Deep and crisp and uneven

The snow has arrived in Sheffield, making for slightly treacherous, though very beatiful running conditions. 

Lady Canning's Plantation, just up t'road from home

Since returning from the Brecons, the focus has shifted to getting used to running on consecutive days. And loading up the pack - standard weight is now around 7kg. It's going to be a long winter.

We've also been busy planning some fund raising for the Bluebell Wood Hopsice in Sheffield which supports families and children with life shortening ilnnesses, and Macmillan Cancer Support. We've set up a charity donation page at www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ianandrichmds2012 which we'll be promoting more widely in the near future, as well as hosting and organising a range of fund raising events between now and April 2012.

As a result of conversations with a local Moroccan restaurant, we're now also officially sponsored athletes - courtesy of Otto and Theresa at Otto's Restaurant and The Mediterranean on Sharrow Vale Road in Sheffield. They'll be featuring on our race kit as our main (and only) sponsor of equipment. I'm very excited that someone has agreed to back us in this way.

Our next objective on that front is to get some media coverage and we've been talking to the Sheffield Star newspaper about running an article on us after we completed the Percy Pud, a popular local 10k race, in full MdS kit - there was even a camel running, but in a potentially bad omen, we failed to beat it!

We didn't beat the camel but still got the Christmas Pudding

Brecons Ultra

This post is a little out of date now, but a quick update on our performance at the Brecons Ultra back in November.  It was a long drive down to Brecon on Friday night but rewarded with a pre-race pint in a village pub, before settling down for a night in the campervan.

The race day was grey, but promised to be dry which was a bonus.  Around 120 or so people gathered together in the early morning, and then set off along the canal path for the first of two 23 mile laps - the race organisers weren't really sure how long each one was. What was certain was the massive hill that we had to climb early on the loop, made harder knowing that we'd have to do it again with another 23 miles in our legs.

Our aim for the day was to practice for the long day in the MdS, which meant a lot of walking with our new poles, and much to the amusement of a number of competitors who passed us, a stop for a hot meal to see if that strategy would pay dividends in the desert. Not overly helpful, as I found it worked really well, but Rich didn't seem to get on with the food 2/3rds of the way into the event.

Rich "enjoying" a de-hydrated chilli con carne at mile 29

The event overall was good - I felt pretty strong all the way round, although my right knee was pretty sore towards the end. Going through the day and into the darkness of a November evening was good practice and rather odd, as it felt a lot later than it was due to the dark which seemed to add to our tiredness. I was pleased with my performance though, and despite a mild dose of trenchfoot my feet held up with no blisters.

I'll definitely be taking poles to the desert, and have at last discovered some shorts which don't rub in all the wrong places so another piece of desert kit can be ticked off and packed ready for the race. Alright, so 12 hours+ isn't going to win any prizes (it didn't!), with the winner finishing in 6 hours 20 or thereabouts, but happy with the day out.

Slowing the pace

Not that my pace needs to be slowed at all really, but I figured I'm unlikely to be running all of the MdS so the last couple of weeks have involved some brisk walking, practicing with poles to help take some of the pressure off the legs. Both sessions proved pretty sucessful, not too much discomfort from the shoulder during the walks, though it's got a bit sore afterwards. Last weekend's outing was in perfect, glorious Autumnal weather - chilly, bright morning with excellent visibility.

Rich on the way back from Redmires

The other main focus since the Race Kit weekend has been pack carrying, aiming to gradually build the weight up to the full 11-12kg we're expecting at the start of the race. Joy. The fun part comes in gathering the goodies that will make up all that weight - shiny kit shopping. Currently I've working with a 6-7kg pack, so there's some way to go.

The pace will be picking up again this week (it's all relative!) as the Brecons Ultra is only 2 weeks away, which will be a great opportunity to try out our new kit and some anticipated strategies for the desert.

Other than that, things appear to be going well in training, with an increase in stretching, some strength work and avoiding injuries. Happy days.

All revved up

Just spent a fantastic weekend courtesy of the nice folks at Racekit.co.uk on an MdS training weekend in the Peak District. A great mix of running, trying kit, learning about all things MdS (including mental preparation, foot care, nutrition and tent etiquette - apparently "whacking off" is a no-no!). And of course the opportunity to meet up with, weigh up and have a jolly good laugh with some fellow competitors.

It's left me with a good few queries over pack choice, and other kit options, but at least I know where to turn to for advice and kit shopping. Three fantastic runs between Friday night (run round Ladybower Reservoir), Saturday am (Curbar and White Edges in the glorious sunshine) and Sunday (through my old favourite Burbage and across the back of Hathersage) allowed us to try many different variations of kit, poles and clothing.

If Carlsberg made night runs.....Ladybower in the clear dark night

A few days afterwards and I'm still very very excited about the race now. So much to do, so many things to think about and prepare and so much to look forward to. Given it's 6 months away, there's still time to get things sorted, but not much time to waste so from here on in it's focus, focus, focus.

Less sunny at Burbage

A few pics of the weekend courtesy of Andrew & Amanda at RaceKit (www.racekit.co.uk) - thanks guys for a fantastic weekend.

Somewhere near Curbar Edge in the sunshine

6 months and counting

That's less than 26 weeks to go until we fly to Morocco. A quick summary of where I'm up to: lots of long, slow plodding - tick; avoided running injuries so far - tick; confident of running 150 miles in ridiculous heat with a stupidly heavy pack and sand in my shoes - work in progress!

Still much work to do in the next 6 months, or 26 weeks, or 182 days. Getting kit, sorting out some charity sponsorship, ramping up the training and probably a million and one other things I'll be thinking I should have done come the 5th April next year.

This week's change from summer to winter, including 10 very soggy, windy, cold miles on Thursday morning does not signal ideal preparation for 40 degree heat but the miles all count. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Now, best get on with that training plan......

Just like in the desert.....

A fantastic day out on Tryfan, passing itself off as a training event. Well worth the sore quads the next day. This is Rich climbing up, a long way from the summit.

Summer's over

So, that was the summer. Hardly a great year for getting used to running in the heat but all things considered, I'm not too upset with where things are currently.
After my last post I spent a week in Devon on holiday with the family and friends and only managed 1 run, but spent a lot of time stretching my leg muscles which was good. I came back not so much refreshed, but certainly not over trained like I was at the end of August last year.
On returning home, things have gone manic at work. This has put some pressure on the running, but so far I've been pretty disciplined and kept more or less to the schedule. The next big target was the High Peak 40 on 17 September. A few long runs of up to 20 miles were all I had time for in the build up, though frankly there's not much point running lots of much longer stuff. I bonked completely on the 2nd loop of Fairholmes a week before the HP40, which did my confidence no good at all.
On race day, I felt a bit lacking in oomph but ok for the first 14 miles, then it all started to unravel. I had a bad day. The next 24 miles were pretty abysmal really. No energy, sore knees and hip, and I had to really struggle to keep going. But keep going I did, cajoled on by an uncharacteristically spritely Rich. The last 2 or 3 miles were much better and I seemed to find enough to run pretty strongly home. Not enough to beat 9hours 30, but only 22 seconds outside it, and a full 1hour 15 quicker than last year so was pleased with the end result.
I was pretty sore after that, but managed a couple of mid-length runs the following week. Then track sessions with Sheffield Tri Club started up again on 27 Sept - an easy week to start us back into it (I haven't been track running for about 4 years) before getting serious in October. The aim is to try to inject a bit of speed into my running as I've kind of been training myself to plod. I'm pretty good at plodding now, but could do with an extra kick.
Last weekend was a sort of training weekend in Snowdonia with the Hammer & Pincers quiz team. A fantastic scramble up Tryfan and across the Glyders on Saturday, followed by a quick jaunt up Snowdon on Sunday. Interspersed with one or two beers, a curry, a poker night and much hilarity. My legs are actually pretty beaten up after that, I think from the downhill section on Saturday which saw us drop 900m in about 3km. So I'm resting up before getting on the turbo tomorrow and running again on Thursday.