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.