Marathon Des Sables 2009

The long-awaited report...

2009-04-26T22:15:00.000+10:00

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

2009-04-08T08:43:00.002+10:00

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)

2009-04-06T19:29:00.002+10:00

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

2009-04-06T09:11:00.000+10:00

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)

2009-04-03T18:47:00.000+11:00

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

2009-04-02T22:36:00.002+11:00

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

2009-04-02T09:00:00.000+11:00

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

2009-03-29T04:08:00.002+11:00

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

2009-03-28T21:48:00.003+11:00

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...

2009-03-26T01:28:00.003+11:00

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!

2009-03-25T03:24:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-03-24T08:47:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-03-19T18:00:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-03-18T11:56:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-03-17T08:00:00.000+11:00

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...

2009-03-16T08:04:00.002+11:00

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

2009-03-13T22:32:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-03-11T12:20:00.002+11:00

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

2009-03-09T20:43:00.002+11:00

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

2009-03-08T20:33:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-03-06T13:26:00.004+11:00

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?

2009-03-04T20:14:00.002+11:00

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

2009-03-03T08:01:00.001+11:00

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)

2009-02-28T16:14:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-27T18:16:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-26T13:46:00.002+11:00

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......................

2009-02-25T22:21:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-24T21:55:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-24T08:15:00.001+11:00

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...

2009-02-22T21:20:00.002+11:00

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

2009-02-20T12:35:00.003+11:00

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

2009-02-19T13:55:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-16T23:00:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-15T22:28:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-13T09:20:00.002+11:00

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?

2009-02-11T20:52:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-10T21:15:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-08T21:48:00.001+11:00

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...

2009-02-05T08:26:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-02-03T17:56:00.003+11:00

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....

2009-02-02T08:22:00.003+11:00

... 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...

2009-01-30T13:02:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-01-29T10:52:00.004+11:00

... 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...

2009-01-28T14:53:00.003+11:00

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...

2009-01-23T07:47:00.004+11:00

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

2009-01-19T13:40:00.002+11:00

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...

2009-01-14T18:58:00.003+11:00

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.

Dan... you're back in play

2009-01-11T20:58:00.003+11:00

That's the phrase used by well-known gameshow host Roy Jenkins (amended Carroll!) of catchphrase. Although I'm sure only my British readers will know of him and his funny Northern Irish accent as he tells one contestant who'd given up hope of getting something right to discover that he's got a chance.

Last night was the Narrabeen 12 hour ultra/100km, which consisted of running around a lake on a 2.5km out and back course - as many times as you could. I entered the 12 hour race with a view of staying on my feet for 12 hours and to also, if things went OK with the leg, knock off around 80kms. Things went better than expected, covering 91.25kms (57 miles) in the 12 hour time limit. The plan was to initially walk the whole thing, but after a brisk start and 10kms, I got bored so thought I'd see how the 'Sahara Shuffle' would work. This is a mix of running/walking, but as time went on, it's fair to say that I gradually ran a fare old chunk of this. Indeed from 10kms onwards I pretty much ran to 65kms. However I was suffering from blisters pretty badly. Not being a walker, within those first 10kms I could feel the blisters coming on, and this was to be my downfall in not reaching 100kms.

I started the race with a full pack of around 9kgs, which felt pretty good until about 35kms where I decided that I was potentially on for a 100km in the 12 hour time limit, so made the decision to discard it after I'd gone through marathon distance. After that, running was good, but every 10-15kms I was having to stop and make running repairs to the blisters. By 75kms I ha resigned myself to walking the last 2 hours as the leg was hurting, but walkng because a little too painful on the concrete, so I went back to the shuffle. This was fine, and into the last hour where the 5kms loop was reduced to 1km loops, I burned off 6kms in 45mins, celebrating my 90th with a sub 5 minute kilometre, having bet my crew that I could knock it out!

Overall, it went better than expected and was a good mental test. Never once did I want to quit or had I had enough. I think after the DNF at GNW, I was very focused on this one. The only way I was not doing this one was if the injury took over. Thankfully the leg seems 'OK' - but we'll have to wait a few days I think to see what its likes. I don't think it's done it any good if I'm honest, but it's not in a really bad way at all. I needed to do this one to see how the leg would cope with a hard 90kms and it seems to have come through, even with a 9kg backpack on for the first 42kms too. I'm a little stiff now, and the blisters aren't too hot, but they'll go in a few days. I'll rest up now for 3-4 days and then see how I'll structure training now for the next few weeks. If I can carry on training at a shuffle then so be it I think!

Always thinking...

2009-01-09T09:17:00.002+11:00

So another 20 laps of the pool last night and then another 20 this morning, just 10 hours later. All in a day's work. Nothing much more to report. The leg seems to have held up well after that 26km power walking on Wednesday - no adverse affects, although I'm still nervous about it. It's been nearly a month now and whilst it's definitely eased up, there is still pain on the bone. It's certainly stronger, but how much longer will I need? If it's still like this at the end of January I'll be quite concerned going into the MDS. I at least want to be able to run the majority of it, and not have to walk such a big distance, but if I have to then so be it I guess. It's a shame as I will feel like there's unfinished business as far as the MDS is concerned, but with such a long prep and lead time, the timing of this injury is pretty darn awful and exactly what I feared going into this. I have 15 months of good quality training and then bagn, with three months to go something goes wrong.

I'm looking forward to Narrabeen, but by the same token, I don't want to over do it on the leg and screw it over some more. Walking I think will be OK, but what do I do post Narrabeen? Do I rest for 2 weeks and hope that things improve, or do I carry on training/walking and doing what I can in a bid to keep some sort of fitnees ahead of April 1st? February was going to be my big month of back-to-backs. I can still do those, albeit walking them, but still... it's not how I wanted things to be. Oh the turmoil of friggin injuries. This one is strange. I can run up and down hills, but running on the flat hurts (good idea to do a 12 hour flat ultra then tomorrow!). I guess I'll know a bit more if and when I come through Narrabeen. Should I be doing this race? Probably not, but I have to at least try - it's not in my nature to not at least have a go. Sometimes that's to my detriment, but that's just who I am. Will I look back on all this in years to come and laugh? Probably. But I'm not laughing at the moment. When I think of the money and the time commitment I've made to this, it staggers me that I spend probably the best part of $15,000 in preparation and spend thousands of hours training for one week, and I can't even do it the way I want to do it. But still, be positive that's what they say. I'm not very good at that - I'm a realist not an optimist. I know when things are good, and I know when they're not.

Swimming and walking - now there's a variation

2009-01-07T08:46:00.004+11:00

Walking seems to be absolutely fine for me (fingers crossed ahead of a 12 hour event!), but last night consisted of just 20 laps of the pool. Only 20 because I forgot my water bottle, and not drinking water when you're swallowing galons of pool piss water makes the mouth a little funny, so I limited it to 20 laps, but it was 20 laps non-stop, which was good. I find it funny when I go down to the Ian Thorpe pool. Admittedly I don't think I'm the fastest guy around, mainly because I can only swim breaststroke, always have been, can't really do that front crawl malarky. Anyway, I'm actually pretty nippy for a breaststroker (I think there's an innuendo in there somewhere), so I park myself in the middle lane. Now you get two types of people in the middle lane. Those that shouldnt be in there - and you know you shouldn't be in there when someone like me, a breaststroker, catches you up after giving you a 15 metre headstart. I end up having to almost tread water whilst these idiots finish their laps. The thing is that they actually look like they're giving it their all, but the reality is that they should really move down a lane to where the slow people take their swimming strolls :)

Next you have those that like to blast out the blocks. They hurtle past you, but then after two laps, they're screwed and rest at the end for 5 minutes after each 100 metres. Invariably they're Chinese as well. I have nothing against the Chinese at all, but they always seem to be hanging about at the end of the pool recovering from a 100m blast - very strange. anyway, I go about my business as usual.

Next up was a walk to work this morning. I thought it was just over 11kms from Balmain to work in St. Leonards. so I was a little disappointed when I clocked 1hr 39mins just now. However measuring it on Mapmyrun.com tells me the true distance is in fact 12.25kms - so I feel much better about that. That works out to 8min 5sec kms, with a 7kg backpack on as well. Given there are quite a few hills to negotiate along the way, that's pretty pleasing. I'll walk back again tonight as well. The only thing that concerns me about this 12 hour walking malarky is not the distance or time, but the fact that i heel trike when I walk, whereas I front foot strike when I run. This means I'm using totally different parts of my feet, and when I walk in my Asics, I invariably get some pretty major deep blisters in the heel. I think the foot scrub is coming out tonight to get rid of excess skin and there will be lots of pre-taping before Narrabeen. However today was a step in the right direction. The pace was good and the pack felt comfortable. However whether I can keep that pace for 12 hours is another thing. Realistically I think that I can keep that pace for 6-8 hours - the last 4 could get ugly, but we'll see.

It makes you realise how much of a legend someone like Jan Herrman is. He's a bit of a local legend over here in the ultra community. Apparently running ultras since he was 15, but later in life has to walk them now. His PB for 12 hours is 90kms, that is seriously going some. He also beats quite a few 'runners' in the big ultras over here. I haven't met him, but lots of people talk about him - fair play is allI can say. He's walking on Saturday, I'll use him as my incentive and try and keep up with him. However with 7kgs on the back, it will be tough going, but hey, I'll give it a go and what will be will be.

Evening update: So tro complete the 7 Bridges route as its known over here, I walked the back way home from work tonight, doing another 14kms, and a total of 26kms walking today. I knocked off the 14kms in 1hr 53mins. Not bad going again and a very similar pace to this morning. One thing that concerns me though is the heels and the potential for blisters there. As I mentioned, because I dont usually use the heel, it so susceptible to deep blisters and after 26kms today I was coming close to some. I think on Saturday I'll do a mixture if running and walking and aim to get through the 12 hours. My crew and I were talking about a power walk of 80kms in 12 hours. I think this will completely wreck my feet, so I'll do mini runs combined with walking, a kind of shuffle if you will as that will help ease up the heels and will also see me go a little quicker. Nice and easy for Saturday. No heroics, just simple easy run/walk with the aim of getting through and using this as a chance to do a nice distance again and time on my feet :)

Swimming and running

2009-01-06T08:23:00.003+11:00

I'm still not 100% confident about the leg, but I'm going to carry on with 'light' training and put up and shut up. Last night was another 30 laps of the pool at a pretty brisk pace, followed up by 10 reps of the hill outside my house. The aim is to do these as quick as possible. The previous record for me on this was just a shade under 25 mins, but I did take quite a few water breaks in that, so I knew that if I went pretty much non stop on this, it would be beaten.

The leg still didn't feel quite right whilst doing the reps, and I've reverted back to the heel strike for now. It's easy to do on the injured leg, but quite hard on the other leg as it naturally wants to front foot strike now. The heel strike action also feels so laboured compared to the front foot action, so things were tough. Anyway, I got through the 10 reps on 22mins and 50secs, not bad for an injured guy. That's 200m up and down, so that' 5.45km pace up and down the hills. It was hard work as well. I can tell that I've lost a bit of fitness and put on a few kilos as well. Need to sort that out, as I tucked into chocolate pudding and ice cream last night :)

Anyway's I will be sensible about running in these first two weeks back now. Slowly build it back up, running every other day to get the leg used to running again, and then hopefully get some bigger distances in February. The good thins is that I think running on the trails will be good as it's merely a wobble on the flats and downhills, followed by a walk uphill - easy peasy!

I'm still a little nervous about Narrabeen and walking for 12 hours. I really dont know how I'll hold up. Should I wear a pack, or should I just focus on getting a good 12 hours walking in?

More physio

2009-01-05T09:15:00.003+11:00

It's an expensive business this running thing. I thought you only needed a pair of trainers! Anyway, more physio, and I'm more comfortable around the notion that I haven't got a stress fracture. If I did, I don't think that running would be an option. I remember when I had one in my foot, it was agony! Having chatted some more, the issue lies in the fibula not tracking correctly and why it's started now I don't know. We may need to go back to heel striking as an action instead of the pose running. I can run when I heal strike, it hurts when I pose run.

However the time for rest has now passed, if I can't run I 'll be walking, pretty much everyday from now on and swimming too. I can't lose fitness, I've worked too hard in the last 15 months to get myself to a 3hr 30 marathon pace and I'm not prepared to lose that now. Looking forward to Narrabeen now, bit scared as I don't want to injure the leg, but the walk yesterday was positive and quick. If I can keep a 6.5km - 7km pace throughout, who knows I could post a good distance, but one step at a time me thinks!

Power Walker!

2009-01-04T18:42:00.003+11:00

So my running days are over and I'm now relegated to the walkers! Not quite yet I hope. This morning was about getting the Aarn pack sorted, and after fiddling around with it for an hour, I'm still not 100% certain that I've got it right yet. It feels like I'm carrying too much on the shoulders, but after endlessly messing about with it, it's still not there yet. Some more tinkering needed me thinks.

However after getting it as best I could, I went on a power walk. Not as far as I wanted to (time pressures), but enough for a 6.5km blast around Balmain, knocking that off in just over 45 mins. I was surprised at just how quickly I went to be honest. But that is only a quick 6.5kms.

I'm now almost certainly going to do the Narrabeen 12hr ultra, but it's likely I'll be walking the whole thing with backpack. It will be good for me (I hope!), and hopefully I'll get by 'sans injury' - or worsening what's already there. If it starts to feel remotely dodgy, I'll pull the plug. I have to remember the end goal here, which is at least get to the MDS startline! Anyway's Xmas is now over and it's back to work now, and in the absence of running I'll be doing a lot of walking and swimming. I'm hoping that we're only talking about another 7-10 days or so before I get back into running again - we'll see what the physio says tomorrow.

Dare I say it.... I went for a run today!

2009-01-02T22:53:00.004+11:00

Yes, it was an actual run, but for the record I did a quick 20 laps of the pool on NYE (my running excel spreadsheet is at work, so I'll have to update when I go back Monday as this blog is the only record of the last 2 weeks swimming).

Anyway's I felt confident enough to go for a run - I did 5kms and it was hot this morning. OK, so it's not mammoth, but it's a start. It felt OK to begin with but to be honest gradually got a bit worse as the run went on. It's still not 100% ready yet - I reckon another 7-10days before we're really talking. I'm paranoid about losing fitness though. Those 5kms this morning were actually quite hard work, but I'm not sure if that was hard work due to the leg not being 100%, or just lost fitness - I suspect the former at the moment.

Still... I hope we're in the right direction. I won't do anything tomorrow, but will try 10kms on Sunday I think and see how we go before a physio appointment on Monday. I also think I'll do the Narrabeen 12hr ultra as well, but will probably walk it - at a pace. I think 70kms could be realistic for this - but I will do it with a near enough starting pack weight of about 7-8kgs I reckon too.

A year on reflection

2008-12-30T20:23:00.002+11:00

So with all this self-criticalness, I actually took some time today in my own little world on the beach at Watson's Bay to think about what I'd achieved in my first 'proper' year of running. Admittedly my training proper for the MDS started in October of 2007, but that was merely base training. I started training for the Canberra Marathon 'proper' in January of this year and it's been a year that in all honesty has surpassed where I thought I'd be.

For starters, I'm fitter than I thought I would be. My goal was really only to do one marathon at around 3hr 45min, and then head down and train for the rest of the year. After Canberra I became a little lost and just 'trained', but focused on getting fitter without really realising it. That culminated in a 3hr 32min marathon at the Hunter Valley, which in all honesty I didn't know where it came from. Onwards and upwards as they say and I got to know a few of the 'regulars' on the running circuit via the cool running website over here and before you know it I'm doing back to back marathons. The the big move up to 100kms at Glasshouse, which whilst I was pleased I completed, I was actually very disappointed with the time. I got it all wrong in some respects and learnt a big lesson that day in how to 'run' an ultra.

I then got talked into doing the 175km GNW, which on reflection was something I was not wholly focused on, and as a result, saw me 'finish' at the 103km mark, with a few extra for getting obscenely lost in the Basin. Having been so bitterly disappointed with that I drove to Canberra and did the Deep Space marathon in bitterly cold weather and was happy to just run on the cut off time, again another good character building run. And so here we are now injured, but I need to be positive.

In just over one year of running I've gone from not having more than 12 miles (just looked at my base training from Oct-Dec 2007) in my life to the following:

- 6 marathons in 8 months (with a PB 17 minutes above what I thought I'd do)
- 2 x 100kms races
- 4 x 45km plus training runs with a 75km night run

Not all that bad for someone that started the year a 'rugby-fit' second row at 105kgs, and not having run more than 12 miles in his life. For now it's swimming and cycling until and I can confidently run on this left leg of mine. Let's wish hard that it recovers by around mid January so I can do some good training into the lead in for the MDS. Having this hot weather at the moment is killing me because all I want to do is get out and train in it!

Another 30 laps

2008-12-30T00:08:00.002+11:00

1.5kms in the pool... big deal :) Tried to run on soft sand today as well... did about 400m and the leg was still very weak. Bone scan asap... Looks like I can't get any decent insuracne either to cover injury. Options would be:

a.) Contact BoM and try and get a deferal until 2010 and try and swap with someone for that year

b.) Lose a shit load of money and not compete if I do have a stress fracture

c.) Recover hopefully be early Feb if I have a stress fracture, get what I can in before the end of March with some seriously long walks/gentle runs

d.) Speed walk the MDS

Bollocks!

This is not how Christmas was meant to be...

2008-12-29T08:53:00.002+11:00

So after nearly two weeks of no running, I thought I'd try and sneak in a 7km around the bay last night following a good 30 laps of the pool. I took 5 steps and instantly knew the leg was not right still. I'm at a bit of a loss right now as to what is wrong and what to do. I guess the thing I need to do is go and get a bone scan and see if I have a stress fracture. That costs money, great. And then if I do, well we're looking at 1.5 to 2 months out. Great - mid-Feb recovery for a race that I've been preparing for for 2 years to start 1st week of April, which means I wont be 100% fit.

Should I defer for a year? That will be a pain in the arse with the organisers, Best of Morocco I'm sure. The draconian rules that Darbaboud and they impose already defy logic and I'm kind of getting to the stage where I'm resenting the MDS now. It's probably due to the fact that I need this injury like a hole in the head so close to the race itself. It's prime summer training here in Sydney and all I can do is head to the pool and do my laps - great.

We'll see - I'll go and get my scan and see what the beef is me thinks, I need to get this sorted. Having taken literally steps on it last night, the leg feels so weak. I can push on through, but I'll do more damage to it. Hmmmmmmmm - bloody great!

Feeling hot hot hot...

2008-12-26T22:49:00.002+11:00

So on Christmas Eve it was the usual 20 laps of the pool, followed by a stuffing full of food for the last two days over Xmas. Normally I'd be running, not taking a break, but this leg thing just wont clear up. One day it feels better, then today it was really aching towards the end of the day. The bone feels less tender to touch now. I'm tempted to get out and go for a run again tomorrow as it will have been 10 days of straight rest. Although i did that last time and look where that got me. I said I'd leave it to Jan 1st, so I really should, but maybe a nice easy 7kms wouldn't hurt it? We'll see... I really want to do the Narrabeen 100km, but it's looking a bit unlikely now - depends how the next week goes really. I probably shouldn't do it given the rest I've had to undertake. We'll see, I may feel fine - I'll just go on how I feel. I'll know deep down if I shouldn't.

So plans for the next 2 months are as follows. Get back into it slowly first two weeks of Jan and build back up to 50 miles a week, and then hopefully, if all is well, get on with Super February which will see me do 4 big back to backs over the 4 weekends in February - all being well of course with my new shiny one man tent to kip in overnight. Just need a decent cooker now :)

Tired now, off to bed - family stuff is hard work :)

Sights and swimming

2008-12-23T22:54:00.003+11:00

So with the family here I've been doing the usual Sydney thing, showing them the sights etc... plus the usual dose of swimming in the absence of being able to run. I'm just doing the usual 20 laps, or 1km of breaststroke, although I go at it fairly hard and don't piss about much - although I should be upping the number of laps now - I do find it quite dull though.

On the sights side of things, I did take the family up to the Blue Mountains and climbed down the giant staircase. I remember doing this about 8 months ago and it was a killer for me (although I had done a 45km route the day before!). However this time, my brother and I sailed up in about 15-20mins I reckon. It was pish! that'll be all the training I've done then in the last 8 months!

I guess because I'm doing family stuff, I'm not missing running that much at the moment. I'm certainly resting until Jan 1st. I want to give this thing two whole weeks to rest and then I'll slowly get back into it, build up again in January, before I attack super February which will see me out on the GNW with my new lightweight single man tent for some big back-to-back runs... can't wait!

Rest and swimming

2008-12-20T18:52:00.002+11:00

I do fear the worst with the old leg, it's still very tender to touch on the bone and walking is not the best. So I've made the decision to not do any running until Jan 1st, and then take it very easy following that - building up slowly first two weeks for what I hope will be a final onslaught in February. So as a result, I'll be swimming pretty much daily from now on. At the moment I'm only doing about 1 to 1.5kms in the pool, but will increase that to get a good work out.

On another note, my family arrived in Sydney today, so the timing is good?!?!?! Not that I want to be injured, but c'est la vie, you can't get all angry about it, you have to deal with it. I have to be sensible now and only run when I know the leg is feeling like it can. Last time, after I rested for 9 days and then went back at it like a bat out of hell again, I knew it wasn't right but carried on thinking I could just train through it when really I should have rested.

I want to try and target the Narrabeen 100k/12hr ultra as quite a few people I know are doing it and I think it would be a great laugh to do. However I won't do it if it's not right - but the plan is to work towards that again. Oh well... plenty of Sydney tourist stuff to do with family Bleakman and many a lap at the Ian Thorpe pool for the next 10 days or so! I just hope I don't lose too much fitness. To be fair though, after I had 9 days off last time, I was running quicker than I had before, on average!

Bugger it! Too much too soon...

2008-12-18T13:04:00.002+11:00

I am a bit of an idiot and despite knowing that I probably shouldn't have gone for a run yesterday, I did and smashed out 15kms sub 5min km pace and I do myself in again. We're not back to square one, but we're pretty darn close. we also talked about a possible stress fracture today, but there's not a lot to change in terms of the recovery even if I do go and get one - so what's the point? I just go along, have a scan and they say yey or ney. Recovery is still the same, as is the treatment.

So we'll just rest up for 4-5 days now and see how we go. I am stupid though, but hey, I'm a man and that's what we do - overdo it. It's frustrating as hell as this is peak training time, but I guess I just have to make sure that I'm fit for the MDS, I really have to keep telling myself that. Getting to the start line is the priority, even if it means a month off, then so be it. I need to rest and recover. So swimming it will be for the next week or so I think, along with lots of stretching and alike to get me going again. Then it's slowly and surely to build back up again, not bat out of hell! I'm such a knob sometimes...

Bugger it...

2008-12-17T09:27:00.005+11:00

That's the attitude I have now. So up again at 5am for a jaunt around the Bay. It's much easier when I know I have to get up and drop melody down at Yoga - if I dont have a reason, I don't get up! So a couple of Hammer electrolytes later, and 2 Nurofen I was out on the Bay Run on a beautiful morning. It is a pleasure running when the weather is so good. The leg felt 'OK' as in there's still some issues, but I could run, albeit it not properly. This carried on pretty much most of the run apart from the last couple of kms where the pain started to get worse and I was noticeably limping on one side. This is not good. Although in the last km it felt OK again. It gets no worse though, it's the bone that's hurting me. I don't know what to think. The reality is that despite taking it at what I thought was a 'steady' pace, I was still doing sub 5min kms, going around in a shade under 73 mins for 15kms, so just over 4min 50secs kms. Is this the new 5min kilometre? Who knows...

Depending how I feel for the rest of the day, I'd like to try and get out for another 15kms tomorrow morning, which would see me just about on track for this week. The parents arrive on Saturday which will see training levels dip a little as I'll be with them and doing 'Sydney stuff'. But I'll keep maintenance.

There's also a 12hr/100km allnighter at Narrabean on 10th January and I'm very tempted by it. Bogong to Hotham is the next day and I had planned to do that, but given that Narrabean is only 30mins up the road, the latter is looking favourite at the moment. Plus it's an all nighter and I need some practice at running at night.

UPDATE-------------------
Hmmmm the leg is pretty darn sore now, or rather the bone is very tender. I'm really fearing the worst, and just hope that this is the warning sign I need to rest and not try and train through an injury. It's not really really bad, but it's very painful to touch and is noticeably worse from this monring now. Physio booked for tomorrow once again - I'll now rest it until at least Monday next week, however I fear a longer lay-off now. Must get the priorities right, even if I have to rest for 2 weeks then so be it - the MDS is what it's all about, not trying to pack in the miles now.

Still not right

2008-12-16T13:50:00.002+11:00

Hmmmm, the leg is still not right, but it's not getting any worse. Even after I've run and stopped. I did a pretty tough session last night. Living on a pretty steep hill (200m long and 33m of ascent) the challenge is to do 10 reps up and down in 30 mins. I smashed it to be honest without even trying, knocking it off in 24mins and 39secs, so maybe a re-adjustment is required here. I say without even trying, all i did was even splits. Running up the hill consistently between 53 and 57 secs which was good, and then gently coming down. It's pretty tough work because it's quite a steep ascent, so by rep 7/8, you're feeling it. But a good session, which i wasn't even sure about doing in the first place. I went for a 3km warm-up and the leg was killing me, it was a real effort to even move, but once I got warmed up things went well.

Same again this morning - having dropped the missus off at Yoga around 5:50am I decided to go for an impromptu run around the Bay. How far was again in question, but I just decided to see how I felt. I was also a bit dehydrated to be honest, so wasn't 100% on what to do. This was always going to be a recovery style run having exerted myself last night, and again the first 5kms on the leg really hurt. So much so, that I've reverted back to the old running style. I simply can't run on the balls of my feet now - it has to be heel strike, which really helps to alleviate the pain, but some more on that later. I decided to to the extended Bay Run and did add a bit to make it an even 10kms, and despite starting at around 5:15km pace, the leg eased significantly in the last 4kms to knock off a 49min 10km, which I was quite surprised at given how tough the first 6kms were.

However I'm now questioning the move to change running styles around a year ago. Has it all caught up with me and injured my left leg? I'm not sure, all I know is that when I heel strike, the pain virtually goes. However will the shin splints come back as a result. Some more trials to be had I think, but we'll see.

Weekend update

2008-12-14T18:19:00.003+11:00

So on Friday night I managed to get out after work for a run. The weather was appalling with horizon rain and 60km/ph winds around the Bay, but still I had to get out, I was going crazy. I took what I thought was a very steady pace and in the end decided only to do the 7kms. I didn't want to overdo it too much after having 9 days off, so halfway round I made my mind up only to do the one lap. Despite some serious head winds at times, I went round in 33mins 30secs, which is 4:45km pace. It felt too easy to be true, but hey who am I to complain.

However the real test was how I felt after the run, as the pain is not present when I run, only afterwards. Admittedly I did feel twinges whilst running, and I never felt 100% confident on the leg either with my style shifting and changing quite a bit throughout. Afterwards the leg didn't feel the greatest to be honest, and so I rested it on Saturday and still it felt pretty dodgy. So last night I went off for a swim and my usual 1km of breast stroke, and I came out the pool a different man!

So I got up this morning, and the leg felt pretty good, so I thought I'd go for a longer run today to see how things went. I wasn't quite sure how long that run would be, but it needed to be at least 18kms. In the end I did two laps of the extended Bay Run, which is 9.5km laps. I went round the first one in 46mins 30secs feeling pretty easy, and then turned around and did the second one in 45mins 30secs. However I did have to work pretty hard for the last 4kms, just to keep pace. The heart rate did creep up quite a bit. Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on myself, given the conditions (hot and windy), but still, it's 1hr 32mins for 19kms, which isn't all that bad following the injury. That works out around 4min 50sec kms, which to be honest is probably too quick again, but for some reason I can't seem to help myself! Still I'm sitting here 1 hour later and the leg is feeling OK. Fingers crossed that it's subsided now and properly on the mend. So after 2 frustrating weeks of low mileage, I'm hoping that we're back on track and time to get some bigger distances in.

Tonight's the night...

2008-12-12T16:39:00.002+11:00

Well it's pissing down with rain and cold here in Sydney, but I'm like a kid in a sweetie shop for tonight I'm getting back out onto the track and running again. OK, so I still feel a little twinge in the leg, but I need to get out having not run for 9 days now. I've rested, and I want to get back onto it, so off we go tonight. The plan is to take it easy, which I will and we'll just see how far I run, it might be 7km, it might be 27km... we'll have to see how we go. Fingers crossed I dont feel any pain or it screws me up :)

This is boring now...

2008-12-11T08:02:00.002+11:00

So I took yesterday as a 'rest day' and awoke at 5am for either some running or swimming. The reality is I got out of bed, put some weight on the leg and it still doesn't feel right yet - so frustrating! It's definitely feeling better, but it's still tender to touch and I just don't want to risk a thing at the moment only 3 months out from the MDS! Bloody typical isn't it! My longest time out with injury in over 18 months! Anyway... rest I must I don't want to do any kind of serious damage and would rather forsake two weeks than two months with something more serious.

On a positive note, I planned the rest of my training yesterday and it's all quite exciting to look at the run in to March. I've planned some pretty big back-to-back runs in February and every weekend will be taken up with heading up to the GNW track and running Saturday, camping overnight somewhere on the track before heading back the other way on the Sunday. It will be pretty brutal, but will be awesome to just spend the weekend running and camping. I'm also going to try and do a big-ish ultra distance of around 60-70kms on one Saturday, before doing a 40km the next day. Of course I'll be taking these distances pretty easy going and not smashing myself to bits, but it's all exciting stuff!

This is why I'm not so bothered about the rest at the moment - well I say bothered, I am, but it's probably a bit of a good thing. I've done shitloads of training in the last 14 months and clocked up almost 2,100 miles. The core is done, this is just now the icing on the cake to harden by body up to some serious back-to-backs at the weekend with some lighter speed and maintenance work during the week.

Anyone for swimming?

2008-12-09T08:00:00.003+11:00

As I can't run at the moment I've taken to doing some swimming. So was down last night at the Olympic Pool over looking Sydney Harbour for a nice easy 24 laps, then another 20 this morning.It's quite nice doing something different and I'll definitely be going to the pool once a week from now on just as a bit of cross-training. Still frustrated be the leg though. It's freeing up somewhat, but the bone is still tender. Back to the physio again tomorrow to see how we're doing - but I want to try and get out and run on Wednesday. I'll have rested it for a week then, but something still doesn't feel quite right. It's so hard not being able to run. I know I'm not really losing any fitness, but mentally I feel I am, still - at least I can plan all of these routes that I want to do for the final 3 months of training. Quite luckily the missus is off back to the UK for most of February which is perfect for me. Pretty much every weekend I'm going to spend up either on the Great North Walk course or in the Blue Mountains, doing back to back days of 40-50kms. I'll buy a nice compact tent and just head out on the Saturday morning, do a nice hard day. Pitch up the tent, cook my food, and then head out the next day for some more punishment. I'll do that 3 weekends on the trot all being well, and that will be my final run-in for the MDS. For now, I'll keep the long runs going at the weekend, and the shorter stuff during the week to be the weekly mileage at around 100kms a week, and then the last 3 weekends will see some bigger stuff as a result of the back-to-backs. Let's just get rid of this darn injury!

Still not quite right

2008-12-08T09:30:00.002+11:00

So another visit to the physio this morning, and still, we're not there yet. I decided against doing anything at all this weekend and instead spent it with the lady chilling out. Just looking back at my training, I haven't had a weekend off like that in as long as I can remember, probably nearly August (the last time I was injured), did I have both days off. It is probably down to overuse. I have to remember that I'm still very inexperienced when it comes to running and a relative newcomer, having only been running seriously for just over a year, and in that time I have done so much.

So the plan is to rest it some more until Wednesday, but I will be swimming everyday now until I get back into the trainers. The muscles around the fibula are still pretty inflamed, so it's a case of getting that sorted out, and they gradually are getting better. The walking is much more free now and in a few days I'm hoping it will be cleared completely. I just hope that running won't mean it gets inflamed again. Hmmmm, at least it's an enforced rest,. which was what I was talking about anyway. Just want to get it sorted and back on the road again.

Non running update

2008-12-07T09:00:00.003+11:00

This non-running thing is very strange. I can't remember a weekend where I@ve not done anything for so long. Still the missus tells me that it's good to rest - I don't believe her! Still debating whether to go swimming on not this morning. Going for a swim at the North Sydney Pool on Wednesday was quality as it's right in front of the Harbour Bridge, so tempted to head down there now and do 20 lengths to keep things moving. In fact I think I will.

Then off to the physio again tomorrow at 8am for a check-up. I think I'm on the right track with this one now. The inflammation around the fibula seems to be dying down somewhat now, although there is still some pain. I know that I could go for a run, but it's best to rest as they say. And in the grand scheme of things, it's not going to seriously affect my training anyway. I've done so much in this past year that I'm in such a great place for the MDS I feel. I want to kill this race. Not just finish, but smash it to pieces after GNW and I need to be fit and strong for that. Big call to make, but that's the expectation I have now. It will be interesting to see how things go on the first day out there. It's normally a 30km day on Day one, and they may decide to thrown the sand dunes in early like they did last year. Bring it on I say, nothing can be as severe as the GNW or that route around Mount Solitary, sand or no sand. But we'll see how we go.

Sharp twinge update

2008-12-05T14:52:00.002+11:00

OK, so thought I'd better get my behind down to the physio and see what latest issues are keeping me on my toes. Essentially I have a problem with my fibula bone on the outer side of my lower leg, and it's gradually got to the point whereby it's not gliding correctly when I walk/run, so in effect it's staying in an upright position, which is then causing the discomfort when I walk, but bizarrely is OK when I run.

So some massaging and some taping later and the pain eased, and I'm to keep the tape on in a bid to get it moving again in the right position. So no running this weekend, which I had kind of resigned myself to not doing, but c'est la vie once more...

However I've done some big distances in the last 4 weeks, including 70 odd miles in the GNW, then two very tough 47 milers over mountains and hard terrain. This combination of runs has in effect gradually worn me down somewhat. It's funny because I was saying to Beaver during the run the last week that I was knackered and needed a rest - so this enforced rest if probably good for me. I'm not going to lose anything, bar a big run, which I'd have done this weekend, so I should rest - but it's hard to!

Anyway, plan is to sort out wedding stuff this weekend, and get ready for the imminent arrival of the Bleakman clan to Sydney for Christmas.

Sharp 6kms, sharp twinge

2008-12-03T20:10:00.003+11:00

That twinge from my left leg is getting worse and I cant help thinking about the dreaded words - 'stress fracture'. I can't quite pinpoint if the pain is on the muscle or the bone, but it feels like the latter. It feels like my shin splints used to, but only on the outer left leg in between the knee and the ankle. Still I went out tonight after work and it was a glorious 32 degrees, that made for hard going. As did the fact that I forgot some decent socks, my stopwatch and my heart rate monitor. I'm such an idiot. As such I thought I'd run to time, and take off 15% of my maximum time around the Bay Run, which equates to around 28 mins for 6kms. I set off way too quick and against a very strong headwind, and to be honest I was going too quick - proven by the fact that I did the 6kms in just over 27mins- so 4min 30sec kms, which is way too quick for this kind of run.

The pain is weird, I can feel it when I walk, and when I start running, but after about 200metres or so it disappears. Needless to say, having gone off too quick, having the wrong socks and worried about the leg, I only ended up doing half what I wanted to do. I really should get hold of all my equipment so I can do this thing properly. Anyway, I sorted out my 3 different types of heart rate for the three different runs and they are as follows:

RECOVERY: 136 - 143
MAINTAIN: 150 - 157
HOT LAP: 164 - 171

First of all though, I need to sort out the leg... I'm going to rest it tomorrow, mainly because that's enforced. Working in PR means you get to go to lots of Christmas parties! However I may get up early and go swimming at the Olympic Pool in Milsons Point, which over looks Sydney Harbour Bridge. There really is no other better pool in the world I think!

A gentle 17kms

2008-12-02T22:07:00.004+11:00

So back on it tonight and its warming up here in Sydney. A nice 25 degrees odd when I got home from work, and the plan tonight was a good 17kms, but fairly steady and easy. I've been reading up on some training methods used by others for marathon running and there's some interesting stuff knocking about. I've decided to use some of it as part of my training as I think, certainly for my runs during the week it makes some sense to do.

So I've split my runs according to my heart rate, and I'll be running to heart rates rather than time. I had been doing this for a few months actually, but I'm just making this into a bit more of a formalised programme. So tonight was about keeping the heart rate up at about the 145 - 152 range and keep it there I did, rocking home in around 93 minutes for the 17kms. That works out at 5min 28sec kms, which for the first run back after the weekend's brutal 44kms, I was fairly happy with. Although I did find it a little bit slow. Typically the first half was fine and I actually found myself having to run a bit quicker than I was as the heart rate was too low. But in the second half I was finding myself slowing down somewhat to keep the heart rate within range. So doing nearly 5.30min kms was a little disappointing, but it's about keeping the heart rate within a certain range that's important, not the pace as I have to keep telling myself.

The good thing is that it hasn't killed me and I feel quite refreshed after it all. Normally I tend to push myself in each run I do. I imagine that my training has actually all been at around the 150-160 heart rate - well most of it anyway, and I need to stagger it a little.

Tomorrow is about pushing it higher up at the heart rate ranges of 158 - 165, and doing 14kms of that. Following that will be a lighter run where the heart rates will be between 138 and 145, roughly around 12kms. Then I'm maybe planning another 44kms at the weekend on the trails, before a 15km warm-down the week after. Things are hotting up now in the training stakes and I want to get fitter, but also stronger on the hills. So hill work will be a big part of the weekly sessions too.

Tough graft - Mount Solitary assault

2008-11-30T09:48:00.005+11:00

This week has been a bit of an arse in terms of being able to get out and train. Mainly because I was recovering from Deep Space until Wednesday evening, Thursday I had a twinge in my left leg so thought it best not to head out, and then Friday was busy with work commitments. However I managed to get out yesterday with a few guys from CoolRunnings, for what I thought was going to be a nice gentle 40kms. Sweet Jesus, did that not turn out to be the case!

The run is know as the Mount Solitary 'run-up', and consists of a 40km loop around the Blue Mountains. The scenary is quite simply stunning when you're at the top.

I didnt start well, after only 4kms I rolled my right ankle pretty badly. One of those ones where I actually few over from it. I can normally keep my footing when I do that, but this was a pretty bad one. However I popped some painkillers and just carried on, although this morning it is pretty swollen and quite sore.

However on we go with the run, starting at around 1200m, and we decend right into the valley at around 200m I believe. What goes down must go up, and for the next couple of hours, we had an almight slog up Mount Solitary. The final 30 mins or so is literally hands and knees scrambling up the mountain face. I dont mind this, if I'm on a walk or climb, but on a run, I'm not so keen. Still the views at the top were well worth it. So along the ridge we went, before having some food, and then setting off along the ridge of the mountain some further, before decending. Boy was that an experience! Again hands and knees stuff and it was here that I managed to scrap my leg along a bush stump, opening it up quite badly too... things were not going well here!

So downt he mountain we came, before we hit the rainforest, and some beautiful running for around 10kms along the mountain ridge, just underneath it, and making our way back to Katoomba. Here we filled up on water from the fresh mountain stream, before hitting the 15kms or so back to the car at Wentworth Falls. Again soome more great runnable trail through rainforest where I picked up a few leeches for flavour too! And then at 38kms, the monster of all hills! This is not what you need having just climbed a mountain as big as Snowdoon already... however on we plodded, and again we climbed another 1000m or so I believe of just head down and grin and bear it. It was a hard slog that seemed to never end, but we got there and finished our 42kms (a slight detour earlier on added some) in a long, slow time of 8 hours 30 mins.

That was a tough one, especially off the back of last week, but it's again, good to do these long tough trails as they will increase the strength. I'm still shit at hills, but I'm getting better. I'm noticably good on the nice long flats of trail running, but I still need to work on those hills.

The ankle is pretty sore at the moment, but should be OK in a few days for some speed work and tempo training.

EDIT: Here's some stats on the run from one of the guys who had a Garmin on. I can see why these things come in handy now. I didnt wear a thing on Saturday, well clothes obviously:

Trip measured 43.99km with elevation gain of +2730 and descent of -2716. Climbing Mt Solitary, it is 3.0km from river (163m)to first level off (837m) with a gain of 671 metres. High point of Mt. Solitary is 955m. For the dreaded final climb it is +600m over 6.7km.

Nice little recovery

2008-11-26T19:40:00.003+11:00

Despite feeling a bit achey still from the war that was the Deep Space marathon, I thought it best to get out and do an easy 4 miler just to get the legs going again. It actually felt really good, and although somewhat heavy, my legs felt strong - must have been from all that mountain climbing at the weekend. So much so that I tagged on 5 x 200m hill reps to the end of my run. I'm now going to do much more of these as I really want to increase my leg strength. The mountain marathon at the weekend taught me a good lesson - that I'm pretty shit at going up hills... (and coming down them). I really need to work the legs over and over again and make them feel the pain of hill sprints, given that I live on one of the steepest in Balmain, here in Sydney.

I also feel pretty good about the months ahead, now that I've made the decision not to try and crucify myself with really high and stupid unneccessary mileage over the next 3 months. This next stage was where I was really going to ramp it up, but I've decided not to. I want to be feeling fresh for the MDS, so manby people go into it with little niggles... I dont want that fingers crossed. I'll peak at around 70 miles a week I reckon, and the bulk of that will be made from doing back to back runs at the weekend of between 25 and 30 miles. That's what I'm going to concentrate on over the weekends over the next three months. Then I'll do my tempo and hill work during the week. I'm in a good place with all this running I feel... so much so that I totted up the miles today. Not that it matters, because it's not about how many miles you clock up, it's about the quality, but I'm now on 2,025 miles since I started training seriously last October... not a bad little total, which should probably reach just over 2,500 by the real thing me thinks!

But it's about the quality of those miles, and I dont want to be doing 'dead' miles in the coming months, it's be long slow stuff and high short intensity runs around the Bay. Although I do need to get that backpack on a bit more me thinks too... I'm fine with carrying 4kgs over 110kms odd... but need to up the weight too.

Deep Space (Snow) Marathon

2008-11-24T09:03:00.004+11:00

Well this one had caught my eye for a few months now, purely because of the location, and also the toughness of the course too. I'm not sure it's what my body needed two weeks after GNW, but the plan was to always take it pretty steady, although halfway up Mount Tennent, I realised just how steady I would have to take it!

So upon arriving in Canberra, and then the short drive south, one thing immediately struck me... how bloody cold it was! And it was set to get worse as it started to snow. All plans of staying in a tent went out the window as I pulled the seats down in the car and snuggled up into my sleeping bag which was extremely cosy!

I awoke at 4:45am to a couple of centimetres of snow on the car... in Australia, in the summer? What was going on? The snow was really starting to bucket down as we started the race, with a nice gentle 6kms of downhill. Well I say gentle, we actually descended a couple of hundred metres, which was made worse by the fact that I knew we had to come back up here in a couple of hours time. The first climb was literally a climb, as we headed up Mount Tennent.

Trail running is all a bit new to me, and I've learnt some things in the short time I've been doing it - that I'm pretty slow. It wasn't long before I found myself at the back of the pack, and we started the long slow 5km climb up the bloody thing. As we climbed higher, the weather got worse, and I really started to question what the hell I was doing out here. Higher and higher, wetter and colder it got. I arrived at the top to find a couple of inches of snow, and glad to have that done with, however I'm equally as crap going down mountains too. I'm very slow, and this is something I need to work on.

As we hit the road to come back, I started to get very disillusioned to be honest. My knee started to hurt, and for the second time in as many races, I was going to pull the plug. To be honest I thought it was going to get pulled for me as I was seriously close to the cut off. I mst have walked a great chunk of the 6kms back up the road and found it desperately hard. However I clicked my head back into place and told myself that I wasn't going to come all this way to run 25kms. I just about made the cut off (3hrs 10mins), and pushed on, and found the second half of the course a delight. Some more tough hills, and one serious 3km climb on the journey home, but things were looking better, and the last 3kms of downhill were lovely, running at normal pace to just about make the cut off, if not a minute or so out for a 5hrs 30 mins.

Overall, an enjoyable race, well the second have, but that was after I'd stopped thinking about 'racing'... I think that's the key for me... stop thinking about racing and just go along for the ride. There were some seriously good trail runners out there including one of Australia's best, and this was one tough course. But it's all good training and practice for the real thing. I need to get out on more hills and feel that pain so I can get better at them. Hill training is so key.

More quality... calf strain!

2008-11-20T08:09:00.003+11:00

It's always the way... I do this hard stuff and I tend to push the boat out a little and strain my soleus muscle. It's the same one each time which really should tell me something, but hey I'm a man and I'm stupid! Still I wasn't going to go out last night and I set off and it was a little tender. I then stopped and thought about what I was doing... here I was going for a 'normal' run. They bore me now. Seriously, I find it very hard to motivate myself to go and and just run at a steady pace. I need some hills to sprint up, or do a tempo run, or smash along a trail. So I turned round after 1/2 a km and ran home to do some hill reps. I live on a nice big hill (about 200m long), so I did ten reps of them at between 60-70% threshold. Jesus by number 8 the quads were starting to hurt a little, especially after last night's tempo run. However 10 x 200m of that was far better than just knocking off an easy 10kms. I know I should do these sometimes, and it's important to do them as they 'rest' my body somewhat, but I'll do that on Friday I think.

I'm resting now tonight ahead of the Deep Space marathon on Sunday. I always had my eye on this one as it looked cool. Not only because of the name, but because it looks pretty tough too. It's also a small event, which I like and is a trail run over some nice mountains. The winner last year did it in 3hr 49mins, and looking back, he's a 2hr 50min marathon runner! So it's definitely a tough one. I'll be looking for somewhere around 4hrs 30 - 5hrs, depending on how hard I push myself. Being realistic, it's only 2 weeks since GNW, so more towards the 5hrs mark I think. People have said it's very similar to 6 foot track, so it will be a nice little test, plus I'll stick the camelbac on to carry a bit of weight too. Plus we can camp at the start line, so this one will be a nice couple of days in the outback, chilling. I like that...

Quality training

2008-11-18T20:53:00.002+11:00

Tonight was the speed session, and it was 14kms of hard graft, but some really good quality training. So two laps of the Bay Run it was. The first was a hard tempo run, running at around 80-90% max rate, knocking that off in 25mins 50secs. Felt good actually, but there was some seriously stiff breeze knocking about also! The second lap was a slightly easier one, alternating between 1km slow and 1km quick, knocking that off in bang on 28 mins.

All in some good quality and pretty pleased given we're still only just over one week since the big one last week.

The joy of a new pair of trainers...

2008-11-16T20:38:00.002+11:00

Weird... I was weary and my knee hurt yesterday. The today I go and smack out a pretty quick 10kms. All very strange. I wasn't even going to go out today as my right knee is giving me a little jip. Probably just a slight ligament strain, as it feels very similar to how the left knee felt a few months back. But I thought I'd head out even if only for a nice easy 7kms. However I was feeling so good I extended it to just under 11km and it was a great little run. I wouldn't have thought that only a week ago I was on trail doing 100km+. Anyhow, a nice bounce back week, totally 50kms and a good back to back yesterday and today.

I feel my training is in a very good place right now as we lead into the last 3-4 months ahead of what I've been working towards for the last 18 months. Training will really ramp up now in the summer, and I have some fantastic places to go out and train now that I have the car. I've decided that in February I'm going to attempt 4 weekends of 50kms each Saturday and Sunday on some of the toughest terrain on the GNW. That will be awesome preparation for the MDS. It will mean 100kms at the weekends, and then I can keep things ticking over during the week. To be honest thinking about the training more and more, I don't quite understand those people that try and knock off big distances during the week. I personally think that at my peak at the end of February I'll be doing two 50kms at the weekend, and then 3 x 20km during the week - 160kms peak for two weeks is more than enough. I don't see the point in making up distances during the week. This race is about 6 x 40kms (approx). so training should be geared towards that. However just my opinion I suppose... each to their own! Quite excited now about all of this training ahead. Fingers crossed I'll remain injury free over the next 3 months and I can gradually ramp up the mileage slowly and peak at the end of Feb. Jesus, that's only 3.5 months away!

Back on the trail...

2008-11-15T21:18:00.002+11:00

In hindsight a good decision not to carry on last week. Up at 5:30am today and off for a 25km trail run back on the Great North walk, however a little nearer to Sydney on the 'Beyond the black stump' route. This is a nice and fairly easy little run and it was good to get that distance under the belt, only a week after the 113kms last week. Admittedly I was a little weary, but it was pretty good to be honest, and whilst there were some hills, to be quite frank they were nothing compared to some of the stuff we had to do last week! I went along with a guy called Keith (one of Andrew's friend's) and we had a nice little jaunt. One of the stretches is a tough 2kms uphill also, which we decided to run, and the quads were certainly feeling it in that last 500m! But again, all good, and some great training. I think I'll make this one of my regular routes.

I'm also looking forward to getting back onto the GNW proper and doing some of the serious hill stretches ahead of the MDS. The 3rd stage between Congewai and the basin, as well as adding in a bit more towards Yaramlong is simply fantastic training for next March. Anyway, back to the grind now, one or two more races lined up, but for now the focus is on big mileage at the weekends. Consecutive runs of 40-50kms is what's required now. Really does make me think what the during the week runs are all about now, more a case of keeping things ticking over I think. The benefit is in the big long stuff at weekends.

In the cold light of day...

2008-11-13T08:07:00.004+11:00

It's really hard reading all of the race reports and seeing how happy everyone is after the GNW at the weekend. What hurts is not being part of that club and not finishing. But it's OK, I'm OK with the decision I made as I have to keep the long term goals in mind. I don't know what kind of a state I would have been in had I done the lot, but that's done with now and I can only focus on what's ahead, and that is to try for a top 150 place at the MDS. This is my goal and I need to focus on it - rather than trying to do too much all at once. Once that is done (hopefully!), I have some serious goals set aside for 2009, namely three very big ones. I'm a bit superstitious, so I don't like to broadcast what they are, but they involve three of the biggest ultras in Australia, and I want to do them. There is a lifetime of opportunity ahead for me and running, and I'm so glad that I found this wonderful sport early. I look at some of the veteran generation and the guys doing this and you look at them in awe and what they do. So much respect for them. At the weekend, I learnt about respect for this and certainly the GNW race, and I thank my lucky stars that hopefully, I'll have many many more years to run this wonderful race.

Anyway's enough of GNW - that book is now closed for this year, and I now have three and a half more months of some serious high mileage training to do. So, back on the wagon I got last night with a gentle 4 miler. At some stages I was running pretty quickly, given that I'd run about 113kms on Saturday - I think it was retribution for my mind and letting myself slip. I'll be out again tonight, and my focus is now unrelenting for the MDS - I'm going to smash it and smash my body for this one, really putting it on the line.

It's also exciting to see what races I'll do in 2009 after the MDS. The Canberra marathon is a must, not only because it will be my first year anniversary of running, but because one of the guys who I see week in week out and is quite frankly an amazing person to look up to, will be running his 100th marathon - simply awesome and inspiring in my book. Although he thinks what he does is everyday, I know a lot of people look up to him as a role model and as an inspiration. Certainly, I've been following his blog and he's inspired me to push myself even further beyond my limits than I probably would have done, I need that kick up the arse sometimes. He's also given up his free time to talk to me and run me through his thoughts, and in some respects I let him and myself down at GNW, but that's done (as I said!)...

So, full steam ahead now for the MDS and some serious training. Next up I'm going to be pacer/crew for some people up at the C2K, as that will be a good chance to get some big distances under my belt also!

Mental Demons...

2008-11-10T08:06:00.002+11:00

Well, it was always a possibility and this weekend it happened - the dreaded DNF. What happened? Well loads of things were wrong, I felt sick, my feet hurt, my achilles was killing, but hey, all things that could have been sorted out - I just let the race get to me. I think also I wasn't in the right head space for this one either - I really questioned my own desire to finish. I wasn't gearing up the this like a lot of other people - this was their big goal. For me, this wasn't a big goal or even a race I'd considered doing until 2 months beforehand. So really, I don't think my heart was 100% in it, and as a result it showed in my decision to not go past 103kms.

It didn't helped getting lost for around 2 1/2hours. I missed a right turn at around 65kms and shot about 2.5kms downhill on a road, only to realise that I was fooked, so had a nice slog back uphill. Then the cardinal sin, getting lost at the basin. I told myself time and time again to be careful coming in here. The reality is though that having "lost 5kms", I was really flying to make up time. I did a 5.5kms section in 30 mins, which in hindsight was stupid. I blew myself out a bit. I then made the mistake of following a marking, not a sign to the Basin campsite and then proceeded to wander round for over an hour. In total I lost 2 1/2 hours. I was devastated and moral was massively low.

I then left the basin feeling like absolute crap, sickness, dizzyness, delusional... so much so that I actually started to run off-course into the bush until I saw some lights about 50 metres uphill and realise that I'd buggered up. The next leg of 20kms was relatively easy downhill and road and I pretty much got through in just over 4 hours, walking a lot of the way. That made my feet hurt like crazy, and by then I'd chucked in the towel.

I keep thinking about why I did this, and I really think it came down to the desire to finish this race. My ultimate goal is the MDS next year, so this was in the back of my mind too. I wondered if I had carried on, would it have wrecked me physically? Certainly the thought of another 70kms did make me think I would take myself out of training for 2-3 weeks, which at this stage I didn't want. My feet were a bit of a mess, I didn't want to have those few weeks recovering, when really I need to get back on the training wagon in the next 3-4 days.

However it all came down to desire - I simply didn't want this race bad enough, and I think that if I had my time again, I would have probably made the same decision. Will I go back? More than likely, but with a real focus on this race. It seems strange to say it but I have to really be in the right head space for these things and totally focused on it all. For this I wasn't. At Glasshouse I was, I'd targeted it as something I really wanted to do. For this one I wasn't even nervous, which is wrong in my opinion - that tells me that I wasn't that bothered. I'm bothered by my lack of mental focus though, but I'd rather this happened now than in the MDS. They say you always learn from these things too, and I will. I remember Steve Waugh once saying you always learn more from your defeats than your victories and I will on this occasion. I learnt loads from Glasshouse and put that into practice at GNW. Here though, I learnt about desire (or rather lack of it). Looking back I know that I should have entered the 100kms, I entered the 100 miler because other people were doing it, not because I wanted to do it - and that is about desire.

However you must draw positives - it was another ultra under the belt (well 113kms-ish), and 19 hours on my feet. Maybe I'm trying to do too much in preparation for the MDS. The GNW is a massive race, and personally I think that it will be harder than the MDS. Doing 175kms straight through is a huge ask with all that elevation too, and I have the upmost respect for those that do. One of the guys I run with, Andrew put in a huge effort, coming in 6th at 29 hours. He put in what was quite simply an amazing effort and beat some extremely good runners in the process - I have massive respect for him and his desire to do this. Maybe next year I can repeat what he did, but for now I know my place and what I want to achieve. I'm OK with the decision I made. Of course it would have been great to finish the race, but I can't change it now and I will remain focused on my goal of the MDS. Next year my priorities will be different and my goals too. So one to learn from, not dwell on and get on with it.

Getting ready

2008-11-02T22:23:00.002+11:00

So yesterday was an easy 9 miler. I've actually decided to do more taper than planned. The idea was to make the last mile of the GNW 175km the 2,000th mile of my training. However I realised that doing nearly 35 miles the week before a 108 mile race is probably a little stupid. To that end, I only did 9 miler on Saturday, which was 4kms warm-up, 6kms fairly hard at 4:40km pace and then 4kms gentle coming home. Today I did nothing, despite having a 5 miler planned, but thought better of it. Instead I went for a lovely massage, and will probably head out tomorrow for a casual 4 miles easy to break in some new trainers, followed by one more very slow run Tuesday/Wednesday to keep the legs ticking over me thinks.

Most of this week will be spent getting ready, sorting out the maps and the food and generally pooing myself about spending the whole of the coming weekend running in the bush... awesome. Can't wait.

Sharp to sluggish

2008-10-31T12:28:00.003+11:00

Urghhh, last night was the same route in reverse and Jesus was it tough. all week it's been sticky and humid and muggy over here. As a guide it's 36 degrees today and 80% humidity, not even any sun. I'm about to go for lunch and fear I'm going to walk straight into an oven when I go outside!

Anyway's I sweated like a Beaver last night and was only going slowly. The legs were totally drained and it was tough, but hey all in a day's work really.

There's some interesting comments going up now on the Cool Running forum over here in oz about the race next weekend, I thought this one was hilarious so thought I'd post it up:

i have run about 50 ultras.

4 of them being 100 mile and one being 246km.

The Great North Walk 100 is the only race that I have lost consciousness in when i suffer heat stroke between check point 2 and 3.

It is the only race where my shoe has been full of blood from leeches.

it is the only race where I found laying on the middle of the road a relief.

it is the only race where I felt like I was lost 50% of the time.

When people like David Waugh, Rachel Waugh, Ian Wright, Jonathan Worswick and Jan Herrmann DNF you know it is going to be tough!

Hmmm, also, here's the course profile just for a bit of fun too:

People are getting slightly worried now, it really is a bitch this one and the more I think about it, the more just to finish is going to be an achievement!

A sharp 10km

2008-10-30T11:26:00.003+11:00

It's amazing what two whole days of rest can do for you. I decided not to train Tuesday night, partially because I needed the rest, and also to time my 2,000th mile as the last mile of the GNW 108 miler next week.

so last night I headed out for a quick-ish 10kms, covering it in a nice 47mins. not pushing it really hard, but enough to get the heart rate pumping, and taking the hills quicker than I normally would. It also helped get one pair of trainers back into shape after washing them. Something you shouldn't really do, but they needed it. I'm also deliberating which trainers to take. I have two pairs of kayano's that I'm planning on using, but wouldn't mind another pair also. I have another pair of light asics, which I may use for the final stretch as they're very comfortable, but the tread is wearing thin, so don't know if that would be a good option of not. The reality is that I need to buy another pair, so may head down the shop and get spanked for $225... plus all of the extra socks and stuff I need to buy for this race!

Some more thoughts...

2008-10-28T14:48:00.002+11:00

God I'm in a philosophical mood of late - I think this GNW 100 is really getting to me. Not in a bad way, but really making me think. I totalled up my mileage since I started running last night, and I'm around 1,850 miles in the last year - pretty much where I wanted to be. So when I hit the GNW next week, I'll move through 2000, very fitting! In fact I may look to time it smack on so that my last mile in the GNW is my 2,000th so far. That would mean a 30 mile week this week, which is probably a bit more than I would want to do, but still OK, as I can get proper rest next week.

But lots to think about for this one - it's such a huge challenge and needs the proper care and respect to make it a success. Food is going to be critical on this, and I'm already drawing up a wish list which includes:

- Pizza
- Coke
- Sausage rolls
- Chocolate milkshake
- Ham and Cheese sandwiches

Need to think of some other things as well, but more thoughts over the coming week I'm sure.

A nice tough week

2008-10-27T14:57:00.002+11:00

So after a bit of rest following the overnighter 9 days ago, last week was a ramp up again with 84kms covered in 4 days. Thursday and Friday were gentle 16km and 12km respectively and then the bigger stuff at the weekend. So on Saturday I buggered off at 5am with training partner Beaver for a meandering 30kms, partly in the bush and partly on the road. By the end of the run, my feet with in a lot of pain, as the difference of running on the road to starting in the bush was amazing. We both found it a bit tougher than we first thought I guess. But we took it very easy on the way back and finished off with a look at one of the hardest checkpoints, The Basin as it's known.

Then yesterday Melody and I took off for the 7 Bridges walk, a 25km harbourside walk over the 7 bridges of Sydney harbour, funnily enough. I donned a full backpack of around 7kgs and off we went. It was very pleasant actually to be walking and taking it (relatively) easy, and before we knew it 5 1/2 hours later we were back in Rozelle for a well-deserved ice cream.

So a nice 55 miles for the week, and these have been very much the norm for the last 4-5 weeks now. Things have been going well since Glasshouse, where 2 weeks before the race I was doubting if I could do it with the injuries I kept on picking up. However it appears that doing that 100kms really sorted me out somewhat and I'm feeling good. The plan now is to taper slightly for the GNW 175kms, and then it's full steam ahead to around 65 miles a week in December, then peaking at around 90-100 in late February. Yikes!

Getting on with it...

2008-10-25T22:57:00.004+11:00

So after the toenail episode, it's calmed down somewhat and seems OK, so it's been a hard couple of days with a 16km on Thursday night, 12kms on Friday night and then 30kms out on the GNW track today. It was a tough one today as my running partner Andrew and I did an out and back on the road section, which really did the feet in come the final couple of kms, such as we're now so used to running on the trail.

It's amazing how much difference it makes. I can't stand running on road now - I really need to buy a car to get out on the trails now for the next 6 months. Anyway, another 25km walk planned tomorrow, which will take the total for this week up to 90kms, a nice show, before 2 weeks or taper ahead of the race.

I met up with a seasoned professional today for a little bit of advice on what to expect at GNW. No matter where you are in the world, the advice in any ultra remains true... start slowly and finish slower. The reality is that this course is such a toughie and if the weather gets hot, then all times go out of the window, it really is a case of survival of the fittest. There's a very low success rate in this race and it's known for being one of the toughest. The race started 4 years ago with 12 people entered. The current entry list will probably hit 85 this year - an outstanding recognition of just how tough and well-spoken about this race is. However it's almost not a race, it's about getting through it, and everyone knows just how bloody hard it is. I can only hope that I have the toughness to get through it.

Hmmmm

2008-10-23T17:21:00.003+11:00

So I got 100 yards down the road last night and decided that it was a no go. The toenail is properly buggered. Seems such a silly and simple thing that can affect your running, but hey ho. Instead of pushing it I decided to not risk it. It's a bugger though, the toenail is dead and needs to come off, but its in that in between stage. Going to try another run tonight in my softer pair of trainers and see how we go with that. Then a trip to doc trotters me thinks on Saturday to whip it off maybe. Nice... can't wait.

Back onto the grind...

2008-10-22T13:22:00.002+11:00

So after the highs of trail running, it's back to the concrete of Sydney. It really is such a bind running on the roads now that I'm running serious mileage in the bush now. However last night was a gentle 4 mile run into the CBD from my delightful office in St.Leonards, or slough as we English like to nickname it... if you ever come here you'd know why. Oh how I long for Darling Harbour again :)

Anyway's 4 miles of dull concrete along the Pacific Highway. Tonight will be a 15km run, oh and I have two black toenails.. I might put a bet on which one comes off first, bloody Melbourne marathon that was, busting a gut! Anyway, here's a picture of a leech to brighten this post up, something I'll become very familiar with in three weeks time:

Bastards!

Some running thoughts...

2008-10-20T22:30:00.002+11:00

I thoguht I'd pen some thoughts together about running, as it seems to be the thing that most occupies my life at the moment. I entered this whole MDS lark around 2 years ago with one thing in mind - to complete the MDS, but since moving to Australia, I've come across a whole different community and one I feel very at home in. It's funny to think that I never really regarded myself as a runner of sorts. When signing up for the MDS I went into it very blind indeed, not really knowing what I was doing or why - but as you read and research more, the more you realise what is out there.

My training programme was all very much geared towards Canberra, and completing one marathon only as part of the preparation for the MDS, and then get my head down and train like a bastard for the next 12 months. However I did Canberra, and surpassed my expectations with a 3hrs 35mins. However on I went and just got on with my training. But then I became a bit lost. I trained, but not effectively and I knew that I needed to be tested further. I did Canberra quite conservatively to be honest, and knew I had more in me, and more I did have at Hunter Valley. And so on... I met some of the regulars on the circuit and did more marathons. The I found out about ultras and did one of those up at Glasshouse. Boy was that a rude awakening. I did that, but i know that in my heart, although completed, I did it poorly. I prepared badly and the time is a fair reflection of that.

I honestly thought that was it, and now here I write 3 weeks away from doing the GNW 175kms. A year ago I would have told myself I was a nutter for doing this, but all of a sudden, 175kms doesn;t seem that bad. I can only marvel at some of the legends on the ultra and marathon circuit. I've met these guys, run with them, and have the greatest respect for what they can achieve. I feel quite humble when I see them running, yet they are ordinary guys doing extra-ordinary things.

I'm extremelyt proud of where I've come in 12 months. 12 months ago I embarked on serious training. I'd done a few months prior to that, but a stress fracture in my left foot took me out for over a month, so the initial running that I had done was now worthless. I remember when it all started properly, I wa son holiday with Melody in the south of France, and I went for a 10km run - I can still remember how hard it felt now. It was humid and my legs were shot after it. It was also a just over a month before I was due to leave for Australia and I remember thinking, how the hell can I even string a marathon together of I'm struggling to pull together 10km in 22 degrees? I knew I had a tough road ahead, but with some serious application, here I am a year later feeling great, with a marathon PB of under 3hrs 30mins, and a few weeks away from atckling the single biggest challlenge I've ever undertaken.

We did a 75km night run on Friday, and again I was pretty blase about it all. It came and went, only 4 days after having done a PB in Melbourne. Physically it was pretty easy I thought, mentally I lost my way a bit. so much so that I deliberately ran on my own for about 30 mins. I needed to be alone and work out what I was doing here in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere running. I worked it out though, I felt at home, it felt good and I wanetd to do more of it.

If you asked me a year ago if I could be doing this level and kind of training I'd have said no way - but it is the desire to obtain some of the levels that i see some of the guys doing over here that drives me on. In wa way, the MDS is just another race in the grand scheme of things. It's part of the journey and to be honest, this website needs re-naming. It's not about the MDS anymore, it's about this journey, although i dont know where it's going to go or end.

I have some pretty serious goals now for next year. The MDS though is going to screw things up a little I think. I want to try and get my marathon time down into the 3hrs and teens... however i also want to have a crack at a 24 hour track race and see what I can do there too. There's also the Coast to Kozi... a 240km race, which I think is very suited to me. I enjoy the roads to an extent and think I could do a respectable time there... but time will tell... so many things to do over here and plenty of time to do them.

For now, it's all about the GNW 175km. It scares me a little, it's an enormous task and one that i wonder if mentally I have the ability to do. Physically I know it;s within me. At the Glasshouse 100km I was physcially capably of carrying on... mentally I'd shut off come the last checkpoint at 88kms. I need to focus on this and treat it with respect, it's tough as old boots this one, and I dont want a DNF. I never want a DNF :)

The night train to Patonga...

2008-10-19T17:36:00.002+11:00

Since signing up for the GNW100, I've now met up with and been on a few training runs with a few of the guys doing it. And so it was suggested that we do the last 75kms of the course overnight, in preparation for the overnight running that we would have to endure during this race. I must say I was quite excited by the prospect of doing this, and at the very least it would be an extremely good training run for me to do. However it was only 4 full rest days after the Melbourne marathon where I really did bust a bit of a gut. However I had pulled up well, so I thought bugger it, let's get onboard this night train and see how we go!

So leaving work on Friday night at 5pm, I headed up the coast with a guy called Andrew who's also doing the 175km, and we met up with 9 others, all doing the same race or at least the 100km. It was almost a mini-race in itself, so much so that we decided to make it a fatass race. This is a series of unorganised, pitch up and run races that people over here decide to put on. There's no entry fee, no prizes, no crew, just run - very much the purest's ultra-distance race so to speak.

So at 9pm we kicked off, and I must admit, I'd kind of lost my excitement for doing the run at this point. I think it dawned on me that for the next 9 hours at least we'd be running in the dark, and clambering up and down hills, whilst also trying to avoid the dreaded leaches. God damn I hate those things. I actually prefer to have a standoff with a snake than run through a hoard of leaches to be honest.

Anyway, I kept to myself somewhat in the first few hours as I wasn't feeling in a massively sociable mood, and just wanted to get the first few hours under my belt and done. I don't know why I suddenly felt like this, but hey ho, through the first few hours we got, and into the leach zone. Looking back it wasn't overly bad but there were a few patches where the floor was crawling a little, and despite keeping a good pace, these little buggers are very adept at sticking to your shoes. I used a bit of Bushman's and whilst they don't stop them getting onto your shoe, they do stop them going much further than your shoe and having a crack at your blood!

However running through the bush was quite enjoyable, and when you get down into the dungeon so to speak, it really is quite pretty. So across the streams we went, up the steep hills, past the leach zones, and within 4 and a half hours, we'd completed our first section, which was CP4 to CP5 in the race. It's 28.5kms long, and a nice section to run actually. 4 1/2 hours was also a very good time in the dark too, we were banking on around 5 hours, but I think the fresh legs at the start help us push through quite quickly.

CP5 is at a place called Somersby, and there we stopped for 30 mins, filled up the camelbaks (3 litres), and stocked up on a bit of food. For me it was rice pudding and a Mule bar, sent over from Likeys. They were OK, but I think I overdid it on the sweet stuff. Normally I'm a savoury person, and I just didn't have enough savoury food, something that would screw me over a bit towards the end.

The next section (CP5 to CP6), is a relatively short one, and quick one at that too. It's 18kms, and in daylight you can knock this one off in just under 2 hours. we again surprised ourselves and a lead group of myself, Darrel and Terry polished this one off in 2hrs 15mins. Again, quite quick, and we walked the last kilometre too! At this point I was feeling a little crap, not physically, but I just couldn't eat. I forced some nuts and a can of coke down me, but I knew it wasn't enough, and sure enough about an hour and a half into the next section I felt a bit crap.

Still, we were on the home straight with 25kms to go and the opportunity to be running whilst dawn broke. The last section is a bit of a bugger with quite a few uphills, but all very worth it as we reached the top of one of the hills as dawn broke, and were graced with magnificent views of the Hawksbury River region. A stunning sight to see first thing in the morning. I then managed to get some potato wedges down me for the final slog home, and race through the last 12kms or so we did, rocking up at Patonga, our finish at just past 9am in the morning. Twelve hours for that section is very respectable, especially during the night as well. However this will be nowhere near our times in the real thing as we'll have already done 100kms before that. 14 hours is much more realistic to expect on race day I think, taking into account fatigue etc...

However a great run, and very enjoyable. It was great to meet a few of the guys who'll also be running in the race too, and once again a good learning curve in terms of what my body can and can't cope with during the night - definitely much more savoury stuff for me during the race!

It can't be this easy?

2008-10-16T08:36:00.003+11:00

I don't know why, but I have had no real aches and pains from running the marathon at the weekend. Normally by about Sunday night I'm reduced to a cripple, but this time round I've been walking very freely without so much of a hint of pain. And this considering I busted a gut to do a PB as well!?!?!? I'm still waiting for a delayed onset or something, but its very bizarre. So much so that I went out last night for a nice gentle jog, and I was full of energy! I had to slow myself down as I didn't want to risk any injury. I have to be sensible though - I have a 75km night run to do tomorrow night and I can't wait!

So it seems as if my body is really getting used to the rigours of marathon running now, but we'll see what happens post the run this weekend. I'm sure I'll be a cripple come Sunday after a gentle 45 mile meander through the bush. This will be the last big training run before the bug 175km which I can't wait for - it will be an awesome, tiring, mental battle, but one I really want to complete. And the aim here really is to just complete it. Only a third of people who start actually finish, so it's a toughie. Preparation will be key for this, starting today for the run tomorrow night.

I love it when a plan comes together

2008-10-13T07:19:00.003+11:00

So I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to be leaving Melbourne until I'd ran a sub 3hr 30mins yesterday... and run a sub 3:30 I did. Personally I think most of it is mental... I knew I had the ability, but it's whether you want that bad enough that counts I reckon.

Anyways... so the start wasn't that great for me, but I actually think it became a benefit in the end. I was desperate for the loo, so stood waiting my turn at the start line as the gun grew ever nearer. I was going to start with the 3:30 pace group, however the gun literally went off as I came out of the loo. Not to worry, with 3,700 runners, it would take a couple of minutes before the start line was cleared. So I joined in right at the back. I actually quite liked this as it meant I could set off nice and steady, no rushing, and within a few kms, I was clear of the traffic and running nice and freely. The plan was to try and catch up with the 3:30 group at some point. Within a few kms I'd gone past 3:45, and set myself into a nice rhythm, crossing 10.5kms in 48 mins. It was soon after that I caught up with the 3:30 group and settled in a nice easy pace with those guys. The pace was good and I was surprised at how easy it felt to be honest. The sun which was predicted to be beating down on us was covered by cloud at this point, another saving grace and life was good. The next 20kms or so was pretty uneventful as we moved across halfway in 1hr 42mins 40 secs. For me I felt this was slightly too quick again and I was worried that I might pay for it a bit later on, but the good thing was that I had a minute and a half in the bank over the 3:30 group, something which I initially forgot about. We made our way down the coastal road along by the sea and life was good, however the turn back up the road brought us smack on into a head wind.

It was at 25kms I had a bit of a rough patch as I let the mental side kick in a little and told myself that I wasnt feeling great. The reality was that I was just pissed off about running into a head wind, and quite a strong one at that! However I soon kicked out of this as the sun came out and the temperature started to hot up somewhat. I hit 34kms and then things started to hurt... not in my head, but my heart rate was creeping up. I'd kept a very steady 155 bpm all the way through and now it was going up as I was having to work harder for the kms. The 3:30 group was also starting to split up slightly and at about 36kms I started to fall behind the pacer a little. I was getting annoyed as I wanted to stay with him until the end, knowing I had a 90 buffer on him from the start. However the legs started to turn into lead, the heart rate was up over 170bpm and it was becoming a struggle.

My goal was to have hit 36.5kms on 3 hours. I hit 37kms in 3hrs 2mins, and I knew that a 3:30 there was there for the taking if I wanted it. The next 5kms were about sheer mental toughness and just keeping a 5min 15sec km pace up. People were starting to drop by the wayside on the road as the temperature rose, but push on I did, just about keeping the 3:30 pacer in sight. We entered the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) for a lap around the pitch to finish (the main reason I wanted to do this marathon), and I passed the finish line on 3hrs 28mins... bonza, mission accomplished. I was well happy, and I'd blown for th 3:30 barrier out the water. The missus also had a great day too finishing her first half marathon in 2hrs 18mins, a great result for her too.

Now it's a few days of recovery before a 75km night run on Friday night!

Fast fast slow...

2008-10-08T08:33:00.002+11:00

So as I gently ease it down towards Melbourne, I wasn't going to head out last night, but I thought better to get one more decent session in ahead of Sunday, so it was just a casual 7kms with 4 x 90 second sprints in them, including a couple of them uphills. All very casual, nothing too dramatic. Today is a rest day, before an easy 7km on Thursday and then two full days of rest (oh joy).

The plan is to not flog myself, but then again who am I kidding, I know I will... I don;t know any other way :) Really getting excited about the GNW 175km now. It's going to be an amazing adventure. Even more so by the fact that only a third of the field actually finish the damn thing. I didn't realise the stats were that low. The key to this one will be survival, and just looking to finish I think. I've read some of the reports from previous years, and even some of the really experienced ultra runners from around the world put this race up there as one of the toughest around. Just some background info for those who don;t know about it:

The Great North Walk is a 250 km walking track that runs between Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. It was opened in the Australian Bicentennial year of 1988 and passes through some of Australia's most outstanding scenery.

The Great North Walk 100s (GNW100s), organized by the Terrigal Trotters running club for the first time in 2005, are two simultaneous trail races, a 100 Mile and a 100 Kilometre, along The Great North Walk south from Teralba on Lake Macquarie. The 100 Kilometre race will finish at Yarramalong in the scenic Yarramalong Valley and the 100 Mile at Patonga on spectacular Broken Bay. Although the route is primarily on foot tracks and fire-trails, it does include some minor back roads. There is more than 6,200 metres (20,000ft) of ascent (and descent) in the 100 Mile and 3,800 metres (12,500ft) of ascent in the 100 Kilometre.

I can't wait for it, but I'm going to really need to study the maps hard and know where I'm going. This one is as much about navigation as it is running, and there are some tight cut off times too. Awesome... can't wait!

The windy city

2008-10-07T08:18:00.002+11:00

Well not quite the city, but Jesus was it blowing a gale last night as I went for a run. It all started off beautifully at around 1pm, when the missus and I headed down to The Royal National Park to Bundeena to have a nice little bush walk along the coast. It is truly beautiful along there and will be the scene of many of future run as well. However around 5-6kms in the heavens took a turn for the worse, so we turned around and headed back. However we still got caught in the storm and got very wet. However within 30 minutes, the skies cleared as we headed back to Balmain, and it was again a beautiful afternoon.

Well all that was until I decided to head out for a run, and must have timed it to perfection as I hit a really bad wind storm. Shit was blowing into my eyes, running into the wind nearly brought me to s standstill, so I called short the proposed 8 miles, and did a nice little 5 miler followed by some hill sprints at the end, all four of them.

This week will consist of a couple more 7km runs before Melbourne at the weekend. Really have to break 3hr 30mins... this will be etched onto my head!

Solid 16kms

2008-10-05T22:16:00.002+11:00

So a week ahead of the Melbourne marathon, yesterday was a nice 16kms around Balmain and the Bay Run. After feeling pretty weary during the midweek, a rest of nearly 2 days did me some good and I was pleased with the run.

It consisted of a 6km warm-up run in 31mins 30 secs, then 6kms at tempo in 25 mins 14 secs, followed by a nice 4km warm-down in 22mins and something seconds :)

All in, really pleased with the 6kms at tempo as that works out at 4min 12 sec kms, which is fairly good ahead of the Melbourne marathon. It's a good little session to get done, and should help with the speedwork. Really want to try for sub 3hr 30mins in Melbourne, but also don't want to burn myself up too much. The real focus has to be on the GNW 175km on November 8th. I'm planning a 75km night run with a few guys as a training run for it which should be cool.

Rest day today, not because it was scheduled, but I guess you have to get the balance. Off for a walk in the National Park tomorrow as well.

Heavy legs... beautiful morning!

2008-10-02T12:11:00.004+10:00

So a couple of close back-to-back sessions on Wednesday and then again this morning. I think I underestimated how I felt after the 45kms on Saturday. I really felt good once it was complete, and felt like I could have carried on no problem, which I could have done. I also found the 45kms very OK. It will be interesting to see how we get on with the 75kms at night on the same route, but with the added 30 odd thrown in for the finish at Pattonga Beach.

Anyway's last night I really was feeling quite tired, but I dragged myself out and did a nice 3km warm-up to Woolworths and back to get the dinner, and then did 6 x 200m hill sprints outside my house on Darling Street. I'm lucky in that I live on the steep slope going down to the ferry at Balmain East, so doing hill reps is very convenient for me. They're tough work, but good. The first 150m is OK, but the last 50m is where it really gets you, and it's hard graft maintaining the same pace. Anyway, I did them relatively easy, not pushing too hard, but they're good work and get the heart rate pumping!

Then not more than 10 hours later I was back out at 6:30am this morning for a short sharp 7kms around Balmain. I was going to go down to the Bay in Rozelle, but decided not to in the end as I was still feeling weary. Indeed the last 1km caught up with me as the shins started to hurt somewhat. The concrete is becoming so much of an issue now, and soon I'll have my car to get out of the roads and onto the trails more, which I really enjoy running. I'll take a break now until this weekend where I'll do a couple of 16-18km runs, before bringing down next week ahead of Melbourne. Still also need to make the decision on which GNW race to run... the 'safe' 100km, or the darker 175km... I'm 60:40 in favour of the 175km at the moment... mental :)

Tough work

2008-10-01T13:52:00.002+10:00

Last night was the dreaded 7.5 miles along the pavements and concrete back home from work. I only really do this once a week, even though I'd love to do it more as it would help fit things in better, but running on the concrete is horrible. I question sometimes just how much good the run is doing me. I have to stop and start a lot in the city because of the traffic lights and last night it was all too much like hard work. The only real benefit I feel I get out of the run is that I do hill sprints when there are hills, apart from that I think I'll call these a day and wait til I get home. Which is a pain as it takes up so much of my time. I really need to get my arse into gear in the mornings, get up at 6am, and get out running.

That said I still had the 45kms in my legs from Saturday, and with the wind in the city, I found the going tough last night. I rocked home in a very steady 66 minutes for 12kms, so 5min 30secs kms. OK I suppose, but it felt tough. However the legs feel better today, so it's off for a nice easy 7km, followed by some hill work afterwards. I'm wondering just how much use the Melbourne marathon is going to be now. I'm not really tapering for it at all, and as a result, I don't think I'll be running much quicker than 3hr 35min. A shame as I want to try and put a PB in for this one, however I also dont want to cut too much back on the weekly milage. Maybe I'll just do some shorter fast sessions next week, and rest properly before it... who knows...

Breaking those mental barriers

2008-09-28T20:02:00.004+10:00

This week has been a good one, totalling 54 miles. After all the injuries and niggles over the last couple of months, it's finally great to get a good 50-odd miler training week under the belt again, and it felt comfortable too.

On Saturday I met up with some of the guys (and gal) from the Cool Runnings website over here in Oz, and we went for a 45km trail run on the Great North Walk course. In reality this was to be the second furthest distance I'd ever run, but my head is in such a good space at the moment that I didnt really give it much of a second thought in terms of distance in the slightest. In fact I looked at it 'merely as a simple 45kms'. And that's not trying to sound arrogant in any way in the slightest. I think having done the 100km, anything else looks very manageable. even the thought of doing 'just' the 100km in the Great North Walk seems OK, and I'm now seriously considering doing the 175km instead. Crazy man!

Anyway's up at 5am and we eventually got to the start point at 7:45am, and took off for the first section, which was a casual 27.5kms through the bush. Terrain was quite similar to the Glasshouse course, with plenty of trail tracks and up and down into the bush, however this was a slightly prettier course I think, with some dives straight down into the creeks and quite dense bush. The section we were to cover was from the 103kms to 148kms part of the course.

We took the first 28kms relatively steady, and knocked them off in 4 hours, a nice and steady time. It started off at a very comfortable temperature, however it soon warmed up and hit a peak of around 27 degrees I think. what was noticeable was that even thought the temperatures yesterday and in Brisbane were very similar, the humidity levels were a million miles apart and running was very comfortable. I'll add as well that I was carrying around a 3-4kg backpack and was trying out the OMM this time round.

The second section was a pretty quick 18kms, which was predominantly downhill, along some loose rocky area, but mainly following the creek, all the way back to where the cars where parked. However where there is creek and hot sunshine, there are also snakes. We came up against 3-4 of the red belly snakes that look a little like this:

The closest we came was about 3kms from our finish as Innes and I were merrily running along at quite a quick pace. Suddenly he stopped me and there he was rearing his head at us. Fortunately these guys whilst venomous, are not overly dangerous! However it took a few stamps of the feet to get rid of him into the bush!

It is however a real thing to consider when we are running in the bush. I tend to only look at my feet when running and not really that far in front of me, so I really need to be on my toes!

Anyway, after that, we hit the road for the final kilometre back to the cars and knocked off a very speedy 18kms in just under 2 hours, t leave us at just under 6 hours for the total 45kms. It was a great run and also felt very comfortable too, so much so that I've been out for a nice 2.5 mile recovery as well today. It's great that I can run these distances (albeit at low intensity), but bounce back really well from them. I think in January and February I'm pretty much going to run one of those marathon plus distances a week. They're good fun to do and are great training.

This week will be slightly shorter in distance as I have the Melbourne marathon the weekend after and I was to try and break 3hrs 30mins for the first time. I wont taper too much this week, but still do 40 miles, and then a few 5 milers early next week, still taking that total above 40 miles too with the marathon. I don't however want to bugger myself over too much!

Nice and easy

2008-09-26T13:29:00.002+10:00

I shortened my run last night from a whopping 6 miles to 4.5 :) in truth I didn't want to push myself too hard ahead of this weekend's longer run where I'm heading out for a cool 45kms... nice! So last night was nice and easy and I also taped up my knee and it didn't hurt at all, so there's something to be said for the taping I think. The calf wasn't too bad either, so all in a very steady and nice evening run. Looking forward to the run tomorrow. Another good chance to spend some serious time on my feet and get an ultra length in so to speak. The guys I'm running with are pretty good, so will have to keep my pace up!