Apologies for the delaying in adding pictures to the blog, but here you go! Note if you have seen them on facebook they are the same,,,,
Saturday 20 April 2013
Photos
Tuesday 16 April 2013
Chris's Post-race Thoughts
It feels kind of weird now that something that has occupied my worries for 18 months is now over. I almost feel like I don't know what to do with myself! Of course with term starting tomorrow, coursework to mark and lessons to plan then I have plenty to do but there's definitely a gap!
It turns out that I was only 290th on that last day, which was actually my lowest stage rank. However, it also turns out that a very large number of competitors were saving themselves for the last marathon and so only really pushed themselves then. Several people came in the top 100 despite being below halfway in the overall rankings. This is why Neil and JPD appear much lower in the rankings. If you look at my time relative to the stage winner, to Neil or to JPD then it was indeed my best result.
The reason for this was probably that only by the final day had I worked out my hydration and nutrition strategies. I seem to sweat more than average (maybe this is why I am often colder than others?) and had probably not been having enough salt so far. This certainly caused my dehydration on day one as I actually did have a lot of water in my stomach but it wasn't being absorbed well. I found this out as I had to go for no fewer than three pees that night! I guess this was why I was feeling nauseous as well.
We were supposed to take 2 salt tablets per 1.5l of water but on this last day I took 3 (as well as a small amount of sodium in my lucozade) and I'm sure this was what helped. I also had manged to scrape the re-solidified Haribo out of its pack into small chunks which I took regularly through this stage so I wasn't sugar-low like on day 4. That said, it was still a fear of heatstroke that was the limiting factor on my pace on the final day. 6hrs for a marathon is still a pretty poor time even allowing for the loss of perhaps 45 min due to the dune crossing.
So my final place was 247, which was pleasing as after day 1 I had changed my target from "finishing" to "finishing in the top 250". I am, of course, delighted with this as it's a pretty strong field. However, I probably could have got a fair bit higher with a few things that I now know:
1) Hydration. Drink all the water they give you - on day 1 I only took 1 bottle at one of the checkpoints as I felt I didn't need the weight of 2. This was a poor economy. I also need to keep a very high salt intake. This change was probably worth 30 min on day 1 and another 30 min over the next few days, so 1 hour in all.
2) Nutrition. I need to practise this. Every single day I had a "low" straight after my mid-race snack. I knew this in advance but when you're exercising for this duration then you have to eat. I can get through a normal marathon without eating but that's only about 3 hours. I had planned to take lots of energy through my locozade and I did do this but, frankly, I was quite sick of warm lucozade by the end and often drank the water undiluted instead. As a result I was short on energy at the end of every stage except the last one. On the long stage this was critical and I was seriously hypoglycaemic at the end. That day alone probably cost me nearly 2 hours, all in that last 20km. Neil made 2h 30 on me in that period. I reckon getting this right could have saved me 2 - 3 hours.
3) Finally, I definitely didn't push myself 100% as I had reasoned that the small time to be gained from this was not worth the risk of not finishing. I therefore kept an eye on my heart rate and deliberately kept it well within aerobic levels at all times. Neil and JPD do not think cautiously like this but then Neil did actually come very close to dropping out on stage 4 so perhaps I was right. However, were I to do it again I would work harder. This again would probably be worth an hour over the whole thing.
So, where would I have been with 4 - 5 hours off my time? 102nd to 121st is the answer to that but it's not really a fair question as I am sure that nearly everyone in places 122 - 246 also made mistakes that they could rectify.
Fitness-wise, I had no issues. The 100km/week training left my heart/lungs/legs in great shape and I had relatively few blisters too. In fact, as I type this I feel 90% recovered already and am confident I could go and run at PB pace on Sunday if I had to. However, with hindsight I can see that my training was far too road-specific. This was the case for most of my competitors as they struggled on the interesting terrain too and, in fact, I was quicker than the people near me whenever it got really steep or jagged from the small amount of off-road that I have done. I needed to have done a lot more trail running and also on sand. Quite why I didn't drive up to Hunstanton and do some long days on the beach is a mystery I pondered several times on the long sand sections. The answer, of course, was laziness.
So, would I do it again? There were times such as the last few km of the long day where I would never like to feel like that again. Never in my life have I actually been reduced to ticking every single 100m off. However, I would hope to be in a better place nutrition/hydration-wise next time. I'm also a competitive sod and finishing top 100 might just about be within my capabilities with a few tweaks to the training. If it weren't for the entry cost I would be signing up for 2015 already.
I _really_ enjoyed doing this with my friends too - there is no one better at picking you up when you are down and you benefit from shared energy as well as the bonus of sharing equipment when necessary too. I feel BPBC (Trinity College alumni rowers, for the non-boaties reading this) acquitted themselves very well in this but we all felt we could improve now that we have experience. BPBC could probably put together a very strong team indeed if we were really serious about this and I would be happy to play a domestique role in any such future team. Just let me know...
It turns out that I was only 290th on that last day, which was actually my lowest stage rank. However, it also turns out that a very large number of competitors were saving themselves for the last marathon and so only really pushed themselves then. Several people came in the top 100 despite being below halfway in the overall rankings. This is why Neil and JPD appear much lower in the rankings. If you look at my time relative to the stage winner, to Neil or to JPD then it was indeed my best result.
The reason for this was probably that only by the final day had I worked out my hydration and nutrition strategies. I seem to sweat more than average (maybe this is why I am often colder than others?) and had probably not been having enough salt so far. This certainly caused my dehydration on day one as I actually did have a lot of water in my stomach but it wasn't being absorbed well. I found this out as I had to go for no fewer than three pees that night! I guess this was why I was feeling nauseous as well.
We were supposed to take 2 salt tablets per 1.5l of water but on this last day I took 3 (as well as a small amount of sodium in my lucozade) and I'm sure this was what helped. I also had manged to scrape the re-solidified Haribo out of its pack into small chunks which I took regularly through this stage so I wasn't sugar-low like on day 4. That said, it was still a fear of heatstroke that was the limiting factor on my pace on the final day. 6hrs for a marathon is still a pretty poor time even allowing for the loss of perhaps 45 min due to the dune crossing.
So my final place was 247, which was pleasing as after day 1 I had changed my target from "finishing" to "finishing in the top 250". I am, of course, delighted with this as it's a pretty strong field. However, I probably could have got a fair bit higher with a few things that I now know:
1) Hydration. Drink all the water they give you - on day 1 I only took 1 bottle at one of the checkpoints as I felt I didn't need the weight of 2. This was a poor economy. I also need to keep a very high salt intake. This change was probably worth 30 min on day 1 and another 30 min over the next few days, so 1 hour in all.
2) Nutrition. I need to practise this. Every single day I had a "low" straight after my mid-race snack. I knew this in advance but when you're exercising for this duration then you have to eat. I can get through a normal marathon without eating but that's only about 3 hours. I had planned to take lots of energy through my locozade and I did do this but, frankly, I was quite sick of warm lucozade by the end and often drank the water undiluted instead. As a result I was short on energy at the end of every stage except the last one. On the long stage this was critical and I was seriously hypoglycaemic at the end. That day alone probably cost me nearly 2 hours, all in that last 20km. Neil made 2h 30 on me in that period. I reckon getting this right could have saved me 2 - 3 hours.
3) Finally, I definitely didn't push myself 100% as I had reasoned that the small time to be gained from this was not worth the risk of not finishing. I therefore kept an eye on my heart rate and deliberately kept it well within aerobic levels at all times. Neil and JPD do not think cautiously like this but then Neil did actually come very close to dropping out on stage 4 so perhaps I was right. However, were I to do it again I would work harder. This again would probably be worth an hour over the whole thing.
So, where would I have been with 4 - 5 hours off my time? 102nd to 121st is the answer to that but it's not really a fair question as I am sure that nearly everyone in places 122 - 246 also made mistakes that they could rectify.
Fitness-wise, I had no issues. The 100km/week training left my heart/lungs/legs in great shape and I had relatively few blisters too. In fact, as I type this I feel 90% recovered already and am confident I could go and run at PB pace on Sunday if I had to. However, with hindsight I can see that my training was far too road-specific. This was the case for most of my competitors as they struggled on the interesting terrain too and, in fact, I was quicker than the people near me whenever it got really steep or jagged from the small amount of off-road that I have done. I needed to have done a lot more trail running and also on sand. Quite why I didn't drive up to Hunstanton and do some long days on the beach is a mystery I pondered several times on the long sand sections. The answer, of course, was laziness.
So, would I do it again? There were times such as the last few km of the long day where I would never like to feel like that again. Never in my life have I actually been reduced to ticking every single 100m off. However, I would hope to be in a better place nutrition/hydration-wise next time. I'm also a competitive sod and finishing top 100 might just about be within my capabilities with a few tweaks to the training. If it weren't for the entry cost I would be signing up for 2015 already.
I _really_ enjoyed doing this with my friends too - there is no one better at picking you up when you are down and you benefit from shared energy as well as the bonus of sharing equipment when necessary too. I feel BPBC (Trinity College alumni rowers, for the non-boaties reading this) acquitted themselves very well in this but we all felt we could improve now that we have experience. BPBC could probably put together a very strong team indeed if we were really serious about this and I would be happy to play a domestique role in any such future team. Just let me know...
Sunday 14 April 2013
Too Many DJs Saved My Life
[Posted by Jon]
I notice that I've also totally forgotten to post anything at all about my iPod.
I didn't use it at all on the first two days - I wanted to save it for when it mattered (along with my other "treats" - gels, sweets, pain killers and caffeine tablets). The second half of the third day mattered; unfortunately the iPod didn't work - I'd been drenching myself in water (I actually had an excess that day) and some must have got in.
However, stuff dries out quickly in the Sahara, and it was up and running again on the fourth day, and I certainly needed it then! I listened to about half of your selections from CP1 to CP4, and none disappointed. Particular highlights were Running For Life by Eliza Doolittle ("Time runs a marathon, I need to carry on"), Where The Streets Have No Name by U2 (multiple lines), Mighty Wings from Top Gun and the Lawrence of Arabia Theme. A selection from Muse (especially Butterflies and Hurricanes - "Change everything you are and everything you were") and Foo Fighters brought me home.
I had to resort to the iPod early on the fifth day, unfortunately I can't report that it helped significantly. Shake It Out by Florence and The Machine brought a wry smile ("Relive your darkest moments" and "It's hard to dance with a devil on your back"). Crazy Frog by Axel F was hideous (I did stick it out as promised though). Don't Stop Me Now by Queen is normally one of my favourite songs and would have been great had I been going well.
So thanks again for your selections and donations - they definitely made a big difference to my performance on the long day. It's amazing to see how the donations have continued to stream in while we were out in the desert! We're more than 90% of the way to our final destination - perhaps you can help us cross our final finish line?
http://virginmoneygiving.com/team/SaharanPrints
I notice that I've also totally forgotten to post anything at all about my iPod.
I didn't use it at all on the first two days - I wanted to save it for when it mattered (along with my other "treats" - gels, sweets, pain killers and caffeine tablets). The second half of the third day mattered; unfortunately the iPod didn't work - I'd been drenching myself in water (I actually had an excess that day) and some must have got in.
However, stuff dries out quickly in the Sahara, and it was up and running again on the fourth day, and I certainly needed it then! I listened to about half of your selections from CP1 to CP4, and none disappointed. Particular highlights were Running For Life by Eliza Doolittle ("Time runs a marathon, I need to carry on"), Where The Streets Have No Name by U2 (multiple lines), Mighty Wings from Top Gun and the Lawrence of Arabia Theme. A selection from Muse (especially Butterflies and Hurricanes - "Change everything you are and everything you were") and Foo Fighters brought me home.
I had to resort to the iPod early on the fifth day, unfortunately I can't report that it helped significantly. Shake It Out by Florence and The Machine brought a wry smile ("Relive your darkest moments" and "It's hard to dance with a devil on your back"). Crazy Frog by Axel F was hideous (I did stick it out as promised though). Don't Stop Me Now by Queen is normally one of my favourite songs and would have been great had I been going well.
So thanks again for your selections and donations - they definitely made a big difference to my performance on the long day. It's amazing to see how the donations have continued to stream in while we were out in the desert! We're more than 90% of the way to our final destination - perhaps you can help us cross our final finish line?
http://virginmoneygiving.com/team/SaharanPrints
Afterthoughts 1
[Posted by Jon]
I'm currently sitting on my bed in our hotel in Ouarzazate. My feet are pretty sore, but they'll be fixed in a few days; otherwise I'm now physically mostly recovered. You might find this lack of complete destruction surprising or disappointing - surely after racing almost six marathons in six days I should be in a worse state than this?
Ideally, yes I would.
The simple truth is that the main limiting factor for me was the heat. The first two days weren't too hot, only around 30°C, but in hindsight I was controlling my pace more due to my temperature than my cardiovascular or muscular fatigue in the last third of those days. The third day was the first properly hot day, and I had to walk a large portion of it, earning my worst result to date.
The fourth (long) stage was also hot, but by now I knew how this felt and had a plan to deal with it - fast walk through the heat, then push on through the second half once it cooled down a bit. This was also the strategy involuntarily imposed on Neil (although I suspect he didn't recover fully - from CP3 to the finish his pace was very similar to mine, whereas for the rest of the week he was much faster).
As previously commented, the last stage was a disaster for me mainly due to the heat. I have identified two other factors that affected my ranking on this stage - the flat terrain (day two with its multiple djebels was my favourite day) and the other competitors - we are quite sure that most of the field took the first three days relatively easy in order to perform well on the long day and especially the marathon stage at the end.
I don't want this to sound like a complaint though. The race is a desert race, and as such dealing with flat, sandy terrain and high temperatures is my responsibility. The inconsistency of the other competitors will ultimately have led to a better overall result, as I'm certain they will have gained less on the last leg than they saved by holding back earlier in the week.
So what would I do differently next time?
I'd certainly improve my acclimatisation, spending the weeks leading up to the event training in a heat chamber or somewhere abroad with similarly intense heat.
I'd also spend much more time training on sand, as the top runners were able to keep running efficiently on the soft stuff, something I wasn't able to do. I'd also spend lots of time training at a slower pace - if I'd had an efficient "middle gear" between my fast walk and steady run then I might have been able to use that when the mercury rose.
I was largely happy with my kit, nutrition and hydration - there are certainly changes I would make but nothing that would significantly affect my result. The biggest changes would probably be not to take a sleeping mat (saving 230g) and a bit less to eat on the day off (saving perhaps 100g).
If I wanted to move up towards Neil's level I'd also need to do a lot more running (which would mean stopping rowing) as even at the start of the day (before it got too hot) I was still slower than most runners who ended up in the top 50.
So, will I do it again? I need a few more days of mental recovery before I will answer that...
I'm currently sitting on my bed in our hotel in Ouarzazate. My feet are pretty sore, but they'll be fixed in a few days; otherwise I'm now physically mostly recovered. You might find this lack of complete destruction surprising or disappointing - surely after racing almost six marathons in six days I should be in a worse state than this?
Ideally, yes I would.
The simple truth is that the main limiting factor for me was the heat. The first two days weren't too hot, only around 30°C, but in hindsight I was controlling my pace more due to my temperature than my cardiovascular or muscular fatigue in the last third of those days. The third day was the first properly hot day, and I had to walk a large portion of it, earning my worst result to date.
The fourth (long) stage was also hot, but by now I knew how this felt and had a plan to deal with it - fast walk through the heat, then push on through the second half once it cooled down a bit. This was also the strategy involuntarily imposed on Neil (although I suspect he didn't recover fully - from CP3 to the finish his pace was very similar to mine, whereas for the rest of the week he was much faster).
As previously commented, the last stage was a disaster for me mainly due to the heat. I have identified two other factors that affected my ranking on this stage - the flat terrain (day two with its multiple djebels was my favourite day) and the other competitors - we are quite sure that most of the field took the first three days relatively easy in order to perform well on the long day and especially the marathon stage at the end.
I don't want this to sound like a complaint though. The race is a desert race, and as such dealing with flat, sandy terrain and high temperatures is my responsibility. The inconsistency of the other competitors will ultimately have led to a better overall result, as I'm certain they will have gained less on the last leg than they saved by holding back earlier in the week.
So what would I do differently next time?
I'd certainly improve my acclimatisation, spending the weeks leading up to the event training in a heat chamber or somewhere abroad with similarly intense heat.
I'd also spend much more time training on sand, as the top runners were able to keep running efficiently on the soft stuff, something I wasn't able to do. I'd also spend lots of time training at a slower pace - if I'd had an efficient "middle gear" between my fast walk and steady run then I might have been able to use that when the mercury rose.
I was largely happy with my kit, nutrition and hydration - there are certainly changes I would make but nothing that would significantly affect my result. The biggest changes would probably be not to take a sleeping mat (saving 230g) and a bit less to eat on the day off (saving perhaps 100g).
If I wanted to move up towards Neil's level I'd also need to do a lot more running (which would mean stopping rowing) as even at the start of the day (before it got too hot) I was still slower than most runners who ended up in the top 50.
So, will I do it again? I need a few more days of mental recovery before I will answer that...
The morning after
[posted by Neil]
Done! I have one of four BPBC finishers' medals, some real food for breakfast, a new marathon PB and the most pathetic post-race beard in the 28-year history of the event.
It's now Sunday morning, and after an all-day, airless coach journey yesterday we're back at the hotel for our last day in Morocco with the rest of the British contingent. By and large, competitors fall into one of two camps: those who can't walk properly because their feet or legs are such a mess, and those who can because something else was their limiting factor.
That limiting factor for me was the heat. From halfway through stage three, the daytime temperatures were into the forties (fifties in the sun), and I suffered very badly. The long stage for me, which should have been one of my best, was almost a disaster - I was extremely close to capitulation with heatstroke in mid-afternoon and it could easily have spelt the end of my race.
From there onwards it was damage limitation. Fortunately this was relatively successful, and even though I slipped down the rankings I managed to cling onto the top twenty and finished in 19th place, three minutes behind 18th and six ahead of 20th. At the last bivouac, someone said to me (jokingly, I think) that if I'd tried harder I'd have made up those three minutes to 18th. I pointed out that if I'd tried to do that, I'd have lost the six minutes to 20th and potentially a great deal more too.
The fact that I finished at all continues to amaze me. When my foot went haywire with less than three weeks to go I was almost certain it would stop me running this race, and I honestly don't think I'd have travelled if it hadn't been for the other three guys and for all your sponsorship. Interestingly, the only time in the week when the foot actually buckled was when I tried to stand up after the final stage: in other words, at exactly the point when it didn't matter any more. The human body is an incredible thing.
Having been incommunicado for well over a week we all have dozens of messages to respond to - please excuse us if it takes us a few days to catch up. We've been overwhelmed by your messages of support, even though we're sure at least one day's worth hasn't reached us yet (we're chasing these); 1000 characters a day just wasn't enough to answer all your questions and concerns but we promise to get back to you all once we're back in the UK. Please badger us if we miss anything!
Neil
Music: That (appallingly bad) song about sitting around all day today in my pants doing absolutely nothing.
Done! I have one of four BPBC finishers' medals, some real food for breakfast, a new marathon PB and the most pathetic post-race beard in the 28-year history of the event.
It's now Sunday morning, and after an all-day, airless coach journey yesterday we're back at the hotel for our last day in Morocco with the rest of the British contingent. By and large, competitors fall into one of two camps: those who can't walk properly because their feet or legs are such a mess, and those who can because something else was their limiting factor.
That limiting factor for me was the heat. From halfway through stage three, the daytime temperatures were into the forties (fifties in the sun), and I suffered very badly. The long stage for me, which should have been one of my best, was almost a disaster - I was extremely close to capitulation with heatstroke in mid-afternoon and it could easily have spelt the end of my race.
From there onwards it was damage limitation. Fortunately this was relatively successful, and even though I slipped down the rankings I managed to cling onto the top twenty and finished in 19th place, three minutes behind 18th and six ahead of 20th. At the last bivouac, someone said to me (jokingly, I think) that if I'd tried harder I'd have made up those three minutes to 18th. I pointed out that if I'd tried to do that, I'd have lost the six minutes to 20th and potentially a great deal more too.
The fact that I finished at all continues to amaze me. When my foot went haywire with less than three weeks to go I was almost certain it would stop me running this race, and I honestly don't think I'd have travelled if it hadn't been for the other three guys and for all your sponsorship. Interestingly, the only time in the week when the foot actually buckled was when I tried to stand up after the final stage: in other words, at exactly the point when it didn't matter any more. The human body is an incredible thing.
Having been incommunicado for well over a week we all have dozens of messages to respond to - please excuse us if it takes us a few days to catch up. We've been overwhelmed by your messages of support, even though we're sure at least one day's worth hasn't reached us yet (we're chasing these); 1000 characters a day just wasn't enough to answer all your questions and concerns but we promise to get back to you all once we're back in the UK. Please badger us if we miss anything!
Neil
Music: That (appallingly bad) song about sitting around all day today in my pants doing absolutely nothing.
Saturday 13 April 2013
Un petit pois encore
[Posted by Neil]
Today we're allowed another 1000 characters, so here are a few more memories from the week:
- Salt stains, everywhere: face, shirt, shorts, socks. Filthissimo.
- Religiously licking every packet clean.
- Seeing a tape (that's an audio cassette for everyone born after about 1990) in the middle of the sand dunes.
- The wind, which blew sand everywhere, constantly, except during the heat of the day when it was frustratingly absent; and the single cloud today, which provided two minutes of bliss before the blazing sun reappeared.
- Speaking broken French to everyone, including (after the day 3 and 5 finishes) English people.
- On the night section, seeing a snaking line of glowsticks on backpacks ahead and the tune of 'Follow the yellow-brick road' coming into my head, with the words 'Suivez les lumie\res jeunes'. Weird.
By the way, this race is jointly run by the French and the Moroccans. The Moroccans have been great.
Today we're allowed another 1000 characters, so here are a few more memories from the week:
- Salt stains, everywhere: face, shirt, shorts, socks. Filthissimo.
- Religiously licking every packet clean.
- Seeing a tape (that's an audio cassette for everyone born after about 1990) in the middle of the sand dunes.
- The wind, which blew sand everywhere, constantly, except during the heat of the day when it was frustratingly absent; and the single cloud today, which provided two minutes of bliss before the blazing sun reappeared.
- Speaking broken French to everyone, including (after the day 3 and 5 finishes) English people.
- On the night section, seeing a snaking line of glowsticks on backpacks ahead and the tune of 'Follow the yellow-brick road' coming into my head, with the words 'Suivez les lumie\res jeunes'. Weird.
By the way, this race is jointly run by the French and the Moroccans. The Moroccans have been great.
Friday 12 April 2013
The End Result
[Posted by Simon]
4 finished - and some incredibly positions! Neil is in the top 20 with 4 other Brits - in the previous 27 races there has been 4 or 5 British men in top 20 positions in total! JPD came with ambition of top 100 and smashed that and Chris came without any target but top 250 is above his expectation at the beginning of the week. Great week all round.
My day today was similar in regard to heat that you have read in the other reports but also struggling massively with running out of food (have now had catered dinner tonight (Chris+Tomato=V Happy) so all is good). I was delayed as about 3km from the finish a Spanish competitor collapsed just in front of me. He was so committed to finishing that even when he could not support his weight his poles/legs kept trying to move him forward. We spent a little while treating heatstroke before help arrived and then walked in but was a little anti-climax. I suspect in the coming days & weeks it will become more real!
7km walk tomorrow - then to hotel. Pictures to come.
4 finished - and some incredibly positions! Neil is in the top 20 with 4 other Brits - in the previous 27 races there has been 4 or 5 British men in top 20 positions in total! JPD came with ambition of top 100 and smashed that and Chris came without any target but top 250 is above his expectation at the beginning of the week. Great week all round.
My day today was similar in regard to heat that you have read in the other reports but also struggling massively with running out of food (have now had catered dinner tonight (Chris+Tomato=V Happy) so all is good). I was delayed as about 3km from the finish a Spanish competitor collapsed just in front of me. He was so committed to finishing that even when he could not support his weight his poles/legs kept trying to move him forward. We spent a little while treating heatstroke before help arrived and then walked in but was a little anti-climax. I suspect in the coming days & weeks it will become more real!
7km walk tomorrow - then to hotel. Pictures to come.
"The final carbdown"
[Posted by Neil]
Stage 4: I will never, ever know how I finished that. Heatstroke was frightening; aim for Stage 5 was simply not to overheat. Runners just behind me in the overall standings pass me; I let them go. Is this sense or softness? Whatever, I feel ok to halfway but then the heat is unbelievable. It's almost a relief to hit the soft dunes because no-one could run up them. Meghan (women's leader) passes me. She is running up the dunes. This is not possible. I look for the T-bar but it must be camouflaged. My carb situation is dire. I ration my last few sweets and crash from one sugar low to another until I run out 2km from the end. I blunder in and am shipped off to the 'Clinique' but have enough French to refuse the drip, and a 'penaltie'.
Your emails have been amazing. They've filled several A4 sheets at 5 grams each, and we have kept them all; that's how much they have meant.
Proper reports will follow on Sun
Stage 4: I will never, ever know how I finished that. Heatstroke was frightening; aim for Stage 5 was simply not to overheat. Runners just behind me in the overall standings pass me; I let them go. Is this sense or softness? Whatever, I feel ok to halfway but then the heat is unbelievable. It's almost a relief to hit the soft dunes because no-one could run up them. Meghan (women's leader) passes me. She is running up the dunes. This is not possible. I look for the T-bar but it must be camouflaged. My carb situation is dire. I ration my last few sweets and crash from one sugar low to another until I run out 2km from the end. I blunder in and am shipped off to the 'Clinique' but have enough French to refuse the drip, and a 'penaltie'.
Your emails have been amazing. They've filled several A4 sheets at 5 grams each, and we have kept them all; that's how much they have meant.
Proper reports will follow on Sun
Day 5
CCSI:
1st, thanks for the messages. They are THE high point of the day & keep us going!
The last 20km of day 4 was, by an order of magnitude, the toughest thing in my life. Weirdly, the first 55km really wasn't that bad - I really do outperform when it's hottest!
Today was a full marathon. The 2nd longest but the day off helps.
It was also the hottest it's been yet - more than day 4 - my watch recorded it's first ever 40C. It's now c 10 - 12C warmer than we began. Overnight is only about 18C min so down jacket not needed. However, it was 30C when we set off! The wind has vanished.
We began on a flat slog, suited to proper runners but I got into my 10 min run 5 min walk rhythm. The first CP came fast. I had to do more walking to CP2 as it was just too hot but so did everyone else & it felt I was higher placed. To CP3 was now 40C & mainly dunes. I walked it all but overtook. Last bit was flat, rocky,v hot and I managed some runs. Think it was my best result! but Neil + JPD broken.
1st, thanks for the messages. They are THE high point of the day & keep us going!
The last 20km of day 4 was, by an order of magnitude, the toughest thing in my life. Weirdly, the first 55km really wasn't that bad - I really do outperform when it's hottest!
Today was a full marathon. The 2nd longest but the day off helps.
It was also the hottest it's been yet - more than day 4 - my watch recorded it's first ever 40C. It's now c 10 - 12C warmer than we began. Overnight is only about 18C min so down jacket not needed. However, it was 30C when we set off! The wind has vanished.
We began on a flat slog, suited to proper runners but I got into my 10 min run 5 min walk rhythm. The first CP came fast. I had to do more walking to CP2 as it was just too hot but so did everyone else & it felt I was higher placed. To CP3 was now 40C & mainly dunes. I walked it all but overtook. Last bit was flat, rocky,v hot and I managed some runs. Think it was my best result! but Neil + JPD broken.
Day 5
[Posted by Jon]
Made it. Just.
We haven't been given any results today, I'm sure you can see them - I know I won't have managed top 50 overall though. It was incredibly hot today, after 12km I was just trying to control my temperature - it was the first time I was short of water, and anything more than a fast walk was causing me to overheat. To a lesser extent that's what happened on Wednesday, but unlike then I didn't have the luxury of playing catch up once the temperature dropped.
The sole of my right shoe has also split, rendering the gaiter pointless and causing a few blisters - this didn't affect my time though. I hope to be able to tape it up for tomorrow's charity stage.
Will compose something more lucid once back at the hotel tomorrow night.
Made it. Just.
We haven't been given any results today, I'm sure you can see them - I know I won't have managed top 50 overall though. It was incredibly hot today, after 12km I was just trying to control my temperature - it was the first time I was short of water, and anything more than a fast walk was causing me to overheat. To a lesser extent that's what happened on Wednesday, but unlike then I didn't have the luxury of playing catch up once the temperature dropped.
The sole of my right shoe has also split, rendering the gaiter pointless and causing a few blisters - this didn't affect my time though. I hope to be able to tape it up for tomorrow's charity stage.
Will compose something more lucid once back at the hotel tomorrow night.
Thursday 11 April 2013
Day 4
[Posted by Neil]
8:30am - Mass start.
11:30 - Top 50 start. Already nauseous.
12:45 - Checkpoint 1. Speed ok, legs not.
1 to 2 - Wobbling around, can't run. Laurence Klein, women's leader and 3-times winner, passes me.
3 - A gust of wind, and suddenly I'm freezing cold. Faint alarm bells sound just in time: this is heatstroke. I slow to a shuffle. This is the worst I have ever felt in any sporting event ever.
3:30 - I re-overtake Laurence Klein. She has passed out with heatstroke.
4 - Somehow make it to CP3. Shade temp: 42 deg C. Fail to recognise Simon, who does his best to help. Stagger off into dunes.
5 - Zoe Salt (2nd Brit girl) passes me and forces me to take her last 'shot block'. Recovery begins.
6 - Cooling; feeling better.
7 - CP5. I can run again, and finish at 9:30pm.
Music: (...high on a desert plain,) Where The Streets Have No Name (U2)
8:30am - Mass start.
11:30 - Top 50 start. Already nauseous.
12:45 - Checkpoint 1. Speed ok, legs not.
1 to 2 - Wobbling around, can't run. Laurence Klein, women's leader and 3-times winner, passes me.
3 - A gust of wind, and suddenly I'm freezing cold. Faint alarm bells sound just in time: this is heatstroke. I slow to a shuffle. This is the worst I have ever felt in any sporting event ever.
3:30 - I re-overtake Laurence Klein. She has passed out with heatstroke.
4 - Somehow make it to CP3. Shade temp: 42 deg C. Fail to recognise Simon, who does his best to help. Stagger off into dunes.
5 - Zoe Salt (2nd Brit girl) passes me and forces me to take her last 'shot block'. Recovery begins.
6 - Cooling; feeling better.
7 - CP5. I can run again, and finish at 9:30pm.
Music: (...high on a desert plain,) Where The Streets Have No Name (U2)
Day 4
[Posted by Chris]
...12km flat. Make time. 10 min run. 5min walk. Pleasant temp.
CP1. Feeling good. 1st sandy ascent. Making places. Spectacular pass. Crazy helicopter. Rapid descent. Getting hotter.
CP2. Long plain. Ipods rock. No one else can nav. Overtaking. This isn't so bad.
CP3. 4km dunes. 38C. Sick of lucozade. Plough on. Here's the leader. Insanely fast.
CP4. Only 2 blisters. Still highly placed. 35C. Starting to feel sick. Wine gum time. Still feel sick. Left foot, Right foot. Slowing but others are slower. 7km steep dunes. Can never enjoy a beach again. Why is this the only windless day?
CP5. Dizzy and stumbling. Haribo time. Haribo melted. Others now running past. 20km to go. Down to 5kph so 4 hrs. Sunset. Haemorraging positions. Must eat. Can't eat. Eat. Retch. 16km to go. Now at 4kph: 4hrs to go. Damn. Sand. More sand. Night. Encouragement from Aussies.
CP6. Forced to take rest by official. Flapjack. Nausea. Why am I hotter now? 8km. Neil passes. Left. Right. Sand. Hill. 4km. Finish.
...12km flat. Make time. 10 min run. 5min walk. Pleasant temp.
CP1. Feeling good. 1st sandy ascent. Making places. Spectacular pass. Crazy helicopter. Rapid descent. Getting hotter.
CP2. Long plain. Ipods rock. No one else can nav. Overtaking. This isn't so bad.
CP3. 4km dunes. 38C. Sick of lucozade. Plough on. Here's the leader. Insanely fast.
CP4. Only 2 blisters. Still highly placed. 35C. Starting to feel sick. Wine gum time. Still feel sick. Left foot, Right foot. Slowing but others are slower. 7km steep dunes. Can never enjoy a beach again. Why is this the only windless day?
CP5. Dizzy and stumbling. Haribo time. Haribo melted. Others now running past. 20km to go. Down to 5kph so 4 hrs. Sunset. Haemorraging positions. Must eat. Can't eat. Eat. Retch. 16km to go. Now at 4kph: 4hrs to go. Damn. Sand. More sand. Night. Encouragement from Aussies.
CP6. Forced to take rest by official. Flapjack. Nausea. Why am I hotter now? 8km. Neil passes. Left. Right. Sand. Hill. 4km. Finish.
Day 4
[Posted by Simon]
Sorry for not posting for a couple of days. Both being last in with recovery to do before bed at 8 & having a tough time!
Tuesday was a really tough day: I got the nutrition wrong for breakfast & felt sick all day. This destroyed the rest of my hydration / nutrition. I spent most of the day convincing myself that couldn't do the 75km. Having really struggled at 38km I had decided to quit prior to the 75km.
As you probably saw I did start the 75km and finish (in a very slow time). When i got back after the 38km the positivity of teammates (all doing so well), the great lift of your messages and knowledge of your generous donations, & that I am simply not very good at quiting stopped me!
So my race plan was very different from the others. My main challenges were heat, nutrition & feet. Feet there was little I could do about but heat/nutrition I made sure I spent time at checkpoints eating/drinking to correct. Even sitting cooking a full meal at one. Slow but got me round!
Sorry for not posting for a couple of days. Both being last in with recovery to do before bed at 8 & having a tough time!
Tuesday was a really tough day: I got the nutrition wrong for breakfast & felt sick all day. This destroyed the rest of my hydration / nutrition. I spent most of the day convincing myself that couldn't do the 75km. Having really struggled at 38km I had decided to quit prior to the 75km.
As you probably saw I did start the 75km and finish (in a very slow time). When i got back after the 38km the positivity of teammates (all doing so well), the great lift of your messages and knowledge of your generous donations, & that I am simply not very good at quiting stopped me!
So my race plan was very different from the others. My main challenges were heat, nutrition & feet. Feet there was little I could do about but heat/nutrition I made sure I spent time at checkpoints eating/drinking to correct. Even sitting cooking a full meal at one. Slow but got me round!
Day 4 Results
Pos No Name Nat Time Delay Average
Leader and top Brit
1 74 AHANSAL Mohamad MAR 6H54'47 0H00'00 10.99
12 732 KENDALL Danny GBR 8H17'16 1H22'29 9.17
Us
27 615 TALBOTT Neil GBR 9H53'58 2H59'11 7.68
65 657 DAVIES Jonathan GBR 10H44'17 3H49'30 7.08
273 716 INGRAM Christopher GBR 13H32'16 6H37'29 5.61
616 734 KNIGHT Simon GBR 17H19'38 10H24'51 4.39
Wednesday 10 April 2013
Day 3 Results
Pos No Name Nat Time Delay Average
Leader and top Brit
1 73 EL AKAD Aziz MAR 3H00'17 0H00'00 12.65
12 732 KENDALL Danny GBR 3H28'07 0H27'50 10.96
Us
18 615 TALBOTT Neil GBR 3H44'13 0H43'56 10.17
87 657 DAVIES Jonathan GBR 4H33'15 1H32'58 8.34
275 716 INGRAM Christopher GBR 5H29'52 2H29'35 6.91
654 734 KNIGHT Simon GBR 6H56'12 3H55'55 5.48
Leader and top Brit
1 73 EL AKAD Aziz MAR 3H00'17 0H00'00 12.65
12 732 KENDALL Danny GBR 3H28'07 0H27'50 10.96
Us
18 615 TALBOTT Neil GBR 3H44'13 0H43'56 10.17
87 657 DAVIES Jonathan GBR 4H33'15 1H32'58 8.34
275 716 INGRAM Christopher GBR 5H29'52 2H29'35 6.91
654 734 KNIGHT Simon GBR 6H56'12 3H55'55 5.48
Tuesday 9 April 2013
Messages
[Posted by JPD]
Feeling much better now having read all your messages (43 between us today!) - thanks, keep them coming. Tomorrow Simon and Chris start at 9am and Neil and I start at noon (tbc). We'll all be getting in very late so won't be able to blog again until Thursday.
Here are some answers to your questions:
Sam E: Wall hits you more gradually but is ultimately just as bad.
Connie: d/SQRT(n) if arranged as an omnidirectional point source (and other assumptions - will discuss in detail after race).
Amelia: Excellent, please have it delivered to 30d38'N 4d42'W.
RTT: No sand worms. Chris has been eating his own salt stains.
Mum: I'll try but it will be dark when I finish tomorrow.
Andy: No, we haven't traded Chris for a camel. Yet.
Someone also asked what we do after we finish:
1) Collect water.
2) Recovery drink.
3) Cook meal.
4) See Doc Trotters.
5) Adjust tent for wind/sun protection.
6) Chat about how the day went.
7) Read mail!
8) Snack.
9) Sleep.
Feeling much better now having read all your messages (43 between us today!) - thanks, keep them coming. Tomorrow Simon and Chris start at 9am and Neil and I start at noon (tbc). We'll all be getting in very late so won't be able to blog again until Thursday.
Here are some answers to your questions:
Sam E: Wall hits you more gradually but is ultimately just as bad.
Connie: d/SQRT(n) if arranged as an omnidirectional point source (and other assumptions - will discuss in detail after race).
Amelia: Excellent, please have it delivered to 30d38'N 4d42'W.
RTT: No sand worms. Chris has been eating his own salt stains.
Mum: I'll try but it will be dark when I finish tomorrow.
Andy: No, we haven't traded Chris for a camel. Yet.
Someone also asked what we do after we finish:
1) Collect water.
2) Recovery drink.
3) Cook meal.
4) See Doc Trotters.
5) Adjust tent for wind/sun protection.
6) Chat about how the day went.
7) Read mail!
8) Snack.
9) Sleep.
Day 3
[Posted by Neil]
In contrast to yesterday, today was 38km of mostly flat running (which I hate at the best of times), much on soft sand, in searing heat. The first 18km (apart from the decomposing camel) were fine, the next 10 less so as I ran out of carbs. The last 10 were some of the hardest I've ever done and I was a gibbering wreck by the end. It's clear that I have much to learn about sports nutrition; thanks to Tobias Mews (top Brit two years ago) for sorting me out after the finish.
*Huge* thanks for all your messages. We'll try to answer Qs but only have 1000 characters per day and queues are huge (JPD won't blog today). Justin - food-wise, we've all made mistakes, like Simon discovering that Peronin won't pass through a straw!
After someone used the phrase "grin and bear it" at breakfast, today's stuck-in-head music was 'Badhead' by Blur. Tomorrow's, I suspect, will be The Killers with 'Losing Touch'.
In contrast to yesterday, today was 38km of mostly flat running (which I hate at the best of times), much on soft sand, in searing heat. The first 18km (apart from the decomposing camel) were fine, the next 10 less so as I ran out of carbs. The last 10 were some of the hardest I've ever done and I was a gibbering wreck by the end. It's clear that I have much to learn about sports nutrition; thanks to Tobias Mews (top Brit two years ago) for sorting me out after the finish.
*Huge* thanks for all your messages. We'll try to answer Qs but only have 1000 characters per day and queues are huge (JPD won't blog today). Justin - food-wise, we've all made mistakes, like Simon discovering that Peronin won't pass through a straw!
After someone used the phrase "grin and bear it" at breakfast, today's stuck-in-head music was 'Badhead' by Blur. Tomorrow's, I suspect, will be The Killers with 'Losing Touch'.
Sandy Ascents
[Posted by Chris]
Day 3 done and we're allegedly halfway in km. Yay! However, I've discovered doing things by km (as I usually do) is flawed. Terrain is all & it might take 30 min to do 1km. I now realise my training should have involved gluing many irregular brick-sized stones to the treadmill & a lot more sand.
There are a few things that I know scare me: spiders, strangers, the cold, gore... but there are 2 words that appear in our routebook which now take position number 1:
"sandy ascent"
After a flat slog in strangely cloudy conditions for 2 hrs we returned to proper MdS & a lot of sand. It also warmed up - even I was struggling when it hit 37C on one long sandbank, a wind-sheltered one too.
Because we start in the morning, Simon & I feel it the most as we finish neither before nor after the worst heat. That said JPD & even Neil are flagging too.
Finally: the French. Bureaucracy, unnecessary queuing in sun, endless briefings & unequal treatment of Brits. But at least the girls are fit...
Day 3 done and we're allegedly halfway in km. Yay! However, I've discovered doing things by km (as I usually do) is flawed. Terrain is all & it might take 30 min to do 1km. I now realise my training should have involved gluing many irregular brick-sized stones to the treadmill & a lot more sand.
There are a few things that I know scare me: spiders, strangers, the cold, gore... but there are 2 words that appear in our routebook which now take position number 1:
"sandy ascent"
After a flat slog in strangely cloudy conditions for 2 hrs we returned to proper MdS & a lot of sand. It also warmed up - even I was struggling when it hit 37C on one long sandbank, a wind-sheltered one too.
Because we start in the morning, Simon & I feel it the most as we finish neither before nor after the worst heat. That said JPD & even Neil are flagging too.
Finally: the French. Bureaucracy, unnecessary queuing in sun, endless briefings & unequal treatment of Brits. But at least the girls are fit...
Monday 8 April 2013
Day 2 Results
Day 2 Results
Pos No Name Nat Time Delay Average
Leader and top Brit
1 74 AHANSAL Mohamad MAR 2H38'48 0H00'00 11.71
10 732 KENDALL Danny GBR 3H06'32 0H27'44 9.97
Us
12 615 TALBOTT Neil GBR 3H13'37 0H34'49 9.61
48 657 DAVIES Jonathan GBR 3H56'57 1H18'09 7.85
223 716 INGRAM Christopher GBR 5H00'06 2H21'18 6.20
445 734 KNIGHT Simon GBR 5H47'41 3H08'53 5.35
Overall Results so far
Pos No Name Nat Time Delay Average
Leader and top Brit
1 74 AHANSAL Mohamad MAR 5H29'45 0H00'00 12.37
9 732 KENDALL Danny GBR 6H14'19 0H44'34 10.90
Us
13 615 TALBOTT Neil GBR 6H45'26 1H15'41 10.06
43 657 DAVIES Jonathan GBR 8H01'11 2H31'26 8.48
248 716 INGRAM Christopher GBR 10H12'34 4H42'49 6.66
446 734 KNIGHT Simon GBR 11H36'25 6H06'40 5.86
Pos No Name Nat Time Delay Average
Leader and top Brit
1 74 AHANSAL Mohamad MAR 2H38'48 0H00'00 11.71
10 732 KENDALL Danny GBR 3H06'32 0H27'44 9.97
Us
12 615 TALBOTT Neil GBR 3H13'37 0H34'49 9.61
48 657 DAVIES Jonathan GBR 3H56'57 1H18'09 7.85
223 716 INGRAM Christopher GBR 5H00'06 2H21'18 6.20
445 734 KNIGHT Simon GBR 5H47'41 3H08'53 5.35
Overall Results so far
Pos No Name Nat Time Delay Average
Leader and top Brit
1 74 AHANSAL Mohamad MAR 5H29'45 0H00'00 12.37
9 732 KENDALL Danny GBR 6H14'19 0H44'34 10.90
Us
13 615 TALBOTT Neil GBR 6H45'26 1H15'41 10.06
43 657 DAVIES Jonathan GBR 8H01'11 2H31'26 8.48
248 716 INGRAM Christopher GBR 10H12'34 4H42'49 6.66
446 734 KNIGHT Simon GBR 11H36'25 6H06'40 5.86
Hangover Woes
[Posted by Chris]
So 2 days now done!
It has been as tough as expected but not for the reasons I expected. The heat is not a problem (33C max) but it has been too cold for me from about 7pm to 8am. However, it is _really_ windy all the time and coupled with 14% humidity this means that you dehydrate enormously.
As a result the end of day 1 was a bit of a struggle for me as I developed a splitting headache and nausea (think: the worst hangover you can imagine) with 10 of the 37km still to go. However, the first 27 had gone well and I was very surprised to see how far up I came (results are posted live if you want to follow us).
Day 2, today, was shorter but brutal terrain. There was as much scrambling as running and a lot of ascent, much on sand... However, with an increased fluid intake it went well and I'm again amazed by my standing. The fact that taking twice as long as I normally would for 30km is good tells everything.
My feet are OK too.
So 2 days now done!
It has been as tough as expected but not for the reasons I expected. The heat is not a problem (33C max) but it has been too cold for me from about 7pm to 8am. However, it is _really_ windy all the time and coupled with 14% humidity this means that you dehydrate enormously.
As a result the end of day 1 was a bit of a struggle for me as I developed a splitting headache and nausea (think: the worst hangover you can imagine) with 10 of the 37km still to go. However, the first 27 had gone well and I was very surprised to see how far up I came (results are posted live if you want to follow us).
Day 2, today, was shorter but brutal terrain. There was as much scrambling as running and a lot of ascent, much on sand... However, with an increased fluid intake it went well and I'm again amazed by my standing. The fact that taking twice as long as I normally would for 30km is good tells everything.
My feet are OK too.
Wales
[Posted by Neil]
Things I have learnt today, in < 1000 characters:
1) Bits of Morocco are like bits of Wales - specifically Crib Goch, but with sand instead of ice and 30+ degrees hotter.
2) The fast guys didn't calorie-count, they carb-counted. I did the former, and don't have enough carbs with me.
3) Simon doesn't like freeze-dried scrambled egg & ham. This was fortunate (for me).
4) The 'Write to competitors' thing works - thank you Sarah (Earl)!
Injury update: Foot is a bit worse, maybe 5/10 to yesterday's 4. The 2nd derivative might be positive though, unfortunately
Things I have learnt today, in < 1000 characters:
1) Bits of Morocco are like bits of Wales - specifically Crib Goch, but with sand instead of ice and 30+ degrees hotter.
2) The fast guys didn't calorie-count, they carb-counted. I did the former, and don't have enough carbs with me.
3) Simon doesn't like freeze-dried scrambled egg & ham. This was fortunate (for me).
4) The 'Write to competitors' thing works - thank you Sarah (Earl)!
Injury update: Foot is a bit worse, maybe 5/10 to yesterday's 4. The 2nd derivative might be positive though, unfortunately
Draining Heat of Day 2
[Posted by Jon]
Today was shorter but harder terrain. The heat was more oppressive today and I was feeling pretty drained along the flat to Check Point 2. I allowed myself a few treats along here, then had a good final stint in which I felt I conserved energy whilst making up a few places. This section suited me well as it started with easily the biggest climb yet (perhaps 250m), followed by a steady but rocky descent.
I have been told I am in the top 60, so a similar result to yesterday. I have two minor blisters on my left foot but nothing serious.
Neil had a storming day and came in an astonishing 12th place! His foot is causing some discomfort but if he can make it through tomorrow I would back him to do even better on Wednesday's long stage.
Thanks Sarah Earl for the email, this was hugely appreciated! We'd definitely enjoy more from anyone reading this.
If you would like to send any of the chaps a message now or during the remainder of the race, you can do so on this page:
http://www.darbaroud.com/en/write.html
Today was shorter but harder terrain. The heat was more oppressive today and I was feeling pretty drained along the flat to Check Point 2. I allowed myself a few treats along here, then had a good final stint in which I felt I conserved energy whilst making up a few places. This section suited me well as it started with easily the biggest climb yet (perhaps 250m), followed by a steady but rocky descent.
I have been told I am in the top 60, so a similar result to yesterday. I have two minor blisters on my left foot but nothing serious.
Neil had a storming day and came in an astonishing 12th place! His foot is causing some discomfort but if he can make it through tomorrow I would back him to do even better on Wednesday's long stage.
Thanks Sarah Earl for the email, this was hugely appreciated! We'd definitely enjoy more from anyone reading this.
If you would like to send any of the chaps a message now or during the remainder of the race, you can do so on this page:
http://www.darbaroud.com/en/write.html
Sunday 7 April 2013
Day 1 Provisional Results, 1020 runners total
Pos No Name Nat Time Delay Average
Leader and top Brit
1 74 AHANSAL Mohamad MAR 2H50'56 0H00'00 12.99
7 732 KENDALL Danny GBR 3H07'47 0H16'51 11.82
Us
17 615 TALBOTT Neil GBR 3H31'48 0H40'52 10.48
56 657 DAVIES Jonathan GBR 4H04'13 1H13'17 9.09
272 716 INGRAM Christopher GBR 5H12'27 2H21'31 7.11
454 734 KNIGHT Simon GBR 5H48'44 2H57'48 6.37
Scorchio!!!
[Posted by Neil]
We're limited to 1000 characters, so a brief summary of day 1:
Dislike: All the talk of electrolytes putting the REM song into my head for the day.
Like: 'Electrolyte' by REM (luckily).
Dislike: The frantic last-minute bag-packing.
Like: The total number of runners (= 2 ^ 10).
Dislike: The first hour - I felt awful and dribbled down the field.
Like: Bucking up after the first checkpoint and taking places back.
Dislike: All the running. Like: The hills. There were only two small ones but I gained a lot on both. More please.
Dislike: Right quad - very tight.
Like: Beating Tom's 'DNS' prediction. Injury update: The foot is sore but still in one piece... so far.
We're limited to 1000 characters, so a brief summary of day 1:
Dislike: All the talk of electrolytes putting the REM song into my head for the day.
Like: 'Electrolyte' by REM (luckily).
Dislike: The frantic last-minute bag-packing.
Like: The total number of runners (= 2 ^ 10).
Dislike: The first hour - I felt awful and dribbled down the field.
Like: Bucking up after the first checkpoint and taking places back.
Dislike: All the running. Like: The hills. There were only two small ones but I gained a lot on both. More please.
Dislike: Right quad - very tight.
Like: Beating Tom's 'DNS' prediction. Injury update: The foot is sore but still in one piece... so far.
Hot Spots
[posted by Simon]
Ok - so hopefully JPD/Neil will have already posted but I thought I would put some thoughts on the non-elite pair (Chris and I). We are happy from finishing with no major injuries (a few hotspots on feet but good) and we need to remind ourselves that simply finishing was the objective.On the day - we both found it very hard for similar reasons. I struggled with the heat (c32 with direct strong sunlightbut reasonable wind) - it just seemed to sap my energy. Chris struggled with the hydration/nutrition and now has a dehydration headache.
I should explain how food/drink works. Drink we get regularly (today 3L at 6.30, 1.5L at check1, 3L at check2 and 4.5L when we arrived. We can choose to take less but no more. So food. Tonight we will all have various forms of freezedried meals (as each night). In the mornings we have differences - JPD with flapjack(crumbs), I have hot, Chris Museli and Neil a variety.On the road we all have our favourites!
Worrying about 75k day..
Ok - so hopefully JPD/Neil will have already posted but I thought I would put some thoughts on the non-elite pair (Chris and I). We are happy from finishing with no major injuries (a few hotspots on feet but good) and we need to remind ourselves that simply finishing was the objective.On the day - we both found it very hard for similar reasons. I struggled with the heat (c32 with direct strong sunlightbut reasonable wind) - it just seemed to sap my energy. Chris struggled with the hydration/nutrition and now has a dehydration headache.
I should explain how food/drink works. Drink we get regularly (today 3L at 6.30, 1.5L at check1, 3L at check2 and 4.5L when we arrived. We can choose to take less but no more. So food. Tonight we will all have various forms of freezedried meals (as each night). In the mornings we have differences - JPD with flapjack(crumbs), I have hot, Chris Museli and Neil a variety.On the road we all have our favourites!
Worrying about 75k day..
Day One Results
[Posted by Jon]
A good first day - 56th unofficially and a little over 4 hours. No significant aches or pains yet, although I'm sure they will come later in the week.
The four of us are now in the overnight camp - Neil finishing in the top 30, Chris in the top 400 and Simon in the top 500. You might not hear from Simon and Chris as the queue for the email tent is long and slow.
The terrain generally consists of flatish bowls of hard, crusty sand inset with small pebbles. These are sometimes filled with dunes - so far only fairly small ones although I'm sure we'll see something more challenging later in the week. The bowls are punctuated with djebels - rocky ridges up to a few hundred metres high, although we always seem to cross at a pass. We crossed many dry rivers and one with a bit of flow.
We probably won't blog every day as it involved queuing in the sun for a long time, but we'll do our best.
A good first day - 56th unofficially and a little over 4 hours. No significant aches or pains yet, although I'm sure they will come later in the week.
The four of us are now in the overnight camp - Neil finishing in the top 30, Chris in the top 400 and Simon in the top 500. You might not hear from Simon and Chris as the queue for the email tent is long and slow.
The terrain generally consists of flatish bowls of hard, crusty sand inset with small pebbles. These are sometimes filled with dunes - so far only fairly small ones although I'm sure we'll see something more challenging later in the week. The bowls are punctuated with djebels - rocky ridges up to a few hundred metres high, although we always seem to cross at a pass. We crossed many dry rivers and one with a bit of flow.
We probably won't blog every day as it involved queuing in the sun for a long time, but we'll do our best.
Friday 5 April 2013
Deserted
[Posted by Jon, by text]
Just arrived in our new home in the desert. It's cold and raining. I'm blaming Ingram!
Also, Ian Cross is taking quite a number of photos which he will be publishing later on his TalkUltra page on facebook.
Kit
[posted by Simon]
Ok so it is now 6:45 in the hotel in Ouarzazate and we are almost heading out for a 6hr bus ride to the camp. There we will be for two days before the race and self sufficiency starts on Sunday. Giving us a time to fine tune kit if we want but also time for organisers to check all the medical forms / food etc...Ok so here is my list:
- Food (Will cover separately but wil be 5-6kg of the total weight)
- Camping stove and fuel, cooking implements
- Rucksack (to carry everything - we are using either 20L MdS bag - Chris and I or a raidlight equivalent - JPD and Neil)
- Sleeping bag & Carry mat (either blow up or lightweight foam)
- Ear plugs, and eye mask & pillow (blow up) - probably optional but think it is worthwhile!
- First aid kits including blister plasters (and scorpion venom extractor!)
- Camera - again optional
- Suntan lotion
- Second pair of socks
- Toothbrush / paste
- Something to wear around camp (am going for a forensic suit as lightweight solution)
- Kindle - my luxury for the day off
- Knive, Compass, Headtorch, Whistle, Safety pins, aluminum blanket,topical disinfectant - all compulsory
- Kit given by the organisers; Race book with the route, Distres flare, Luminous signal stick and salt tablets.
We will be making last choices on what to wear over today (will report later hopefully)
Simon
In Limbo
[posted by Jon]
This will probably be our last entry before we start, even though that's not until Sunday morning.
Our flight to Ouarzazate (French, so "Waz-az-at") was uneventful, we landed just after 4pm local time. Tonight we're staying in the 5-star Berbere Palace hotel; it's not 5-star by London standards, but it's the best hotel in the town - quiet, comfortable and well decorated (including many props from the local film studios).
After a quick trip to the foreign exchange for some dirhams (which has the excellent currency code "MAD") and the supermarket for some bananas, we set about packing. I ditched everything on the "nice-to-have" list (except the iPod), giving me an initial pack weight of 8.6kg, although this will be topped up with a few items we're yet to be given (see below) and 1.5 litres of water.
We now face two days of waiting. If someone offered us the chance to start first thing tomorrow we'd bite their hand off (except maybe Chris who is waiting for the weather to heat up at bit). Instead, we have a long coach journey tomorrow morning to the start camp. There's nothing planned for the afternoon, so we'll have plenty of time to test out kit in the race environment and mull over what lies ahead. At least food is provided for us - we've got plenty to spare but we don't have to start on the freeze-dried meals straight away.
Saturday is the registration day. Individually this ought be at most a 30 minute process, but since there are about a thousand competitors to register there will be queues and it will probably take most of the day.
Registration is pretty simple. We hand in our medical certificates and ECGs, and are given the "road book" (course maps and notes), an emergency flare, salt tablets and our pre-ordered fuel (not allowed on the plane). The organisers will also check our bags for the compulsory items and sufficient food. Again, lots of time to test kit and anticipate the start.
The real action finally begins on Sunday morning. We'll be self-sufficient at this point, so breakfast is up to us. We can leave a bag of unwanted kit to be transported back to the hotel, then it's just us and our race packs, jostling for position behind the start line. As for what lies beyond - we'll have to wait and see...
Thursday 4 April 2013
Fast tracking
[posted by Neil]
Several of you have asked how you can follow our progress during the race. Firstly, we hope to be able to update this blog from the desert - at each overnight camp, there will be a communications tent from where (in theory) we are each allowed to send one email per day, though it's possible the queues will be prohibitive.
Another way to track our progress is via the organisers' website: http://www.darbaroud.com/en/. This should have provisional stage results each day from Sunday and might even have some live GPS timing this year. There will also be information on the British team's website: http://www.marathondessables.co.uk/.
And of course there's our sponsorship page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/SaharanPrints. Once again, thank you so much to everyone that has donated. We're already well on the way to our target of £10,000, but it would be fantastic to raise much more than that.
We fly from Gatwick at lunchtime today (Thursday) and will be transferred to the desert by truck tomorrow morning. We'll then have Friday night and all of Saturday in the first desert camp or 'bivouac' to get used to the terrain and the camping arrangements, to try out any last-minute kit acquisitions and to experience the heat of the day and the cold of the night before starting the race on Sunday morning. This gives us one last opportunity to make final kit decisions, since we can hand back a 'spares' bag on Saturday afternoon to be taken into storage for us. After that, we'll be on our own to survive for a week with whatever's in our packs and (other than water) nothing else.
At 3am last night we were all still packing and JPD was baking his breakfast flapjacks for the race... fortunately, apart from my needing a haircut, I think we're almost there now.
Training
[Posted by Chris]
Many people have asked me how one trains for an event like this. I suspect there is no definitive answer. However, I will start by saying that most healthy and active people could actually enter and complete the MdS on zero training if they walked it.
A lot of people will scoff at this but they've probably not discovered what one is capable of when pushed.
The human body is uniquely evolved to travel huge distances on two legs using minimal calories, and in hot weather too. All our ancestors did so regularly just a few hundred generations ago and there has not been enough time for this to have evolved (or unevolved) away.
However, I'm hoping to go a little faster than walking for much of it and this has necessitated quite a training commitment.
I've been doing the odd run regularly for a while so I wasn't completely unfit when I entered this 18 months ago. I began by doing about 50km per week from Sept '11 to March '12 culminating in the Cambridge half marathon where I got a PB but missed my 90 min target by 10 seconds. That was particularly painful as it was apparent before halfway that 90min was right on the edge of my capacity which meant red lining it for most of the 13 miles! All good mental training...
Unfortunately my role at work as Timetabler for an ever-expanding school with a lot of very conflicting and unique pupil/subject/teacher/room constraints means that I spend stupid hours per week at my computer from mid April to mid July. I'm not completely averse to midnight training but running did kind of take a backseat and in some weeks dropped down to just 10-20km. Now unfortunately, I have a below-average natural athletic ability* so fitness tends to vanish very quickly for me, and being sleep-deprived doesn't help. When I began training properly again in August I was back to being rather slow, struggling to even manage a handful of 5 min kms. This was the most depressing time of the entire training, made worse by discovering that some of my more naturally talented friends could easily keep up with me having done no training at all.
However, who couldn't be inspired by The Olympics and so I began to build up the miles again with a 100km / week target. I haven't always hit that target but since September I have averaged nearly 90km and have done about 3700km since the start of last year.
Pleasingly, the speed and fitness started to return and I was soon back running 5 min kms for long distances. I try to mix up the sessions a bit based around other things in my life (I'd love to boast about what these all are but in reality it's mainly work...) However, a week usually consists of one long run (25km+), one extended intervals session (my favourite is alternating 4 min light and 6 min hard for an hour) and about 4 aerobic sessions of 40 - 80 min at sustainable speeds. I sometimes fit in one more hard session, either short intervals or a hard 30 min tempo run. I also ensure I take 1 day free of running each week.
As a proper geek I obsessively record all the details of every session helped by a very swish GPS and heart rate monitoring watch and an unnecessarily complicated spreadsheet.
What I have found is that this volume of training has not got me much faster (the extra 50km a week bought me a whole minute in this year's Cambridge half marathon, but I did finally break 90 min). However, I have noticed an enormous improvement in my recovery time, both short and long term. I can run a hard interval session in the morning and be virtually unaffected in the evening. I also find that the day after the long runs is no longer miserable and it is this aspect that is the key thing for this.
My New Zealand holiday (where all 4 of us were there) gave the chance for some practice long days, although I am still unsure whether our (successful) attempt to kayak 96km in a day will be of much benefit.
For the past month I have also been running with 10kg on my back, as I will be next week. I have found this slows me down by slightly less than you might expect (it is 14% of my mass) on the flat but considerably more on any hills.
The final training is the heat acclimatisation. The wonderful UK weather has not exactly helped but I have spent the last fortnight running in many fleeces and even rigged up a couple of fan heaters in front of the treadmill for some sessions. I decided to make one of these into a proper scientific investigation and so on one particularly grim Saturday I completed 32 km like this, weighing myself and taking my temperature every 15 min. This actually went surprisingly well and my temperature only rose by 1C (and never actually went above 37 but I think oral measurements are always a bit low). However I did discover that I sweat 1.6kg per hour which might explain why I'm never too hot but will mean I'll have to drink lots!
*People who don't understand the effects training have often scoff at this, but 3 years ago I was found to have a minor tricuspid insufficiency. This sounds alarming but essentially means that the valves in my heart aren't perfect and thus blood is pumped around inefficiently**. It is entirely benign but suffice to say no amount of training would get me to the front of this race! However, as this race is probably 75% mental and I'm not trying to win it anyway, there is no cause for concern!
**If you haven't already then please sponsor us. My nominated charity is the British Heart Foundation and it is from their work that machines exist that can measure these things and also spot all the other more serious issues that would otherwise go undiagnosed.
Wednesday 3 April 2013
Pack man
[posted by Neil]
In the last post, Simon asked the question "Am I ready?". This is an easy one for me to answer. No, I'm not. I'm probably closer than JPD, though, who in characteristic style is currently driving to Doncaster to pick up an item of kit!
However, I have had some positive news. A cancellation meant that the "nice lady doctor" (her words, not mine) was able to arrange for my foot to be scanned at short notice yesterday. The results were mixed: plenty of "wear and tear" (no surprise there) on the big toe joint (sesamoid bones & tendons) and irritation to the second metatarsal (probably because of compensation for the original injury), but no actual stress fracture although the consultant thought it was "heading towards that". But he also said that nothing actually seemed about to break, and while 150 miles' running in 7 days might change that, I've decided to go ahead. If I break, at least I've had lots of previous practice on crutches.
So, back to not being ready. I get quite a lot of stick for the "pack, unpack, repack" loop which seems to be on continuous play whenever I'm away from home. The mockers have a point, but it's not actually the repacking I'm bad at: it's the decision-making. I'm really, really hopeless at this, which where the Marathon des Sables is concerned is a Bad Thing.
I find it hard enough for the two-day mountain marathons run in this country, for which the compulsory kit list is fairly prescriptive and anything else would probably count as a luxury item. For the MdS, where you have almost carte blanche to take or leave whatever you like, it's a nightmare. Do I need a warm top for the evenings? What about leggings? Or a sleeping mat? Should I bother with a stove or just go for cold food? Which rucksack? Which shoes?
The last two of these questions are two of the most important questions and also among the most difficult. For footwear, the key decision is whether to go with road shoes, as Chris has (see below), or off-road / trail shoes. Road shoes give better cushioning and comfort but tend to be heavier, whereas the lighter trail-type shoes are more suited to rocky or uneven terrain but less kind on the joints. After much agonising I've decided to run in La Sportiva 'Crosslites', which are slightly more cushioned than your average trail shoe, fairly neutral (compared with, say, Inov8 shoes which don't suit my foot shape at all) and are tried and tested on the fells. Most relevantly, I've run far further in a day in these than I ever have in road shoes, with no blisters or serious joint issues - although I haven't previously been on the verge of a stress fracture.
The choice of rucksack was even more difficult - as in, it hasn't been made yet. The rucksack I've run with for years is the OMM 25 litre pack, but one of its few drawbacks is the lack of an suitable external water-holding system - the net pockets are too flimsy. There's an internal compartment for a Camelbak or similar, but when the rucksack is very full (as it certainly will be for the first couple of days) it's very awkward to put the bladder back in after refilling.
For this reason I've been experimenting with a Raidlight rucksack - only 20 litres, but designed specifically for the MdS so it must be big enough - which has the key advantage of having two water-bottle holders on the front straps. This means that in the MdS, where you are given a 1.5 litre water bottle at each checkpoint, it's a much quicker process to decant and move off. It's also reasonably comfortable, but the waist strap is too elastic - I like it really tight - and the pockets are quite hard to access on the run. I'm also a little concerned about its durability, compared to the indestructable OMM 25 model, but nonetheless it's probably the current favourite.
As far as other choices go, I've decided that a full-length inflatable sleeping mat at 240g is worth it for me - it will be cold at night and I can't afford not to sleep properly - as are a stove and fuel for hot food, but that, contrary to a lot of advice I've been given, I can manage with just one pair of socks. Other than my running shirt and shorts I'll take one extra top and possibly a pair of leggings, plus a buff and a sunhat, and hope that my goose down sleeping bag will keep me warm overnight.
Of course, that still leaves one of the main questions: what to eat? For main meals, commercial freeze-dried products are the only real option since the organisers insist on you proving how many calories you have per day (a minimum of 2000 is stipulated) and they're all much the same in terms of cost and calories-to-weight ratio (and probably taste too). For snacks during the day, it's a very individual thing. Apparently the Moroccans that win this race live mostly on dates. I'll have a selection of snacks such as flapjacks, yoghurt-coated fruit, nuts, cheese crackers, crisps and Peperami (I don't really like Peperami but it ticks a lot of boxes where this race is concerned). With porridge or similar for breakfast and a few extra calories from things like coffee and milkshake powder sachets and electrolyte tablets, I should have around 3000 calories per day at a total weight for six days of 4.5kg. Is this enough, too much or just right? I honestly have no idea, but I'm certain that I'll eat everything I take.
Finally, this might be my last post before the race, so I'd just like to say a humungous, ginormous "thank you" to everyone who has donated to our fund-raising page and who does so while we're away. We're already halfway to five figures which I find quite unbelievable - with all your amazing support behind us it will take more than a poxy stress fracture to make me give up.
With 24 hours to go to check-in at Gatwick, and despite the myriad dilemmas still to be resolved, I almost feel like I'm getting there. Now, where did I put my passport?
Neil
Monday 1 April 2013
Am I ready?
[Posted by Simon]
Ok so I am now back in UK (flew back on Saturday), so thought I would give
you an insight into my Easter Sunday and conversations with people before I
left.
One of the main questions people have been asking me the last few days is
'Are you ready?' Unwavering my answers has been 'No'. I don't feel ready
but then I am not sure I would feel ready if this was a 2014 (or 2015!) I
think as a group there is a lot we have not done before. Even if we were
comfortable with the 80km distance (and that is a big even for me!) none of
us have done anything in the desert (heat / sand) or multi-day with our
equipment/food on our backs. There are so many things to consider (one of
us will write a blog on equipment and another on food at some point in the
coming week). Still as unready as I feel, (I think) I am prepared.
So yesterday we travelled down to Devon (from Gatwick) - where we will
celebrate my grandmother's birthday with the family. After getting here and
watching the race (no comment) I went for my last long(ish) run. 25km down
the river (and back again). First run outside since about October so my
ankles were a bit sore from uneven ground (but then what can you do when
you are in Moscow with snow everywhere). Then out for dinner (think the
waiter was surprised at the number of water jug refills needed).
There is also some gossip about the course. This is usually announced the
day before the race begins but gossip has it that one of the senior MdS
people talked about it / confirmed it. So what the gossip says:
Ok so I am now back in UK (flew back on Saturday), so thought I would give
you an insight into my Easter Sunday and conversations with people before I
left.
One of the main questions people have been asking me the last few days is
'Are you ready?' Unwavering my answers has been 'No'. I don't feel ready
but then I am not sure I would feel ready if this was a 2014 (or 2015!) I
think as a group there is a lot we have not done before. Even if we were
comfortable with the 80km distance (and that is a big even for me!) none of
us have done anything in the desert (heat / sand) or multi-day with our
equipment/food on our backs. There are so many things to consider (one of
us will write a blog on equipment and another on food at some point in the
coming week). Still as unready as I feel, (I think) I am prepared.
So yesterday we travelled down to Devon (from Gatwick) - where we will
celebrate my grandmother's birthday with the family. After getting here and
watching the race (no comment) I went for my last long(ish) run. 25km down
the river (and back again). First run outside since about October so my
ankles were a bit sore from uneven ground (but then what can you do when
you are in Moscow with snow everywhere). Then out for dinner (think the
waiter was surprised at the number of water jug refills needed).
There is also some gossip about the course. This is usually announced the
day before the race begins but gossip has it that one of the senior MdS
people talked about it / confirmed it. So what the gossip says:
- 1st leg – 37.2k Undulating terrain, interspersed with small ergs
representing 5km of small dunes (dunettes).
- 2nd leg – 30.7km 3 djebels with 10 to 25% gradients – exceptional
- 3rd leg – 38km 2 djebel sections, 2 dried-up lakes and lots of sand.
- 4th leg – 75.7km a total of 13km of dunes and around 30km of sandy
- Day off / finishing 4th leg!
- 5th leg – 42.2km the final leg is a marathon with ergs, regs, a dried-up lake and wadi beds...
- Total distance 223.8km
Friday 29 March 2013
Who wears a down jacket in the Sahara?
[posted by Chris]
Having a 60+ hour/week job makes training for something like this quite a challenge but I've managed to do about as much I thought I would (3,700km in the last year according to my training spreadsheet) so I feel my fitness is as good as I could realistically expect. However, when it comes to kit, much of it has become rather a last minute job. Luckily, the flip side of my job is that it suddenly becomes approximately a 5-10 hr/week job when term ends (and assuming I'm not on any trips) so, like Neil, I have also been having a mad kit-panic these last two days. Much of the kit is fairly obvious, although, as ever, there are numerous brands and price ranges to pick from. Even things like running shorts, comfy running socks, a lightweight top, legionnaire's cap, sunglasses and a backpack have resulted in a lot of Googling, a lot of worrying and a limited amount of testing. However, it has reached the stage where I now have to finalise everything.
I agonised hard over footwear but have gone for the same type of road shoes that I have done all my training in. They may not be perfect for uneven ground but they have good cushioning and my feet are used to them. In their second test drive I broke my half marathon PB in the very pair I shall be using. Blisters on my feet are in fact my biggest worry. To keep the sand out I have a pair of desert gaiters. These require a Velcro seam to be stitched and glued all around the shoe just above the sole. The gaiter itself is essentially a hollowed out volcano shape. The crater of the volcano forms a tight seal around your lower shin and then the inside of the base of the volcano has the other side of the Velcro and seals all round the shoe. This should significantly reduce (but not eliminate) sand getting into the shoe. From a couple of brief test runs I have found it does not impair running but does make your feet feel hotter.
I think it is a fair bet that the vast majority of Brits have been worried about how their clothing will keep them cool in the desert sun and I have not ignored this, going for light coloured clothing wherever possible. However, those of you that know me well will know that I am not like the majority of Brits. In fact, a new colleague, remarking on me wearing a jumper on a moderately mild May morning, bet me that I could not continue to wear a jumper every day until the end of June. Some four years later, having long-forgotten about the bet, I am still "not out" as it were.
As such it is how much warm clothing to take that is bothering me. It does actually get quite cold overnight and at dawn temperatures might be as low as 5C. We have been advised to take one thin warm layer but I doubt this will be enough. However, extra layers add to the weight to carry during the day. My Rab down jacket (designed for sub-zero conditions) has the best warmth to weight ratio of anything I own and so, somewhat surprisingly I shall be taking it. Given that I have only a lightweight sleeping bag I suspect I shall be wearing it overnight too. Hence, as jokingly predicted by my friend RTT, I do come to the conclusion that in my trip across the Sahara I will likely be attired in a thick down jacket for nearly 50% of the time.
Tuesday 26 March 2013
Stressing out
[posted by Neil]
It's fair to say the last week hasn't exactly gone to plan. After a good weekend's training in the Brecon Beacons & mid-Wales and a couple of encouraging run/"hot yoga" combos (for acclimatisation, of sorts) I went for some physio last Tuesday on my left foot which had been niggling me for a while. This went fine, until I stood up off the couch at the end - and promptly collapsed in agony.
The reason was a sharp pain in my left foot, between the roots of the big and second toes. I managed to hobble around for a few hours but by the evening it was no better. Having broken a metatarsal in 2005 I was recognised this as a similar pain which meant, in all probability, a stress fracture - and almost certainly curtains for the Marathon des Sables.
A visit to A&E and an x-ray didn't show anything, although that wasn't surprising since stress fractures often won't show on x-rays, but the pain remained severe - I still couldn't walk the next day, or for a couple more after that. I was convinced there was some bone damage, even if only a hairline crack or something; my theory was that all the tissue around the actual injury had contracted to protect it, which is why I'd been having niggling pains in the foot and why it had suddenly surfaced when the physio had loosened everything. By the weekend I had more or less resigned myself to withdrawing - pretty devastating after having felt in reasonable shape just a week previously.
Strangely, though, there was significant improvement on Monday, and this morning (Tuesday) I could put full pressure through the foot. The worry was that the tissues had simply contracted around the injury again, so I had some more physio this evening expecting the pain to come back, but it didn't. A few hours later, including two on the bike in the gym trying to take my mind off England's pathetic performance against Montenegro, and it's still ok - so while I'm still very much undecided, there's now perhaps a chance that I might, possibly, be able to take part after all.
Having effectively written the race off last week, this leaves me with two main problems. One, I didn't place any of the intended kit orders so am totally lacking in suitable equipment, including rucksack, sleeping bag and seven days' food; and two, I've spent a week feeling sorry for myself and comfort eating, including an 'all you can eat' extravaganza on Friday evening (and I really did) and homemade cheesecake brownies with no-one to share with, with the result that I'm now extremely fat. Still, at least I'll be better insulated if I make it as far as the first overnight camp.
Thank you very much to everyone that has already sponsored us; whether your extremely kind donations are split four ways or three remains to be seen, but I'm feeling at least a little hope tonight that it might be the former.
Neil
It's fair to say the last week hasn't exactly gone to plan. After a good weekend's training in the Brecon Beacons & mid-Wales and a couple of encouraging run/"hot yoga" combos (for acclimatisation, of sorts) I went for some physio last Tuesday on my left foot which had been niggling me for a while. This went fine, until I stood up off the couch at the end - and promptly collapsed in agony.
The reason was a sharp pain in my left foot, between the roots of the big and second toes. I managed to hobble around for a few hours but by the evening it was no better. Having broken a metatarsal in 2005 I was recognised this as a similar pain which meant, in all probability, a stress fracture - and almost certainly curtains for the Marathon des Sables.
A visit to A&E and an x-ray didn't show anything, although that wasn't surprising since stress fractures often won't show on x-rays, but the pain remained severe - I still couldn't walk the next day, or for a couple more after that. I was convinced there was some bone damage, even if only a hairline crack or something; my theory was that all the tissue around the actual injury had contracted to protect it, which is why I'd been having niggling pains in the foot and why it had suddenly surfaced when the physio had loosened everything. By the weekend I had more or less resigned myself to withdrawing - pretty devastating after having felt in reasonable shape just a week previously.
Strangely, though, there was significant improvement on Monday, and this morning (Tuesday) I could put full pressure through the foot. The worry was that the tissues had simply contracted around the injury again, so I had some more physio this evening expecting the pain to come back, but it didn't. A few hours later, including two on the bike in the gym trying to take my mind off England's pathetic performance against Montenegro, and it's still ok - so while I'm still very much undecided, there's now perhaps a chance that I might, possibly, be able to take part after all.
Having effectively written the race off last week, this leaves me with two main problems. One, I didn't place any of the intended kit orders so am totally lacking in suitable equipment, including rucksack, sleeping bag and seven days' food; and two, I've spent a week feeling sorry for myself and comfort eating, including an 'all you can eat' extravaganza on Friday evening (and I really did) and homemade cheesecake brownies with no-one to share with, with the result that I'm now extremely fat. Still, at least I'll be better insulated if I make it as far as the first overnight camp.
Thank you very much to everyone that has already sponsored us; whether your extremely kind donations are split four ways or three remains to be seen, but I'm feeling at least a little hope tonight that it might be the former.
Neil
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