Time trial

Had a very good 4.5 mile time trial run yesterday and took 2 mins off my personal best for the route, so went round in 33 mins, which was 7.5 min mile pace, so really pleased, especially as it was quite a hilly course. Seems like taking a little rest and the last 3 months of running have had a big affect... so all good at the moment!

A good week

Exactly what the title says... a good week of around 32 miles running, 4-5 walking and some shorter fitness work playing touch rugby... so really pleased. Plus I'm also starting to put in the back-to-back runs of around 9-10 miles each run. Today was the 10 miler following the 9 miler yesterday and the last mile I was flying... so feeling good... although still get the odd shin pain now and again, but pleased so far.

Next week is a going to be less miles (around 15-20), as I'm following a training plan that allows for a more 'relaxed' week every 4-5 weeks... supposed to help against injuries etc... so good timing with xmas!

Merry Chrimbo!

Another wee while...

Well here I am again, promising to write regularly and again its been two weeks. But the great news is that training is going well and I feel fit and healthy. The shin splints that plagued me when I started training seem (and I use the word very lightly), to be OK... that is I can run 4 days on the trot... as I did this weekend just gone, and not have any really bad side effects. I even did two longer back-to-back runs (10 and 9 miles), and even pushed a 9 mile time trial the day after the 10 miler and it felt good. It's so pleasing for a change to be reporting pretty much injury free and training going well. I've now got 5 solid weeks of 25-30 miles each week behind me, and I'm a happy man. However I don't want to count my chickens just yet.

I really think the key has been just slowing down, and not pushing myself too hard. Since moving to Australia I've really been careful with my training and it's starting to pay dividends. Plus there are some great runs out here too, and I'm planning some much longer, harder terrains to run on in the next few weeks. For the moment I'm going to stick to my plans... keep the 5-8 milers going during the week, and then the longer 10-13 mile runs at the weekends.

I've also signed myself up for the Canberra Marathon. This will be my first ever marathon, so a little apprehensive, but also very excited... and then possibly looking at some other off-roads runs too. So fingers crossed, and now that I'm in my new place... i can update more regularly on this thing too!

Well it's been a wee while now...

Hello one and all... well just me :) It has been ages since I posted on here, so thought I'd drop in with an update on all things in the running world. Things have been good since the new trainers came on board. In November I managed to get a really consistent month, mainly helped by the fact that I ahve slowed down somewhat and am taking on much more difficult terrain, aided by the fact that I have moved to Sydney, Australia and it lends itself to doing just that!

So having had that bloody awful foot injury in September, October was just about building fitness again, and November has seen a good consistent 23-25 a week running. I think the thing has been slowing down somewhat. Beforehand I'd run each run as if it were my last and I was racing. Now I'm running around the 8:30min - 9min mile mark, and not only do I feel so much less tired when I get back from runs, but I'm able to train longer and better, I think it's really helping, so going for a 1 hour run is like a walk in the park, quite literally as I go around the Botanical Gardens in Sydney! So far so good. So my aims for December are to build up the weekly milage to around 30 miles a week now, with a half-marathon on weekends. I'm also going to make sure I start posting much more on here as it'sd a good training diary for me too!

Time trial...

Well its all systems go now, and I feel back into the training finally, having had the injuries, and the mental challenges of feeling like I'm running with lead for the first few weeks back. Last night was good... i did a 6.5 mile run in the dark and legged it round in about 51-52 mins, which was a marker improvement. Plus I had around 6.5kgs on the back too. I'm not saying its perfect, but it feels like a good start. Here's hoping I can stay injury free now.

Plus I've also recently changed trainers to some Gel II Speedstars (Asics), and they're genius!

Back on the road...

Well after a dodgy September with injuries, and then a little bit of illness, followed by going to the Rugby World Cup Final, things are getting back on track now. I have decided to follow a rather simple programme of running until I get to Australia, and then really get right back into it when I'm out there.

So last week, despite a little illness I got back on it with 3 or 4/5/6 mile runs with 6-8 kgs on. I've forgotten how hard it is, and just how much fitness you do actually lose when you've been injured. But things are OK, and I just need to get the consistency going again now. The aim is to run around 20-25 miles a week. To be honest, work and commuting really doesn't allow for much more at the moment, and then when I'm settled in Australia, things will hopefully approach some level of normality again and I can get seriously back into the training. I've got hold of a programme of training from a guy that ran in the MDS, and it all looks very sensible and achievable too. So here we go!

Injuries and such

So a long time no speak on here... again. Well I managed to somehow fracture my foot running. Silly me.. i felt a twinge whilst walking on the Sunday August Bank Holiday, and then decided to go for a run. Felt something go around 3 miles in... and carried on for another 5 miles... got home.. couldnt walk. Then went to hospital, confirmed the worst and had to get taxis everywhere for 2 weeks. Only just got back on the running, with a 15 miles one week, and then 2 10km runs last week in France to ease myelf in. Then left my trainers in France.. nice one... so just bought some new ones today... nice... will have to break them in too!

However big news is I'm moving to Australia in a couple of months, so very busy. So have planned out a realistic training schedule to see me through until I go... and then up til the end of the year. That should get the half-marathon fitness back, and then full steam ahead (injury permitting) for the next 15 months. Fingers crossed

Ouch...

Another day another run... nice little 9 miler tonight. Although the shins were hurting quite a bit, mainly because Ive had to use the old trainers, having stupidly left the other ones at the old dears! Anyway, despite thinking I was going slower than a snail with lubrication issues... i still went round in around 1 hour 15 mins... so not bad, given I've done 20 miles or so in the last 3 days, so not bad. Time to intensify the training!

Getting there? I hope so!

Well went off for 10 miler today and it went pretty well. Went round in 1 hour 20 mins, and it felt good and bouncy, unlike the 8 miler on Monday which felt really sluggish. The trainers seemed to pass the test as well today. For once, no blisters, no hassles... just a good run. However dont want to get too excited... so am going to try for another 10 miler tomorrow and see how we get on.

Been good, and stopped the partying, and am gonna get back on it now!

Oh my god its been so long

Yes it has, and it's not good... but its OK though. Ive been for a few runs in the last few weeks, but nothing near the amount of training I was doing, so need to give myself a bit kick up the ass and get back into it, starting tomorrow. Although fair dues, I have been ill!

So I went for an 8 miler on Monday of this week (August 13th)... but planning on doing a couple of longer runs tomorrow (sat and sun), and see if I can get myself up to 30 miles this week, which would be a good start back into it. Me thinks Ive been partying a little too hard over recent weeks, and now it's time to knuckle down again. So aiming for a 10-12 miler tomorrow... although have been getting issues with the backs of my legs just below the calfs. Think the new trainers I bought arent so great to be fair. Have done about 80-90 miles in them and its not feeling great... so back to the drawing board I think on trainers! Anyway... start of the new regime and back into it!

Long time no speak!

Not updated this for a while as been on holiday and then ill (Ibiza flu!)... but here's whats been happening in the last few weeks. Went on holiday to Ibiza (July 14th)... and spent a week partying, although I did manage to do one run whilst i was out there, did about 7 miles in the blistering heat which was good practice. Then came home and got ill! Not good... so trying to get over that for the last 10 days... still not 100%, but almost there, so went for a nice 9 miler tonight, in around 72 mins which I was quite surprised at, so not bad at all!

Although the blisters came back again, a mother of one inf the same place... so not sure if these trainers are the best for me, but we'll see... will carry on with them for the time being.

Record times and record blisters!

Well went out for a nice little 7 miler on Sunday after the 12 miler on Saturday and the inevitable happened as it does with a new set of trainers... the old blister! So shredded the skin off my heal nicely. so rested it up on Monday, put a few pathetic plasters on Tuesday and ran another 12 miler on Tuesday. Plaster lasted precisely 1 mile (longer than expected). But to be honest you just have to run on through it, so I did. And it hurt for about 5 miles, but then stopped having skin to rub through and was ok. Then as I hit 8 miles i could feel another blister coming on, this time on the outside of my right foot, and boy was it a beauty! So got home and popped that one!

So had to rest really tonight as calf's were quite sore from Tuesday, I boshed out 12 miles in around 1hr 37, which is quite quick going for me as I had about 6kgs on the back as well. Plus im off on holiday on Friday for a week to Ibiza, so that will screw up the running! hahahahaha... see you in a week!

Is summer here?

Well after a bit of a chaffing issue! We seemed to have calmed down now after a few days. Was hoping to try and run yesterday, but was still a bit painful, so i thought one more day isn't going to harm. So off I went running this afternoon, twas quite warm actually and I have caught the sunshine a little.

Ive also got some new trainers, Asics DS Racers, which I bought off ebay, so was trying them out for the first time, and all in all not too bad. Have deliberately bought trainers that dont have masses of heel cushioning, as it's a bad and easy habit to slip back into heel striking, so these are not too bad at all. Extremely light as well, so having done a 12 miler in them today I was pretty pleased! Went round a little slower than I normally would as well, which is no bad thing as this was my first run in these new shoes, and I did about 7 of the 12 miles on the grass as well. I also wanted to make sure I got round relatively pain and acheyness free as I'm planning on doing a 10 miler tomorrow to take the weekly milage up to around 40 this week. Things are only going to get tougher and tougher from now on as it's hard to fit 40 miles in the week, but i'll make sure I do. So for the next 3 months I'll be running between 35 and 41 miles a week. Then from October onwards i'll push up to 45-50 a week in time for the Snowdonia marathon... and hopefully the shin splints have been banished forever!

Chaffing!

God damn, i hate it... if it's not knee or hip it's bloody chaffing! Ahhh well at least its only temporary! Anyway's done a couple of small milage runs.. but did a 13 miler on Tuesday in the absolute pissing rain. It was truely torrential and soaked me right through, there were puddles in my running shoes! Anyhow's... i'm up to 18 miles this week, and was due to run tonight, but the chaffing is just so bad that if i run, ill just end up doing more damage and not being able to run for a few more days. So am going to try and get up early tomorrow and see what the chaffing situation is like. Hopefully then I'll be able to do 7 miles in the morning, and then a 7 miler on Saturday evening, followed by a run on Sunday too. Well that's the theory, and will hopefully see me up to 40 miles this week... just need to sort this damn chaffing out!!!

Forefoot crazy

Well decided not to go for the 40 miles this week, as i'm still very early in the new technique, so just polished things off with a nice easy 7 miler tonight, which takes me to 30 miles this week, and all good as well. However now is the start of a new quarter, and I'm going to push the milage up to 40 miles a week. This is where we'll start to see if the new technique is truly working and if i can take pushing the milage up. Hope so as I'm working towards the Snowdonia marathon in October and this is where it's all starting for real!

Today it was a good day...

Well fingers crossed they'll all be good days from now on. Second time at trying forefoot running, and same result. Nice and easy, and a smooth running motion, and equal timings to my other heel running, so around 7.5 miles in an hour, and it all feels so effortless. Although today really felt like Id turned a corner (he hopes!). No knee trouble, no hip hurting, no back of the knee issues, no shin splints causing agony, just simple running, and slightly sore calfs, which is sooooooo much better than hurting joints! May all runs be like this from now on... three days into the week and I've already done 20 miles... fingers crossed for a nice even round 40 this week!

A week's a long time...

Well since my shins decided to break down last week, decided to rest them for a bit and seriously reconsider my running technique, as my current one is the cause of all the pain and anguish in my shins, and my hips and my knee!! God I'm a mess! But seriously, something needs to happen to sort out the shins.

So in defiance I went out on a 20 mile bike ride on the Tuesday, just to do something, and after physio on Tuesday last week, was recommended to look at Pose running. Think of how Michael Johnson runs, and that's it basically... running in a pose. But it requires lots of strengthening exercises on the legs, and I think looks more applicable to sprinters. However it effectively involves running on the balls of your feet and not heel striking, and leaning forward slightly to let momentum carry you forward. So this I tried on Thursday last week, and so so. However my god were my calves in a mess for a few days after, and even now they hurt, so don't think I was doing it right. However after speaking to a few people, decided to adapt my running style to incorporate some of the elements of pose running, namely leaning forward and taking much shorter strides. This appears to be at the core of my problem in that I lean too far back, take long strides and heel strike, so I'm effectively running as though I'm a car with a hand brake on.

So today I ran the three short miles to work, and then did a 7 miler afterwards, incorporating this technique, and my god did it feel a whole load better. I thought I'd be going a lot slower taking shorter strides, but I was no slower than normal, and I was trail running effectively. The knee's still giving me a bit of jip, but that's just soreness (he hopes), so all good I think... although ha vent fully adopted the ball of the foot running as I don't think my calves can take it! So generally flat foot strike instead. So after a very frustrating week of doing bugger all last week (well still did 38 miles cycling!), I've knocked off 10 miles today, and should be on target (he says with the curse of death!), to do my 30 miles this week, before ramping up to around 40 miles next week for the next 3 months.

More updates

Went for a nice 6 miler on Friday 15th June... knocked that off in around 48 mins, so was pretty pleased with that. The went to Leeds for the weekend, came back and did a 4 miler last night... nice and easy. Then tonight was going to be my long run of the week, a 14 miler... and what happens, the shin splints kick in again... quite arsed off to be honest... not in a good mood. Physio on Thursday!!! Not only do my shins hurt, but I feel like Ive twisted something around the back of my left knee! Aghhhhhh, so annoying!

The day after the day after

Well today was the first day that ive actually done some consecutive training and boy can you feel it! It's not so much I feel tired, more the aching from muscles the previous day, but its something i need to get used to and do more of. So after teh ten miles yesterday, i did seven tonight. Slightly slower than I normally would do them... did it in around 58 mins... but again you need to account for hills and stuff which slow you down dramatically, but it's not really about the time is it :) But all in all... ok. I might do a 5 miler tomorrow or have a day off... probably have a day off actually as I have acupuntcure tomorrow morning first thing and that leaves me a bit whacked for the rest of teh day.

Richmond Park... again :)

So after dehydrating myself on Sunday, I decided to go a crucify myself again with what was going to be a 7 mile run (oine lap around) Richmond Park. However the legs felt good, I was bouncing along and the aches and pains of Sunday were nowhere to be seen! So i pushed out and did another 10 miler, and even though i felt good, I was a minute or two slower than Sunday, when i felt awful... very strange anyway. So went round in about 1hr 23... however i did have about 8Kgs on the back... a few more than Sunday, so expalins the slightly slower time. Am going to try and do a 7 miler toimorrow night just to see how the body reacts to a couple of runs on the trot. All good :)

Lazy hazy days of summer

Well after another acupuncture session on Thursday, my shins and legs are feeling pretty good. I could certainly feel thee pins a bit more this time round after the 10 mile run on Wednesday, but I did a little warm-up, or warm down run, depending on your classificaation on Friday with a girl from work. Only 5 kms, but just took it nice and easy to see how the shins were. And no too bad at all to be honest.

So today, 10th June was the longer run day, and I was going to try for 14 miles, but I only did 10 in the end, mainly because I was massively dehydrated, which was a bit silly really as I knew I was. I've overindulgedd a little this weekend, eating loads of pizza and beer at a friend of mine's house, who've just got engaged, and i certainly fel the after effects to be honest! However despite this, I actually went round a little quicker than Wednesday. It's really bizarre as Wednesday I felt awesome running around, but today I felt slightly sluggish, my hip was playing up on the downhills and i had the wrong socks on as well, yet I went round about a minute quicker. Really bizarre. Plus it was hotter today also, however it makes me realise i that really need to get properly hydrated when running and also get proper recovery drinks as well. I'm having a real craving for chocolate milk and strawberries when Ive finished running... very bizarre!

Anyhows... off to search t'interweb for new trainers and recovery drinks! Adious mes amis!

Training 06.06.07

Well I had some acupuncture yesterday and I have to say it's done me bloody wonders... did about 3 miles yesterday, just getting home, had teh acupuncture and despite the dull achey feeling for a bit afterwards, the run today was awesome. Did 10 miles in just over 1h 20 mins and was amazed at how easy it felt. Could ahve carried on, but was getting a little bit dark. Anyway, another session tomorrow mornning, so we'll see how we get on!

Half-marathon day

Well more training and after having had some physio on Thursday, my shins feel quite good. Not bad given the state they were in on Wednesday night! It seems that i have my physio, the muscles loosen up and it's fine running for a few weeks, and then they tighten up and we start the process all over again.

Anyway, back at my parents today in Tanworth-in-Arden, and mapped myself out a 13 mile route. Although the reality is that it's around 14 miles with all the hills and stuff, but went round in just over 1h 50 mins with 5Kgs on the back, and it was a hot day... so really pleased. But think it's mainly due to the fact that Ive had the physio and the muscles are much looser. Next stop, Tuesday and Thursday next week, and some aqupuncture... brilliant cant wait!

Training 30.05.07

Another day... blimey two years of this! Hahahahahahaha... well off for a little 6 miler tonight, and after 1/2 a mile the old shin splints kicked in really badly, so rather than stop (as physically the run wont have benefitted me), I thought I'd use this as a bit of mental training, and for four miles it hurt like buggery! But then it started to ease off for some reason! Anyway, we'll see how it feels tomorrow! Oh and yeah, went round in 50 mins... bit slow, but then wasnt really trying to go too quickly because of the shins!

Training 29.05.07

G'day one and all... another week (well Tuesday after Bank Holiday) and such minging weather! Anyway, just a quickie tonight... nice easy 3 mile run and then 12 mile bike ride up and down hills in Richmond Park... all good, but all with 10kgs on the back as well... easy life!

Training 27.05.07

Another day, and some more training... except this time I thought it would be genius to go at 10pm at night when teh rain was hammering down adn the wind was swirhling around... try and mimic some shite conditions. And to be honest, it wasnt too bad. Did just under 8 miles it just over an hour... but all good and the shins seem to be OK to. Just the hip that was giving me a bit of grief, but bit of mental strength to tell me that it didnt hurt at all, and around we went... next stop cycle ride tomorrow... nice... so this is what i have to look forward to for the next 2 years!

Training 24.05.07

Well it's been a while since i last posted, mainly due to the slight set-back I had with the shins, but am pleased to say that it looks like things will be sorted out and I'm hopeful that all is going to be OK.

*Steph, thanks for the comment too, nice to know that finally someone has found the blog! I guess really, it's a way for me to keep track of the training I'm doing really more than anything, but hopefully it will grow and others will participate. I'm also registered with the MDS2009 forum too.

So having had a bit of physio just over a week ago, and being told "You can train if you want, but it's up to you" (don't you just love physios!)... i have decided to start training again, and by the looks of it things seem OK... so far so good. I went for a few steady 3 milers to begin with, and then last Sunday (20th May), went for around an 8 miler around Richmond Park, which all went OK, and just over an hour... not bad given the amount of booze I piled down my neck at our rugby club dinner over the weekend... polished that off with a 3 miler last night as well... just to keep things ticking over too.

I've also started cycling a lot more too, and have done a couple of 13 mile bike rides after work, just to keep things going. The tonight I decided to do a slightly longer 11 mile run, and went round in about 1h 35 mins... but decided to walk the last couple of miles home, as to be honest i was running like a dick! My mate who's done the MDS says walking is just as important as running... as is cycling too as it's all good cross training. So am taking to do lots of walks as well. So back on track and so far so good... but lots more physio to have. I've got a feeling I'll be seeing a lot of my physio, Parys over the next 2 years!

Training - 08.05.07

I knew this time would come, and my shins are once again buggered, but this time have a horrible feeling i may ahve a stress fracture. Went for a run in the morning, couple of miles... felt a bit sore. But still decided to go for a 6 miler in the evening... however 3 miles in the shins were in a mess, so had to get the bus home... anyway, got to get a docs appointment and see a physio... have a feeling i could be visiting the physio quite a bit over the next 2 years!

Training - 06.05.07

Went for a nice 14 mile run today with around 6 KGs on the back and went round in around 2 hours, so not bad at all... felt pretty good afterwards!

Training... again :) 01.05.07

Ahhh more training! And the event is still around 2 years away! Well a couple of runs to update on. Went on an 8 miler yesterday, however i did have my entire weekends belongings with me, which i reckon was about between 10-12 Kgs, so a pretty heavy whack on there! However time was not bad coming in at 68 mins... although i do need to stop worrying so much about times as I know it will all go to pot when I get out in the desert.

The this evening, did a gentle 6 miler, coing in at around 56 mins, but with only about 4kgs on the back... also did a 3 mile run into work this morning as well... probably over doing it a little this week... but good to test myself.

Laters

Training 24.10.07

Evening all, well after a chest infection for the last week and a half or so, training has been a little disjointed in April, but back on track tonight. Despite not feeling 100% fit still, managed to do a little 6 mile run in around 48 mins, but only with around 3kgs on the back. Still not too bad, and can definately feel that my stamina is getting better. I now think of 6/7 milers as fairly easy/light runs, so good news. Anyway the plan is to keep going with two 6-8 milers per week, and then a longer 13 mile run on a Sunday. That should be a minimum of around 25-29 miles a week, which I'll carry on doing from April to the end of June. From June-August, I'll be uping this to two 10-12 mile runs a week, with a 14-16 mile run on a Sunday. This should get me up 34-38 miles a week. Then from September to December I'll up this again, doing two 12-14 mile runs twice weekly, with an 18-20 miles run on a sunday, so that will be 42-48 miles a week. This should get me to marathon fitness by the end of the year... and then from next year onwards, I'll up the training nights to 4-5, with some cross-training and walking. My mate has just done this year's marathon des sables, and he says its vey important to walk as well as do running. Laters folks!

Training 10.04.07

Hey one and all... well just me at the moment! Been away for a little while on holiday and a couple more runs down the line. Did one run in Thailand, thought it would be nice to see what it's going to be like in the desert. Went for a run on the sand for about half and hour and it's tough going, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Last Saturday I did a nine mile run, which was really good as it had lots of ups and downs (hills basically)... so completed that in about 1h 10 mins.

And then tonight, did a quick 8 mile run in around 1hour 3 mins, with quite a heavy backpack on as well... so decided to push it a bit harder tonight. So training all going fairly well... just need to make sure I keep this thing up to date!

Speak soon one and all...

Training 18.03.07

Well i did the half-marathon today, well my own half marathon running around the streets of London! I think 13 miles is the furthest i've ever run in my life and to be honest, at 1h 48 mins, I was pretty happy. I had the backpack as well, but only had about 3-4kg on, so not the normal weight I would carry, but still pretty happy with that time, especially on a bottle of wine last night as well ;)

The first couple of miles were a bit achey, with the shins hurting, but once I got into my rhythm, all was good... but when I hit about 11 miles things started to seize up quite a bit, but overall, pretty happy with the run today. Just need to do much more of them now!

Training 17.03.07

Done a couple of shortedd runs this week... need to find the time to get more doe to be honest, so did a few 3 milers... nothing special, but managed to strain my hamstring a little over doing it on Thursday morning! Also went for an 7.5 miler on Wednesday evening too, and shins were a little sore for the following few days. Think I went round the 7.5 miler in around 62 mins... not too bad with full backpack on again. Whilst it's knackering runnning with the backpack, it's going to do me some good in the long term! Am going to try a half marathon tomorrow, 13 miles... see how we go!

Training

Well after getting accepted and going for a little 8 mile run on Monday (5th), and somewhat pushing myself a little to see where i am fitness wise, i guess the training really does begin. Although the event is two years away, I really think I need to start training now, and so I have. I guess for the next 3 months, I'll look to do 2-3 8-10 mile runs a week, just to build up the miles and the stamina, and then go from there!

I think the reality of what i'm doing has hit a little now as well. People at work think I'm stupid, in fact most people do, but that makes me even more determined to be honest. So off I went for a run tonight, a nice little 9 1/2 miler, which i did in just under 1hr 20 mins, and thats with my backpack on and about 8kgs in there. To be honest I'm quite happy at this stage, the shins are holding up, as I've been suffering for the last few years with shin splints... but so far so good!

Who and Why?

Thought i might be time to actually expalin who and I and why I'm doing this. Well, the name's Dan, but you've probably looked at my profile already. I'm 28 (at time of writing), live and work in London as a PR consultant. I'm originally from a tiny village in Warwickshire called Tanworth-in-Arden and I guess I've always been facinated by doing challenges.

The way I look at it, 'will I regret it in 30 years time if I dont do it?' The answer is probably 'yes', and whilst I know doing this race is going to hurt like hell, it's that challenge that inspires me to do it. Last year, after many years of just thinking and not actually doing, I climbed Kilimanjaro, which was an amazing experience. However there has to be more. Ultimately I want to climb Everest. I think that is the ultimate goal of anyone in my kind of mindset, however I heard about the Marathon Des Sables whilst watching a programme on channel 4. I can't remember what it was called, but it featured a guy called Chris Moon (http://www.chrismoon.co.uk/about.htm), a minefield deposal expert, who in the early 1990's was kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge. Whilst escaping he lost a leg when walking over a mine... and towards the end of the programme he showed him completing the Marathon Des Sables, and I thought... 'I can do that'.

So here we are, I registered and got accepted today and I'm so excited. Even though it's 2 years away, I went for a little 8 mile run this evening with about 10kg on my back. It's not the first run I've done, I got a little excited last week and went for a nice 8 miler as well. But here begins the training, 2 years of torture and pushing myself.

The aim of this blog is to not only share my experiences of training and leading up to the event, but I hope that others competing in the event, be it this year, 2008 or 2009 will share their thoughts too.

Accepted!

Well here it is, the start of two years of immense hard-work, training and down right graft! Today (I think), I've got a place on what is called the toughest race on earth... the Marathon Des Sables... to give you a taster, this is what it's all about:

Why this IS the toughest footrace on Earth?
It covers 243km/151 miles (in sections similar to 25, 34, 38, 82, 42, 22 km) run over 6 days (7 for some) - equivalent to 5 1/2 regular marathons. That's a speed of between 3 and 14 km an hour for competitors aged between 16 and 78). In addition to that, competitors have to carry everything they will need for the duration (apart from a tent) on their backs in a rucksack (food, clothes, medical kit, sleeping bag etc). Water is rationed and handed out at each checkpoint.

You will have to prepare all your own food throughout the race and I warn you that there is not a chain of Tesco stores or corner grocery shops dotted around the Sahara. You will experience mid-day temperatures of up to 120°F, of running or walking on uneven rocky, stony ground as well as 15 - 20% of the distance being in sand dunes.

The heat, distance and rubbing will trash your feet and may cause severe trauma if incorrect shoes and equipment are used. Mental stamina probably constitutes at least 50% of whether you will complete the distance or not. Physical fitness is important but don't underestimate the mental stress that you will need to endure. Even if you have run dozens of 26 mile marathons, this does not mean that you will automatically find the MdS easy - either way you will be planning to do lots of training prior to the MdS.

On the 4th day, you will set off across the barren wilderness to complete a 45 - 50 mile stage. Few people complete this before dark that evening and some will not come in till after dark the next night. This is followed by the 42km Marathon stage!! Its tough, so don't say that nobody warned you in the strongest terms.

Whilst the race is two years away, I'm going to start my training now, with regular updates and postings on this website, and when the race day comes... hopefully a diary of how it's all going. The plan is to also raise a significant sum of money as well for Cancer Research UK. Some say I'm a nutter, some ask why I'm doing it? Well I'm doing it because it's there....