Marathon Des Sables Kit - What Worked and What Didn't

To get to the start line of the Marathon Des Sables took a lot of preparation. Both in terms of training and the equipment  I used for the week. In the months leading up to the race I made so many decisions about equipment, then went back on those decisions then re visited them again with limited knowledge really about some of the equipment I eventually chose to take to the desert. It was effectively a leap of faith heading out to Morocco with the equipment and having now completed the MDS I now have a much better idea of the things I would take, the training I would do and the strategy I would adopt to give a good showing if I was to do it again.

So what worked and what didn't for me? Equipment choice for the MDS and indeed any race is a deeply personal thing, what works for some may not work for others and vice versa so these opinions are based on my own personal opinions and experiences :)

Me At The Finish Line :)

Marathon Des Sables Equipment List:

Raidlight Olmo 20L + 4L Front Pack (new version) -  So the rucksack choice of many competitors, I really felt that the Olmo was the one for me before the MDS. It had elements of Salomon design in it and seemed well thought out. Alas it was not to be! The waist strap was terrible giving no hip support if you needed to take the strain off the shoulders. I found the front pack to be cumbersome, on the first day I put the bottles in the holders on the front pack which meant I had a solid weight banging into me for the duration of the first 23 miles. I had to tie a bit of elastic around me to keep the pack from banging! Day 2 I opted for the bottles in the shoulder holders which meant that I couldnt tie the chest strap as it obscured the race number! I then employed aforementioned bit of elastic as a makeshift chest strap which I had to pull over my head in a convoluted manner, which as you can imagine was great fun on the long day when I didnt know my a55 from my elbow! To add insult to injury on the long day Marco Olmo passed me and even he (the man who the pack was designed for!) wasnt wearing it, choosing to opt for the official WAA MDS pack. If I was to go back (watch this space..) I would opt for the MDS backpack in a heart beat.. 

Raidlight Combi Duvet Sleeping Bag - In our tent we were pretty down on Raidlight stuff I must admit. But the combo duvet really did come up trumps for me. Paired with the silk liner below on the cooler nights it was plenty warm enough and was great without the liner for most nights. I love the zips that allow you to place the arms outside the bag as well as the functionality of being able to convert it into a puffa jacket - Awesome bit of kit that packs down well.

Eurohike Silk Liner- Great bit of kit that weighed next to nothing yet brought the temp rating of my sleeping bag up considerably. Essential in my opinion.

Mammut Inflatable Pillow - I am used to camping and that and the thing that always ensures a good nights sleep for me is a pillow. This pillow was great. It doesnt replace a real pillow (obviously!) but it was a good second. I was filling my rucksack with my clothes and using this and it was pretty comfy. One night I thought I was being smart by taking my food out and using only clothes, had a great nights sleep until the morning when I awoke to find a desert creature of some description had been eating my food! So squashed food it was for the rest of the week..

2 x Salomon Triangular Bottles 640ml - I have used these bottles all winter in training, they are triangular in shape and this stops them rocking about in holsters. Fitted well in the Olmo holster and were perfectly reliable. Only downside was that the water would get hot quickly. If I was to go again I would look at insulating them in some way. These were the lightest set of bottle I owned compared to Camelbak Podium and Raidlight bottles.

Montane Marathon Jacket - This is a great jacket that I had owned for a while before. Super light and is windproof and waterproof to a certain degree. I didnt need to use it so often whilst I was there but good to have in the bag. Packs down to almost nothing.

Inov 8 Mistlite Trousers - I bought these as a last minute purchase. I think they are 120g and great for wearing at night. I made the mistake of wearing them in the day and it was like wearing a bin bag! But very light and again packed down small.

Petzl Tikka 2 Head Torch - Was a little unsure about choice of head torch. Had this and an LED Lenser kindly given to me by a fellow MDS er Stuart. I went with the Petzl purely because I had used it in the winter a few times and it worked well. I used it alot in the evening and on the long stage and it was perfectly adequate. It wasnt the brightest out there, I recall seeing some guy at 3am in the morning on the long stage who looked like he had a car headlight strapped to his head, but it did the business.

Sundog Goggles - I didnt use these so not sure how good they were :)

Sandisk Sansa Clip MP3 Player - This was one of my luxury items. It cost me £20 from ebay and could be expanded with a Micro SD card. Weighs 20grams and so was a no brainer. The battery lasted well, got 12 hours out of it which was awesome.

Swiss Army Knife Mini - Essential bit of kit. Got so may uses over the week; cutting tape, opening packs, cutting bottles up to cook and wash stuff in, cutting straps back, the list goes on. Really good scissors and blade, awesome!

Suunto Ambit GPS Watch - This was a great bit of kit - GPS on 1 min intervals and it lasted me the whole week. Perfect for the desert as there werent too many turns and twists which meant the one min interval worked well. I tend to rely on GPS and as pleased this lasted the distance. Its a great watch, giving lots of information apart from the usual Pace, distance etc it gives the temperature, ascent, descent and doubles as a compass.

On The Last Day.. When The Wheels Fell Off!

Kodak Playsport Video Camera - Another luxury item, but I really wanted to document my time out there in the desert. This worked so well, took amazing quality footage for the price and size and the battery lasted the whole week with sparing use. I am so glad I took this and used it to film video logs every day, banter from the tent and other bits and pieces. The results of which can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7OjoHyoTZ0

Nuun Tablets (Electrolytes) - I had to mention these.. I took a couple of these a day along with the salt tablets so kept dehydration mostly at bay. However I dont think I will ever be able to stomach these again. The mixture of one of these with lukewarm water turns my stomach even now! :)

Tyvek Suit - I think if I go out again I will just take one of these. I had one before technical checks and decided to opt for the montane jacket and inov8 pants. The tyvek suit is awesome though, keeps you warm but alos seems breathable. I was lucky enough to borrow one off one of my tent mates Guy during the rest day and wore it when it was boiling hot and it worked well. Very light weight as well.

Esbit Titanium Stove - Cooking on the stove was one of the things I hadnt practiced before I came out to the desert. These stoves were awesome to be fair. Hard to light if it was windy (but our resident fire expert Guy took care of making sure the fire was always in the right place - cheers Guy!!) but did the job and boiled the water. We all would cook up at the same time so found that in actuality we could have probably got away with one or 2 stoves between us all. We started to run low on tablets towards the end even though we had alot between us, but I think alot of people were getting rid of things like that by the end of the week to reduce weight so prob wouldnt have been too much of a problem.

Varga Titanium Mug - Bit of a bargain buy this. I got it from the US Ebay for about £15 cheaper than the UK price. No way I was going to pay £35 for a mug! It was a great bit of kit. I got the 400ml version which boiled enough water to cook a meal which was mostly all I needed it for. I put stuff in it when in the rucksack and it was so light I barely knew it was there. At some point in the week I tried to use it as a foam roller which made it warp into a slightly oval shape..

Salomon Exo Wings Twin Skin Shorts - I love Salomon stuff full stop, and these shorts were great. I wore these all week and they didnt rub, chafe or give any gip at all. I like the support that they give and I washed them when I got back and they are as good as new.. 

X-Bionic Fennec Cycle Shirt - Alot of hype surrounding these shirts and they are expensive. However the fennec was the shirt of choice for alot of UK desert runners this season.. In my opionion the shirt worked well. I didnt feel the heat really until the temp started to get a bit silly and hit 54 deg C on day 4.. Highly recommended. I got the fennec cycle shirt  as it was on offer on Start Fitness at the time for £60 which was a big saving on the rrp. The cycle shirt is essentially the same with a little zip at the front and pockets on the back.

Salomon XA+ Desert Hat - Another Salomon item that did the job well. I had used the hat a bit previously and the side curtainy bit attaches via velcro. It kept me well protected from the sun and kept the back of my neck protected. 

Balega Running Socks - These were a bit of a late addition to my kit list at the recommendation of my running guru friend Craig. I tried them a few times before and they worked well out there in the desert. I didnt get any real blisters except a few hotspots which I addressed as I went. I was really lucky with my lack of blisters as the horror pictures you see on the internet of peoples feet during the MDS do actually happen. I saw alot of people hobbling around particularly towards the end of the week and how they lined up to complete the days running I dont know! Alot of courage  and a good mix of Ibuprofen I imagine!

Hilly Mono Skin Running Socks - When I did get blisters/hotspots they occurred when I wore these socks. These worked well in training but seemed to make my feet sweat profusely out there and then rub after a while. 

Compressport Calf Guards - I wore these on every day and they worked well. I know that the jury is out on calf guards and the science but they work for me! I didnt have any calf issues at all over the whole week, in fact I was surprised to report no major niggles/strains/aches or DOMS the whole week! I came armed with Ibuprofen and Paracetamol but only had to use a dose of each the whole week. 

Raidlight (Red) Sand Gaiters - These worked well and kept sand out for the whole week. The gaiters are probably the most important bit of kit as they keep the sand out and therefore feet hopefully blister free. I did scuff them on rocks on the first day and had to gaffa tape them up but they did the business.

Raidlight Buff - Indispensable bit of kit this.. I think there are 12 different ways you can use a buff, I think I used mine as a beanie, a night cap, a sand mask, an eye mask at night a neck cooler and a snot rag! Awesome!

Tifosi Ventoux Sunglasses - bit of a gamble on these, I was advised to get reactor sunglasses as it gets windy at night and the lenses are good to protect the eyes from sand etc. These sunnies were amazing. Great in the day, perhaps not quite clear enough for night time use but they protected my eyes in the day and were virtually bomb proof! I gave them a run under the tap when I got home and a clean and they look as good as new after a week of abuse..

Saucony Mirage Trainers - Road shoes with a medial support in. Very light and a great trainer for me on the road and track previously. I sent them away to have velcro sowed on to them and they served me well. I bought them a size up but I dont feel I suffered from swollen feet excessively during the week.

Food: This was a much discussed issue on the MDS Page. We had a minimum calorific value requirement of 2000 calories per day and I spent alot of time deciding what to take. I decided to opt for the Ma Baker Flapjack Bars for breakfast which weighed in at 90g for just under 400 calories. I opted for the Expedition Foods Dehydrated meals for evening meal which tasted ok to be fair. I had a variety of flavours which all tasted like real food! I opted for Hammer Perpetuem Solids and Hammer Gels for my in race nutrition. The Solids were great for the first few days but after that I found them hard to digest and swallow as they are quite chalky. I find Perpetuem is a great source of energy normally in my day to day endurance training and racing just didnt work out so well in the desert. Hammer gels were good, these are my gel of choice usually and gave me a kick when needed. I opted for nuts and wine gums for treats and a Pepperami. These all worked well and I felt I had enough calories, well up until the night that I had the "visitor" in the tent anyway!! Luckily some of the guys in the tent were getting rid of food to cut down weight which meant I could replace the food that had been touched! Otherwise it could have been a hungry remaining Marathon Des Sables for me!

                                                                                                       

Off To The Desert..

This afternoon I fly out from Jersey to London and will meet up with a few of the Brits taking part in the MDS. Tomorrow morning we all check in for our flight to Morocco, so all the scenes I have been anticipating and playing in my head will start to happen.. Picture 300 runners all checking in at Gatwick race backpacks giving them away as to their destination.. A lot of us have been in touch either through the Facebook MDS group or having actually met at the various ultra races we have been doing to get ready for the challenge we shall be starting on Sunday, so I am very excited about meeting people I have been chatting to as well as making new acquaintances..

The training is done, the packing is 99% done and all thats left is to get there and give this thing my best shot. I have one agenda and that is to walk away from the race knowing I have given my absolute best, I hope that my best is enough for me to complete the race. 

Someone kindly posted this picture yesterday, which is the town near to which the first day starts (Merzouga). Not sure if this is the scale of the dunes we will be encountering we will see, but it seems quite high!!

The weather forecast at the race start appears to be a little on the low side.. I dont really believe in forecasts myself so will wait to see what the temp and conditions are when we get there:

I have the details of how you can contact me in the desert should you wish. My race number is 624 and all messages must state my full name Paul Burrows and race number or they won't get through to me. You can send me messages from 06 to 12 April 2013
Go to the website and follow the instructions: .http://www.marathondessables.com/
Find the section "write to competitors" (which will probably not be live until the weekend)Only messages with surname, first name and race ID number will be transferred.After 12 april, this email service will no longer be operational.Please don't send attachments (e.g. photos). This will cancel the message. Messages will be given to competitors in the bivouac every day. 

Please feel free to message me, this will be a massive boost to receive these, and will be greatly appreciated :)


So this is probably my last blog post before I head off.. Thanks for the support from everyone; The people who helped me with the fundraising (Karl Moss, Ben Garland, Nicola Gott, Bryce Alford, Jo Alford, Pete Wright, David Stokes, John Parker @ Mymemory.co.uk) The local businesses that have supported me (Sportsbug Jersey, Mymemory.co.uk, BNP Paribas Jersey, Bean Around The World, Cafe Jacs, Tonic Skin and Beauty, Craig Meredith at Fit2Function Jersey & Leanne Rive Personal Training) And the people who I have run with over this crazily long and cold winter (Peter Wright, Phil Taylor, Lee De St Croix, Simon McKenzie, Leanne Rive, Bryce Alford and Jodi Fowler particularly, but also all the guys at Jersey Spartans with who I ran circles around a track very fast 2 night a week in the dead of winter!! :) It's starting to sound like an Oscar speech but I  believe it is important to acknowledge the fact that all aspects of this challenge, the training, fundraising and general day to day have been made a lot easier by the support of my friends and the understanding of my non running friends (thanks guys!) when I haven't been able to come out for a night on the town because I was running the next day or just not been able to see much of them.

I am running the Marathon Des Sables in memory of Natalie Moss, a very dear friend and wife of my close friend Karl who sadly passed away just over a year ago. She was taken from us way too soon and all of us who knew her think of her every day. Natalie knew I was doing this race and she had seen a couple of the documentaries on the MDS, so she knew what I was in for! I often think of her courage and grace when she was going through her illness, she has inspired so many of us and really brought the friends she left behind close together. 

Our Friend Natalie - Sadly Missed xxx

The fundraising has been going really well for Jersey Hospice Care which is where Natalie spent her last 6 weeks. If you havent yet donated please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Paulsdesertrun and donate, no matter what the amount. We have just hit £9,450 and would be awesome to hit £10,000 this week with the ultimate target being £12000.

A Date With Destiny..

The preparation and the anticipation is about to come to fruition.. This is the last 9 days or so before I finally step on to the start line for the Marathon des Sable – the focus of my life it seems for the last 2 years and the end result to which I have been training for, talking about, and obsessing about!

I cant actually believe that in just over a week I will be lining up on the start line in the Moroccan Sahara contemplating the 150 miles ahead of me, AC/DC‘s “Highway to Hell” blaring out over loudspeakers, helicopters circling above and the sand underfoot. I feel prepared mainly; I know I have trained well for this, perhaps more than for any other race or indeed anything I have ever done! Over the last few weeks a lot more people locally are aware that I am doing the race, I have been in local magazines and on local radio which has had a positive knock on to the fundraising I have been doing for Jersey Hospice Care. I guess I am concerned now about things that I have no direct control over: What if the heat is too much? What if I get injured? What if I am not tough enough to get through the inevitable hard times? What if I can’t manage to carry my pack on the long day? What if I get too many blisters and have to quit? I think these are quite a lot of my main concerns as I don’t want to go out there and not succeed. I hope the training and racing I have done over the last 2 years has given me the strength and reserves of courage to carry me through when it gets hard going. I know for sure that a lot of my fellow MDS competitors will have very similar thoughts as we have all invested alot of time, energy and money at great personal expense; deferring nights out, time with friends, time with family and using up valuable holiday through the year to do crazy races just to get used to the type of hardship we will encounter in the desert. I have faced a number of challenges over the last couple of years particularly and have always been nervous about whether I will pass the test, and each time I have come through; my first marathon, my first ultra marathon, my first multi day ultra marathon and a lot more challenges on the way, so I would hope that by now I could draw that confidence and be assured of success.. But the doubt is still there J 

I am sure though that once on the start line and in the groove the game of ticking off the miles and bargaining with ones psyche will start and all will fall into place mile by mile..

The Achilles heel that I possess (as some of my fellow running friends will attest to) is that I often in races go out far too fast and peak far too soon and go down in a blaze of glory, whilst the people I passed at the beginning tread my limp body into the trail and use me as a point of reference for the “slow and steady wins the day” saying.. I also tend to set time or position goals in races and these often become a stick to beat myself with, as I heard it so eloquently described in an article the other day. My big challenge in the MDS is to ensure that I go out consistently and try to maintain a good average pace without redlining it, particularly in the first few days. I hope this is something that I can achieve as I believe this is the key to a good performance over a multi day race.

In the last week or so I have been taking it a little easier, favouring the longer taper for this race, which should see me get to Morocco rested, injury and niggle free, and more importantly psychologically rested to give the race my best. I think that the training over the last few months has been necessary and had definitely made me feel well prepared for the MDS, but as alluded to in my previous post I have found going out in the cold and wind progressively harder both mentally and physically the closer I have got to the race. I accept this as a natural side effect of training to high levels to achieve the goals I set myself and also trust in the fact that “rest is best” and within the next 9 days my body should spring back to life!

After the fundraiser on Saturday where Nicola Gott and I ran 21 miles on a treadmill each and raised £1,248 between us for Jersey Hospice I haven’t actually run due to other things getting in the way.. My body is in shock a little I think at the moment and doesn’t quite know what to do with this sudden period of inactivity. I am eating a similar amount to when I was in peak training and feeling sluggish and a little like a fish out of water currently.. I plan to do a few runs over the weekend as well as 4 or 5 days of intensive Bikram Yoga to try and get all the heat acclimatisation I can in before the off on Weds..

One of the things now I am most concerned about is the bugs that seem to be flying around everyone I know.. As anyone who has ever done an endurance event of any length will attest, as soon as you start to taper after all the training you do inevitably some kind of bug strikes, be it a cold, cough or flu.. I have been stocking up on veggies, fruit, and vitamins and being mindful of people with colds and bugs around me, which so far has been doing the trick.

I sat down last night and started to pack the things into my rucksack that I will be taking with me. I have been compiling a spreadsheet of all the items I intend to take with weights so that I have a rough estimate of how heavy the pack will be that I will run with. Bearing in mind that I have to carry my food and anything else I need for the week, I have had to be quite ruthless. I am trying to strike the balance between comfort and lightweight which has meant that the a few decisions have to be made and I think as is natural for us humans we tend to err on the side of caution, particularly as far as how much food to take to a situation we have no real reference points to and situations like that.. I am planning to take flapjack bars for breakfast and the dehydrated astronaut foods for dinner, with various in race nutrition planned also. This works out at around the 2,300 calorie per day mark which is possibly a little on the low side, but I have been reliably informed that you don’t get hungry in the desert and so i am going to trust in this advice and try and travel as light as possible to promote a quicker running pace. I spent a couple of hours the other night unpacking the meals out of their foil bagging and decanting them into freezer bags, thereby saving a whopping 70grams of weight once I was done! It has really got down to the point where 20 grams here and there makes a collective difference and can mean the difference between me galloping through the desert like a Gazelle or lurching through the desert like a drunken fool..

My BBC Radio Jersey Interview

This long weekend will see me finishing up packing the rucksack, minimising the weight in any conceivable way that I can. Rock n roll eh? Easter break with a pair of weighing scales and dehydrated foods!!

Fundraising has gone through the roof with the new total equalling £9364 so I have reset my target to £12,000.00 for Jersey Hospice Care. To donate please visit here.

Happy Easter All!

Getting The Hay In The Barn...

The last month has been a case of getting the miles done. 

I think so far this year I have run 580 miles which is well beyond my corresponding mileage of this time last year. It has been tough, both mentally dealing with the cold and the routine of training in some capacity every day of the week and also physically. The demands that such a regime places on the body and mind are not really something that is immediately obvious (at least in my case) however I have found that over the last 2 months I have had little time for little else than anything MDS related. The effects of these demands definitely came to a head for me the last weekend, I did my 2 back to back long days of 20 miles and 14 miles and by the end had had enough of running full stop! I think mentally I was tired of running in the cold and into headwinds, physically the niggles I had in my body seemed numerous and I was generally quite fed up. I also think that the lifestyle changes that I have made gradually over the last 6 months or so to the point that I no longer go out on a Sat night, am mindful of the next training session, no longer see much of my very understanding and awesome friends and the general tiredness of hard training weeks have meant that I just wanted time out from it all. Luckily it snowed here in Jersey on Monday just gone which mean that running was not really on the agenda, which further meant that I had 3 guilt free days without running. I attended a Bikram Yoga class towards the middle of the week and then decided to run again on the Thursday with full pack weight and for the first time in a few weeks felt really up for the run having taken time out.. Which kind of proves the whole “rest is best” theory and has given me a new lease of life mentally leading into the last big mileage weekend of my MDS regime. I now feel back on track after a little hiccup and ready for the next week or so of tough training before the taper..

I went to visit my GP for the obligatory ECG which we need to present upon the start of the race, along with a signed medical form to say you are fit to race. I had a ver low resting heart rate, perfect blood pressure, but the ECG did throw up some irregularities which meant I have been referred to a Cardiologist this coming week for a cursory check of my readings. I have read a little about this and it seems alot of the UK competitors are getting the same irregularities as it is a by product of endurance sports such as ultra running, so I hope to get the all clear in the next few days!! 

So this weekend see a few of us running 27 miles on Saturday and then I will be doing another long one with a pack on Sunday.. After this I will then be switching my focus to more frequent runs with weight as well as interspersing these session with lots of Bikram yoga to hopefully acclimate to the heat.

With just under 3 weeks to go the massive list of equipment I have had to gather for this race has all but come together. I took the snow nights as an opportunity to sit down and weigh the stuff I will be taking and to put a handle on what is essential and what is a luxury to take with me. This was pretty eye opening and led to a few tough decisions, so it looks like a lot of compromises on photographic/video equipment, MP3 players, spare T shirts, sleeping pads and other items I had initially factored into taking.. The jury is still out on these choices, but I am currently erring on the ruthless side with minimalism winning the day. I imagine when faced with the reality of lasting in the desert for a week with only one t-shirt, one spare pair of pants and other delightful dilemmas some of these decisions might be revisited!

I was lucky enough to be featured in this months Gallery Magazine which is a local lifestyle magazine here in Jersey. I had a photography shoot with local photographer Danny Evans and I was really pleased with the results. It was slightly surreal and lots of attempts were taken to get the pic of me running towards the camera but Danny was great, really made me feel at ease in such an alien environment for me, and the article has really raised the profile of the fundraising I am doing for local charity Jersey Hospice Care.

I had set the initial target of £5000 for Hospice which I hit back in December. I then re-evaluated this and re set the target to £8000. I am currently on just over £7000 with a couple of event to go before I head off. Next week end should you be venturing past Marks and Spencers in St Helier you will encounter me running on a treadmill with my colleague Nicola Gott who is doing the London Marathon and also raising money for Jersey Hospice Care. We plan to run for 8 hours between us whilst also trying to collect funds in buckets, so please be sure to pop by and say hi!

As mentioned I am raising funds for Jersey Hospice Care and am running the Marathon des Sables in memory of Natalie Moss a friend of mine who sadly passed away just over a year ago and was in the care of Jersey Hospice during the last 6 weeks of her illness. They are amazing its as simple as that. If you can see your way to donating please hop over to www.justgiving.com/Paulsdesertrun

Many thanks – More to follow soon!

The Business End Of The Regime..

Well the weeks are ticking down and ticking down, only 5 weeks til we fly to Morocco on the adventure of a lifetime. After almost 2 years of preparation I cant believe it is here to be honest.

The last month or so has been intense. Life has centred mainly around training with my week involving some variation on the theme of running, yoga or strength work interspersed with organising all the finer details to arrive at the start line prepared. My training plan has looked something like this:

Mon - Bikram Yoga
Tues - Run with weight (avg 10 miles with 5-6KG pack)
Wed - Run at Lunch Time (8 miles) Run at Night Time (8 miles)
Thur - Running Club Hill Session (avg 8 miles
Fri - Strength/ Core Session
Sat - Long Run - (avg 20 miles)
Sun - Long Run (avg 14 miles)

This has changed slightly depending on what has been going on, 2 weeks or so ago a few of us did a 45 mile training run around the island of Jersey which was a great day out and fell just on one of the sunniest days so far this winter, which was a great morale booster, and was a great confidence booster for running the long day on the MDS which ranges between 50 and 60 miles.

One of the biggest factors I have found difficult with training has been getting motivated to get out there in the cold. I think I am not alone in this as it seems to be a recurring conversation with other runners at the moment, I am almost looking forward to the 40 deg heat of the Sahara at this point, although I am sure a day under the searing sun will have me begging for snowy cliff paths and boggy trails with windy beach runs that make me want to cry!! I think it is natural to lose motivation as the pure mileage has been high over the last few weeks, with every session being key whether the goal be to acclimatise to the heat (Bikram) build endurance, run with weight or hill work. This weekend sees me hitting my peak in terms of training with a 3 day odyssey planned: 26 miles on Sat, 26 miles on Sun and 26 miles on Monday afternoon. I think once this is done whilst I will still be logging miles I will gradually take the intensity and mileage down as the goal is now to get to the start line healthy and injury free. 

Equipment wise the last few weeks have been active: I received my shoes back from the cobbler with the velcro attached yesterday which means I am able to attach the sand gaiters to them and so form a seal which will prevent sand from getting in to them and prevent chafing and blisters. I also took delivery of my evening meals yesterday: the finest that Expedition Foods has to offer in dehydrated foods... Once you add water and let them stand they do look actually begin to look like food and taste ok (based on the Chicken Tikka one I tried a few weeks ago) if a little bland, but a bit of salt and pepper will solve that I am sure.. My rucksack weight is currently looking like just under 7KG on paper although a real life pack hasnt happened yet and I am sure other items will sneak in and bump the weight up. I have tried to be ruthless using lightweight items where I can, only taking essentials and it looks like I will be wearing the same clothes for the whole week! I just hope my tent mates have decided to do the same otherwise I might be quarantined!

I have decided on most of my clothing with the following T Shirt which is Under Armour Heat Gear and I had printed up to thank the local companies that have supported me in my buildup in some way or another: www.mymemory.co.uk, Sportsbug Jersey, BNP Paribas Jersey, Fit 2 Function Jersey, Tonic Body & Skin Therapy, Bean Around the World Coffee Shop and Leanne Rive Personal Training.

Fundraising has seen me break the £6000 barrier, which is awesome. I have a goal of reaching £8000 raised for Jersey Hospice Care before I leave in 5 weeks with some events planned to hopefully get me there. I have been canvassing most people I know for donations so am sure people will be glad to see the back of me by the time I get on that plane!! :-) If you are in any doubt as to how to donate please visit: www.justgiving.com/Paulsdesertrun all donations no matter how small are welcome, and to just know that people are supporting me gives me amazing motivation during those long, hard, cold training runs!

This was quite an interesting picture that I came across on the net which gives you an idea of some of the things we have to carry as well as some of the decisions us MDS runners have been faced with over the last few weeks: 

We were given our race numbers a few weeks ago, I am number 624.. Once we are out there the MDS website http://www.darbaroud.com/en/ provides real time updates of how we are doing, photos of the days racing and vitally you are able to send messages to the competitors through the website. It goes without saying how important that will be for morale so if you have a few spare minutes between the 5th and 15th April please drop me a line..

More to follow over the next few weeks.. 

Jersey Marathon - New PB!

The Jersey marathon was a week ago last Sunday. The conditions were perfect not too hot or cold and there were about 500 runners taking part.

I was aiming to just complete the marathon as I have another race in December which is my main focus, however as the time drew nearer to the race I was feeling like my training had gone well enough to push for a PB. I started the race at a fairly quick pace as I tend to do and then settled into a 6:50 - 7 min mile pace. At the half way point I was averaging just over 6:50 min mile which meant if I continued in this way I could be on for a sub 3 hour marathon. Alas at the magic 16 mile mark I started to fade and the trusty old legs started to slow, but I was still able to come in at 3 hours 12 mins 56 (chip time), 5 mins off my previous PB. 

Needless to say I was over the moon with this and I am making further progress which is awesome. Focus has now switched to hill 

training and getting as much elevation in as possible per week to prepare for the Dorset Ultra in December which takes in a heady 6000ft of climbing.. 

Speaking of races here in Jersey here is a video of Round The Rock ultra marathon that I put together based on footage shot my my friend Craig.

I have also recently been for a biomechanics screening session which unveiled a few deficiencies. I was given exercises to counter act some muscles that were spasming in my legs as well as a sciatic nerve stretch which is amazing... I found the session to be really interesting and it has given me alot of insight into how I am stacked up and what I need to do to develop a running style that will serve me well rather than potentially expose me to injury.

The last few weeks I have been looking at various kit options for the MDS also. It is mind blowing the number of options for kit to take, and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for others so decisions have had to be made on rucksacks, sleeping bags, compression wear and heat resistant wear etc etc. I have decided to invest in some X-Bionic gear as they reputedly conserve the bodies energy by regulating the bodies temperature by diverting the sweat away to parts of the body that need cooling. I purchased the Energizer top and wore it for the marathon and found it to be excellent to wear, supportive and I found that there were no issues with being too cold or hot during the race which is excellent. I intend to purchase the more expensive Fennec shirt for the MDS as this will be invaluable if it does what it says it will in the desert! I have bought other various bits and pieces also: headtorches, water bottles and the like and the whole picture is starting to come together.I intend to test the kit over the winter to ensure it is reliable and suitable for my needs. So much to think about!

I have also been fundraising on the back of the MDS challenge, and to date have raised £4300 for Jersey Hospice care. A friend and I staged a 8 hour treadmill challenge in M&S in town and raised alot of money, and then a week or so ago with the help of a few friends we staged a film quiz which raised over £3000 on the night, which took me so close to my £5000 target. I am glad to be almost near my target as I can now focus more on training.