Home Sweet Home...

Since I have returned to Dubai the training and preparation have continued to gather momentum and I have also entered the Dubai Half-Marathon on 7th December. The first week back I managed to combine being a tour guide to my in-laws with some short runs to re-acclimatise to the conditions in Dubai. This week, 15th-21st October, I did 5 short runs totaling 13 miles.

As soon as they were safely tucked on board the plane phase 1b of my MDS training commenced. Phase 1b will cover the period of October to the start of December. This period is designed to increase my weekly mileage up to 45 miles before commencing stage 2 in December. Each week in stage 1b will consist of 5 evenly distanced runs with a couple of rest days included to keep the body fresh and reduce the risk of injury.

Week 1 of phase 1b was a success. Not only did I get up to 25 miles running that week but I managed to get in a 2 mile desert run/walk that week and also found a way of crossing the Sheikh Zeyed Road, which is Dubai's equivalent of the M25. Whilst it is straight rather than an a loop, the Sheikh Zeyed Road bisects Dubai and was the barrier that was separating me from getting to some of the better running spots in Dubai.

Now that I can use one of the Dubai Metro stations to get across, I will be able to run to Jumeirah Beach and Safa Park. I also managed to find a pedestrian route into the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) so have another 6 mile route navigated. The mixture of these out and back routes and shorter 1-5 mile loops around where we live will be vital during this period up until December, when the extra mileage means I will be able to explore further afield.

This last week I have managed to get Matt Slater of the BBC to tweet my blog address to see if I can increase the number of views it gets. I have tried to get both James Cracknell and Ben Foggle to tweet but not having much luck. I will try again at some point as this is to aid getting some companies to put their logo on in return for some donations to Mencap.

I got blown out by Run & Become in the end, as they couldn't see the value in advertisement. Whilst they know their onions on trainers and running kit they seem to be more interested in Sri Chinmoy's running theology than growing a business. My offer of including their logo for free in return for a code that they could track its effectiveness was rebuffed. That being said I will still go in there to buy my gels and other bits of kit...

Still I am still in conversations with a company called London Print Services. They designed and produced some golf shirts for a Golf Society that I belong to, The Chequers Golf Club, so we shall see if anything comes of that.






This past few weeks has seen me also open correspondence with a previous MDS competitor called Paul Haynes. Paul has been extremely valuable with answering some questions on the MDS and, alongside Mr Garner, has given me some excellent advice on kit and training. I have wrapped up all of Paul Haynes' advice into one post: Interview Paul Haynes - MDS 2011.

I have also read two books this last week on the MDS:

- 24th Marathon Des Sables - A competitors Tale by Steve Cushing; and
- The Marathon Des Sables by Mark Hines.

I found Steve Cushings book not only an easier read but also better structured for anyone doing research for the race. In my opinion Mark has fallen between two stools. His book isn't really factual enough to be much use for a future competitor (apart from a few pages in the appendix) but is not funny enough to be an endurance athletes version of a Bill Bryson book.

Steve Cushing's book, together with advice gleaned from the 'Two Pauls' (Garner and Haynes), has enabled me to construct my training plan. I have included the majority of this, and some of the extracts from Mr Haynes' interview, in an updated version of my Completed Research post. This is to avoid too many readers switching off at this point. However, I will include a few of the principles for the casual reader:

1) I followed a lot of the principles of Fink when I trained for the Ironman. One of his main training principles is that you build mileage and intensity over a three week period, by circa 10% each week,  followed by a fourth 'periodisation' week consisting of reduced mileage to recover from three weeks of putting the body under stress;
2) I will do a lot of my running in the middle of the day as it is never too early to start to recreate the conditions I will be running in;

3) I am running with a rucksack, as it contains my water bladder. I will do 1-2 run per week with some items packed in the rucksack. I will not be too scientific but I will add some items of clothing or kit. Each week I will slowly increase the weight so that my body is used to running with the weight;
4) I will be doing three dress rehearsals within my training schedule: one during the week of the Dubai Half-Marathon, one during the Dubai Marathon and one in February. The plan is to follow the schedule of the race, with the first being a quarter of the distance rising to half and then finally being three-quarters the distance. These dress rehearsal will be with the rucksacks laden to 1/4, 1/2 and then 3/4 of the weight I will carry in the desert. I also hope to run the dress rehearsals in January and February in the kit that I will wearing in the desert.
5) I will log the amount of water that I drink on each run;

6) I will try to get an Ultra in the calendar early in the new year but not essential if I am doing the dress rehearsals in 3) above;

7) I am going to try to measure my body temperature at least at the end of a run but hopefully during a run so I can see how my body is reacting to long distances in heat (and no I am not going to have a themometer up where the sun doesn't shine before some Smart Alec suggests it...)

By the next blog I should be up to 45 miles per week, have finalised my proposed kit list and have derived what my nutrition plan will be for the race.

MaAasalaama...

Interview: Paul Hayne - MDS 2011

What year did you do the MDS?

I did the 26th MDS-2011

Where did you finish?

I finished 495th out of 849 competitors. Although I am a competitive person, for me it was all about finishing the MDS. Could I have gone quicker on hindsight? No, I just wanted to finish!

The fear of not finishing was huge for me and really got me through the tough moments! Although the tough moments are in hindsight the best bits! It is those moments that where you find out how you deal with adversity.

What was the contents and weight of your ruck sac?

I carried the Raidlight front and back packs.

Apart from the compulsory kit list and food I took:

- Cooking equipment:
       - Optimus Terra solo cook set (definitely recommend)

       - Esbit Titanium cooking stove (The Esbit fuel blocks have to bought from the Darbaroud website and picked up upon arrival at base camp, as airlines are funny now days with you carrying fuel blocks... I bought two boxes, but this was too much. Basically what we did in our tent was to buddy up the fires and just shared our fuel! Me and a guy called Andy would get the fire going and take it in turns to heat our water.

       - Esbit cooking surround to wrap around the fire as it can get windy and the Esbit fuel can
         get easily blown out; which can be annoying when you are tired and hungry!
       - Tesco Baby Spoon rather than expensive spork (I used the bottom of the water bottles as bowls,
         this means you don't have the worry of washing your own bowl and getting germs!)
- Sleeping:
       - Thermarest NEOAir sleeping mat ( I would definitely recommend as comfortable
         Although, mine did puncture after day 2 so slept rough for remaining days! Bad luck I guess.
       - Yeti vib sleeping bag - expensive but worth it. It gets mighty cold at night!!!!!!!

- Head torch: I used a PETZL Zipka plus 2, was a great torch, and worked really well! The red light function is great when using it in the bivvies as not to blind your mates! Although I have just bought an LED LENSER head torch and its much better!  That said I have not used it for any multi-day events, however I used it for the Lakeland50 this year and was great! It doesn't have the red lamp option...

- Walking Poles
- Knife: I took the credit card style knife/ scissors, but took the other parts out; so only had the knife and scissors. Not only does it save weight but it meant you only had to find one item.

- Small tooth brush and small tooth paste (down to personal preference but was great to clean teeth in the morning)

- spare running top for evening

- lounge wear type trousers for evening

- flip flops- although i lost mine on day 3 and had to blag a pair from the base camp lost property!!!!!!;)
- Antiseptic:  I took a 50ml can of Salvon Dry Antiseptic. The Docs will give you needles and Iodine to treat yourself when you get blister but only if your blisters are not too bad.

Another tip I found was pack kit within kit. During the day I put kit inside my cooking pot. Also, my Anti Venom pump came in a pouch so I stuffed loads of kit into that as well.

What did you wear?

- Skins running shorts (note to self! don't wear pants under these as it can cause the worst chaffing imaginable!!!!!!)
- Rail riders shirt ( would definitely recommend)
- Injinji cap
- injinji socks-inner and Wigwam Terrain Trax Pro Socks as an outer pair. The inner pair are like gloves. The idea is that the inners wick the sweat away from your feet. They are not cheap by any means but running socks are not, and I think its definitely worth spending the money as the feet take a pounding. I took 2 sets with the plan to change both halfway through. However in practise I couldn't put on my second inner socks as my feet had swollen so only wore the thicker outers for the second half of the race.
- Sandbaggers gaiters (would definitely recommend)
- I wore my normal running shoes, with the normal one size bigger (with Velcro stitched to the edges so the gaiters stuck to them)
- 2 buffs (one for neck and one for wrist to wipe sweat etc)
- Julbo sunglasses ( looked crap but definitely recommend as we had a sandstorm on the second day yet my and eyes were fine. Well worth the 80quid!)

Describe your nutrition plan

I'm 6ft 2" about 15 stone, so I am going to burn the calories, so I really couldn't skimp on the calories, although you do have to have a certain amount per day!  Most of my weight in my bag was food! The great thing is that as you go through the event your bag gets lighter and lighter, as you are eating the majority of the weight, such that it should be reasonably light for the 50 mile and marathon days. I ate and needed everything I took and I still lost a shed load of weight!

I unpacked all my freeze dried food into bags that you could then suck the air out and heat seal! this was a great way to save space in your bag. I then wrote on the bag what meal it was, what day and if it was for breakfast or evening meal! I might sound a lot of hassle but well worth doing...

Per day I had:

- Mountain House freeze dry food x3 (one for breakfast, one when I got into base camp and the other one in the eve; although later on in the week the evening meals were eaten one after the other!:) )

- Cliff bars x2
- Sport beans x2
- Peronin x1 ( powdered meal you mix with water, great on the go meal, taken at the mid-way aid station each day)
- Rego recovery x1 (taken as soon as I got into bivvie, plus laying down with feet on ruck sack- helps aid recovery)

For the long, 50 mile, day I doubled my cliff bars, sport beans and peronin.

Also, for the rest day I packed some treats! Obviously this is gonna be personal to you but I packed:

- Nescaffe sachets ( the individual ones white with sugar)

- Smash ( totally recommend)
- Beef jerky ( totally recommend)
- Super noodles!

These treats were totally worth the weight.  I didn't stop on the long day, so had a full rest day, which was great! I spent most of the days eating my treats and having a right laugh with the boys in the bivvie; although most of it is very dark humour, as with most multi-day endurance events. Also, on the rest day I had the obligatory appointment with the, aptly nicknamed, Doc Trotters to sort out an angry blister on my heal! Again its all part of the experience seeing the Docs!

What was the low point and highlight of your race?

My lowest point was the Marathon day; this was the stage after the long day and the rest day (if you finished the long stage in one day). I had kind of got into the mentality that once the long day was done you were home and dry! This is because drop out rate after the long day is really low as after the long day there are only two stages to finish; the Marathon day and a cheeky 10 miler. The day of the Marathon was fecking hot and the route had some tough climbs!  It was a probably made tougher by the fact I had mentally let my guard down! There were other little low moments, but you just crack on as you have got no choice! Losing my flip flops was pretty emotional! You'll find that silly things can annoy you... ;-)




My highlight was simply being at the MDS! I really mean this! For me it was truly a great experience! It was so nice to have no worries for over a week apart from keeping my legs moving, feeding myself and keeping care of my feet! No work, no phone, nothing! I really enjoyed that part of it and it's funny how you quickly adapt into a routine!

What item of your kit proved to be the most valuable?

Definitely the most valuable bit of kit was the packet of wet wipes I put into my bag at the last minute! I got very good at folding as soon as I realised I was running out. Also, pack some alcohol hand sanitiser as you don't want to get sick!

My gaitors were another bit of kit i thought worked well, my ipod was great for the low moments, put some tunes on and just get the legs going! Also I'm glad I took my small digital camera, definitely take time to take it all in and get some great photos!

What item do you wish you left at home?

The piece of kit for me I  wish I'd left at home were my poles! They were a total waste of time. I used them once and hated them. But... if you twist an ankle or your feet get shredded they could be useful...!!!

What training did you do: distance and acclimatisation?

I ran about 3 times a week, including hill sessions, speed work and running a few long miles with weight in my kit bag, i also did circuit sessions once a week. Alas, I didn't have the funds to go anywhere hot so I did all my training in Blighty!

The key races I did in preparation were:

- Poppyline 50 LDWA; and

- Pilgrims Challenge

The Poppyline was a 50 mile race and the Pilgrims Challenge was a two day event, 33 miles each day, on the North Downs Way with camping in a school hall after the first stage.

I would  recommend both events, especially The  Pilgrims Challenges as it is good to get used to running two big stages one after the other.

Any funny stories or anecdotes?

 

Loads of funny stuff happens, but its mainly "you've gotta be there" to find it funny. Some of the other stuff is quite dark humour and best relayed over a pint or two when you are next back in the UK.  My funniest sadomasochistic moment was the fact I got the worst chaffing and had to spend the rest of the day mainly on my knees opening my buttocks to ease the pain!!! :-) Ah, that reminds me I took two pots of Vaseline, the small tin types that people use for their lips.

It's important to keep your sense of humour during the race. Its a bloody stupid thing to be doing if you think about: trudging through the Sahara carrying your own kit!!! However, it's truly an amazing experience and I tried to always keep smiling, even through the tough moments, and remember how lucky I was to be having such an experience!

Our bivvie blew down on the sand storm day, which doesn't sound funny but it was. Every time we fixed it the thing just blew down again! that night I was really pleased I had a surround for my stove!

A lot of the strangest humour was around blisters. One guy in my bivvie got the worst blister on one of his testicles!!! I remember it got so bad that he had to put a blister plaster over it to ease the rubbing and everyone was crying with laughter at his pain when he had to pull the plaster off...

Anything else?

I found Dave Scott at Sandbaggers extremely helpful, with kit choices and nutritional advice. He also runs a seminar in Stevenage in the spring which I went to and found very informative. You can also get your medical/ECG done on the same day; which is handy.

Would you do the MDS again?

I would definitelyto do another multi-day ultra, but not the MDS, just because there are others out there to do.

Something Changed, part 2...

Every since I wrote the 'Something Changed' post something has been niggling at me. It has been a mixture of losing a year and the fact that I am not trusting my own abilities. 

As I am not getting any younger, having a 'gap year' on endurance challenges really causes you to stagnate and lose momentum. It can also result in you reducing the intensity and time spent training; as you have no challenge on the horizon. At worst it could mean that you never get back into the swing of things and never complete the challenge you had in mind.

In addition, I have been pondering the fact I have no DNFs (Did Not Finish) on my racing CV in contrast to the inherent lack of faith I have in my ability, demonstrated by me deferring for a year. To date, I have probably completed circa 30 challenges, of ranging difficulties, with no DNFs. I might not be the quickest and I have never won a race but I have always just 'manned' up on the start line and powered through, regardless of my fitness or mental wellbeing. Why would the MDS be any different if I did my research, preparation and training?

Well the long and short is that, after conversations with Paul Garner (a MDS finisher from 2009, who you will read more about later) and my fitness confident, George Karolemeas, I have decided to re-enter the 2013 iteration of the race. I would like to thank Rachel from Mencap who has rolled with this punch, contacted the organising committee and facilitated me completing all of the necessary paperwork, so I can participate the race in 2013, as originally intended. Always nice when you complete paperwork that asks questions like, who do we deliver your body to if you die...?



Come on Deano, it's time to polish my trusty armour and prepare for battle.

This nicely leads me to the steps that I have taken to catch up the ground that I had lost since I deferred; especially as I am now doing the race in only 7 months time rather than 19 months (as I write these words I can feel my tummy rolling and some brown stuff leaking out of my trouser legs...)

Over the coming months I will reverse my intentions to write this blog every 4-every 6 weeks. Now that I am back in the thick of it, I will revert to writing this blog every 2-3 weeks.

Additionally, I have to push on and make this blog more factual; consisting of my training plan, nutrition plan, kit research/procurements and general preparation. I am also commencing my programme of interviewing previous MDS finishers, so that each blog post will contain a link to a post of each completed interview. 

This will realise two benefits. One will be that I can multiply the amount of information researched. If every competitor spends 20 hours on research, by interviewing 10 people I will have completed 200 hours of research without lifting a finger. Secondly, it will hopefully allow me to glean nuggets of information from people who have completed the race and beaten the terrain and climate that I will be facing in 7 months time. This will include topics like: what worked, what didn't, what would you do differently, etc.

Additionally, it will hopefully help any future troubled soul, who wants to give the MDS a crack, as they should find this blog of use, rather than having to trawl through pages of Google searches for little gems of advice.  You never know, it might also help getting this collection of blog posts published as a book...

With this in mind, I had my first interview with a runner Paul Garner, who even running enthusiasts call a running geek. Paul completed the MDS in 2009; which was a particularly difficult year as the start was delayed a day due to a freak flash flood in the Sahara. This meant that the race consisted of the longest ever stage of 81 miles, to help recover the lost day. This lost day would have been a painful one spent hanging around, filled with uncertainty as to whether the race will actually occur and internal demons as to whether you are capable running the race distance over a shorter time. Still, if you are going to complete the MDS once top kudos points for doing it in the toughest year...

If any of you know Paul Garner, whilst he is excellent at completing bonkers challenges, like running 100 miles in 24 hours, simply things, us mere mortals find easy, like time management and sticking to deadlines are a challenge for our intrepid explorer so at the time of writing this post Paul is still perfecting his answers and his interview will form part of the next post, hopefully (only joking Paul, your help and assistance has proved invaluable and you are my inspiration).

Unlike subsequent interviews, which will probably take place by e-mail, I spent a lovely evening with Paul and his family (the typical running widows you find behind every endurance athlete) at a cracking independent pub, the Seven Stars, in Pewsey. This enabled me to intently question Paul on his preparation and how his race panned out. It even meant I could physically see the kit he took to the Sahara, so I feel I have been able to collapse months of preparation into hours and it has really helped me catch up to where I should have been prior to my deferral.

Going back to an earlier blog, you might remember that I made my first two important decisions: what shoes to wear and what rucksack to run with. To refresh some and bring new readers up to speed, I have bought the ROCLITE 315 trail shoes and a Raidlight combo backpack of 30 litres and its light front-pack sister. I think the one advantage I have over the other competitors is my ability to carry stuff. Not only am I quite strong but I am also planning to lose some weight over training. This should mean that, unlike the leaner runners, who weigh less than 10 stone dripping wet, I will hopefully weigh less than my current weight, full loaded, so my skeleton and muscles should be more than prepared for carrying that weight.

Now I need to start pushing on and decide on what I am going to wear and what will go into the packs...

Over this, and the coming blogs, I will cover the following themes:

- Running Kit;
- Training plan, including taper;
- Food and nutrition;
- Contents of the back and front pack; and
- Night gear, including bedding.

I will include these in one post that I will update consistently over coming blogs so readers can see my research taking shape:

Completed Research

So, kicking off this research, Paul has helped me make great strides, no pun intended, on what I am going to wear:

- Socks: Paul's advice was to go with three pairs of toe-socks, which are shaped like gloves but for your feet. This enables each toe to be separated from its neighbours, containing any foot complaints that might appear in the desert. Paul recommended that I get different gauges of thickness so that I can change thickness to suit my comfort and he suggested that I buy the Injinji make of toe-socks.

,

- Gaiters: an important decision is what gaiters to wear, ensuring that no sand gets into your shoes, as this could have dire consequences on the blister front. Paul's advice was to buy the Raidlight gaiters. All I need to do now is to finalise a cobblers to attach velcro to my shoes so they gaiters attach nice and tight. Paul is going to dig out the name of the person he used so I will include these details in a coming blog.

- Shorts: this was the easiest and quickest of Paul's recommendations; Salomon Twin-skin shorts. Whilst expensive at £40 a pair they mean you don't have to wear any pants, are light weight and are designed to eliminate chaffing; the scourge of any male runners...

- Top: It seems like Mencap will be providing me with a Mencap branded desert running top so at least there is one area that won't require extensive research or outlay...

- Head/Face: the advice here is to get a bandana, that can be manipulated to cover the face during sand storms; wear the Marmot desert hat; and buy a pair of prescription sunglasses.

All in all I think I know what my list for Santa this Christmas is going to include...

It has been nice to come back to the UK to catch up with Family, Friends and West Ham. It has also meant I could get out on my trusty road bike and cycle to friends' wedding (well the wrong town which is a story for another time...), as well as go to Spain on holiday to spend a fantastic week with my nephew. That being said, I am now itching to get back to Dubai to start ramping up my training with next April in mind; and also warm the old bones.

When I get back, I have a lot of books and DVDs to read/watch so I can keep up the momentum with my preparation. I think I am finally making progress on the planning, and can feel myself getting pumped (which is a good sign), but I need to finalise which training plan I will follow. That being said, despite finessing the detail, my general aim is to increase my training up to a peak of 90-100 miles per week in February/March. This will probably consist of four 15 mile runs each week and a long run of between 20 and 30 miles at the weekend. From speaking to Paul Garner this should be plenty to avoid injury and prepare my skeleton and muscles for what they need to endure. More of that in the next blog, once I finished a few of the books I have bought, when I should be able to finalise the training plan  from a position of strength. 

By the next blog I will be back in Dubai, well into my first month of my 6 month training plan and hopefully I will have a couple of company logos to fill up the space on the right of the blog (in return for some much needed donations). Hopefully I might even have received my running gear, so I can begin to wear them in. 

All in all a productive month...

MaAasalaama...

Completed Research FINAL

Running Kit:

- Trail Trainers: ROCLITE 315
- Sandbaggers Gaiters and fitted by Sandbaggers' Cobbler
- Socks: different pairs of Injinji make of toe-socks inners and Wigwam Terrain Trax Pro/Bridgedale Trailhead outers. I have different gauges of thickness for inners. Unless I can't fit everything in I will be taking three pairs or inners and, if feet don't swell too much, change both pairs every couple of days. After testing I decided that I would be taking the two thickest grades of the Injinji toe socks, as the lightest grade pinched my little toes a little bit. 
- Shorts: Under Amour Twin-skin shorts
- Running Top: Mencap branded desert running top and a Rail riders shirt.
- Buffs: 2, one for neck and one for wrist to wipe sweat .
- Hat: Injinji hat;

- Pair of prescription sunglasses: Adidas Devil Eye. I bought via a company called RX Sport they were brilliant.

- Watch: Paul G kindly lent me his Garmin Forerunner 101 watch as uses replaceable rechargeable batteries so ideal for the desert where most people's Garmin styled watches run out after two days.
- HH skins undertop to wick away sweat during the day and keep me warm on the night of the long run.
- Walking poles

Rucksack:

- Raidlight 30L backpack*
- Raidlight Equilibre front pack*
- Raidlight Shoulder bottle holders and bottles x 2

Contents of Rucksacks:

Cooking equipment:

- Optimus Terra solo cook set. Paul H kindly lent me one

- Esbit Titanium cooking stove and Esbit cooking surround. Again Paul H kindly let me borrow his one
- The Esbit fuel blocks. Ordered a couple of packets through the MDS site.
- Spork from a camping shop.

I decided in the end that I wouldn't take any plates or bowls to save weight and space. I can eat my food out of the 'Store and Pour' bags plus if you cut the water bottles they dish out the water in. The bottom can double up as a bowl and the top (with the cap on) can be used, upside down as a cup for tea. 

Sleeping:

- Sleeping Mat: Bought Thermarest NEOAir sleeping mat.

- Sleep Bag: Bought the Mammut Ajungilak Sphere Alpine/Summer Sleeping bag. Expensive at £215 but one of the lightest and most compact and also available in 6 foot +*

- Tyvek Suit
- Mountain Hard Wear Fleece for the camp and to wear on the night of the long stage
- Lounge wear type trousers for evening

- Flip flops

Hygiene

 - Small tooth brush and small tooth paste. I picked up the ones that put in the vanity bags on long haul flights
- Wet wips
- Alcohol based hand sanitiser
- Vaseline tubs
- Toilet paper x 2

Pharmacy items:

- Antiseptic: 50ml can of Salvon Dry Antiseptic*

- Needle and thread for blister draining

Additional Items

- Head torch: PETZL Zipka plus 2 and spare batteries*

- Knife: credit card style knife/ scissors*

 - Compass: Bought one that had 2 degree accuracy*

- 10 safety pins*

- Lighter*

- Whistle: finally, where the one is on by Raidlight bag....**

- Antivenom pump*

- Signalling Mirror*

- Aluminium Survival Sheet*

* Essential kit list

Tip: Pack kit within kit. During the day I will put kit inside my cooking pot. Also, Anti Venom pump comes in a pouch can stuff loads of kit into that as well.

Training plan

Principles that training plan based on

Steve Cushing's training plan was based on the following principle which I have no reason to dispute:

1) Necessary to be on feet for a long time therefore long runs;

2) Much of the MDS will be at a walking pace therefor different strains on legs and different frictional forces on the feet so need to incorporate a lot of walking (do you think pulling a golf trolley counts...);

3) As a lot of mileage per week I will need to back-to-back runs. This will be useful to mimic the race in training. I will make sure that I have two rest days per week;

4) Include some speed work and interval training;

5) As there are hills and dunes during the race (toughest  day has a 1000 metre climb) it is important to do some hill running and some sand sessions; and

6) Continue to do some gym and core muscle sessions for strength and to reduce the risk of injury caused by muscle fatigue and loss of form when running/walking long distance.

To these I have added the following:

1) I will do a lot of my running in the middle of the day as it is never too early to start to recreate the conditions I will be running in;

2) I am running with a rucksack as it contains my water bladder. I will 1-2 run per week with some items packed in the rucksack. I will not being too scientific but add some items of clothing or kit. Each week I will slowly increase the weight so that my body is used to running with the weight;
3) I will be doing three dress rehearsals within my training schedule: one during the week of the Dubai Half-Marathon, one during the Dubai Marathon and one in February. The plan is to follow the schedule of the race, with the first being a quarter of the distance rising to half and then finally being three-quarters the distance. These dress rehearsal will be with the rucks sacks laden to 1/4, 1/2 and then 3/4 on the weight I will carry in the desert. I also hope to run the dress rehearsal in January and February in the kit that I will wearing in the desert.
5) I will log the amount of water that I drink on each run;

6) I will try to get an Ultra in the calendar early in the new year but not essential if I am doing the dress rehearsals in 3) above;

7) I am going to try to measure my body temperature at least at the end of a run but hopefully during a run so I can see how my body is reacting to long distances in heat.

Training schedule

I followed a lot of the principles of Fink when I trained for the Ironman. One of his main principles is that you build mileage and intensity over a three week period by circa 10% and then the fourth week is a week of 'periodisation' consisting of a reduced mileage to recover from three weeks of putting the body under stress such that the risk of injury is reduced. Each week will have two rest days per week.

Phase 1b:

One hill, tempo or sand run per week

- October:  25miles;

- November: 30/35/40/45 miles with final week 25 miles;

Phase 2:

Increase weekly mileage and two hill, tempo or sand runs per week.

- December: 50/60/70/40

First week will be a dress rehersal of a 1/4 MDS (6,7,8,13.1, rest day, 10 and 6) with two days rest before and two days rest afterwards.

Phase 3:

Back-to-back long runs.

- January: 80/85/90/75 miles with the final week 60 miles recovery week.

The 75 mile week is the 1/2 MDS (8, 10,12, 25, rest day, 13 and 7 miles) and I will even eat the food, wear the kit and carry a half bag that I am planning to take to the Sahara

- February: 90/100/110/50

The 110 mile week is the 3/4 MDS (15, 15, 18, 38, rest day, 20 and 5 miles) week with 3/4 bag.

- March: 90/60/60/Taper week 1

- April: Taper week 2

Race commences 5th April

Taper:

MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
				90min LONG RUN all EASY pace.	30min EASY	REST
30min EASY	60min BILLAT SESSION	REST	30min EASY	60min LONG RUN all EASY pace.	REST	40min EASY
REST pack and kit/food checking	MARATHON DES SABLES Fly Out Easy Jog 20-25min MAX	Drive to START	MdS Registration The daily mileages may alter for 2009	Day 1 START ~15miles	Day 2 ~23miles	Day 3 ~23miles
Day 4 ~48miles	Day 5 Rest	Day 6 26.2miles	Day 7 ~9miles FINISH	HOTEL RELAX/SWIM	Fly Home Keep mobile during flight	RECOVERY Walk
DON’T RUN-	for at least 7 days.	Walk/Swim is great any day.

- Food and nutrition

Decided to go with the Expedition Foods range as easy to get on Amazon and liked the flavours. I decided to follow Paul H's advice and have bought one breakfast, two main courses and one dessert for each day with a spare of each in my bag.

Bought Peronnin powder for lunch. Gone for a mix of Orange, Cocoa and Vanilla. Not great but suffices on the move and easily digested. Will have one a day with two on the long day.

I bought a couple of boxes of the Cliff Bars and a multipack box of Jelly Belly Sports Beans. Will probably have a couple of each a day.

When I get back to the UK in March I will also pick up my usual gels and electrolyte tabs from Run and Become.

I am also going to pack some Super Noodles, Peparami, Beef Jerky, coffee powder and lemon tea powder as treats.

Finally I am going to pack some salt sachets from a fast food outlet as I have been recommended that these are perfect if you need a quick intact of salt rather than salt tablets.

- Rules pages and web sites