it. By the final four miles home it really felt like I'd run an ultra with the build up of fatigue from the day before! Good practice for running on tired legs!

Country to Capital 2014

So time seems to be going faster and faster and suddenly one of my key prep races has come around. Not being the final target I hadn't given this as much thought as I probably would have done and so despite this being farther than I have ever run before I wasn't really nervous. The furthest I had run in one go before last Saturday was 37 miles on the second day of The Wall, so this was going to be a few miles longer but at least I would be starting with fresh legs this time!

I woke up early as I normally do before a big race and got my porridge down me (seemed a good opportunity to try out one of the dehydrated breakfasts I'll use on the MdS). I had organised everything the night before so was nice and relaxed and headed down the road to Wendover with plenty of time to spare. After registering there was lots of time to mill about which gave me the opportunity to chat to a couple of other 2014 MdS'ers - the first I've met!

At 8.30, 400 of us (it is amazing that there are so many crazy people out there!) headed out onto the country trails of Buckinghamshire. Couldn't have asked for a better morning - clear skies but not freezing, and the light on the countryside was beautiful. The only issue was the low sun that prevented you from seeing where your feet were going. It was mentioned at the pre-race briefing that there was some ankle-deep mud... I did end up quite muddy, all part of the fun and I didn't get any blisters because of it.

I hadn't appreciated quite how much the map booklets we were given were actually needed - in the past any races I have done have been pretty comprehensively way-marked. I was just sort of expecting to put my head down an plod my way through it... Fortunately there were quite a few people about who had done the race in the past and knew the route. I have to confess (a little ashamed) I was pretty lazy when it came to navigation, despite being used to running over the fells on my own and needing to keep tabs on where I am.

The first couple of checkpoints passed pretty quickly it seemed, running through some lovely countryside and pausing every now and again as we came to the odd gate or stile, or points where it wasn't terribly clear where to got (I'm sure I'd have had a better idea of where we were going I'd actually got my booklet out!). I was surrounded by a very friendly bunch and the conversation was great. I love how this sort of running is so much less pressured than running shorter distances and people are more relaxed.

After crossing over the M25 and carrying on along some more rural trails we reached the Grand Union Canal - easy navigation form here on I had been assured, with the exception of a turn off to Paddington 13 miles from the end (which was pretty obvious thankfully!). I have to confess that I wasn't hugely enjoying things at this point as I stomach had been feeling dodgy ever since the first checkpoint where I had pretty stupidly decided to try the fruit cake and carry on running with it. The cake was amazing (worth doing the race again just for that, and I'm not generally a fan of fruit cake), but I should have known better and I paid for it over the next 20-25 miles.

It was much easier going along the canal and despite the state of my stomach I managed to keep a better pace... until the hiccups. I HATE them! They're the perfect thing to make a dodgy stomach worse. I got to checkpoint 3 and decided that the best thing to do was have something to eat even though I didn't feel like it - either it would stay down or it would make me throw up - either way I'd feel better! And it did - a few miles down the canal just after the turn of to Paddington... I disturbed a poor young couple who had evidently come down to the canal for some quite time together with some of the most horrendous wretching noises I am sure anyone has ever come out with (secretly very proud of myself). I did at least manage to get a few meters past them and not do it on their feet, I'm sure they were very grateful.

Anyway by this point there were just over 13 miles to go, and I suddenly felt great. I sped off down the canal determined to make the most of my second wind while it lasted. After a couple of miles it wore off and I fell into step with a couple of other runners who I stuck with for the last 12 miles or so from Checkpoint 4. One of them, Sophie, was an experienced ultramarathon runner and MdS veteran who kept me going with a mixture of her 10 mins running, 2 mins walking routine which really helped with discipline, and some amazing motivating words. Nick, a professional sailor, found his finish legs shortly before the end and managed to pick up the pace (there was no way I could follow!) and Sophie managed to drag me (psychologically) to the end at a very respectable pace for which I am extremely grateful!

My body didn't seem to be in too bad condition all things considered, no blisters at all, which gives me confidence in the shoe and sock combination. I was carrying 3 to 4 kg in my pack which I think I could have done to make heavier (need to carry more on the next race). A good confidence boost overall though!

On the way into Paddington I caught sight of another C2C-er coming in the direction. We caught each other's eye and smiled at each other - no words were exchanged but you know instantly when someone has just been through the same pain as you and come out the other end wincing and grinning at the same time that you have quite a bit in common, and they stand out even in a busy station!

Mini-Adventure #1: 24 Miles of Thunder, Lightning and Locks

In the process of trying to find ways of making my long runs interesting, I came across Alistair Humphreys' website. Among other many other interesting and inspiring entries on his website (along with some great photography), he has a section on 'micro adventures'. This gave me the idea of turning my long distance training sessions into mini adventures and do a bit of exploring.

So this was my first mini adventure (not ever of course), running from Salford up the Rochdale Canal to Littleborough to meet a couple of friends for a run and a few pints down the pub afterwards. This route has the advantage that the canal follows the route of the railway pretty closely so it would be easy to escape if anything went wrong, like an injury playing up.

So I headed out from Salford and down onto the canal in Castlefield which I would follow all the way up through north Manchester and on up to Littleborough. I could see a storm up ahead and it looked like I was heading into oblivion it was so dark. Spend any length of time outside in north west England and any time of year, particularly in November and you expect to get a bit wet... I was about to get more than just a little wet!

It felt wonderfully silly to be setting out on my mini expedition into a storm, exploring new places I have lived so close to for so long but never been to. Manchester has such a rich industrial and cultural heritage that it doesn't make enough noise about in my opinion. The route of the canal shows off a great cross-section of the city - not all of it pretty by any means but so interesting passing all of these big old brick industrial buildings in various states of decay, some still in use and whirring away. The housing and old factories eventually give way to countryside and more and more picturesque locks and views. By this point it was absolutely tipping it down with a mixture of rain and hail which was just about hard enough to sting exposed areas of skin, and I was thinking that I should have brought a torch with me. All these factors may have contributed to be getting fairly convincingly lost around the M60 crossing where the tow path disappears - all part of the adventure! I did eventually manage to find the canal again after consulting Google Maps a couple of times and a stop off in an off licence (only for directions, promise).

I'm not sure whether I just kept running into the same storm, or if there were several different storms but I got comprehensively drenched at least 3 times. The advantage of all this weather was that there weren't may people to get in the way on the tow path, save the odd slightly very damp person out for a walk and some very silly people out angling. They must have been absolutely freezing sat there not moving - at least I was generating a fair amount of heat as I went!

It is a while since I can remember being outside during a thunder storm and I'm used to windows and walls dulling the sound slightly, so when there was the first flash rapidly followed by a very loud peel of thunder overhead, it almost made me leap into the canal! I quickly got used to it though and it made things just that bit more interesting.

After three hours or so running, I made it up to Littleborough and met my mates just in time for the sun to show its face. The took me for a lap of Hollingworth Lake and then we headed to the pub so I could undone some my good work with a pint or two of the local brew.  

So is the anti-boredom strategy working? Well, lately during my long runs I have needed music to keep myself entertained which works, but that is really just numbing the brain to the monotony - not a proper fix. This time I didn't need or even feel like listening to any music - I was just happy pootling along and taking in my surroundings - a good sign I think!

I also used my newly acquired rucksack - the smaller version of the Inov-8 pack (Race Pac 16) i used for the OMM - as expected very comfortable and very stable with no bouncing around as I ran. Can thoroughly recommenced it.

About Me

I have been running since I was 12 or possibly even earlier, I can't really remember. Initially it was an effective way of avoiding being made to play other sports at school! I kept it up when I was at university but it was only towards the end of 2010 that I got into endurance running when I decided to enter the Seville Marathon in February 2011. That was supposed to be to be a one off... It turns out that this marathon running lark is quite addictive... A succession of other races have followed (which I'll cover in another post), and now I've ended up entering myself for the Marathon des Sables in 2014. Hmm..., this should be interesting!

I am a fairly typical runner of average ability, not really competitive, except possibly with myself. My interest and enthusiasm for this sport has increased hugely since joining my running club the Manchester Frontrunners where I have made many good runner friends. 

This is me on top of Robinson in the Lake District after a very impressive hail storm (you might notice my legs are a little pink - hail stones on bare legs hurt!):

... not exactly your tall, lean and strong runner type!

I wanted to find a way of ensuring that I kept a bit of a record of both my preparation and of the event itself. Hopefully this will also be a useful tool to keep myself focused on the end goal, especially when I forget why I am putting myself through all this! 

There are many blogs and other websites out there detailing the experiences of people training for and completing the Marathon des Sables, and from these I have taken quite a bit of inspiration over the past year or so since entering.  A particularly good one is justajog.com by Kate Lee.

My musings are therefore unlikely to be ground breaking, but this is my contribution to the pool of information out there. I have absorbed a huge amount from what other people have generously shared, and it has helped my motivation enormously as well as providing me with very valuable insights over the last year or so.

I hope this account will provide at least a little useful information to others mad enough to be considering entering the MdS or similar events, and some insight into my motivation for others who can't comprehend why on earth someone might want to run 150 miles through the Sahara with a heavy pack on their back!