Week 15: Marathon des Sables

pic from Wikipedia

"Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it."

- Bill Cosby -

No time to post this week.  I ran a lot, there's some pain, but generally still moving.

Got a haircut for the desert and still gathering gear.

In case you missed the last post, I'm raising money to support orphans in Kenya.  Click HERE to donate or read more.

March is coming up and my work schedule will reduce.  YAY!

Running for a Great Cause

There has to be a good reason (other than just the challenge) to run across the Moroccan Sahara.  I've found mine.

I am hoping to raise £2,000 for Chance to Grow, a UK based charity that supports Great Mercy, an orphanage in Western Kenya.  The orphanage houses 80 children who have lost their families through AIDS, violence and abandonment.  In addition, Great Mercy educates 150 students who otherwise would not have an opportunity to attend school because of extreme poverty.

Chance to Grow and Great Mercy are now raising funds to improve existing conditions, expand to take-in more children and purchase a plot of land to grow crops and become more self-sustaining.

I chose Chance to Grow to support my good friend and long-time training partner, Alan, in his work with the charity.  Alan recently volunteered on site in Kenya and saw what a difference this organization is making in children's lives.

So, on April 7th, I'll start my 250 km, week long, self-sufficient, desert running adventure to give these children a chance.

Please DONATE HERE.

Click the charity's name here for more info CHANCE TO GROW.

Alan at Great Mercy

Alan and I after Ironman UK

Week 14: Marathon des Sables

pic from www.tumbler.com

Some people dream of success... others stay awake to achieve it.

A tough week indeed.  Mentally, it was mostly negative.  Mon and Tue long sessions were full of 'can I do this?' and 'why am I doing this?'  Aches and pains only added fuel to the fire including Tue's sure sign of over-use, sore knees.  It didn't get better for the interval sessions.  But, thinking of the sacrifice from others (particularly Natsuko) and motivation from role models (Craig Alexander and James Cracknell to name a couple), I pushed through and even ran the intervals well.

Made it through in one piece and feeling better for it, 'banking memories for tough times in the desert.'

Overall, covered 152k/ 95m (102k/ 64m run, 30k/ 19m walk, 20k/ 12m cycle).  I'm now running with 6-8kg on my back (6 for long, up to 8 for intervals) and will probably stay at this level to avoid anymore stress on my body.

Health & Nutrition

Getting some new/ odd niggles.

1) Long runs, left leg (as always!) was giving me problems, this time the calf.  But, a bit of extra stretching and it's better.  I expect this to continue on long days.

2) On Thu's run, got a sharp pain in the arch of my left foot.  It wasn't unfamiliar, but usually it comes and goes within steps.  To my surprise, it was still with me an hour later.  It eventually went, and let's hope for good.

3) After Fri's walk, a stiffness hit the top, outside of my ankle.  It felt the same as shin splints, just not on the shins!  Iced it, massaged it and it's gone.

We'll see what this week has in store.

As mentioned before, I've started clean diet though not as strict as in the past.  However, I have been using the bathroom a lot in sessions (almost once an hour), so I'm cutting the calories from about 3500 a day to 3000.  Also, had to give some leeway for the incredible valentine's raw chocolate and fig treat that Natsuko cooked up!

MDS: Gear

This week, I got my MDS gaiters!  Now I just need some trail shoes to put them on!  Other than the shoes, the major outstanding item is figuring out how to carry two water bottles.  I've got one with the Osprey Aqua Stow (below on the right) and working on the other.  Hope to finish this in the next couple of weeks.

back from 4.5hr session

MDS: Food

Working out a strategy, but here are thoughts so far:

- breakfast: oats in water with dried fruit and almonds or peanuts

- lunch (on the run): a mix of gels, Clif Bars, squeezable peanut butter and sausage

- recovery: Maxload whey protein with branch chain amino acids (BCAAs) plus extra aminos

- dinner: various dried rice, veg and meat meals

Sorry to blog your ear off.

Training Motivation

When I'm struggling through a training week, I like to take a peek at Craig Alexander's Kona training for motivation.  Enjoy!

Week 13: Marathon des Sables

"Limits like fears are often just an illusion."

- Michael Jordan -

Hey all, not much time to write this week, so here's a run-down.
- Run 95km/ 59mi
- Walk 15km/ 10mi
- Bike 0 (overslept on bike session day)
- Thu was rough so skipped Fri session (see previous post)

Week 14, bring it on!

The Day After

What a day: slept 9.5hrs, no alarm, skipped today's session and a client brought me Kona Coffee fresh from Hawaii.  Feeling on top of the world!

Up at 9am today, there was enough time to get the walk in, but I decided yesterday was a sign that I needed a break.  I feel much better for it, even if my first thought after deciding on the break was, 'okay, when can I make this up?'  Uh, no.  Make the decision and stick with it.  Let it go.

It took me a while to get to this 'let it go' mentality, and I'm still not all the way there.  But, here's an article from Chris McCormack that I read to remind me to listen to my body, make a decision and 'let it go.'

Chris McCormack: How I Stay Injury Free

Overcome It

pic from www.clipartof.com

Today was the first truly bad mental day.  The lack of sleep has left me short of energy and with a limited attention span.  It all came to a head in today's 2hr sprint session.

1) Started late - slow in the morning, so got a late start which always unsettles the nerves
2) Left calf - not even 1min in, discomfort begins, queue a cycling brain
3) Sprints - fell short of hitting all of the sprint times, queue questions of whether I'm 'committed'
4) Gear - water bottle strapped to the bag was bouncing around causing despair about what gear will work
5) Tuned out - around 90mins in my focus was gone with slow reactions and being startled by any noise louder than a mouse

But, in the end, I covered 22km/ 13mi with 4x5min sprints and topped it off with a 60min core and weight session.  Not feeling fresh physically, but mentally, finishing was a boost.  As a treat for overcoming the negativity, I've taken tomorrow morning off work and will sleep without an alarm.  If I wake up in time to train and my calf feels alright, I'll do the walk session.  If not, it won't be missed.

Well, I'll need experiences like today to make it through the desert.  Hopefully more of these to come!

Week 12: Marathon des Sables

pic from www.rebellesociety.com

"Forever is composed of nows."

- Emily Dickinson -

Finally picked up a lot of gear and testing it out.  Some things work, some not.  Hope to go into this more later.  The main outstanding item is trail running shoes (really?!?).  Hopefully next week.

Training was good covering about 116k/ 72.5m (87k/ 54.5m running, 21k/ 13m walk, 8k/ 5m cycle).  The turbo trainer going haywire may have been a blessing as walking gives me more time on my feet.  Also, walk only Thu sessions will be with a 10kg bag to get a feel for carrying a full pack. 

No indications of injury, but I've picked up some blisters which is actually a good thing.  Yeah, good thing.  Add this to one of my naiveties.  I've never had painful blisters.  Not even for the 100k ultra.  But, add time on the sand and voila, blisters!  So, I'm learning how to handle these (better at home than in the desert!). 

Sleep still not good.  I don't see this changing soon, so until I say otherwise, assume sleep is sub-optimal (6-7hrs).

Nutrition is fine taking on 3000 - 4000cal daily depending on training.  I haven't been weighing or taking bf%, but visually, I'm heading in the right direction.  Week 13 will be the last of open diet.  After that, it's no more nutritionally void foods which recently have been sweet breads, peanut butter cups and even McDonald's!  That's right, I ate a full meal at McDonald's for the first time in years.  Kind of a funny story, it took me two days to build up the courage.  I tried on Mon, but a hugely overwhelming guilt turned me around.  I had another go on Tue and success!  I ate me first Big Mac!  It wasn't anything special. The calories were great.

Onward and upward.  Have a great week all.

More MDS Videos

In case the last 7min video I posted wasn't enough, here's over an hour's worth of sand and sun. 

A little background, James Cracknell is a world champion and gold medal winning rower for Britain.  He's also taken on a number of 'interesting' challenges including MDS.

Enjoy it.