The long-awaited report...

Why and how...

Quite simply, one of the best experiences of my life. Billed as the toughest foot race in the world, many believe that this race can no longer lay rights to this claim. In all honesty, this probably isn’t the toughest race in the World in terms of the terrain you encounter – but who cares? It’s one of the best experiences you’ll ever have in the World and in your life.

I’m not one who likes to enter the dick swinging that can go on in some races. I enter these things to challenge myself, and as a result, the race is as hard or as easy as you like to make it. But isn’t that true of any race? Each time I run ask myself – ‘did I give it my all and leave nothing out on the course?’

Sure, you can get through the MDS on little training, and meet cut-offs by 30 minutes each day if you like. That makes the MDS pretty easy. However, if you want to push your boundaries then this is a hard race. One of the British guys spoke with Mohammed Ahnsal at the finish, the eventual winner. He said this was the toughest MDS he’d raced in.

Given the injury issues I suffered just 3 months prior to this race, I’m very pleased with my position of 345th from 820 starters. It’s top half (tick number one). I’m in the top third of Brits (tick number two). And I improved my position each day, getting stronger as the race wore on (tick number three). As far as I’m concerned, I achieved what I set out to do. I ran the race that was placed before me and the years of training and effort made sure that everything went to plan. One of my best friends told me that ‘luck was for the ill-prepared – you are not ill-prepared, you will succeed by right in this race’. How right she was. There’s no use saying, ‘what if I hadn’t been injured?’ I can’t stand people who make excuses in races. The fact is, you deal with what you are dealt with and make the best of it. So with that, here’s my account of the MDS…

Middle of the pack
Let’s face it I’m not someone to set the world alight when it comes to running. I’m someone who can plod along hour after hour, week after week, clocking up the kilometres and being quite content at doing so – always striving to do my best. Of course it wasn’t always like this. I used to be quite quick, but then you grow up and beer and ladies come into your life!

At the age of 14, I was a decent 5km cross country runner, knocking out sub 4 minute kms for fun. However running didn’t really interest me much back then, and rugby took over my life. I played the beautiful game for nearly 20 years, and achieved some fairly decent things with school teams and clubs alike. But then I heard of the Marathon des Sables, and like most ignorant wanna-be runners, thought that this was a pinnacle to reach. I was becoming slightly ‘tired’ of the rugby. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but the aches and the pains would take longer to heal, and something about that individual nature and mental tests of running yearned for me back to come and try it again.

A few more enquiries into the MDS saw that applications had to be made two years in advance – this was going to be a long project. The thought of four months marathon training was enough, but two years seemed like a long time. However there are times in people’s lives when the straight and narrow makes a deviation. A close friend of mine died from cancer at the age of 27, that hit me hard. Then my father contracted the disease, and fortunately came through. I also read about Chris Moon, a land-mine expert who cruelly lost two of his limbs in an accident. He went on to do the MDS, and these chain of events confirmed my belief that this was something that had to be seriously looked at – little did I know the world it would expose me to and the vast array of running that lay ahead.

In March 2007, on one grim grey morning in my Hammersmith office, I sat waiting for 9am to come around. It was first come, first served, so I needed to be super-fast to try and secure a place. The British system, is well, a lottery (and a farce as I would later find), and it was survival of the quickest to get the details down. 9am came and I busily typed as fast as possible, whacking down my £500 non-refundable deposit for a race I knew little about, or how to even train for. I was going into this pretty blind, but in hindsight was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

A few days later I received confirmation that I was in. There was a massive sense of elation that I had got into this race. It seemed so wild and plain ridiculous to even attempt to do this, that even a finish for me would have been fantastic. Whilst I was enthusiastic about the race, disappointingly, others were not. A few people whom I thought would share my enthusiasm, did not think I could even complete the race – still it was all the motivation needed to go ahead and do this. But where do I start? How do I train? What kit do I need? Lots of questions and very little answers.

As with most of these things, the internet is a great source of information, and a few searches later saw me come across a forum that had been set-up by one of the other 2009 entrants. Information on how to prepare for this race was few and far between, and the forum was set-up just as the new wave of social media started to hit.

Over the coming years, this forum would not only provide some great advice on what to do and how do to it – it would also serve as the breeding ground to form Tent 92 out in the Sahara. Four Scots (unfortunately) and four English would go against each other like times of old, but ultimately become rocks of support for each other as we all went through out own personal hell at various stages of the week.

There is now a plethora of advice on this forum, and its no coincidence that British runners are getting better and better at the MDS. A few years ago, there was an impression that the Brits in the MDS were a bit of a joke. However, these ‘jokers’ had now turned into seriously well prepared athletes with a great attitude in the true British Bull Dog spirit.

As for the training in the build-up to the race, I owe gratitude of thanks to people in the ultra-running community over in Australia. I’m constantly inspired by the dedication and commitment that some of these people show. I’ve made some good friends too, and although they don’t maybe realise, I really look up to them and they make me push myself harder. I think I just drifted in my training initially, but having found my way into this world, I’m very pleased that I did. Coming to Australia to live was one of the best moves I ever made. To train here and run here with like-minded people is a joy I thank my lucky stars for everyday.

I am competitive to myself in my training, and that saw me pick up a stress fracture in November 2008, right after the Great North Walk (a 175km continual race in the bush). I bailed at 103kms, and I was livid with myself for doing so. I felt like I’d let myself and my friends down. In fact it’s the best thing to happen to me, as it’s taught me to never give up. I have a feeling that this will be my one and only DNF. Right after the GNW, I pushed myself harder and harder until one evening around the Bay Run in late November I felt something in my left leg ping. I carried on. It hurt every time I stopped training, but I still carried on. I did a 12 hour ultra in early January 2009 and this was the final straw. An X-ray revealed a fractured fibula. The stress fracture had developed further and I had actually fractured my leg. Shit. This was bad news. I rested for three months and three weeks prior to the MDS I started very light training around a grass track near the Bay Run. 13 kilometres was the furthest I ran before the MDS. I was shitting myself on the inside as to whether the leg would hold up in the MDS. So much time, money, effort, sweat, tears and blood had been spent in the 18 month build-up. This could not stop me...

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D-day
Arriving at Gatwick Airport on Thursday 26th March was like arriving at a Raidlight convention. Me, being a smart arse arrived in full running gear including trainers and gaiters, thinking that everyone else would do the same… on no. Muggins here was the only one daft enough and paranoid enough to do this. Everyone else was far more sensibly dressed, but then again I’m not everyone else.

The queuing for the check-in was the first in a long line of queuing that would become our second most time consuming activity after running. It seems we all love a queue, and whilst training is a core part of this event, so is the ability to have extreme patience. Nothing is ever easy, but then it wouldn’t be fun and rewarding if it was, would it? What it does do is give you a good chance to meet with various people in the race, chat to them, and generally get paranoid about the kind of gear they have compared to you!

After the very uneventful check-in procedure, it was off to meet the rest of what was to become, Tent 92 (although it was tent 85 first – more later on that). We had the team from Hot (Fat) running in with us, plus another jock in the form of Rab Lee, chief sleeper and holder of the record for more hours slept than run in an MDS. Additionally we had four from the right side of the border, in Nottso, Ivan and Cavey.

We left the hotel, and it started to rain. Not a good start. But the start line was seven hours away, it would be fine there . However the further we went, the more it rained. After what seemed like an age, we arrived at the edge of a road. It was tipping it down. I was not in a good mood. The thought of being in a tent in that weather was not a pleasant thought. I was more concerned about my kit getting wet more than anything. I could deal with me being wet, just not the kit. Suddenly the idea of packing a Gortex jacket seemed very sensible.

We were transported from the bus to some army trucks for around 7 kms. The camp was already erected, but there were mini rivers running through the campsite. The British end was the worst I think. I chose what I thought was the best tent and put the bags down. The water was rushing past outside. The tent next to us had the river running through it. It was now building up at our end, so drastic action was called for... time to start digging a trench!

We must have dug around the tent for a good hour as night was beginning to fall when we got word that we were moving to the press tents for the night, which were vaguely drier and more enclosed. However no sooner had we been there for thirty minutes when we were told it was evacuation time.

In some respects it was a relief to be getting out. The situation was becoming a farce, and the ground was turning into a quagmire. After some scram, it was time to get out and within the hour we were in a hotel – amazing that they could find us a hotel at such short notice. We were to stay here three nights whilst the course was drastically re-routed and day one cancelled. A disappointment, but the reality is that this race was very close to being called off. The fact that we were going to race was the main thing, so after a lot of hanging around, we set off on the Monday morning, straight to the start line and ready to go.

Day 1: 31kms – 5hr 04mins – 450th
After so much waiting around, it was a massive relief to be ready to actually start this thing. In the build up, I think we all took it for granted that we would actually be doing this race and did not actually realise just how close it was to being called off. The start-line was slightly surreal for me. It wasn’t as emotional as I thought it would be, more one of eager anticipation for a number of reasons. Firstly because of the delays, but more importantly, I really did not know how I was going to hold up at all. The whole issue with the fractured leg was really playing on my mind and there was a very real chance that it could all go wrong today, the first day. I was in a cautious mood, and just praying that the leg would hold up.

There was also the distance too. In the 3 months preceding this race, the longest I’d ran was 13kms. Although I didn’t make it public, I seriously doubted my ability to do this, and with the issues surrounding how hard to go, I was understandably worried.

So the countdown came along and off we went. As I’d been told, people tend to start with a bang and go out quite hard, and this year was no exception. However I kept telling myself to run my race, not someone else’s. I decided on a run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute for the first 3kms, as it was gravel until we hit the sand dunes… all 14kms of them. This was the section they started off with last year as well, but in all honesty, I was really looking forward to them. And enjoy them I did. You kind of lose the sense of moving slowly because you’re so in awe of the dunes and taking in the surroundings whilst you run/walk. However schoolboy error number one was soon upon me. The previous evening I’d taped a number of my toes. Silly me should have taped the lot, as I eventually did at the end of day one. Should I have taped any of them? Well in hindsight I think I should have left them alone, but hey, it’s done now. The little toe was taped and had started to rub against the toe next to it, giving it a nice blister only 7kms into the race. Fortunately it was only a layer or two of skin deep, so a quick pop and some tape saw it right. However in cutting my toenails, I realised that I’d forgotten to cut one of them, and that had now dug nicely into the skin giving me blister number two. Such an idiot. Whilst in the sand repairing my feet, a lovely French lady came along and helped me apply my tape to my feet. She didn’t need to, and normally I like to do it myself, but she was being nice (for a Frenchie ), so I let her help me, and I thought it was extremely thoughtful of her.

So now taped off, and losing 5 minutes, I was on my way. After 14.5kms I reached CP1 (yipeee, first hurdle overcome and the furthest I’d run in 3 months!). I barely even stopped here and just shifted on. Surprisingly I’d caught up with Ivan and a few others who were taking a breather, I thought they’d be well ahead of me given the stoppages I’d had. So a quick hello and I was out of there like a shot.

The next stage was 9kms of long straight rocky flats. Normally this is where I excel, but I found this quite hard for some reason, and was down to a run 5 minutes, walk 1 minute strategy. I think it had got a fair bit hotter by this stage, but onwards I pushed. It was at this stage I really started to notice the backpack too. Again, due to the injury, I’d done little in the way of training with a pack. I’d done some biggish distances with 9-10kgs on my back, but not for 3 months, and well, it hurt. However I kept telling myself that it’s only pain. The straps weren’t digging into me or anything, it was all muscular. I think I have a bit of an advantage here in that my old second row rugby days really helped out. Game after game I would have the force of the opposition scrum striking through my shoulders. Scrum practice after scrum practice was far worse than 10kgs on the back, I was just being a bit of a whinger!

Towards the end of the 9kms flat I could feel the blisters giving me issues. I was only 1km from the CP, but I had to stop, assess and take care of them. I think I did this pretty well over the course of the week. If the feet needed looking at, I did it pretty much there and then. I think that’s why my feet didn’t deteriorate too badly. Some people where in a right state, and whilst I can’t speak for them, one has to ask if they just kept on walking with badly blistered feet for 20-30kms, because that’s how you get yourself in that kind of state. Who knows….

At CP2 I caught up with Ivan again who’d overtaken me on the flats. We had a quick rest for 5 minutes, got some fluid and a bit of food down us and pushed on. The final section of today’s 33kms, was undulating hills over some quite green territory, and a final 3 kms of sand dunes. I took a painkiller at this point and boy does it help… I felt like I was flying in this last 10kms or so. It was actually a feature of each day for me. I made it my mission to pass as many people as possible in the last section of each day, and very very very rarely did people pass me. It’s not like I was competing against them. I was actually competing against myself and the clock. Which brings me onto another point. You see so many people trying to compete in the last 400-500 yards of each day. The reality is that it’s not about gaining places on one given day. It’s about the time you do each day in. I had worked out a rough speed and time for each day, and in all honesty, it went perfectly. The fact that I set myself a mission to pass people on the last leg of each stage was just a game I played with myself.

So as I hit the dunes at the end of day one with 3kms to go, I felt good. Good that here I was covering 33kms and the leg had held up. Good that it had been a beautiful day’s running, and good that I was just glad to have the opportunity to compete in this race.

After a bit of scram (Chicken Tikka I think), we hit the sack at 7:30pm. It felt weird going to bed this early – it’s not natural. I got some kip, but as was the theme all week, I really only got 3-4 hours of good kip each night. I need comfort, and sleeping rough is not comfortable, but you make do. At least I’d brought a pillow!

Around 4am, it was markedly cold. The wind was also howling through the tent and the PHD minim ultra was not as warm as I had expected, even with a liner in. Still it just about kept me warm enough, but getting up on the morning of day two was very hard.

Day 2: 36kms – 5hrs 34mins – 421st
It was cold this morning, but cold for the desert. It wasn’t going to be this bad all week was it? It took ages to get out of bed, and I think I just stayed on my sleeping bag as I ate my Granola and berries for brekkie.

As the course had been a complete washout, we didn’t know where we would be racing until that very morning. So as I went to collect some water, we were given our route maps. To be honest, as I’m a middle of the pack person, there’s always someone nearby, even at night, so I never once looked at the map or used a compass. For some people they need to, but I was fine.

At 9am for the start, it was still bitterly cold, and I made the decision to wear leggings, keeping them on all day, even as it got hotter. The first leg was another 14km section, and involved 7kms of undulating hills once again. I came to realise over the week that the first section of each day I really didn’t enjoy all that much. I think it just took me that time to get the legs going. Considering the 31kms from the previous day, I was actually feeling pretty good over this first 7kms. However at this point, the blisters started to give me jip again, so stop I did and sort those feet out. I did it right next to one of the French photographers who was trying to take pictures of the French. I don’t think she liked me stopping there as I was in her way, but I thought ‘stuff her’ I’m racing, she’s mincing – deal with it!

I wasn’t happy though. I thought I was going to get real grief all week now because of some silly schoolboy errors on day one. But patch my feet up I did once more and on my way I was. Again 5 minutes of faffing at the start cost me 50 places I reckon. Then we hit some little sand dunes we called dunettes. I was not in a happy place now, and was not enjoying myself one bit. Everything was crap. The backpack hurt (me being a whinger again), my feet hurt and I was moving sluggishly across the dunes. Surprisingly however I did the first 14kms in 2 hours, which was above my average, so I couldn’t have been moving that slowly.

I decided to have a bit of a rest at CP1 and get the composure together again. I smashed down a pepperami (Jesus I wish Id brought more of these. They are the food of Gods). I had a quick drink and off I went. The next 10kms was again, more rocky flat running and here I did well. After a shaky start on this in the first stage yesterday, I pretty much ran the entire 10kms (apart from a few hills), and made good time and places once again. It’s funny because you play cat and mouse with the same runners, and find yourself at their pace throughout the entire race. It is funny though when you keep seeing them time and time again.

After a good second leg on day two, the final leg (around 12kms), was another easy flat and runnable section. However I made a decision here to power walk the entire thing, and with that, be very strict with myself and not run at all. We had the big day coming up tomorrow, and there would be plenty of time to run in that. In hindsight this proven to be a very good decision for me. I can walk pretty quickly, and I managed to knock this section off in way under 1hr 30mins from what I recall. The funny thing here as well is that in walking at around 7.5kms an hour, I was moving quicker than when I was running, and also overtaking quite a few runners on this last stage. I don’t mean to sound like a twat, but I think it really pissed a few runners off that here I was power walking this leg, and I was overtaking people who were running. In all, I passed about 30 runners, and again I played the game with myself. Only this time I pretended that everyone in front of me was a guy called Jan Herrman. He’s an amazing walker on the ultra scene, and walks all of the races he does, and finishes extremely well too. So I made it my mission to try and pass all of the Jan Herrman’s and put in a stellar walking performance to get ready for the big day on day three. Little did we know just how big it was going to be.

I had a feeling they might extend the long day, and how right we were. I was feeling pretty good after two days, and I was no longer worried about my ability to complete the distance. It’s amazing just how much the mental part plays in doing these races. I felt like I’d never had the 3 months off, and physically I was feeling pretty good. I was a little stiff, but given I’d just done the biggest back to backs in my running career, I was feeling positive about the long day. I knew here that I could make up some serious places, as quite a few people would take the two days to do the long day.

When we were told that we were doing 91kms, I knew this would play to my strengths even more. I knew that I was more determined and wanted this section more. I’ll add again that this is not about competing against others, I’m competing against myself to do the best I can. I don’t know the people who are in front of me, but all I wanted to do was do myself justice.

I was actually a little disappointed that we were doing 91kms, they should have just rounded it off to 100kms, that would have been magical, but at 78kms I wasn’t going to complain as we shall see 

Feeling good after two days racing, quads a bit sore

Day 3: 92kms – 17hrs 53mins – 347th
This morning was much warmer than yesterday, and for that I was very thankful. I didn’t have to stay cooped up in the sleeping bag, and could get on with some proper admin for breakfast. The order of the day was two oatmeal bars, coming in at a whopping 460 calories each – although I was a little sick of these it had to be said. They tasted great in Australia, and I’d lap them up all the time, but by day three I was a little sick of them. I think that’s the key to the whole eating thing out there. It’s far too easy to think of calories and replicate food each day without thinking how you’re going to feel after eating the same thing for 5 days straight. If I were doing this again, I’d vary things each day so that I’m not eating the same two things all of the time. Still I got by fairly well and wasn’t too displeased with my food efforts – I know some people who were a lot worse and were plain sick of the things they had by the end of the week.

I have to admit to not feeling the greatest again at the start of what was to be the longest ever long day in the history of the MDS. I was tired, and if I’m honest, a little sore from two 30 plus km days. I kept telling myself however at the start line that this is what I came here for, and in hindsight it was this day that made the MDS this year. I decided from the off that I would pretty much walk the first leg, but needed some motivation. It was here that I used my ipod for the one and only time I ran. I needed something to kick start me, and with Buzz N’ Fly banging in my ears I set-off at a very brisk Jan Herrman-esq pace along the course. In fact I was going so quickly again that I was being held up by runners on some of the single track. I think the distance to the first CP was just a shade under 14kms, and I remember getting sore feet again at about 10kms, so when we entered a field of rocks, I decided to start running at a slow pace to ease the feet somewhat. This seemed to do the trick and I was in CP1 just a shade after 2 hours – it was beginning to get hot. I didn’t want to hang around here as I’d just got the body warmed up, so a quick re-fill of the drinking bottles, a few handfuls of nuts, and we were off.

It was here that we entered a long dry wadi for around 3-4kms, and it was fairly slow going. I was still running but at the grand old pace of 6-7kms an hour... nothing spectacular, but nice and steady. We then entered some lush green rolling hills, and by this time I was bouncing and feeling good. The body was up and running and I distinctly remember this section as being one of my favourites of the whole race. I felt alive and so lucky to be here doing the MDS, and the fact that today was going to be a great challenge for us. I remember thinking that everything around me was awesome and it made me realise why I took up this wonderful sport in the first place.

Onwards and upwards I went, and I soon began to overtake quite a few people. By this time, many people had started to walk. It always baffled me this. Many people would start the day running, and within 10-15kms, they’d be battered and begin walking. It was far too early to be walking in my opinion and although we were now facing a very strong headwind of around 50-60km/ph, I decided it was far more comfortable to be running. Again, I wasn’t going quickly, but slowly and surely I was overtaking people and was beginning to move up the field here. Before long I was upon CP 2 and 26kms into the day.

I must admit to feeling a little jaded here. It was getting hot and my food intake was a little low. It was here that I caught up with Ivan, my tent mate and the entire time, there was only 10 minutes between us in the whole race. He was taking a little breather, so I sat next to him, got a bit of food down me and also guzzled down half a litre of Powerade. If there’s anything I would have done differently, it would to have been to bring shitloads more of my powered Powerade. After two days on water and Hammer caps, I was getting sick of water. The taste of Powerade was lush. Fortunately I hadn’t had all of my days quota of the stuff from the previous days, so I was in surplus and used it all to good effect over the course of the next 70kms of so, but boy do I wish I’d brought more of it. If anything, I didn’t bring enough supplements and powders. Because they don’t count as calories, I didn’t see much point in bringing them, but if I had my time again, I would have gone even lower on the solid food and brought more Powerade powder instead. In hindsight it’s how I get through ultras over here as well... but I just didn’t think!

Anyway, not to worry. 15 minutes, a bit of powerade and some nuts later I was feeling good, and off I went just ahead of Ivan. However he soon caught me up and we started to run together across what was now some rolling green hills towards CP3. I kept telling myself that it was CP to CP – don’t think about the big distance, and I was still really enjoying myself here. I began to pull away from Ivan on the flats as this was where I was really at home. Long straight flats as far as the eye can see, and where I could pick up the pace somewhat. The wind was still very strong and straight into our faces, but push on I did, entering some flat sandy areas that were tough going, before once again hitting the lush rolling green hills.

It was just as I was entering CP3 that the leaders started to come through, and the actual leader just beat me into the CP... Amazing given that they’d started some 3 hours after us. They just flew by, it was awesome to watch and everyone would stop and clap them as they went on by.

Ivan had made up some ground as I sat down at CP 3 and we again refuelled and drank some more. I also smashed down a pack of flame-grilled steak McCoys crisps which really hit the spot, and we were off again across the barren land to CP4. This was a fairly long leg of 14kms, and the wind was still smacking us straight in the face. It was tough going here towards CP4 and the 50km marker. I think at this stage, both Ivan and I knew we were going to be sticking together for the rest of the stage. Nothing was said between us yet, but I think we were both comfortable running together and still very much in buoyant mood.

Towards the end of this leg, we caught up with another British female (name escapes me), and we ran/walked with her towards CP4. At around 45kms, both Ivan and I were starting to feel it somewhat and were low on energy. It was late afternoon, and we both needed some decent food in us. We made a call to spend a good hour at CP4 getting some food down us and to get our bodies ready for the final 42kms of the stage.

CP4 couldn’t come soon enough and in the last 2kms before it, I was feeling pretty rank. I needed some energy and rest, but the wind was truly harsh. The CP was out in the middle of a plain and very exposed and despite being in the bivouac, the wind blew strongly through the make-shift shelter. CP4 was to be the resting place of those who couldn’t make the cut off of 1am, and would be forced to rest there the night. I for one would not want to be sleeping in such an exposed place, so was glad that we hit the CP 7 hours ahead of cut-off, which were very generous.

Here Ivan and I decided to have a full blow meal, so I smashed down a Mountain House spag bol. I demolished the thing in just under 3 minutes. Not a wise idea as I was soon to find out. Some repairs to the feet and I was ready to move within half an hour, but I’d already made my mind up in my head that I wanted to stick with Ivan for the long stage – it proved a wise decision.

With bellies full of food and a good hour’s rest, Ivan and I set off from CP4 at 7pm for the trek home. We tried to run, but our bellies wouldn’t allow it... not even at our slow pace. However out running was forcibly stopped within a kilometre when we hit some rather large dunes. The irony was that the first 50kms of terrain had been relatively easy, little did we know that the next 42kms were going to be some of the toughest of the entire race, at night and with tired bodies.

We kept going up and down over some big dunes, which was pretty energy sapping. However before long we were back into some desert and if I’m honest... loving it. The night was clear, the stars were in full force and Ivan and I stopped to take in the amazing night view. This again was one of those moments which you remember for the rest of your life. The night stage of the MDS, a sky covered in stars and some awesome sand running to get your teeth into. Sand soon turned into rock however and in the distance we could see the little lights on the backpacks of other runners which were compulsory to wear at night. The lights were heading upwards and we knew that we’d be going over a mountain, or jebel as they call it.

The going was tough and slow here as you watched your every step in an attempt not to go over on your ankle. Running soon turned into climbing, and up we went. We caught some other runners, and if I’m honest, it was very slow. I wanted to overtake, but as it was single track, you couldn’t, so patience was the order of the day here. Up we went, the route being difficult to make out, but in a schoolboy error, we just followed the people in front. Silly idea. We got to the top of the mountain and could see people on the far right way down below. Shit, we’d gone too high up this bloody thing! I was really pissed off at myself for following others, and really thought that we were going to lose around 45 minutes back tracking and getting down the other side. I decided to sod those in front of me and push on. Ivan fell however and I wasn’t about to leave him alone. I know what it’s like to fall, especially in the dark and your confidence goes momentarily. I waited for him, we found a way down and before long we were back on track. I reckon we only lost 15-20 minutes as a result.

However I do what I always seem to do in these situations, and that’s try and make up for lost time – which I know I shouldn’t. I think Ivan was still a little shaken, so I took the lead here and the going was great underfoot. Although it was sand, it was downhill slightly and we could really move, so we pushed on fairly hard here. We hit some more dunes, and by this stage, Ivan was back in play and we were both loving this section.

However, the sand went on forever, in fact we had a whole 14kms of sand here and the sight of CP5 was very welcome. I was beginning to feel a little crap here though. Not sure why, but as we stopped and re-fuelled, I could tell that my body after 65kms was starting to throw a little tantrum. I’d been here before though, and can’t stress enough the virtues of getting out and doing some big mileage so that you know how your body reacts and what you need to do about it. For me, it’s simply about pushing on. You want to stop and rest, but you have to say ‘no’, and move, no matter how slow. The DNF I had in the GNW 175km race told me about this. I pulled out there at 103kms, having taken 2.5 hours of wrong turn. That DNF taught me about how to say no – I’m glad I did DNF in that race, because it mean that I knew how to cope with the tantrums my body would throw at me.

We left CP5 and I was getting worse. Ivan was in good spirits I could tell, and started to talk to me. It was here I just had to tell him that chatting was not an option for me at the moment. I remember telling him that I would be OK, he would just have to lead me (almost pacer like), and I would just get my head down, focus on one step in front of the other and just get through this little bad patch. To make matters worse, this was some of the worst terrain of the entire course. It’s now infamously know as the ‘field of rocks’. Imagine you’ve run 70kms, your body is fecked and you want to stop and get your head down for a bit of a kip. Then you enter a wide expanse where all that is in front of you is little rocks and no clear footing. Each step is agony as your feet twist and turn and mash up the blisters already present on your heels. I hated this bit (at the time), and Ivan was just pulling away from me. It was all the incentive I needed to just keep him within range.

I’ll be honest here, Ivan dragged me through that section. He kept on pushing, and I just knew that I had to keep pace with him no matter what. He may have been 10 yards in front of me, but this was good for me. I didn’t feel the pressure of having to run beside him, just keep in touch.

Also, I’ll add here, get yourself a fairly decent head torch. I took the Petzl e-lite, which is fine around camp, utter shite across this terrain. Again, it was all the incentive I needed to keep in contact with Ivan to use his head torch as well!

The field of rocks came and went, and I the distance we could see the long laser beam they put out to signify where the checkpoint is. Normally they reserve this for the finish on the long day, but this time they’d put it at CP5. I thought they were playing an April Fool on us, it was after all April 1st, and maybe they told us that we were doing 92kms, but really it was a CP less. Still it was a hindrance more than anything else. You kept thinking that you were getting closer and closer, but it took an eternity to reach the damn thing.

The going underfoot was good here, and Ivan now started to really up the pace here and push it. I was weak at this point, but I wasn’t going to let him get away. I kept pace, but boy did it hurt. Eventually we reached the past CP, before the final 12kms home. I was pretty spent by now, and again, my head was saying ‘stop here, have a rest, finish in a few hours’. I needed something and like a saint he was Ivan boiled up some water for me, and I quaffed down a galaxy hot chocolate drink... beautiful!

I needed a rest though and Ivan was happy to oblige. Thirty minutes in total we had, far too long given that we only had 12kms to go, but hey, I guess I needed it. When we got up to go, I was still be a negative bugger inside my head, but push on we must. It was here that a guy called Chris was with us too. Ivan had done some climate chamber sessions with this guy, who was also a part-time cage fighter! Hardcore man! We started to run a little, but it was mainly uphill and better to walk at a brisk pace. We also came across one of the infamous camel spiders. Only a small one, but I was far too tired to pay much attention of grab a shot of it. Ivan and I pushed on fairly briskly and I was beginning to feel much better now. Chris, being slightly vertically challenged (!), was starting to fall behind our pace a little, whereas Ivan and I were striding forward now!

We started to chat more as we knew the end was in sight. The terrain became slightly difficult again with more ‘fields of rocks’, but nothing could stop us now as we walked at a healthy 6-7kms/ph. Before we knew it, the finish was in sight, and after 17hrs and 50mins, we had crossed the line and embraced each other. We’d done it, got through the long day, and in fairly good time as well.

I knew in my heart that today would make or break my MDS. If I could keep pushing and keep putting one foot in front of the other, I would make up a lot of places today, and make them up I did. In total, I jumped around 70 places, which was what I’d hoped for. Full credit to Ivan for digging me out of a hole for 15kms or so between CP5 and CP6. I was in a dark place, and he was great, just letting me deal with my own private hell, whilst taking us forward at a good pace.

We arrived at the tent just after 3am, and collapsed. Jamsie was already home, along with our South African import (who was a very good runner), and after a brief exchange, pulling out of kit I climbed into my bag and was asleep within seconds.

No sooner had I fallen asleep, did my eyes open in the early morning light to the sight of Jeremy arriving home at around 5:30am. He was breathing very heavily and just lying beside me having just got in. In looked in a bad shape, and was as we were to find out. He’d eaten just 6 liquorice allsorts all day, having succumbed to the sickness bug the previous night. How he’d done that stage on that little food I’ll never know, but he did. I told him to get into his bag otherwise he’d freeze to death. With that we fell asleep for another 2 hours, before another of our crew, Keith arrived home.

To say we were surprised at seeing Keith was an understatement. None of us knew what he’d been through that day, but he’d almost pulled the plug halfway just after starting the day. He’d been ill the night before too, and was suffering badly with dehydration. He made it to CP1 and was about to chuck in the towel. He was offered a drip and took 7 bags of IV – it made him a new man. Apparently one of the elites was with him, also suffering badly and the two were in almost dead last position, propping up the camels.

Onwards they marched for the entire route, simply walking the whole way and came home at 7:30am. We were all so pleased for Keith as he suffers badly with his body throwing him loads of curveballs. It was one of the highlights for me, seeing him finish and having battled through his own private hell. Races like this change people’s lives, and I’m sure it was change Keith’s.

One by one the guys arrived home, with chief sleeping beauty, Rab Lee getting in just after midday. The whole of tent 92 had made it through the day, and we were in buoyant mood ahead of the last stage, the marathon.

Day 4: 42.2kms – 5hrs 40mins – 331st
Today was the give it all and fuck it day. The time had been made up, and whilst there was not much to be gained in terms of placing today, it was more about pride and leaving everything out on the course for me. Others are happy to take it steady and just finish, which is equally fine. It’s all about what you want to achieve. For me, it’s testing myself once again.

Pretty much the entire day was run, bar the odd mountain climb and 4-5kms of sand dunes which made running hard, but from the start to CP1 was some good running to be had, bar the one jebel climb. I went through the first 11kms in 1hour 20mins, so we were moving fairly sharply here. I quick filling up of water bottle, some nuts and it was off again. Whilst only a short section of 7kms, at least 5kms of this was energy sapping dunes. They were tiny, but they were so bloody hard. I was really grinding to a bit of a halt here, and my own personal target of a sub 6 hour desert marathon was fading quickly, especially if we had more of the same for the rest of the course.

The next 9kms or so was much better in terms of terrain, but it was beginning to get hot now – around 40 degrees I reckon. I was feeling the heat, and the blister, which had now engulfed my entire little toe on my left foot was hurting a fair bit. The plan was to get to the final CP and sort it out.
This top couldn’t come soon enough, and Ivan and I reached it together, again a testament to how close we were for the entire race. He moved on fairly sharpish and I told him to go as I needed to do some running repairs, which I’m glad I did. It put me 10 mins behind him, but without it I would have been useless in the last stage of this year’s MDS.

So off I went at 1pm on the last leg. This was it. The last stage we would run, and there was just 15kms between me and the finish. I decided right from the off that walking was not an option for this leg, it has to be run (bar some steep hill climbs). We had around 5kms of dried wadi to cross first and it was very hot. The pace here was not quick (around 6.5km/ph), but I again started to pass people. I knew that in order to get this sub 6 hour marathon, the terrain had to be kind and I had to be a lot quicker. The current pace wasn’t going to see me do this.

Luckily for me, we hit a gravel road... finally the terrain I was made for! Others around me carried on at the same pace, I decided that the last 9kms of the MDS needed pushing as hard as my body would let me. It was here that I upped the pace to around 10-11km/ph... I was flying now. I was steaming past people, people I hadn’t seen all week.

It’s funny because on each day, you always see the same people i.e. those people close to you in the rankings. Today however I was in another place. Approximately 100 places up that on previous days and these people were alien to me. It makes me think that maybe I took it too easy on the first couple of days. But I can’t say that, as I didn’t know how my leg was going to hold up. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, so I can’t think about the what ifs.

I motored on and the sub 6 was definitely on now. I was even running up hills that earlier in the week I would have walked up. I could see that the people I was passing though I was stupid running up hills, but I was proving things to myself, not them. All the years of training hard, of pushing the body, of nearly being sick over the finish line, or smashing my quads to bits and through nearly fainting through sheer exhaustion were about this moment. I wanted to make sure that all that work paid off on smashing myself to bits in the final few kms.

We approached another field of rocks and had a climb up a hill in the distance. I knew we were close, and for some reason, I knew that just over that hill would be the finish line. I bounded up the hill, and as I came to top, there she was in the distance, about 2kms away. I have to admit that this was more emotional than actually crossing the finish line for me. All that sacrifice, all that not drinking, all those early morning starts, all those thousands of dollars spent competing in races and travelling to far flung places. I thought of the time I went to bed at 8pm one Saturday night to get up at 1:30am and drive 3 hours to the start of the Mudgee marathon, 3 hours from my home in Sydney. I remember nearly hitting a Kangaroo on the way as I made the desolate journey for the 7am start to a place I’d never knew of been to before.

I remembered how cold it was and the sacrifice I’d made. I remembered how I’d laboured round the course as I completed my second marathon in 7 days. All that effort and pain that I went through was for this moment.

A short, sharp run down the side of the mountain along the sand and I had a straight run in of around 2kms. Switch to 6th gear and engage quick running. I started to pass people and I felt bad. I don’t believe in taking other people’s places when you’re on the home straight. Or rather what I’m trying to say is that I’m not competing against them in the slightest. I’m competing against the clock and myself, so to all those I passed, please don’t think I was competing against you there, I was chasing my own tail.

I think I did those last 2 kms in just under 9mins... there’s still some pace in the old dog yet. And across the line I was... the medal was duly placed around my neck and before I knew it, a camera and microphone were in front of me and I was being interviewed. God knows if it made it to anywhere, but it was all a bit of a blur. As a PR professional I advise people on this shit all day long. Here I was the perfect example of how not to be interviewed. Long winded answers and generally just a mess. I didn’t care though. The medal was round the neck and it wasn’t coming off. Far too much time, effort and money had gone into it. No-one was taking it away. Others came to congratulate me and those who had finished around me. What was very special was those who had been pulled from the race came to shake my hand too. It must have been torture for them to see people finished and so happy, but I certainly appreciated their goodwill and strength for doing so.

So that was it. Job done. It felt kind of strange. I had a sense of calm elation as I’d finished. No heroics or fists in the air... it was all rather sedate and an air of quiet satisfaction. I said at the start that I’m not here for any dick swinging, and maybe that’s just my character to just sit there and take it all in. Sometimes I think that gets perceived as arrogant. I don’t mean it to though.

So am I happy? At the time of finishing, yes very much so. When you reflect on the race, you start to analyse and think what could have been done better. I said I would never go back. I’m already planning an assault in 5 years, where hopefully, if I can stay injury free, I want a crack at the top 100. I know it can be done, I need to train hard and have a bit of luck with no injuries. But for now, I’m very happy and so should everyone who finished. There’s no point getting caught up in the race against others. You should race yourself and your own goals, and in my case I felt I did just that.

So some thank-you’s? It feels like some kind of acceptance speech! But my fiancée Melody deserves a medal for putting up with me. I’m hard work when I run. We as runners are hard work, and she makes me see the balance I need to have. Sometimes I would get too caught up in running. She would be on the receiving end of some of my tantrums and she just deals with them. I owe her the world and hope that I can be everything she wants from a husband. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.

To those who made me get off my ass and do this in the first place. Running was always a part of me, and whilst rugby has dominated my life so far, I was always curious to get back into it. One of the reasons I signed up for the MDS was the extreme nature of the event. Natalie my friend my university was one of the reasons I chose to do this. She died at just 27... twenty bloody seven. That had a major impact on me. Why her? She went through utter shit. The MDS was easy compared to her suffering. Cancer is horrible, both my parents have had it and they survived. There’s a fair old chance it will strike me in the future I’m sure. But I’m ready for it if it wants to come my way. Life is for living and whilst this might sound like some happy clapper bullshit, you really do need to grab it by the bollocks and live it. I feel so lucky to have done this race. I am privileged to have competed and to have even graced that course. Even the times when I felt like shit and hurt like hell were an honour to be a part of. The truest judge of oneself is oneself. I live by the rule of ‘when I look myself in the eye... have I done and given everything... have I done myself justice?’... If the answer is no then I’m ashamed of myself, and I have to get back out there until I am proud.

Back in the U of the K

Hello people, I'm back in the UK and now sleeping... a lot! Just a quick note to say that I'll be posting a much longer and more in depth report on the MDS soon as my final posting for this blog. I'll then need to think of a new blog name as this little chapter will be closed. However, my running career is only just beginning. Already I'm thinking about how to structure the next 10 months, and some thought and plans are already brewing. Just a quick thank-you as well for all the support, well-wishers and training partners over the last few years - it's been a massive help to me, and I appreciate it. Long(er) report to follow in a few days. I've already started it, but it's going to be long I warn you, and contain some pretty pictures too!

MDS 2009 - Day 1 (message from Dan)

This one came through about a week after Dan would have sent it:


Not too bad, 33kms and the sand dune day. Took it real easy given the lack of training and came home in 5hr 15min or so. Temp was low, never really getting above 30 degrees, the sand dunes were amazing, and it makes 2 years of training for them even more worthwhile. Body is feeling good, but its early days yet. 39kms tomorrow i believe, and then the big one 80kms. The pack is the only bind. Carrying 9.5kgs hurts the shoulders, but it will only get lighter. it's just a relief to be out and running this after so much hard work. Liviung in the bivouacs as well is an experience and with 4 Scotsman, the banter is great. Bon chance...

MDS2009 - Final Day

Message from Dan:

So out with a bang today and a 5hr 40min marathon... ok so my slowest marathon yet, but off the back of a 91km 24 hours earlier... not bad hey. I think my final position is 342, so i have to be pleased with that given the injury issues.

It's been an experience, and most of the challenge is making sure you stay healthy. So many people get ill it's untrue - body management is the name of the game. For now, its time to relax, unwind and taste a beer or too...

MDS 2009 - Day 3 (message from Dan)

At the start the legs were pretty stiff, so i decided to walk the first 13 kms to CP1 given the distance today. It hurt to walk though, so from 13 to 50kms, Ivan and I pretty much ran and we felt good. The last 40kms were probably the toughest of the race so far. The terrain was brutally harsh. After the 50km checkpoint, it was 15kms of sand dunes. Beautiful, but tough work. The next 20kms were simply unforgiving rocks to navigate through. It was at this point I hit a massive low and the feet were in a bit of a state, but today was the day to make headway in the field, so no stopping. At 78kms I was almost on the edge and just wanted to stop, but you can't. So a hot chocolate later things were great and Ivan and I powerwalked the last 10kms in record time for a 17hr 50min finish. Very pleased with that, given we had around 2 hours of CP stops - deliberately so. Thanks for all the messages, its awesome - just the marathon day to go now. There is a lot of hobbling - I seem OK, i think!

MDS 2009 - Stage 3

Still waiting for Dan to send through an update, but I thought I would let you all know the great news!

Dan completed the 3rd Stage of the MDS in 17hr 53 min. His overall time is now 28 hr 44min and he is in 349th position out of 812 and this could improve as the night progresses depending on the results of others.

The 3rd stage was the longest in the events 24 year history and Dan has certainly made everyone very proud.

He will have a rest day today before completing the Stage 5 marathon day and Stage 6 final leg.

MDS 2009 - Day 2

A little stiff this morning, but we soon got into a steady stride and then hit some dunes. The blisters have started though and I got into some real trouble 6kms in. 14kms to the first checkpoint and surprisingly did it in 2 hours despite feeling like crap. A little rest and some food and the next section was just flat running, my kinda town. I pretty much ran the entire section of 12kms in 1hr 45ish and felt good, even the backpack felt better despite being around 8kgs still. At CP2, the final 11kms I decided to power walk and save the legs for tomorrow's biggie. I kept thinking that I had to chase Jan Herman like Narrabeen, and smashed it in around 1hr 30mins. It's amazing how many runners I overtook, smashing out 7kms an hour walking. Today's effort has seen me move up to 426 from 450. Perfect... and the big day to come. Despite the lack of training over the last 3 months I think I'm in a good position, tomorrow will tell though and sort out the men from the boys...

flood update

Were back in play... day 1 binned but should be ok for the rest of the way... still raining a little but the sun is here now. temps expected to be low however... but it could be a mud bath out there. staying in hotel tonight and tomorrow with checks taking place tomorrow and then shipped to start monday morning.

rain stops play.... seriously

day 1 - its raining very hard... so much so that day 1 has been cancelled. gutted.

we arrived at camp after 7 hours in a bus? and constant rain... we were placed in the tents for 2 hours digging trenches to stop the floods from coming into the tents... in the end we had to be evacuated out of the camp entirely as the whole place started to turn into a river... we got lucky... 7 Brits got stuck and spent a night under water...

its still raining and were all in a hotel... waiting to see whats going to happen. many competitors couldnt get through the roads turned into rivers.

its harsh. after 2 years of training... the Sahara is seeing freak floods... another briefing tonight to see if the race will be re routed. Gutted...

Slight ECG panic...

Not that I havent got it done, more like it's meant to be an original i.e. a piece of paper that comes out the machine. However I can't get an original as mine was done electronically! Still it's got me worried, so I called the agents, and they have partially put my mind to rest.

As the ECG was electronic, it gets sent through to the doctors by email, and then printed off. All should be fine, and if the worst comes to the worst, you can actually get one done in the desert when you get there. I'm sure it will be fine and I'm just worrying about nothing. All packed now, ready to go... want to leave now... fed up of waiting around!

Frick'in freezing!

It's cold over here, and it's official - I'm a soft Aussie! Anyway... today was a better day and I'm now sorted on the packing front. I've just about got everything in the Aarn. It's a tight squeeze but it's there, with the sleeping matt on the outside initially. I'm really cutting it fine, but I think I've got rid of any surplus that I dont need and the pack stands at 9.3kgs - which is not bad.

I culled back on some of the food again today. It's amazing what you can do when you revise things, and I even managed to lose weight, but gain in calories. Managed to get hold of the pepperami I wanted and lose a few bags of crisps as a result. The trick with this as well is that even on the short day, day 7, you have to carry 2,000 calories. However what you do is use this to supplement days 5 and 6, so whilst they look light on paper, you have the excess from day seven as well.

The other good news is that I did a very light 10kms completely pain free and devoid of any shin splint pain. This is a real encouragement for me as in private, I'm crapping myself about the shin splint pain. It's completely debilitating, and even though in theory I'm meant to be worse in the cold, they stood firm. As did my gaitors, which was the point of today's run. The glue has cracked a little on some of the bending points on the trainer, but it's held pretty firm. I'll be going over the edges with duck tape tonight as well, so that there are three barriers for it, glue, tape and stitching. Will try and put some pictures up later. off to meet a guy who's in my tent for this.

Been a little while...

So back in the UK now at my parents and manically getting the last bits and pieces sorted. God it takes ages to do the kit and bag. Basically spent 8 hours today packing up and weighing everything. Then I just tried to get it all in the bag and I have too much! The food is the bulky thing, and I either need to re-pack it, or start culling some of it. I probably have too much, but thought it better to be safe rather than sorry. Plus the little things keep adding up and the bag is currently around 9.5kgs... too much. I wanted it at nothing more than 9kgs, including the 1.5 litres of water.

The issue at the moment is getting everything in though, so need to re-look at that. I've also managed to do my own gaitors as well. No-one here in the UK would touch them either, lazy sods. So I've glued and stitched them myself. Not too hard actually, plus I'll put a line of duck tape around, so I'm pretty confident they'll stick.

More stuff to do tomorrow, plus I want to do a couple of hours of stretching as well, and hopefully a little run with all my gear too.

Time to put up and shut up...

So the time is almost here. This time next week I'll be in Morocco, languishing in the laps of some 5 star luxury before we get bused out to the desert and begin our trek. I've done quite a bit of thinking in the last 24 hours about my leg situation, and reminded myself of why i got into this in the first place - Chris Moon.

For all my whinging and frankly softness over the last couple of months, this is a guy who did the bloody thing with one damn working leg. I have two of the bastards and and need to remember that. It's a walk in the park compared to the stuff Chris went through, and thinking about all that made me realise that ultimately, this trip is about enjoying what I'm about to do. I need to remember this, remember to enjoy it!

So the kit list is now done, the well wishes have been said, and off to the UK I fly in 36 hours. It's been a hell of a journey, an amazing one. Incidentally I went to the podiatrist this afternoon. She said I didn't get a stress fracture, I probably actually fractured my leg - shit the bed! Well it's done now and recovered (I think)... and I just can't wait to get out into the desert and begin this race. It will be amazing and a trip of a lifetime, despite the pain it will cause. But it will be immensely rewarding once complete.

I'll be sending updates to this blog via a friend of mine whilst away... however I'm sure there will be a post or two before I leave. I hope it's been enjoyable for those you have read it. Running blogs are strange things to keep. In short, they shouldn't be interesting because they record the runs you do. I try to keep mine interesting with thoughts and opinions - I always fancied myself as a writer, maybe this is a way to do that. Still, I hope it inspires in some way...

More of the same...

Same track, same drill... more shin splints. AGHHHHHHHH

It always happens around the 20min mark, or about 4kms in. This time I pushed on for another 4kms, doing 8 in total, but it got pretty unbearable by the end. I have to sit down for 20 minutes and then after that it all but disappears... strange. The very fact that I could do 8kms after the mornings debacle baffles me.

I must admit I was at one of my lowest points last night. Whereas in the past I would have time on my hands... now I dont. I have 10 days until the race starts and time is something I don't have anymore. I'm just hoping that the hot weather will help me. I seem to be 'OK' in hot weather, and in all honesty, I'm kind of wishing this away. still I have Voltarin on my side too and that can get rid of anything :)

On another front, I can't seem to get my gators stitched anywhere. No-one will stitch them, so I either wait til I get back to the UK and find someone, or I just glue them myself.

Ugly...

That's what this morning was. The shin splints have been giving me grief for the last few days and it all came to a bit of a head this morning. I find it very hard to do the early morning runs, particularly as it's now getting colder. It takes my legs so much longer to warm up. As a result, I managed just 4 measly kilometres around the track before I pulled the plug in agony.

This is not good. I can only hope that the hot sun in the Sahara will tame the shins. It normally does. I never get any issues in the summer, it's only in the winter where it really hurts. I really have to be up and about for a good 2-3 hours before I start running in the winter to get the legs and shins moving, otherwise its carnage. I'm trying to stay upbeat about it all, but it's hard when I've suffered from so many niggles and shit luck over the last few months.

Still onwards and upwards... I'm going to try again tonight around the track and get some decent distance in... I need to be doing 15kms a day now until I leave - time to take the voltarin down to the track me thinks :)

Building up...

Saturday was a tough day. It was hot, humid and sticky as the great rugby commentator Bill McLaren once said. Hot as in around 29 degrees, humid as in up around 80% and sticky, and in me!

As a result, the 13kms I did felt like 30kms as my legs wadded through the thick air. It was really tough going, but get through it I did. It was one of those runs where you think, Jesus, if this was hard, what's it going to be like out in the desert? I know what its going to be like, damn hard. But it will just have to be heads down I'm afraid and deal with it.

This morning was up at 5am for an intended 15km, but at 8kms I got really bad stomach pains, due to needing to go to the toilet severely. There's a public toilet right by the track, which was conveniently locked, so I pushed on for another 3kms before enough was enough and I risked soiling the white shorts I was wearing. So off I legged at 11kms when the risk became too much. The good thing was that I was moving gently at 6min kms... and it felt very comfortable... well it should really. And after the 13kms on Saturday, it was pleasing that I didn't feel like shite. Onwards and upwards, some more of the same for the rest of this week please!

A quick-ish 10kms

4 months ago a 47min 30sec 10km wouldn't be regarded as quick. I was knocking those out for fun. However being my longest run in 2.5 months... it was fairly quick. What was good though is that it was negative splits and I got quicker and quicker.

Again I didn't intend to... I just get carried away. The shins hurt though, which isn't good. But I guess its the muscles getting used to working again. I'm going to try for a longer run tomorrow... hopefully 2 hours, but much slower.

Quick... slow...

I dont know why, but I decided to do an interval session last night. The track is a good place to do that, and off the back of 8kms the other evening, last night needed to be short and sharp. So the order of the evening was one lap quick, one lap slow to recover. The reality is that I ended up doing the 4kms in 18mins:40secs... way too quick, but that's good. No ill effects from the leg whatsoever, so things look promising. although I really want to get up to a nice long slow distance soon... maybe this weekend is the chance.

Solid 8km

After worrying about a little twinge in the back of the left leg... today it felt much better and I'm pretty sure it was just acheyness from coming back to running. So the plan tonight was to do 40mins, and I ended up doing 41:30secs as that brought me round nicely to 8kms. Again a little quicker than I wanted, but the reality is that I started out quite conservatively, but ended up getting quicker as I felt very strong throughout.

It's encouraging, but I still wonder about whether to not I have the endurance still. I plan to do all my running now on the grass track before I leave. It will be dull as hell, but hey, I have to do it. I really want to try and get a 30km run in before I leave. That will depend on what the physio says on Thursday, but I feel in order to be confident about tackling the distance effectively I want to get one under the belt.

Anyway... will do another session tomorrow night, but just 30mins.

Some back to backs and sauna work

So on Friday, it was time to up the ante a little and do a whopping 25 minute run! Well 26 actually to make it a whole lap... 13 to be precise. Again too quick, but I'm not trying to run quick, just what feels comfortable. I then did the same again on Saturday morning, no less than 12 hours later. Leg feels fine, bar some aching muscles. Well I think they're aching muscles. The bad left leg is aching more than the right, but I guess I havent run for 7 weeks, so it will take a few weeks for the muscles to re-adjust somewhat. Although that doesnt stop me feeling paranoid that the leg isnt 100% yet. It probably isnt, but time isnt on my side at present. Still if it still aches tomorrow then I'll stay on the side of caution and just monitor. No point screwing everything up again!

I feel frustrated because I wont be in top physical peak condition for this, which is what I wanted to be. I probably tried to do too much really - but hey ho, have to get on with it don't you.

Anyway, went to the sauna tonight as well as I'm beginning two weeks of sauna sessions to try and get the core body temperature up a little. There have been some studies that suggest that doing this will help. Whether it's true or not I dont know, but again, I want to be in the best possible position for this. So it was 45 mins in there... Jesus was that tough... but tough it out I did. Anyhow... a planned run tomorrow, but we'll see how the leg feels. If there's any doubt I'll rest. Physio again on Thursday so we can see how we go.

Some thoughts...

Whilst this blog is about running, I do try at times to not make it a complete training bore! I do sometimes, like to pen some thoughts about my feelings towards things, albeit running, but it's nice to do sometimes. I often feel like a frustrated writer. I enjoy it, and do it as part of my job, but would and should try and do more really. I did actually start writing a book some years ago about my travels in 2000. I got about 20,000 words in and lost the lot when my PC crashed.

Anyway, so only 2 weeks now until I leave these shores I now call home and head back to the Motherland that is the UK. If I look back at where I wanted to be, it actually difficult to say where it is I actually wanted to be. I feel like I've achieved far more than I actually set out to do. Whilst I didnt realise it at the time, I am a relative running novice, and I think this comes from the circles you mix in. Over here in Australia, I'm middle of the pack, maybe even more towards the back of the pack. I don't like that, and when I've done the MDS (yes I am going to do this come hell or high water) I have a plan to really try and get myself towards the pointy end of the field.

What is it? Well, firstly I need to decide what it is I'm good at and what I enjoy. There's so many different forms of races over here, and I somewhat naively thought that a good marathon time would translate into a good time over 100km and 100miles. It so doesn't. So what do I want to do - well I'm a fairly decent marathon runner, so should I focus on that? Yes that's fun, but I really enjoy the longer distances too - particularly the 100km stuff on flats. I'm no hill man. I thought I was, but I'm shite at those and need to work on them.

I should get the MDS out the way first - and I'm getting very very excited about it now. excited because I'm back running again, albeit very small steps, but I'm running and I'm running in the way I want to, and thankfully not having to change my running style. There was a period when i was injured when we didn't really know what was wrong, and I was staring at the possibility of having to undo 18 months worth of work and changing styles. Thankfully the people advising me then were wrong and we got to the root of the problem and I'm running (what seems to be) freely.

As for the MDS... well the distance doesn't bother me at all. In fact compared to what I have done, that's not the worry. It's keeping the feet in shape and dealing with the heat. Heat and Feet as they say. I've got my bag down to a cool 8.4kgs now, including water. This is great and I'm very happy with this. I really didn't want it to push over 9kgs... 8.5kgs at a push.

Given the injuries day one and two will be taking it easy time as the pack will be heaviest then and I need to get into the groove. I'm hoping that day's 3 and 4 will see the big push. They say to finish top 100 you need to average 8km/ph. I'm not saying that I have the credentials to do this... but hey, I'm going to give it a shot :)

Another 15 mins... wasn;t that Andy Warhol?

Enough of the silly titles... tonight was session number three. I can tell I haven't run much and my calves are telling me too. They were a little tight this evening, but I put that down to the 4min 30sec kms the other night.

Tonight was sensible head... although I still ended up doing 5min 15sec kms. I wasn't timing them at all... I still had my watch on, but only to time the 15 mins. I just ran at what i thought was sensible and comfortable, and that ended up being at that pace.

To be honest I'm encouraged at the moment. OK, so it's only 3 x 15 mins sessions. But I've not felt a twinge or any issues whatsoever so far. The true test will come when I start to up the workload somewhat next week to 25-30 mins and some back to backs. I can't wait and it's just a joy to be out running again.

On another note, I read up on one of the ultra legends here in Australia, Cliff Young. I never really knew much about the bloke, but having read this article, it's truly inspiring.

Silly boy

After a cross-training session on Sunday in the gym for 45 mins, last night was day two of the come back.

I decided to head down to the grass track near the Bay in Rozelle, which is a bit of a bad idea as in my head, it then becomes a race to see how far I can run in 15 mins. I said to myself to keep it slow... and slow I did for the first 1km or 2 1/2 laps... knocking off in about 5 mins 20 secs. However as I relaxed more, I got faster and faster until I knew I was trying to do as much as possible. This is pretty stupid given that I haven't run much in 7 weeks and I need to stop myself. Anyway, for the record I knocked the last 1 km off in 4mins 35secs.

It was strange as I did 3,100m in the 15 mins which is just under 5min kms... I was a little concerned as I was breathing pretty heavy at the end of it and I thought to myself that my fitness had been lost quite a bit. But then I realised that I did the last km in that time and it dawned on me. Still everything is OK, the leg was fine again, and no ill effects or anything like that. Another rest day today, or maybe a chill session in the pool. I need to start getting into the sauna as well for 30 mins each night to start raising the core body temperature too. As well as get my ECG and medical sorted. It's close now... 3 weeks until I leave these fair shores. I'm feeling good about the MDS now... if I can keep my body in check, I'll do everything within my power to smash the thing to bits. Steady for the first two days, then ramp it up day 3 and 4, smash day 5... run on adrenaline on day 6...

Back on the road... (well grass)

Having been given the all clear to start running again I did some thinking last night about the whole bike thing:

1.) I'm a runner, not a cyclist, so let's start running again
2.) I'll be smashed by Monday if I carry on trying to cycle 50kms a day as quick as I can!

So, with that, it was time to pull the trainers on today for my first run in 7 weeks. A 15 minute jog around Birchgrove Oval. I felt like a kid on his first day at school... and thankfully it all went OK. No twinges, no aches or pains... just a very steady 15 minute run at around 5min 30sec pace... and it felt pretty good.

Iced the leg when I got back, and tomorrow I will cycle, and then back to another 15 minute run... every other day until next Saturday... then I'll do a few back to back 30 minute runs.

A state of mind...

So I was battered last night, but managed to haul myself down the gym and do yet another PB on the bike - 1hr 25mins and 8 seconds... it goes to show that it is a state of mind and that you can do it. Now I'm asking myself the same question again as I sit here at work at 6:20pm, having only just had my lunch an hour ago, which consisted of half a muffin. Half a bloody muffin all day long, and I'm just utterly shattered.

It's been a massively heavy week at work, and I'm wondering if I should even bother going down the gym given that I've eaten just half a muffin all day? This is not intentional as you might guess... I literally havent had time to even think about lunch... Plus the rugby is on tonight... maybe I will forgo this evening... or should I do double tomorrow... that won't work. Depends what time I get out of this place as well... it could be a while...

Dan, you're back in play...

so i saw the physio this morning and as of Monday I'm back in training... albeit very gentle to begin with. A week of 15 minutes every other day, followed by a second week of upping it to 20-30mins and some back-to-back runs... slowly and surely. Nothing crazy, just nice and easy. All being well, I may even get out onto the GNW before I head back to the UK and do a 20km run... that would be grand. I know I can physically do it, it's whether my leg wants to!

BONZA!

p.s. so tired today... this is where tonight will be a real test of character on the bike...

Dull......................

It's getting harder doing this challenge this week... tonight I managed to better the time though - 1hr 25mins and 8seconds... so taking off nearly 50 seconds from last night... this is going to get tougher I can see if I keep on insisting on beating the time from the previous night.

Mentally this was a tough one too... it's going to get harder I can see... but hopefully come Sunday I will have achieved what I set out to do and I can reveal all :)

Day two...

Job done... well day two job done, and 43 seconds quicker than last night - 1hr 25mins 57 secs. I'm now thinking that I have to try and beat the time each night now. I'll explain all at the end of the week - I have a fear of jinxing things.

I have a very heavy work day tomorrow... but I'll have to try and find the time to get down the gym for stage three.

A big week...

I've decided to do something this week, which I only thought about yesterday. This should be my last full week of cycling, before I get back on the running trails soon - maybe a week to 10 days. So whilst I don't want to mouth off about it yet, we'll wait and see how it goes first. It's nothing major or special, but is more a test of the mind than anything else. Physically I should be fine with it, I was for the first stage last night - it's more a mental thing. However it would be good to do it, let's say that.

The good and the bad...

I'm getting very bored of the gym now... and it's showing in that I've only trained 4 times this week. Yesterday was a hard session. An hour on the cross-trainer, and then 45 mins hard cardio on the bike.

The first session was an easy 40 mins on the cross-trainer, followed by 20 mins harder work, switching better 5 mins hard and the 5 mins easy. That was tough graft, and then 45 mins of speed work on the bike really did me over to be honest. The speed one is tough. It's a bit like interval training in that you hard and short sessions in the whole session, but the tough sessions get longer, and the breaks of easy sessions in between get shorter. Plus I put myself under more pressure by setting myself certain rev per minute targets as well. Needless to say I was pretty smashed afterwards.

Today however I did nothing. I was working for most of it, but was pretty tired (and sunburnt) afterwards, so in the end didnt go. Plan is to get up early tomorrow and go to the gym. The swimming has taken a real backward step, but its not too much of an issue as the bike work is a good workout.

I also bought a fair bit of kit this weekend too. The Kayano 15's are teh trainer of choice for me, and I've only gone half a size up. I think to go anymore is just plain stupid in my book. I've raced in hot conditions over here and the feet just dont swell that much. As long as you look after them, raise them in the evening, and I think you should be fine. so size 11's it is for me. I also bought some Wiley X sunglasses too - pretty expensive, but worth it I feel. Great sunglasses, and should serve me well.

On the food front, I've also got a mix of things. I'm taking some Tinderry food as I know I'll be craving some sort of vegetable and decent food out there. The expedition foods are great for calories per weight, but it's really not all about calories I feel. You have to get the right nutrients in you too. I whilst some of the Expedition Foods are nice, I also feel that much of it is a bit like slop, with not the great nutritional benefits. The Tinderry stuff, whilst not overly calorific, is extremely tasty, and has vegetables in there too. The chilli beef cous cous is great, and I have a chicken curry with rice tonight and it was top. Shame it's only 400 calories.

The easy option

Well I say easy option - I wasn't going to head to the gym at all, but did in the end and went for the cop out option of a 45min 'fat burner' - knocking off 27kms and keeping the heart rate nuder 124 the whole way. Bit boring, but these things are goo mental tests as they say. I'm getting bored of the gym now though and want to get out running again, not for another couple of weeks though. Must resist the temptation to get out too early.

Strong like bull

Last night was the dreaded Kilimanjaro bike ride - the one that is effectively riding up a hill, and then coming back down the other side. It gets progressively tougher and tougher...

However last night, it seemed, well pretty easy. I think it's because I took it easier on the initial gradients, and the challenge was to maintain 100+revs per minute for an 8 minute period right at the top end of it - which I did. However I then continued to keep at way over 100 revs as it got progressively easier, and managed to do a very good 36.70km in the hour. Not bad for a hill climb.

Need to get back on it again tonight... not sure what though... maybe a recovery style, or some speed work... or maybe I should do something different and do some cross-trainer? The gym is my oyster....

A little harder...

After 50kms yesterday on the bike I wasn't sure how the legs would feel today, but they felt good and I racked up 36.5kms in a hour of interval work. This is the one minute on, one minute off session where the aim is to make sure I'm above 100 revs per minute (which I achieved), when it's on the hard cycle, and at least 95 revs per minute when I'm on the easy one minute, which was almost kept.

Either way it was a tough session and I do sweat buckets loads when I do this. I'm also burning a heel of a lot of calories too on the bike, racking up over 800 an hour in the process. Not quite sure if I'll be able to do another cardio session tomorrow. I should try, but maybe not one that's so intensive... we'll see how the legs feel in the morning.

A little lazy...

Friday was a day off and then on Saturday, well I was just darn lazy. Well not quite lazy, but had life stuff. However back on the wagon today with a tough-ish 50kms on the indoor bike in 90 mins. Starting off nice and easy before ramping it up and getting the heartrate up there at just under 160bpm.

Also did a bit more shopping today and picked up some cheesecake as a possible desert and it's not too bad I must admit, quite high calories as well 540 for 100grams, so me thinks this could be in my pack for some nice pudding, maybe a breakfast or two as well? Who knows... another week of cycling planned after the 175kms this week. Not much swimming done, but hey it's all about what you can do and when.

The easy day...

So last night was a gentle 45mins on the bike following the three days of hard graft as I like to put it. Keeping the heart rate under 120bm was the goal, and a nice and simple 23kms was the order of the day in the allotted time. Technically I call these my 'rest days'... i.e. still training, but at a much lower intensity to keep the legs going.

I'll be buying my trainers for the MDS real over the weekend too, so that when I get back to running in a few weeks, I'll be able to get at least 50-80 miles in them before the actual race. Gaiters is also something else I nee to sort out too. I've been to a few shops over here and none of them have any idea what I'm talking about... Oh well... I'll have to keep searching.

Plan is for a few more harder sessions over the weekend. Saturday will be a high cardio workout, followed by a gentle, but not too gentle workout on Sunday to take me towards the 200km mark for cycling this week.

Good news?

Well sort of... I went to see the physio today and he confirmed that I have indeed got a stress fracture, nothing new there then. But it looks like I'm responding well to things, and he said that running could start again around the beginning of March. Excellent... so I'll be able to get some kind of running in before the MDS, although I'm very conscious of pushing it. I dont want more injury!

On another note, I was back on the bike tonight and another 37kms of speed work. This workout is probably the toughest of the lot. so again on level 12 setting and it's almost like intervals, but longer and harder periods of tougher work. Still really good mental training too, and I really enjoyed busting a gut on there. In fairness, I feel very strong at the moment, probably due to the extreme amount of quad work I've been doing.

The week is going well with over 100kms already in 3 days. Again the swimming is taking a back seat. But I'd rather do the cycling and fitness there.

In the zone...

Hopefully that's where I'll stay now with regards to this cycling lark. Today was the workout that I dislike the most, but actually enjoy in terms of how tough it is if that makes sense?

It's the Kilimanjaro climb. admittedly I've moved down a notch this week on the difficulty level from 13 to 12 as I'm cycling for an hour, not 45 mins. And going from last week, I was battered by Thursday... this week, so far so good. So not more than 12 hours after my session last night I was on the bike at 6:15am this morning for the Kili climb... the first 20 mins is easy as you gradually get more and more resistance. But for 20 mins it's bloody hard work and I was sweating in a big way and the heart rate got up to 158, which was good.

So another 30kms clocked up today to go with the 36kms from yesterday. Tomorrow morning is physio 'D' day where I get told not to do the MDS... yeah right... the only way I'm not completing this race is if my bloody leg actually breaks. Still onwards and upwards...

Swimming I think will be order of the day tomorrow morning before my physio, and then I'll do some more cycling tomorrow night with some speed work to top three hardcore cardio session on the trot.

Feeling hot hot hot...

It's been another scorcher here in Sydney, so the lady and I ventured down the coast for some relaxation and camping this weekend. Not before I got up on Saturday though and did a nice long slow ride on the indoor bike. An hour this time, but never letting my heart rate get about 130, which culminated in 35kms on the bike and a grand total of 138kms for the week. The swimming hasn't been so great this week, but it's a case of trying to fit everything in that I want to do. Still, things are ramping up nicely, and it will get more and more intense over the next few weeks. It's just a shame that its 35 degrees outside and I can't go running... still, nevermind.

Smashed...

I thought this cycling lark was meant to be easy, just sitting there. Hell no... I'm beasted this week. A little over 100kms in the first four days this week, and this morning showed I was tired. I haven't just been sitting there either. They've been intensive rides with lots of bursts of energy, then short rests inbetween, but still cycling if you know what I mean. I think I might have to vary it up a little more as if I carry on at this rate I'll be wrecked every single day. I had to take the difficulty down a notch half way through as the quads were just getting shot to bits.

But it's all good, the intensive rides are keeping me fit and varying the heart rate quite a bit... I just need to build in some of the longer slower rides now to act almost as resting periods. I've had four days of really smashing myself to bits and I can't sustain that for 7 days a week, 7 weeks.

As a result the swimming has taken a slightly backwards step, with only 3kms down in the pool so far. I think I'll take a rest from the cycling tomorrow and do a longish swim instead.

It's getting close now. I'm in the final throws of sorting kit out. I have pretty much all of it. Need to order some bits and pieces and we'll be done. 18 months of training and planning. Let's hope the leg doesn't break out in the desert :)

Smack ma bitch up...

The bitch being me... I smashed myself last night on the bike, quite literally. I wasn't feeling overly great and thought I was getting ill - but I think my chest was tight from spraying the house with some seriously strong chemicals to get rid of the vast amount of wildlife that inhabit our home.

Over here it's a fact of life are creatures. Beetles and cockroaches are the favourite and you become almost passe about them after a while. But I'd had enough, so bought some super strength killer and set about the bastards. As a result my chest was so tight last night, but I still flogged myself on the bike. It was intervals last night, so 45 mins of smashing yourself on resistance level 14, one minute off one minute on - cycling a total of 27kms. a kilometre further than I've gone before...

I was going to go swimming afterwards but I felt so light headed that I couldn't! So this morning I got up and did a hills workout on the bike at a much less intense pace. Again 45 mins, but only covering 24kms... a big difference. Still it almost felt like a recovery cycle to be honest. Following that I did 36 laps (1.8kms) in the pool in 45 mins too, so a good workout all in all.

Speed work is the par de course tomorrow, with another "swim as many lengths as you can in 45 mins". I wonder what it will be like when I return to running? I'm doing all I can not to lose fitness, but need a longer endurance style swim/cycle me thinks at the weekend - which incidentally is going to be stinking hot - up around 40 they reckon. The UK has snow... shame :)

Beautiful weekend....

... For running, not not for me! Saturday was a 45 minute 'Kilimanjaro' climb on the bike. The programme where it gradually gets tougher and tougher as you ride up the imaginary hill... whilst watching the Queensland Reds take on the Waikato Chiefs in the Super 14's :) Here's a random picture of 'Kili' just to speic up the blog!



It starts off all very easy, but to be fair that soon changed as the hill gets harder and the resistance tougher and my God for 20 mins you're sweating like a demon. Anyway's 26kms in 45 mins to round off a 95km week on the bike. Not the thing to set the world alight, but with anything like this where you've never done much of it before, you have to start off nice and easy. I don't want anymore injuries ahead of the MDS.

On Sunday, I organised the inaugural Bondi Beach marathon. It's based around the concept of 'Fatass' where anyone can just set-up a race with no fees, no competition, no winners etc... it's a just turn up and run kind of thing. So with a grand total of 2 starters, I sat on the beach offering water and lap counting given that I couldn't run myself. After the MDS, I'm going to organise another one on Manly Beach me thinks, hopefully with some more starters!

I did then intend to get up this morning, but to be honest I was shattered and thought better of it. I'm not the best in the mornings, and though I'd end up doing 'shit' mileage - so I'm off tonight now instead. Another week of 45mins on the bike and I'll then move up to an hour each day, in addition to the swimming, which I need to up as well.

I was thinking about whether I'm doing enough, and yes, I probably am for now - but for some more endurance style stuff, I need to be doing much longer rides and swims as we get closer. So I'm even considering doing some 3 hour swims, just to make sure that I get some really long ones in.

Anyway, moving on... back to some work now and then 45mins of speed training tonight on the bike, with 20 mins blast on the cross trainer and then some swimming... then perhaps some time for a life? :)

More of the same...

I'm getting better at getting up in the morning now. Although was a little later getting to the gym, plus I forgot my water bottle - and they dont even provide stuff there! Bizarre - anyway, just 30 mins of intervals on the bike. I like doing them, it breaks things up somewhat, and then 20 lengths of the pool.

I may go again tonight I think and do the same.

This could all get quite dull...

... for the next few weeks. so I'll just report on what I've done with the occasional rambling :)
In true Dan style I went back to the gym for the second time last night and hit the cross-trainer for a hard cardio workout. I never realised just how much of a workout you can get on those things. A 20minute blast saw me cover 5kms with heart rate up in the 160's... and it wouldn't be a Dan workout without some form of twinge or injury, so I tweaked my right calf last night for good measure. It's OK, a little sore, so I'll stay off that cross trainer for the next few days :)

Then up again this morning for a 45min cardio workout on the bike, covering 27kms. Quite tough work actually after yesterday I felt, and a little dull when you're indoors in a gym, still some nice ladies to have a perv at every now and again :)

The plan will be to vary the cycling up a little and I'll do:

- 2 x hill training
- 2 x speed training
- 2 x intervals
- 1 x cardio (the long straight boring ride)

Plus I'll do a 20 min session in the cross trainer each day too as my fitness blast, a bit like a tempo run. This combined with 20-30 laps of the pool each day. That should keep me busy for 2-3 hours a day, so it will mean once in the morning and once at night too... that gym is going to see a lot of me in the next two months... wonder how the fiancee will feel about this :)

The new regime...

So it's swimming and cycling now for the next 7 weeks. I meant to start on Monday, but with the parents still here it's difficult to take the time out. So I'm now up at 5:30am each morning to get my lazy behind to the gym. Tuesday was 1.5kms swimming and a planned cycle in the evening, but work has been major crazy for the last 2 weeks and it overtook me last night too, so no cycle. But still, I was up at 5:30am this morning and did 45mins intervals on the bike, knocking off 25kms... a nice little start. I followed that up with 1km in the pool. I plan to go again tonight. I'll be doing the gym twice daily now for seven weeks building up the cycling and swimming to the point hopefully of 2 hours on the bike and 2kms in the pool.

I also want to try and get at least 30 mins in the sauna each day too... Im now so focused on maintaining as much fitness as possible and losing 5kgs before the race. I'm carrying a few extra pounds from the stop start training of the last 6 weeks. Strictly off the naughty food as well now - pure focus for 7 weeks which I'm sure will make me the world's most boring individual, but hey, needs must.

Feck...

So, after all the highs and lows the X-ray has confirmed the worst (well as much as I can read X-rays anyway)... I have a stress fracture. There's a nice long crack about 1cm long on the Fibula, and an obvious bump where it's trying to mend itself. Personally I don't know what to think right now. The physio said that if it shows up on a normal X-ray, then that is bad - I know what he'll say - don't do the race.

The way I look at it, I have 9 weeks to 'manage' the injury. I've just mapped out 7 weeks of swimming and cycling. There will be no more running now until I take that first step out in the desert. 15 sodding months of busting a gut and flying to far-flung places in Australia, of nearly passing out on my first 100kms, of breaking the 3hrs 30mins barrier in a marathon. All in pursuit of smashing the MDS to bits, and what happens - I bugger myself up.

I know where it happened, its all the GNW fault. If I'd finished that I wouldn't have been in such an arse with myself and then gone out for a run around the Bay with such single-mindedness of smashing out 4min 15sec kms and I wouldn't have felt that twinge 4kms into the run as I was going up a slight incline just past the tree and where the boats dock. That's where this happened. I rested for a day though, surely it was a muscle twinge? Then I go for two big trail ultras in 6 days and it gets worse... and well the rest is history really.

The way I see it, you can whinge (which I did for 48 hours), or you can make the best of it. I had real aspirations for the MDS, of a top 150 finish. That was the goal. The goal now is to firstly make it to the race, and secondly... just complete it. It really will be hardcore swimming and cycling and twice a day to the gym. I'm immensely frustrated given the effort I've put in to get my fitness to the place it was at. The fitness is probably shot to bits now. I haven't done any really decent training for 6 weeks now. Bits and pieces here and there and a 'fluked' 91kms. How the hell the leg didn't clean snap on that race I don't know, especially carrying nearly 10kgs for the first 42kms. The mind boggles. The xray isn't even funny given the long crack to the fibula - how it help up I don't know. The key word now is 'manage'. Manage the injury whilst busting a gut swimming and cycling and then hope for the best in Morocco. This is such an arse, but an arse that I have to deal with...

The final run-in

So with the nose-dive that training has taken in the last 6 weeks, I'm now wondering what the final 2 months of training will hold for me. The plan was to have a big February with taper starting first week of March, but as you have to sometimes, plans change. I went for an 8km walk on Saturday, quite a bit on soft sand and that was a hard slog, however the leg felt stronger for it on Sunday. So here I am left wondering. It's obvious that I can just about train through this, albeit as a reduced speed and distance - but that isn't going to help matters and I'll go into the MDS injured. Or, I can still rest (whilst swimming and walking), and hope that come Feb 1st, I can pick things up again and run.

I'm tempted with the latter. I was encouraged by the Narrabeen Ultra, it went better than expected and I felt stronger as the race went on, which is something that tends to happen for me I've noticed in the relatively short time that I've been doing ultra marathons. It's clear that I've not lost the endurance I've built up. I clocked up a grand total of 90kms in December, but still managed to bash out 91kms in one go at Narrabeen. The fitness will be gone slightly I know, but as long as I can maintain the endurance then that's the most important thing for the MDS. So with that I think training is going to be structured around some long runs at the weekend, a mid-week run, with plenty of swimming. That should keep me at around 70kms a week if I can, which is about the best I can hope for right now. The important thing is to 'manage' the injury and not push too hard. I'm tempted to go out tonight for some hill reps - those I can do, and they help towards fitness too if I do them hard enough. They get the heart rate pumping, so I'll include a couple of those sessions as well. It's not the same as tempo, but it will be good hard work for me.

It's disappointing to have trained so hard for 15 months, and then for the final 3 months to be a bit of a mess. But I should be thankful. I've got in a good 3,500kms since October 2007, and that's the ground work and basis for the MDS - I just need to maintain what I can as best I can over the next 6-8 weeks without doing any further damage. Then I'll just flog myself big time on the MDS with a bucket load of Voltarin to manage the pain :)

Recovery...

Not a massive amount to update on since Narrabeen, only to say that recovery has gone surprising OK. I expected to be a bit of a mess, having had so much trouble with my leg for three weeks. Whilst I was limping a little post race, I'm walking very freely now, and whilst the bone is still a little tender, I could run if I wanted to. Still I haven't and I'll rest up a little more, perhaps go for a gentle jog tomorrow or Friday. No pressure - it's about being in a fit state for March.