It's getting very close now... It will Start... here...>

Well, this is the last entry for March... this time next week I'll be there, resting, testing kit, and preparing for the start! Gulp!
On arrival at Hosea Kutako International airport in Windhoek on 5Th April, we transfer for 4 hours to the starting point in the Namib Desert, where our camp will be set-up in the shadow of the stunning Brandtberg Mountain – Namibia’s highest peak standing at 2,573 metres.
Sunday 6Th will be taken up with a mandatory kit check of the compulsory items, resting, and fuelling up by carbohydrate loading and hydrating, ready for the start at 09:00 on the 7Th.

I only have a couple of gentle runs left this week, there is very little I can do physically now except avoid any injury. So now the mental preparation comes into play.
I have confidence that I can go the distance, based on the physical preparation I've done, and the pace strategy I am working to, now I need to focus on the mental strength required, and the psychological battle that will come with the fatigue, and relentless effort required over the final 20 miles.
more later... see you all soon.

Some days you gain...some days end in pain

Has it really been 2 weeks since my last entry? Isn't it scary how time can just pass so quickly.
Things have moved on significantly since my last post, I've undergone a thorough running examination at the Human Performance Department at Lincoln University 2 weekends ago courtesy of Paul Murgatroyd who is reserching a paper on Ultra Marathoners.
Paul ran the Marathon des Sables with me last year, and I was excited and surprised to get my report back from him with his findings.
Surprisingly for both of us the Lactate Threshold & Vo2 Max tests indicated that I have a poorer running ecconomy than we would have expected for someone working with my mileage base. This supports the old addage, it's quality not quantity of training that matters.
I have always found distance work more enjoyable than speed work... no points for guessing what will improve my running ecconomy, and extend my Lactate Threshold and Lacate Turn Point... yep, quality speed sessions 2 times a week for the next 3 months.
That means working hard repeadtedly in the higher reaches of my heartrate and aerobic zones.

I have to say I now enjoy the speed sessions, and have taken up the challenge of pushing hard from the front, in the club sessions on a wednesday night.
The distance runs are now starting to taper down, and today was my last 20 miler before flying out on the April 4th, what a shock it had in store for me.

I met the guys for an offroad 20 miler at 10am, and all went well until 12 miles in. I knew I was well hydrated, well rested, and had plenty of energy onboard, and I had completed this same route frequently in the previous year, but today my legs were in agony and deep seated pain in my calves and bones told me something else was wrong.

We were joined for the last 7 miles by Peter & Cath, two of the regular Saturday bunch and the added company lifted my flagging spirit, and despite Peter doing his very best with his worst jokes... it all got very much worse for me with only 4 miles to go!
I was dropping back further with every stride, dredging the depths of my determination to get to the end, but I found it almost impossible to run up any incline, and my body was definately telling me something was very wrong! To say I was glad when the finish was reached is definately an understatement!!

Some days you gain, and some days end in pain... today was one of those days for me. I have learned to rest, reflect and recuperate when things go wrong, but with the training window erroding and the departure date approaching fast, I just hope it was a one off.
You know... it brought home to me the introspective aspect of pain, ... when the pain kicks in, I try to divert my attention away from me and think about the charities that we all support. I know there are thousands of people out there who would glady swap places with me at that moment in time because comparitively, they would be in less pain... it puts everything into perspective... try it some time!
more tomorrow, see you all again soon.

Spring has sprung

Saturday 06:30am,
A bright breezy start to the day, and 26.2 miles stretched ahead of me, 5 miles into the run the sun broke through and I wondered how I would feel in a few hours time. Today was experiment day... no breakfast, deliberate minimal carb intake in the previous days, and a reference for what it would feel like awaiting me.
After discussing food strategies for endurance with Rory, a thought has been stuck in my head all week. Rory had summarized the whole concept of correct energy replacement strategy for me in one simple statement..."If you want to drive 80 miles in your car but you only put 40 miles worth of petrol in the tank, what do you think would happen?"
Unlike in multi stage ultra marathons, where you can replenish energy with a cooked meal and sleep, the Namibian single stage ultra is timed start to finish. My challenge therefore is how do I refuel with enough energy to complete an 80 mile single stage race when, considering the terrain and temperature, I will burn somewhere in the region of 130 calories per mile or 10,400 calories over the distance? Especially when I struggle to eat while I run.
Assuming I start the race fully energized and carbohydrate loaded, broken down into 2 sections, I need to refuel with 5200 calories between mile 1 & 40, in order to sustain myself between 40 & 80, and have enough fuel on board to complete the distance, assuming I arrive at he finish line absolutely drained. So what will it feel like to be out of fuel?

Well back to Saturday, 1st of all, an offroad marathon takes more out of you than a road marathon, but I have to say the distraction factor of the scenery helps the miles to melt away.

Spring has definitely sprung in North Yorkshire, and as I covered the off road miles (I got wet feet 1 mile in, crossing the stepping stones in Crimple beck) I saw snow drops, croci, daffodils, 3 wild deer, a fox and a red kite in the first 12 miles, and fields full of expectant sheep. As I approached mile 18 I ran alongside fields of spring lambs, noisily bleating in chorus and nuzzling mum, for attention and feeding. Mmmmm food...energy!!!
That was just about the time I started feeling the pain and results of the experiment.
My legs felt heavy and painful, mainly in my thighs, but my calves were also feeling tight, and I definitely identified the drained of energy feeling. Energy gels carry 88 calories, with 66 grammes of carbohydrate, barely enough for a mile so two of these helped carry me on. The next 4 miles of my run were all up hill and that enegy kick soon disappeared, and it was replaced by tiredness, and a deflated feeling, I took another 2 at the end of the climb and I was back to the drained feeling as I coasted down hill for 2 miles to home.

So, it was lesson learned, and a smile back on my face after rehydrating with 1ltr of Rego recovery powder mixed into a banana & milk smoothy and a hot bath.
If I get the energy replacement bit wrong at 20 or 40 miles into Namibia, I'm in for a very painful experience, ending in failure.

That for me sums up the beauty of experience, you have a reference and a chance to learn and apply what you learned from the lesson. Better to experience it in training that in an extreme event.

It also is for me a lesson in respect and advice, or should I say "respecting the source of advice". I have often been asked for advice, on running goals and achievement in ultra marathons, and I think the best advice I can give is to share what was given to me... " There are only two kinds of people to take advice from... those who have achieved what you want to achieve...and those who have paid the price that you are willing to pay." because you cannot negotiate the price of success, you either pay it or you don't!
It's amazing how many times I hear people ask for advice from experts in their field, and then look to question it because it is not what they wanted to hear!

Rory, once again, I owe you one!
more later...see you all soon.

Lets explore pain... do you think Jack was in Pain?... click on the image to enlarge,

06.30am Saturday 1st March, time to get up, get dressed, and get myself down to Long Eaton for Rory Coleman's Marathon des Sables 26.2 x 2 double marathon training weekend.
Great, I'd been looking forward to this all week, but as I began to gently role out of bed trying not to wake my wife, a searing stab of pain made me wince and catch my breath.
I recognized the pain immediately, and for a split second I thought I was still asleep and having a nightmare... I was back on the "Physio Terrorists" bed with a boney elbow bearing pin-point pressure deep into my buttock,to my piriformis!
But alass right at this moment I was wide awake, and my sciatic nerve was ascerting its position as the largest nerve in the body by proving it could Shout very loudly "PAIN in the ARSE!"

The "piriformis" is a muscle that travels behind the hip joint. The piriformis muscle is small compared to other muscles around the hip and thigh, and it aids in external rotation (turning out) of the hip joint. The piriformis muscle and its tendon attaches to the head of the femur, the largest bone in the body, and they have an intimate relationship to the sciatic nerve (the largest nerve in the body)which supplies the lower extremities with motor and sensory function.(And in this case acts as a hotline for pain signals to my brain)

I decided that I would allow myself an hour ahead of the run to warm up thoroughly and try to stretch the muscle before deciding if I should risk it. The plan worked and I eased the pace at 22 miles as the tension returned and once again it began to complain as fatigue set in, but the job was done, and I conceeded that I should rest it and withdrew from Sunday's marathon.
(I've learned it is important to view these events in context, and adjust my plans accordingly, (oh! and never let Rory think I'm looking for sympathy), but rest assured, if I this happens in Namibia... my target time will go out of the window but... I'll be finishing the distance.)

The format for both days required a sleep over, so pior to the rest of the competitors getting some much needed sleep, I ran a slide show presentation for them of my experiences of MdeS 07 and a "do's and dont's" session with expert contributions from Rory, and his wealth of Ultra-Marathon endurance experience.

I think there were a few worried faces and "Oh my god what have I put myself into" thoughts running through them as we got onto the subjects of pain, sustained effort, and having a strategy for when "your wheels fall off, and your plans desintigrate".

The fact remains that in these kinds of extreme endurance events, you can literally be playing with your life... we had a very unfortunate death during the MdeS last year, and Bernaud was one of the elite, so it can happen.

What was more likely to effect this bunch, was failure in their basic preparation. I explained that a runner last year was pulled from the race after stage 2, because his blisters were so severe that the event doctors told him, "If you run tomorrow, you will loose your toe, your blisters are too severe, and deep." That's it...Race over, and £2500 and a year of effort wasted because of a poor foot preparation strategy and poor personal management.

I also showed them some of the guys who succeeded in completing the event, Jack O'Hearn from Team Lincoln, (in the picture above) finished the race dispite 3rd degree blisters under the balls of his feet, (got his foot strategy wrong) which is by any standard, proof of great determination and strength of character. Others finished to, because inspite of their poor personal management of their feet, they were humble enough to accept they got it wrong, took medical advice like Jack, considered their options and proved to themselves, and everyone silently watching, (But most importantly to the doctors, who have the power to disqualify you from race on medical grounds), that they had the mental toughness to push on.

You know... as I've said before, when you cross the start line, you never know what the race will hold for you! Whether you are an experienced runner or not, it's all relevant, if it's a 5 mile, 10mile, or 150mile event, things can still go wrong, and if you plan to finish, you will have to call on your inner strength to see you through.

If you are determined to succeed... to finish the task infront of you... to overcome the pain, to be true to yourself, and smile on the finishing line, then that's all it takes sometimes.... just everything you've got.