Probably a lesser known secret of mine is that I usually adopt a theme tune for an event, which I sing during the race to keep me going or to stop my mind from wandering. Nothing revolutionary. Just the conventional "I will survive" by Gloria Gaynor, "I feel good" by James Brown, etc.
This time I have gone with "This is the One" by the Stone Roses. I might have had a few panics over the last few days but I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead and also 'visiting' the Sahara. I have also come up with a few ditty's that I am sure I will sing: 'My feet are on fire' (to the tune of the Kings of Leon song) and 'The Grand Old Duke of York' nursery rhyme with hill replaced for dune seem to be my favourite 'compositions' so far. I am sure there will be some more Deano classics 'written' during the hours of solitude over the dunes.
I will probably never go back to the Sahara, so I am looking forward to having a look around. Whilst not the conventional back packing trip holiday, I am looking forward to seeing the power of a desert first hand, see how people/animals/plants live there and also to run through some of the deserted ghost towns on route. The scenery will also be spectacular. Rather bizarrely I am also looking forward to having an al fresco poo in the desert...
Last week I ran around 40 miles last week. Slightly more than I intended during a taper week but it was very slow so low risk of any injury or muscle pull. This week I have only run 4 miles but have had a couple of walks into Barking to buy some duct tape and burn off some nervous tension. I'll probably have a little walk on Thursday in Ouarzazate to buy some bottled water before the race and also help with acclimatisation.
As with any race I have entered I get a little paranoid about injury over the last week or so. Even a sweet old lady with a Zimmer frame didn't escape the worry that she could fall 10 feet on top of me breaking all the bones in my body in the process. Daft I know, but I am sure that people can emphasise with the negligible probability of injury versus the high impact that injury would result in a lost year of training and missing out of the experiences gleaned in the desert.
As I have not been running over last couple of days they have been spent getting all my kit out, decanting food into storage bags to reduce size and packing them into my front and back packs. I have managed to get everything in with the combined weight of my front and back pack coming in at just less than 11 kilos.
This will mean that on day one my bag will weigh just less than 13 kilos when my two 750ml bottles are full of water. I will just need to take the first day easy and eat my food... As Haynsey always says you just eat yourself light.
I have felt reasonably chilled during the build up but on Monday and Tuesday I was climbing the walls. Everyone has one of these periods and the beginning of the week was mine. It escalated from just panic that packing Plan A didn't work to full terror when I snapped a supporting buckle on my shoulder strap, whilst attaching a replacement water bottle holder.
Despite the time (10 clock PM) Sandbaggers answered the phone and sent out a replacement bag which I have received today. The new bag has had the water bottle holders attached and is packed as hand luggage. The old one has been fixed with an Elephant tag and has been packed in my hold luggage just in case I have a malfunction out in Morocco before the start of the race. The old Scout motto 'Be Prepared' still holds true.
It also jogged my memory to include some duct tape, twine and elephant tags in my race bag in case I have an equipment malfunction out in the desert so it wasn't all a bad experience, especially as one of the water bottle holders I am not using in the Sahara now has a zip top incorporated into it on the new bag so it now doubles up as somewhere to store my snacks that I will eat during the day.
The last few days haven't been all panic and nervous tension. There have been a few lighter moments. Mum wondering the other day whether anyone would take a guitar on the race for the evening was a high point along with, one of my geographically challenged, friends claiming that the Sahara is in Spain...
Before I post my last blog before prior to the race a bit of administration for during the race. If anyone wants to stay in touch with my progress or send me a message you can using the organisers' website: http://www.darbaroud.com/en/. You simply need to look for 'Ecrire au Concurrents' or 'Write to a Competitor' and 'Resultats Temporaire' or 'Provisional Results' using my running number 660.
Also, people can donate to Mencap as part of my fundraising using the web address: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/mds. It a great cause and I am getting closer to my target.
As I fly to tomorrow and the race build up escalates up till Sundays start I just need to continue to remind myself that this really is one I have been waiting for...
MasaAlama...
This time I have gone with "This is the One" by the Stone Roses. I might have had a few panics over the last few days but I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead and also 'visiting' the Sahara. I have also come up with a few ditty's that I am sure I will sing: 'My feet are on fire' (to the tune of the Kings of Leon song) and 'The Grand Old Duke of York' nursery rhyme with hill replaced for dune seem to be my favourite 'compositions' so far. I am sure there will be some more Deano classics 'written' during the hours of solitude over the dunes.
I will probably never go back to the Sahara, so I am looking forward to having a look around. Whilst not the conventional back packing trip holiday, I am looking forward to seeing the power of a desert first hand, see how people/animals/plants live there and also to run through some of the deserted ghost towns on route. The scenery will also be spectacular. Rather bizarrely I am also looking forward to having an al fresco poo in the desert...
Last week I ran around 40 miles last week. Slightly more than I intended during a taper week but it was very slow so low risk of any injury or muscle pull. This week I have only run 4 miles but have had a couple of walks into Barking to buy some duct tape and burn off some nervous tension. I'll probably have a little walk on Thursday in Ouarzazate to buy some bottled water before the race and also help with acclimatisation.
As with any race I have entered I get a little paranoid about injury over the last week or so. Even a sweet old lady with a Zimmer frame didn't escape the worry that she could fall 10 feet on top of me breaking all the bones in my body in the process. Daft I know, but I am sure that people can emphasise with the negligible probability of injury versus the high impact that injury would result in a lost year of training and missing out of the experiences gleaned in the desert.
As I have not been running over last couple of days they have been spent getting all my kit out, decanting food into storage bags to reduce size and packing them into my front and back packs. I have managed to get everything in with the combined weight of my front and back pack coming in at just less than 11 kilos.
This will mean that on day one my bag will weigh just less than 13 kilos when my two 750ml bottles are full of water. I will just need to take the first day easy and eat my food... As Haynsey always says you just eat yourself light.
I have felt reasonably chilled during the build up but on Monday and Tuesday I was climbing the walls. Everyone has one of these periods and the beginning of the week was mine. It escalated from just panic that packing Plan A didn't work to full terror when I snapped a supporting buckle on my shoulder strap, whilst attaching a replacement water bottle holder.
Despite the time (10 clock PM) Sandbaggers answered the phone and sent out a replacement bag which I have received today. The new bag has had the water bottle holders attached and is packed as hand luggage. The old one has been fixed with an Elephant tag and has been packed in my hold luggage just in case I have a malfunction out in Morocco before the start of the race. The old Scout motto 'Be Prepared' still holds true.
It also jogged my memory to include some duct tape, twine and elephant tags in my race bag in case I have an equipment malfunction out in the desert so it wasn't all a bad experience, especially as one of the water bottle holders I am not using in the Sahara now has a zip top incorporated into it on the new bag so it now doubles up as somewhere to store my snacks that I will eat during the day.
The last few days haven't been all panic and nervous tension. There have been a few lighter moments. Mum wondering the other day whether anyone would take a guitar on the race for the evening was a high point along with, one of my geographically challenged, friends claiming that the Sahara is in Spain...
Before I post my last blog before prior to the race a bit of administration for during the race. If anyone wants to stay in touch with my progress or send me a message you can using the organisers' website: http://www.darbaroud.com/en/. You simply need to look for 'Ecrire au Concurrents' or 'Write to a Competitor' and 'Resultats Temporaire' or 'Provisional Results' using my running number 660.
Also, people can donate to Mencap as part of my fundraising using the web address: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/mds. It a great cause and I am getting closer to my target.
As I fly to tomorrow and the race build up escalates up till Sundays start I just need to continue to remind myself that this really is one I have been waiting for...
MasaAlama...
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