My Marathon Des Sable training log

Been a bit naughty!

2007-02-27T06:46:00.000-08:00

I got told off that I had not updated the blog. I thought no bugger was reading it as no one was leaving any comments! (hint hint)

Training has been ok. I took Lisa to NY last week for her birthday and once again I pulled my left hamstring whilst dragging the cases. I aimed to run at the hotel but I ended up resting it. We got back on the 15th Feb and I ran 11 miles on the saturday and 20 on the sunday.

This week it has gone well:

Tuesday= 7 miles
Wednesday= 11 miles
Friday= 4 miles
Saturday= 21 miles
Sunday=10 miles
TOTAL=53 miles

So thats it! My last long run was Saturday. Its tapering time now. The idea is to get to the start line fully rested but not having lost any fitness so I wil begin this week to cut the mileage. I aim to do about 40 miles this week.

8 weeks to go

2007-01-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

Last week I was skiing and did not do a lot of running. I counted that as my easy week. this week I did:

Tuesday= 4 miles @8.42 pace
Wednesday=20 miles @ 10.40 pace
Friday= 7 miles @ 8.20 pace
Saturday=5 miles @ 8.09 pace
Sunday= 5 miles @ 9.00 pace
TOTAL= 42 miles

Got my competitor number this week as well. I am no.683 so now its really real!!

9 Weeks to go.

2007-01-13T07:49:00.000-08:00

This week I felt on fire! The Hamstring problem seems to have settled down and I have run the following:

Tuesday= 7 miles @ 9.43 pace
Wednesday= 4 miles @ 8.32 pace
Thursday= 5 miles @ 8.21 pace
Friday= 12 miles @ 10.13 pace
Saturday= 20 miles @ 10.57 pace
Total=48 miles

Although my long run on Saturday was slightly slower than last Sundays long run I am putting this down to me doing 12 the day before.

10 weeks to go.

2007-01-08T06:41:00.000-08:00

Runs this week:

Tuesday=7 miles
Wednesday=9.5 miles
Thursday=5 Miles (Threshold)
Sunday=20 miles (Mark Southgate dropped me off after work at Hatfield Peveral and I run home. Satelite image here)
TOTAL=41.5 Miles

Left Hamstring is once again hurting today so I will just do some core training today and give running a miss.

11 Weeks to go

2007-01-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Easy week this week again.

Tuesday= 5M easy
Wednesday=5M easy
Thursday=4MFartlek
Friday=4.5M Threshold pace (7.05 min miles Bloody good!!!!!)
Saturday- Pack run 17M
TOTAL= 35.5 Miles

Just worked out my training program right up until I go....Bloody scary!!

Up to Xmas eve

2006-12-26T10:08:00.001-08:00

This week has been a nightmare. Did the following:

Tuesday=11 miles
Wednesday=5 miles
Thursday= 5 miles

The rest of the week I had a stinking cold so had to lay off training. Missed out on the long run this week which is a bit of a pain.

Dec 17th

2006-12-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

I had planned to have Sunday and Monday off after the long walk but I ended up having Tuesday off as well. My left hamstring was seriously aching and I did not think it was wise to run on it yet. I did not run Friday as time ran away with me because I was sorting out a new car.

Wednesday= 5 miles Treadmill
Thursday= 5 miles
Sunday=20 miles (pack run)

TOTAL=30 miles

I had planned to do 25 miles on sunday but the hamstring started playing up again. I have added another 1.5K to my rucksack so I now run with 10K of cat litter around Essex!

Walking week

2006-12-09T23:44:00.000-08:00

So this week has been interesting. Thursday morning, Jo, Mark, Sally, Mary and I started the first day of our 3 day challenge. Thursday we walked 40 miles around a big loop of Colchester.We started at 7 from Dedham car park and followed a route that I had found on a Ramblers web site. We finally finished at about 9 that night. It started off damp and a few times it chucked it down. We even had hail stones. So as well as being physically challenging, it was mentally challenging as well.Here is the route we did. Click on the pix to get a bigger veiw of what we done. Ignore the tab on this one saying 35 miles.....the GPS lost the signal a few times and run out of battery as we were out so long!

So to Friday.We were walking by 8 and we decided to do a few laps of Alton Water.The reason for this was that Mary had to get back home for a works Xmas do. It was also a good thing as Jo's ankle had blown up and she had to pull out at 8 miles. I call Jo the Rottwelier as she has a lot of inner strength and will keep going and for her to pull out she must have been in pain.Sally, Mark and I completed 26 miles that day.

On Saturday we left just after 7 and started the final 20 miles. We all seemed to be on a high as we had done so much and the end was in sight. Jo's ankle had benefited from resting on Friday and we were finished by about 2. We all ached a bit but then after 86 miles in 3 days we all expected it. On a personal note I feel that I have come a long way in the 6 months since I started long distance walking. I only had 3 little blisters and my heels did not ache half a s much as they did on the first walks I did. I recovered quicker when I got home as well. Oh...a dn I thought that I was carrying 7.5K in my rucksack. WRONG!!! The others had 7K in theirs and mine seemed a lot heavier. I weighed myself without and with the rucksack and it actually weighs 8.5K so that explains why my legs are knackered!

An easy week

2006-12-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

I work on the training plan of 4-5 weeks hard then 1 week easy so that my body has time to recover from the pressure I put it under. This week I did the following:

Tuesday=5 miles @7.56 pace Pack run
Wednesday=4 miles @8.08 pace Pack run
Friday=5 miles @ 7.44 pace
Sunday=16 miles @ 10.56 pace Pack Run

TOTAL=30 miles

The run on sunday was done on the treadmill at work. I was on the treadmill for nearly 3 hours. I was pleased with myself as I was disciplined enough to do it. At this stage of the game I can not afford to miss any long runs so even though I knew it was going to be boring, it had to be done.It meant that I do it on the treadmill or get up early on sunday morning and do it or do it after work.

Next week its back to the slog.

This week...

2006-11-27T03:11:00.000-08:00

Monday=45 mins step machine
Tuesday=5 miles @8.55 pace PACK RUN
Wednesday=5 miles Fartlek on the running machine
Thursday=5 miles@7.42 pace (slower than last week!)
Friday= 11.5 miles@9.43 pace PACK RUN
Sunday=21 miles@10.31 pace (PACK RUN)
TOTAL=47.5 miles

Had a good week. Next week is an easy week so looking forward to that.I was pleased with the run on sunday. 30 secs a mile faster although is was not carrying as much water this time. I left the 2L camelback at home.

Im Zooming along!

2006-11-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

This week I am def getting back into things. Done the following:

Tuesday=9 miles @ 9.42 min/miles pace (Pack run)
Wednesday=5 miles Interval seesion at the Gym
Thursday= 7 miles @ 10.07 min/mile pace. (pack run) Felt quite tired that day.
Friday=5 miles @ 7.15 min/mile pace. (felt pleased with this run)
Saturday=20 miles @ 11.04 min/mile pace (pack run)
TOTAL =47 miles

The run on saturday was a circular route around Colchester that I had planned. This was the longest run I had done since the New Forest Marathon and the longest run I have done with a pack. The pack weighed 7K plus I was carrying another 3.6K in water. I found the run hard as I was carrying so much weight but the plan was to run the whole lot and just do the distance and get used to being on my feet for nearly 4 hours.Apart from 2 hills that I walked up it was mission accomplished.

Feeling better!

2006-11-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

Last week and the beginning of this week, getting back into running was hard. My Garmin had automatically changed its Heart Rate settings for me so that meant that I had lost a bit of fitness due to me resting because of my leg injury.

Well towards the end of this week I felt a lot better and a lot stronger.I have started running with a 7K pack again. So this week I have done:

Monday= Circuit training @ LA Fitness with my beautiful wife Lisa
Tuesday= 10 Miles Easy
Wednesday= 4 miles
Thursday= 4 Miles
Friday= 6 Miles (Lisa followed me on her bike)
Saturday= 16 Miles

TOTAL= 40 Miles

Interestingly my long run last week of 14 miles was run at average 10.19 min/miles with my HR @ 150 BPM. My long run this week was 16 miles and run at 9.17 min/miles (over a minute a mile quicker) and at the same HR! So I seeem to be getting my fitness back again which I am pleased at.

OMM and beyond!

2006-11-05T10:40:00.001-08:00

Well despite being told by my Physio not to run at the OMM , I entered it with Steve Warder ( a bloke I met on the OMM website who was looking for a partner). We ran a little but the majority we walked as my leg was aching everytime we went up and down mountains. We did not get a brilliant time but due to Steves excellent navigating we got to the overnight camp and we got back to the start the next day. Will def do it again next year.

So I went to see my physio again on monday. She said that I have Hamstring trouble and that it why I ached on the OMM. So I have a series of stretches to do everyday.

So on Tuesday I started running again properly. Did the following:

Tues= 4 miles
Weds= 4 miles
Thurs= 4 miles
Fri= 4 miles
Sun= 14 miles
TOTAL=30 miles

Not bad. My leg ached whilst running the long run today but I worked through it. I run all around Mersea Island.

uummm!!

2006-10-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

well a lot has happened since I last posted. On sept 17th I run the New forest marathon with another MDSer Paul Pickford. Lisa and I travelled to Portsmouth and met Pauls lovely family and then we did the marathon on sunday. We`went really well. Averaging about 8.30 min miles. THEN I hit the wall at about 22 miles. I have heard of the wall but had never experienced it till that day and boy did I know it!One minute I was ok the next I felt sick, light headed and felt that I could not go on. I did complete the marathon but only after a nice St johns ambulance man stopped and gave me a cereal bar. Next time I need to carry more gels and have a bigger breakfast. Its better that I find out now and not in the desert! My first marathon time was 4.31. Not bad as I was expecting a 4.15 finish and I know that I would have been around the 4 mark if I had not bonked.

So I had a few days rest and then I entered the Three forests way. This is 63 miles across herts and Essex and 5 other MDSer were doing it as well: Paul "feels like I 've known you forever"Pickford, Mark "slasher" Chase, Joanna "Rotweller" Swainson, Mary and Sally ( sorry guys cant remember your surnames) This was going well until mile 27 when I felt a twinge in my calf which got worse and worse.I carried on walking but had to retire at mile 50 as I literally could not walk!

So I after three lots of physio and total rest for 2.5 weeks I am finally back to running. This weekend I am running the OMM in scotland so will write back next week and let you know how I got on.

52.7 mile walk

2006-08-07T08:46:00.001-07:00

Well I am sitting here nursing my very blistered heels! I entered (and completed) the Poppyline 50. It is a 52.7 (not 50 as advertised although I did not find this out till I was half way through the walk and was most upset!) which is set in the Norfolk countryside starting from Sheringham. I entered it with Jo Swainson and her boy friend Tom. I felt really good for the first 45 miles but then we stopped at the last check point and got far too comfortable and ate far too much and when I got to get up my legs werent having none of it! So the last 7.7 miles were agony! Well we completed it in 16.43 hrs. Not a great time but at least we now know we can do that sort of mileage when it comes to the overnight stage of the MDS. Our next big walk is on 7th/8th October when we do the 3 forests way which is 62 miles except that I will not be spending as much time in the last CP as this time! i will now have a few days off from training and start running again weds/thursday.

Update

2006-07-26T08:03:00.001-07:00

Thought it was about time I updated this. I have kept up the training and beginning to really enjoy it now. I spoke to Rory Colman and he suggested that many Brits who enter the MDS do not do enough walking in their training. So last month, Jo Swainson and I walked 13 miles on a thursday afternoon, 26 on the friday and 27 on the saturday. Boy, were my my feet knackered or what! Walking is a completely different action to running. In say 10 metres running, you wiill touch the ground say 7-8 times whilst if you walk 10 metres you will touch the ground 12-15 times and it is a completely different grinding action. I got the mother of all blisters under the hard skin on my heels and it made a mess of my feet. So I have had the hard skin cut away and I am using cream every night to try and soften my heels. Next week Jo and I are walking the Poppyline which is a LDWA event. 50 miles have to be completed within 24 hours!

I also completed an 18.5 mile off road run on sunday. Felt really good whilst doing it and only began to tire at 15 miles.

Its going well

2006-05-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

The training is going well. Last week I ran 36 miles all mostly off road.And all with a 5KG pack on my back. I am finding all different trails around my home and I have really come to appreciate where I live. Last week on a couple of runs, two dears ran out in front of me.

My longest run to date is 11.5 miles.I am running the SOS 1/2 marathon on the 11th June and it will be good to see how I am doing and have a bench mark.

2006-03-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

Everyone keeps asking me how the training and fundraising is going so I'd thought I would do a blog!

The training is going very well. Been gradually working my mileage up and am doing about 25 miles a week. I am using a Garmin Forerunner which basically Satnav on your wrist and gives me an accurate readout of my heart rate, distance run etc. It is also self learning and adjusts itself to your training zones. Nearly every week it is telling me that it has set new training heart rate zones as I am getting fitter! I have just come back from an 8 miler and I feel really good.

Last night I had a tremendous boost to my fundraising for the St. Helena Hospice. I had a Race night at Colchester Fire Station. I had 120 people there and between us we managed to raise £2429! So my fundraising total is just over £3500 now (over half way)! Many thanks to the race sponsors(cantbarsed.com, PTL solicitors, Szechuan Inn, Redwood Photographic, Tolway fixings, Anglia Crown, Polestar and Phoenix Administration services) and the many Colchester Companies who donated raffle prizes (there is just too many to mention). Without you I could not have done it.