Runners Breakfast

My Runners Breakfast

Homemade Granola:
Rolled Oats, Brown Sugar, Honey, Cinnamon, Golden Linseeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Dried Cranberries, Fresh Raspberries. MILK.

Morning Motivator

What, Why, How...

Why am I blogging? I'm really not the blogging kind of guy, I mean, I don't update my Facebook status every five minutes to inform people of my dinner plans, the weather or how I slept, so why spend valuable time maintaining a blog about my running endeavours? I guess it's because I scrawl the internet so vigorously myself for information, advice, stories and resources on the Marathon des Sables that I think it may be insightful to other MDS runners, past and future, to follow the progress of what I can only describe as an average runner who wishes to traverse the desert on foot for 6 days. 

In addition, I hope to utilise this blog to meet other like minded runners and MDS'ers whilst promoting my fundraising ambitions for a charity that is yet to be confirmed!

So...

What is the Marathon des Sables

The Marathon des Sables is a 6 day, multi-stage, 155 mile ultra marathon in the Moroccan Sahara. Competitors carry all their food, sleeping and navigational requirements with them whilst managing a rationed water supply provided by race organisers. The terrain consists of dunes, rocky ground, flat planes and...sand. 

The stages roughly translate as follows:

Day 1.   15 Miles

Day 2.   21 Miles (Sand Dune day)

Day 3.   23 Miles

Day 4.   50 Miles

Day 5.   26 Miles

Day 6.   13 Miles

Why

The first thing 99% of people ask me when they find out I'm running the Marathon des Sables is...'Why?'

This is the hardest thing to answer, not because I'm disillusioned by my reasons but because it can be difficult to portray these reasons to those looking bemused (just ask my Mom), but its a bemusement I completely appreciate. Not only is there a huge physical demand required by this race but perhaps more significant, at least for me, is the massive financial burden that comes with registration cost, kit, training etc. So, why the Marathon des Sables?..

Having discussed my excuses for partaking in this event with several other MDS runners I have been able to better prepare myself for the question, 'Why?'
So, ill attempt to answer that question now...

The Challenge

I think I first came across the Marathon des Sables whilst watching Trans World Sports and immediately knew it was something I had to do and without much thought handed over a £500 (student loan) deposit in 2011 to register. Having completed the Tough Guy race a couple of times and recently recovered from a broken leg sustained via a casual game of American Football, I clearly thought I was well equipped for 155 miles in the desert. Fool. It's the feeling of achievement I crave though and it's this that drives my 5 days a week training come wind, rain or shine. I only have to recall the image of Mo Farah charging down the home straight at London 2012 with Steve Cram shouting 'he's kicking hard now!' to remind me of why I'm doing this, I'm hungry for my own slice of athletic triumph. No doubt i'll utilise the same Olympic vision when out in the desert to keep me going. 

The Experience

Travelling through the desert on foot for 6 days amongst hundreds of other journey men and women whilst carrying a weeks supply of food and rationed water is at the very least going to provide a memorable experience. I appreciate at times I'm going to loathe the experience what with the relentless desert heat, blistered feet and crippling thirst, but it's got to be fun, right? I want to be able to look back and think "I may have failed at a lot of things in life, but I did run 155 miles across the desert".

Charity

Running such events provides a great platform for raising money and I intend on taking full advantage of this. Im still undecided on my charity but it will revolve around wildlife conservation. I plan to raise over £1000 although this might be harder than the training....

How

I had (potentially still don't) no idea how to train for an event like the MDS. With past events I have prepared by simply going for a run a couple of times a week with no thought as to structure, time, terrain etc. I knew I couldn't get away with this for the MDS so luckily I befell upon 'Relentless Forward Progress: A guide to running ultra-marathons' by Byron Powell. For anyone considering running an ultra-marathon, if you're a seasoned marathoner or casual runner like me, I highly recommend this book. After scrutinising every chapter I bought myself a wall planner, adopted a 4 month training plan from the book and began a regimented 5-days a week running programme.

The programme consists of 3 weeks progressive running, gradually upping the total weekly distance. The 4th week is a recovery week, where the total weekly distance drops off. After 2 and a half months, my current weeks running schedule looks like this:

Monday:  Rest

Tuesday:  9 Miles

Wednesday: 5 Miles

Thursday: 7 Miles

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 24 Miles

Sunday: 5 Miles

It has taken 2 and a half months to get to this point but I dare say I could have got there sooner had I skipped forward a few weeks on the programme. Although it has been gruelling and de-moralising keeping to a strict running regime I believe this progressive technique has kept me safe from injury and promoted a more sustainable fitness. By following the plan I will be covering distances of 31 miles by early January.

The next step is back to back running. I have already clocked runs of 12 miles and 10 miles on consecutive days, but will need to translate these to 20 mile + runs. Should be a laugh...

I could go into loads of depth on kit, training sessions, preparation events, nutrition etc. but I think this first post is long enough as it is. I will keep the blog updated regularly with all these things however, including a proposed Christmas Day marathon and weekend training session on the Merthyr Mawr sand dunes. 

For now though, here's an image I took whilst watching the Paralympic athletics at the Olympic Park this summer. Helped kick off the motivation...


Keep Right On