Tuesday 1st October 2013 - Night rider

Another hike to and from the garage while my car proves its neediness, demanding more and more repairs.  It now seems that I will soon have spent more money repairing the car than I did to buy it in the first place.  The V5 arrived in the post with the words BUYER BEWARE in big letters on it.  Indeed.

Anyway, the car issue helped put another six miles on the training record and got my heart pumping a little before a day in the office dropped it to about 20 beats per minute.  Hibernation in plain sight.

After work I jumped on the bike and did a quick hour long circuit at about 122 bpm, although the HR average doesn't tell the whole story because I went up a hill that took my HR up to about 165bpm and it stayed over my target range for the best part of 20 minutes.  No matter what I did I couldn't bring it down without slowing my cycling to a snail's pace.  Eventually I recovered though and got back into a bit of a flow towards the end.  My average speed was 13.7 mph which is fractionally quicker than my previous average speed at that HR.  To be honest though I'm surprised it wasn't a lot slower because the hill killed me and I had to go at a snail's pace for a while after to recover.

I think the fact that I was cycling in the dark may have made a difference to my HR too.  It's surprisingly nerve wracking to cycle at night no matter how many lights you have!

Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 14.33 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  3 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0


TOTAL
Run Distance: 28.36 miles
Swimming: 7350 m
Cycling: 90.13 miles 
Hiking: 12 miles
Workout time:  21:17 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2

Monday 30th September 2013 - To sleep, perchance to swim

Uurrgghh... tough shift today.  It was a swimming day but boy oh boy my body did NOT want to play. The aftermath of Saturday's alcohol and a few late nights and early mornings left me feeling really lethargic and tired.

I got into the pool and swam two lengths and had to stop for a rest.  Not really Iron Man form!  I tried the thigh-to-thumb drill and it made a big difference.  Sadly the difference it made was to make me twice as tired as I normally am. To be fair though it did also make me swim a bit faster so that's a plus.  I managed to keep that up for maybe the first 10 or 15 lengths but after that I had to switch back to my old, ugly, style because I was just too tired.

Somehow I managed to splash and grunt my way through 60 lengths.  Goodness only knows how because after the first couple of minutes I wouldn't have bet on making 6, let alone 60.  I trudged out of the pool feeling empty and sore.

One thing I definitely know is I NEED SLEEP!!!

Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 1500 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  1:10 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0


TOTAL
Run Distance: 28.36 miles
Swimming: 7350 m
Cycling: 75.8 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  18:17 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 6

Saturday 28th September 2013 - Estuary Welsh

Saturday night is alright for drinking.  At least this one was because I'd had a night out arranged for ages and was intending to put aside my monastry lifestyle for a few hours and get mullered.  YOLO and all that. 

Of course a man of my years oughtn't be exerting himself when affected by the demon drink and so my long run was pulled forward to Saturday morning instead of Sunday. And a jolly good idea it was too because the conditions were just beautiful!  Broken sunshine, cool refreshing breeze, a lovely route planned along the waterside in Hull; ducks lined up nicely for a thoroughly pleasant time!  Not literally you understand.  I've not seen many ducks in the Humber to be fair although there may be some somewhere.  I digress.

Another experiment I'm trying is to base all my running (and cycling) on time instead of distance.  I'm told it's all the rage in iron distance triathlon circles.  So rather than set out for an eleven mile run, I set out for a two hour run and just let the distance take care of itself.  Combined with my new found HR obsession it meant I really had no idea of the pace I'd run nor the distance.  As it happened I maintained an average of just over 11 mins per mile at an average HR of 122.  Given that I stopped for the loo a few times (child's bladder) and to take photos a few times my actual running speed was probably a fraction under 11.  This is still way slower than I'm comfortable with but I need to stick with it to get the benefits I guess.

Apart from some blisters that my striking (lime green) new Nevica trail shoes have given me, I finished feeling incredibly fresh.  I really think that with a bit of food I could have continued for at least another hour at that pace but there's no point in rushing things.  I'm sure the training will get more challenging as I start to focus in on some intermediate goals and push things a little harder.

Next stop, swimming on Monday.  Oh, I took Friday and Sunday as rest day's - tired legs; hangover; etc.

Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 11.11 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  2:04 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0
Stretching workouts: 0

TOTAL
Run Distance: 28.36 miles
Swimming: 5850 m
Cycling: 75.8 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  17:07 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 6

26th September 2013 - 16 miles on the bike

Back on the bike today after a few days off it since the Palace to Palace ride at the weekend.  I'd been tinkering with the gears (thank you You Tube for showing me how they work) and I got the benefit tonight; they were whirring and clicking up a storm and weren't making any of the crunching angry noises they had done in the past.  I was even able to use my small front cog for the first time in ages.  Oh boy, the hills are a LOT easier if you can get into that lower set of gears!

It was a fun ride, out to St Martins, then down the main road to Gobowen and back to Ellesmere by some back lanes marked out with ROUTE 21 signs.  I've no idea what this signifies but the first sign had Ellesmere written on it and indeed, that's where I ended up.  Lesson for the day.  Trust the road signs.  Except this one... BBC News.

As for my own performance, I paced myself by HR and did much better this time, averaging 13.5 mph at an ave HR of 121.  Although my legs are a bit tired, my HR recovered within minutes of finishing the ride and by around 5 minutes after getting home I was moving around as if the ride had never happened.  Very gratifying!

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 16.44 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  1:10 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0
Stretching workouts: 1

TOTAL
Run Distance: 17.25 miles
Swimming: 5850 m
Cycling: 75.8 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  15:03 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 6

25th September 2013 - Swimming

Swimming day today.  Grace and I hit the pool in Oswestry and despite feeling tired almost immediately (the first ten lengths were a struggle!) I managed to eek out the required 80 lengths. 

I'm getting used to this breathing both sides malarky and I started experimenting with the 'thumb to thigh' drill that I'll be introducing next.  The purpose of this drill is to train me to take a full stroke each time and not to withdraw my arm too early from the water.  My first impressions were that I need more strength in my arms in order to get the full 'kick' from the stroke but I know that will come. 

I got some cramp in my calves after about 65 lengths but I stretched it out and kept going for the full 80.  After I finished I chilled out in the kids pool (which is considerably warmer!) and did my daily stretching. 

All told a good, solid, day's Iron Man training.

Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 2000 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  1:30 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0
Stretching workouts: 1

TOTAL
Run Distance: 17.25 miles
Swimming: 5850 m
Cycling: 59:36 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  13:53 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 5

24th September 2013 - Palace to palace and all that

A busy few days here and just a quick recap for the purposes of posterity.

Firstly, I took a scheduled rest day on Friday after a solid week of training.  I wanted to give myself time to recover before the challenge of the Palace to Palace 45 mile cycle event on Sunday.  The rest day did me good.  So much so in fact that I decided to take another rest day on Saturday.  Thus it was that I lined up on the Mall early on Sunday morning and cycled towards Buckingham Palace with two full days of rest in my legs.  And boy was it worth it.

I absolutely LOVED the ride.  I wore my heart rate monitor but paid it no attention for the whole way around.  The early miles were interrupted often by traffic lights and junctions but we were soon into Richmond Park and able to get into some serious rhythm.  I'd never been to Richmond Park before but I liked it a lot.  I cycled past a stag!  No, really, like a genuine boy deer with antlers an everything.  It was AWESOME! :)

Coming out of Richmond Park there were more areas of traffic but generally the gaps between stops were longer and longer the further the race went on.  At one point an automated traffic sign showed my speed as 19 mph.  Very satisfying!

At roughly 30 miles in the course turned hilly and it certainly did become a test.  Mostly though I aced it.  I averaged 161 bpm on the HR monitor so not really a sustainable rate but for sheer fun it was the business.  I was passed by only a few riders and, pleasingly, the ones that did pass me looked very smooth and strong and were on pretty nice bikes.  My bargain bucket bicycle did a pretty darned good job!  I finished the event in 2:55 hrs thus beating by 5 minutes my goal time of 3 hours.

I cramped up pretty bad at the end and Emma had to help me stand up at one point!  I will definitely do this event again though - it was tremendous fun and I've been well and truly bitten by the cycling bug!

There's no rest for the wicked and on Monday I dragged my tired and sore legs off to the swimming pool.  I took plenty of breaks and swam quite slowly but I made it up to 80 lengths eventually.  The alternate side breathing drills went well and by the end it was becoming second nature.  Hopefully I will soon be able to work on the next drill in my plan - thumb to thigh.

And thus to tonight.  Just over six miles, keeping my HR below 126.  It was the usual slow shuffle and amazingly when I checked the Endomondo records I made it back home in almost exactly the same time as I had done last week over the same distance.  To be precise I was 2 seconds faster than I had been last Thursday!  Interestingly though I did improve my average HR over the same distance and time.  It was 121 bpm tonight against 123 last week.

And that's me caught up on the blog front.  Oh, I did some press-ups (100 to be precise - get in!) and some stretching too.

Till tomorrow.  Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 6.22 miles
Swimming: 2000 m
Cycling: 45 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  6 hrs
Press-ups:100
Core workouts:0
Stretching workouts: 3

TOTAL
Run Distance: 17.25 miles
Swimming: 3850 m
Cycling: 59:36 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  12:23 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 4 

Thursday 19th September 2013 - Your inflexible friend

I started today with some press-ups.  I've got a half-hearted ambition of completing the hundred push ups challenge.  I took the test the other day and did 26 press-ups straight up.  This let me skip straight to week 3 of the challenge and I followed the plan of doing reps of 14, 18, 14, 14, and finally 20 to finish.  It sounds good to say I did 80 press ups today.  The reality was pretty unimpressive as I heaved and sweated barely lifting my nose off the carpet by the end.  Still, who cares about reality as long I can create an illusion of fitness!

I followed up the press-up-fest with some plank work to try to build up my core.  I think they are called planks but I have a nagging voice in my head that says they are called 'bridge' exercises.  Anyway, I digress.  Basically the problem I have is that my middle needs a lot of attention (ooh err) and every time I do these core strength exercises I shake and vibrate like a ringing phone.  Despite all that I actually enjoy them.  They really hit your stomach muscles and the side-plank one makes me think that one day I might lose that roll of fat and finally start to look a bit more like the guys on the front of Men's Health magazine.

Running wise I did a little over an hour of down in HR zone two (sub 126 bpm for me).  It's still devilishly tricky to stay below that rate and my movement feels cumbersome and far too slow.  However I'm determined to persevere with it.  I made some improvement over Monday's run and averaged 11:30 minute miles.

I finished the night with some stretches.  I used this routine (below) and learned in the process that I am about as flexible as a block of granite.  Years of running and cycling without stretching have taken their toll and now I have a horrible flex-deficit.  I'm bendily challenged.  I'll never be as flexible as the woman in this video but it would be nice to touch my toes again one day!

That's it for tonight.  Peace, out

JUST THE FACTS:

TODAY
Run Distance: 6.22 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  1:30 hrs
Press-ups:80
Core workouts:1
Stretching workouts: 1

TOTAL
Run Distance: 11.03 miles
Swimming: 1850 m
Cycling: 14:36 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  6:23 hrs
Press-ups:106
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 1

Wednesday 18th September 2013 - A little light hike bike

Today was a bike day.  It was also a 'get the car serviced day' so an excuse for a little walk from the garage to the office.  A little walk was all it appeared to be when I looked at the google maps app on my phone.  Sadly I was undone by an inability to appreciate scale and my little walk turned into a 3 mile speed hike that deposited me late and sweaty into a meeting at 9:10 when I should have been coolly sipping black decaff at my desk by 8:40.  On the bright side my car got serviced so that's a positive.

I reversed the process to go and collect the car after work and so I'm claiming it as six miles on the training diary.

The real activity of the day took place after work with an hour on the bike.  I have the same heart rate zone 2 goal as with my running so I set out to stay below 126 bpm.  At first this proved harder than I expected and I was ticking along at around 140 for the first ten minutes or so.  

The situation wasn't helped by a near miss with a big scary lorry at a roundabout near my home.  As I approached the point where the road narrowed for the roundabout the lorry tried to overtake me.  There was clearly no chance of him getting past before the junction and it was a little hairy to think that if he took it too wide I'd be heading for his back wheels.  Eeek!  I shouted up at the driver and gave a robust and frank appraisal of his abilities at the wheel.  Miraculously I heard a shouted "sorry" from the cab and he slowed down again and went behind me to the junction.  I was so stunned that I stopped the bike and waved him past feeling an instant remorse for my harsh words.  I have a mental picture of a nervous and insecure driver desperate to do the right thing but lacking the skills to pull it off.  I'm a bad person.

Eventually my heart rate settled and I averaged 122 bpm across the ride as a whole.  It seemed to me that the terrain dictated my heart rate for the most part and although my average is nice and close to where I wanted it to be I spent a lot of time way over and a lot of time way under.  As my training progresses I'd like to be able to control this much better.

The route I chose took me through Overton and St Martins and I rode through dusk and into the dark.  I tried out my new lights and they kick bum!!!  I was like something from Close Encounters of the Third Kind as I lit up the night!

That's it for today - time to join the IOS7 bandwagon and update the iphone!

 Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS:

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 14:36 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  2:53 hrs
Press-ups: 0
Core workouts: 0

TOTAL
Run Distance: 4.81 miles
Swimming: 1850 m
Cycling: 14:36 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  4:53 hrs
Press-ups: 26
Core workouts: 1

Tuesday 17th September 2013 - Shivery when wet

By far the weakest link in my very weak triathlon chain is the swimming leg.  It consists of a 2.4  mile open water swim.  That's 3,860 metres; or just over 154 lengths of a standard sized pool.  Of course pool swimming is a lot easier because there are no waves and you get to push off the side with your feet at least 153 times more often over that distance than you do in an open water swim.

I have no idea how to translate the effort in a pool to the equivalent effort at sea but that won't stop me from guessing.  I reckon the equivalent time and effort would be to do around 200 lengths of the pool.  It's a completely uneducated guess but I've never let ignorance hold me back in the past and I'm not going to start now!

So today's workout was pool based.  I went to the new(ish) leisure centre in Oswestry.  After breaking the layer of ice that sits atop the water I climbed in and got going.  Actually the water isn't all that cold.  It's a good temperature for exercising in.  There's no way I'd want to sit still in it for too long though!

I have two immediate goals with my swimming.  The first is to create a habit of going to the pool at least three times a week.  Even if I'm only there an hour each time and even if I don't make great progress in those hours I need swimming to be as much as part of my life as running is.  At least for the next year. 

My second immediate goal is to improve my technique.  I can say without any false modesty that I am a horrible swimmer.  I swim in exactly the way a fish doesn't.  I've watched a few swimming videos on you tube and got some immediate pointers.  The first is that when doing the front crawl you are supposed to breath bilaterally.  That means breathing on both sides.  I've spent my whole entire life breathing only when my right arm is out of the water (excluding time spent in the bath, shower, or jacuzzi when I allow myself to breath with a wet right arm).  Apparently this one sided breathing can cause a whole host of issues with swim form. 

So now, at the age of 43, it's time for this old dog to learn some new tricks!  I alternated my breathing from left to right and took a breath every three strokes.  At first it seemed horrible and un-natural and I felt as though I would swallow water (or sink without trace) each time I tried to get my head and my left arm out of the water at the same time.  I also had to count constantly to three as it never felt like a natural thing to lift my head to the left and I never felt 'ready' to breath on that side.  I did 74 lengths in total and by the end of it breathing on my left side felt exactly as awkward and wrong as it did on length one.  Oh well, practice makes perfect and I'll focus solely on getting this right over the next few sessions until it feels natural. 

Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS:

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 1850 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Workout time:  1:00 hrs
Press-ups: 0
Core workouts: 0

TOTAL
Run Distance: 4.81 miles
Swimming: 1850 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Workout time:  2:00 hrs
Press-ups: 26
Core workouts: 1

Monday 16th September 2013 - A new challenge

Well, 17 months after I finished my Marathon des Sables training (and indeed, finished the Marathon des Sables) my self-imposed exile from running challenges is over.  Last night I signed up for the 2014 Iron Man Wales triathlon.  It takes place on September 14th 2014.  I have exactly one year to prepare. 

Before I describe training day one, a quick catch up of activities since my last blog.  I completed the MdS.  I can't do justice to the event in a simple post like this other than to say that the Marathon des Sables is exactly as bad and tough and wonderful and beautiful and brutal as everyone else says it is.  One day I will write down my memories of it before they fade from my view but not just yet.

In the intervening time I have run a little and cycled a little but haven't raced at all.  I ran a marathon distance in January to maintain my habit of running one at least once in every calendar year.  It was just a casual Sunday 'long' run that got out of hand and ended up with me shuffling through an exhausting early evening circuit of Ellesmere until Endomondo told me I had reached the magic 26.2 and could rest my weary limbs.  I hadn't trained for it and I paid the appropriate fine in pain and fatigue for days and days afterwards.

I have also realised that I suffer from a dietary weakness that manifests itself as an intolerance to gluten - or more likely, wheat.  I haven't quite nailed it down yet but I know that pasta, bread, biscuits, cakes and the like all trigger awful headaches and irresistible sleepiness.  I abandoned gluten in the middle of last year and haven't looked back.  As of now, September 2013, I am experimenting with vegetarianism, verging on veganism and I am also mostly alcohol free.  Since 1st June I have only drunk alcohol on two occasions and to be perfectly honest I haven't missed it a bit.

I've also broken two bones in my right hand in two separate incidents.  One alcohol fuelled and full of shame and fury and the other done during a gloriously playful afternoon by the river with Emma and our combined family of four wonderful kids.  I'd cheerfully break another bone to have more days like that one.  We had a great time.

So on to now.  I'd been thinking for a while of taking on another challenge and that curious 'niggle' built into an itch, then an obsession and finally culminated last night in my making the commitment to Iron Man.  I am VERY excited!

I'll write more about my training plan over the coming weeks but one thing I am experimenting with is Heart Rate zone training for the first time.  I intend to train for a while in HR zone 2 which, for me, means a maximum HR of 126 beats per minute.  If you've never tried HR training, and sticking to something as modest as zone 2, you should give it a go.  It's a lot harder than it looks!  For me to stick to that low a heart rate I had to slow to a pitiful 12:28 mins per mile.  It's really frustrating to be out on a lovely sunny autumnal day, feeling fantastic and fast, only to force yourself to plod along at a pace barely faster than the dog walkers who proliferate on days like these.  I went through a constant cycle of over-exuberance with an inevitable increase in heart rate, followed by a few paces of walking to bring it down and then back to a slow shuffle that morphed into a good stride and a high heart rate and so on and so on!  I'm certain I'll get the hang of it though!

I also did a few press-ups (a test for the great 'hundred pushups' site) and some core stability exercises.  Planks to be precise.

So I've logged my first miles of this training.  There's a long way to go and I hope I can show the discipline and determination I need.  Right now I feel confident but I'm old and wise enough to know that I have a lot of cold, dark, wet, and uncomfortable nights and early mornings ahead of me.  A lot of pain and self doubt.  A lot of blisters, aches, and pains. I can't wait!

JUST THE FACTS:

TODAY
Run Distance: 4.81 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 0 milesWorkout time:  1:00:00
Press-ups: 26
Core workouts: 1
TOTAL
Run Distance: 4.81 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 0 milesWorkout time:  1:00:00
Press-ups: 26
Core workouts: 1

Monday 2nd April 2012 - Don't be a stranger!

OK, so it's on to the final preparations now.  I had a trial pack of my rucksack tonight and guess what... it doesn't fit :(

I've got some choices to make now about what not to take.  Oh well, I sort of expected this so I guess it's all par for the course.  More importantly though I finally have the information on how you can follow my progress while I'm in the desert.  These instructions have been sent today by the organisors.

To send me a message go to http://www.darbaroud.com/index.php?lang=en and click on ‘Write to a competitor’ or ‘Ecrire aux concurrents’. My running number is 445.  Please do not try to send attachments or anything other than plain text, or the email won’t be delivered! 

THIS FACILITY WILL NOT APPEAR ON THE WEBSITE UNTIL 7 APRIL AND WILL BE REMOVED ON 13 APRIL!

There will also be a finish webcam on the above page, so you might spot me crossing the finish line each day!

Daily results will be posted here: http://www.darbaroud.com/resultats/participants.php?epreuve_id=2012&langue=en
Last year, it was possible to follow arrival through checkpoints – I’m not sure if this will happen this year.   These results may take time to update – mostly they are quite good, but occasionally someone’s results get missed. 

I hope you all take a look and keep your fingers crossed for me.  I'll need all the luck I can get!

Peace, out.

Friday 30th March 2012 - Radio Ga Ga!

So I made my live radio debut today!  I was welcomed onto the Calon FM breakfast show by the wonderful team there led by host Dave Williams.

I had a great time talking about all aspects of the challenge and I hope that I may have inspired one or two listeners to donate some money to Mencap.

You can listen to a recording of the interview here.  It'll only be available for the next two weeks so be quick!

Finally a quick word about Calon FM.  They are a community radio station serving Wrexham and the surrounding area based in the Glyndwr University campus.  They provide a great service to people like me who need a voice in the local community and a quick look at the list of guests they have had on shows what a help they are to charities and other good causes in the area.  Dave told me that they will shortly be applying to extend their licence for another five years.  I would urge you to do all you can to support this to make sure we don't lose this important asset to our community.  They are selling some raffle tickets and you can join in and buy some here. Finally I have to say, they play some great music!  Thanks guys - great work!  :)

Peace, out.

Thursday 29th March 2012 - 10 sunny miles!

So after the shock this morning of finding out that it's hotter here than it is in the Sahara I figured I might as well take advantage of it and get myself out in the sun for a little loosener.  I did 12.5 miles with a fairly light pack.  It was pretty nice really although my right achilles was really tight and around mile 8 on the way back I feared I might actually do it some damage.  It seems looser now so hopefully it was just one of those quirks that happen from time to time.  I also felt a little wheezy but it's hayfever season for me so that's to be expected.  I'm hoping that the pollen count will be low in the desert!

I also took the opportunity to dive into the tanning salon to put a little more in my skin.  I think that another two sessions (Monday and Wednesday me-thinks) will be enough to send me to Morocco with a tidy base tan and hopefully I'll delay the onset of sunburn for a bit.  Assuming there is actually any sunshine to burn me!

Other activity today; I counted some change that had been generously donated to me and went to the bank to pay that in.  After spending about two hours this morning sorting it out into bags I got there to find they had all torn during the run and all the change was rattling around loose in the bottom of my rucksack.  The young lady working the middle desk in Barclays Whitchurch deserves a special mention and perhaps a "Friendly and Patient Person of the Year" award for quietly and cheerfully helping me count out the hundreds of coins I dumped on the counter.  I did make a point of reading her name plate so I could send in some feedback but having the memory of a goldfish I have forgotten it.

I spent some time sending emails to various large companies again this morning and received some highly efficient rejections from most of them.  But I know that there are some wonderful people out there and it's just a matter of finding them!  I'll be having an early night tonight to prepare for my radio debut in the morning.  Wish me luck folks!  I'll be Calon FM some time between 8:30 and 9:30 tomorrow.  I'm really excited!  And also a little nervous...

Peace, out.

Thursday 29th March 2012 - Weather Update

Firstly, it's my Mum's birthday.  So... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mum!

Secondly, IT IS RAINING today in the Sahara Desert.  It is also colder right now in Tazarine (where the race finishes) than it was yesterday in Wrexham.  What a crazy world.  The forecast for this afternoon is for the Sahara to reach 18 degrees C.  Woopee doo!

I'm not changing my preparation in terms of the sun adaption of my skin and the heat adaption of my blood (more plasma please!).  But if the weather doesn't improve I may have to take the precaution of carrying a throw-away fleece to keep warm.  A few years ago the race had to be delayed, and ultimately diverted, because of floods across part of the route but this was considered a freak event.  Hopefully 2012 will not be another 'freak'!

If it is indeed going to be a cold wet one then I'll reach into my bag and pull out a little of the "Spirit of Glastonbury Festival" that's seen me get through several cold wet festivals in years gone by!

Peace, out.

Tuesday 27th March 2012 - Last minute kit buying!

Pretty lazy day on the physical side of things today.  I was working away so a 4:30am alarm call followed by a six hour round trip sandwiching some meetings and no lunch.  I got home about 8pm and had to set about some housekeeping and kit buying, more of which in a moment.

First though let me quickly bring you up to speed on yesterday's training; if you can call it that.  I started with a quick session in the tanning salon.  These places get a bit of a bad press and I think the whole tanning culture is derided slightly but my experience has been good.  The prices are really cheap; in fact I've wondered whether my tiny fee even pays for the electricity those giant machines use!  I guess it must because they seem fairly succesful.  Anyway, if you're looking for a good salon in Wrexham follow the link and tell them I sent you.  They won't know who I am but I'm sure they'll be happy to know that some random customer has recommended them.

After a quick 5 minutes frying in the vapouriser I headed off to the gym.  I spent a long leisurely time in there alternating between the pool, the sauna and the steam room.  All together I swam 1,500 metres and spent about an hour in the heat.  Roughly 45 minutes in the sauna and 15 minutes in the steam room.  It was a good session but I found some new blisters from my training walk on Sunday and frustratingly the ones from the night I got hypothermia (which are six week's old now) are still deep and fresh.  I now fear that they will not have healed fully when I reach the desert.  I wonder if I'll be the only person in the race to have blisters before I even start!

So on to today.  I still have a few items left to buy.  The main one causing me worry was the sunglasses.  It is important to buy 'goggle' type glasses, or ones with some kind of foam to the side because sand can blow in under the lense and be very unpleasant, particularly in a sand storm.  I had feared that I'd be paying over £100 for them but I found these little beauties online.



The other thing I've done tonight is buy myself a blood testing kit.  For my medical form I need to know my blood type.  It's the kind of thing I've been told in the past and never had the common sense to remember.  Or even write down!  Anyway, this nifty little number should sort me out.

Blood testing kit

That's it for today folks.  Peace, out.

MDS Information Shot - No 8

Hi All,

From time to time I get these information shots from the organisors of the MDS so I thought I'd share one with you today.  Maybe I'll post the rest over the next week or so as I ramp up my preparations (and my blogging I hope!).

This one is Number 8 and refers to the efforts taken by the organisors to maintain the pristine desert environment through which I'll be running.

Enjoy!

Peace, out.

Operation keep the desert clean

Environmental protection is part of MARATHON DES SABLES’ ethics, translated through several practical actions:
• documents printed on recycled paper,
• ban on throwing numbered bottles and miscellaneous packaging on the course, with penalties imposed,
• use of ecological bin bags,
• waste collection and destruction,
• self-combustion incinerator to destroy waste,
• installation of very efficient, fully hygenic dry toilets
Ever keen to respect the environment all bottles have been numbered since edition 3 and penalties levied on competitors if their bottles are found
on the race route, between start of race and finish line check-in point (ART. 27 and 28).
In addition, the MARATHON DES SABLES is once more calling up the services of an incinerator lorry. Aimed at destroying waste created by runners, the lorry is equipped with an auto combustion furnace, capable of burning not just organic matter but plastic and light metal.
Several kilos of ashes are collected at the end of the race, corresponding to the daily waste of more than 1,300 people.
Since 2007, GTR Maroc is in charge of transporting the incinerator furnace weighing 8.5 T.
Portable ashtrays are distributed during the race. Remember a cigarette butt left in the desert takes 2 years to fully degrade.

“The Earth does not belong to us, we leave it to our children”.

CARBON BALANCE & ACTION IN 2011

• Over 25 000 euros spent on carbon compensation.
• Complete renovation of a water conveyance system for 150 villagers living in Taright (running water). Water meters were fitted to finance maintenance.
• Solar water heater fitted at a health clinic in the small village of Jdaid.

Targets for 2012

• Install a solar pump on the well of Naam Oued near Mhamid. This guarded site will serve the region’s nomads and their herds.
• Create a ford on the Rheris Oued. This significant construction will link several villages by allowing vehicles to cross the river safely.

---

Decreasing the volume of waste

Everybody is asked to contribute: runners and organisers are encouraged to compress their mineral water bottles to reduce the volume of rubbish in the bins.
This is a gesture of solidarity and ecological awareness. This simple action could reduce the number of bin bags to be collected threefold.
This will make work less arduous for the teams in charge of this task and avoid the incessant circulation of vehicles around the bivouac. T
his ecological gesture requires no effort.
All you need to do is empty your bottle completely, unscrew the top and push on each end before throwing it into the containers situated at the CP exits
or the bags fastened to each tent.
Thank you in advance on behalf of the people who will work to keep the desert clean.

Sunday 25th March 2012 - Sunshine kit test

Hello World!

What a glorious weekend of sunshine that was; and what a glorious week of sunshine ahead of us here in North Wales.  Amazingly the temperatures here in the UK are currently on a par with those in the Sahara desert.  Somehow though I doubt my luck can hold for another two weeks to give me a cool desert experience so I'm still working on the assumption that I'll have some heat related challenges ahead of me.

Yesterday my training was more about testing some aspects of my kit that I hadn't tried before than about doing anything towards my overall fitness.  I bought a 'belly bag' a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to test it out at the same time as my backpack.  The new bit of kit is wonderful, with twin water bottle holders and two huge pouches for food bars, map book, safety kit etc to get me easily through the checkpoints and kit inspections.  It fits quite nicely around me and works well with my rucksack, leaving a decent space for my number to be visible on my chest.

My training was good, twice up Moel Famau.  It's not a big mountain and from car park to summit was about 25 minutes at a good walking pace.  So in total only an hours climbing.  Parts of it are pretty steep though and gave my calves and feet a good workout.  I had 10Kg in the pack so a little more good practice under weight.

The weather was gorgeous and all in all it didn't feel like training at all.  In fact it felt like a nice stroll followed by a hilltop picnic for one!

Now if only the Sahara Desert can be as pleasant as this I'll have a jolly old time of it!!

Sadly, my running-geek instincts failed me and I forgot to take my GPS watch so no distance, climb, or heartrate information on this one.  At a guess I would say probably 5 miles distance, 1000 feet of climb, variable heart rate and VERY VERY VERY slow pace.

Less than two weeks to go now until the off.  Please consider sponsoring me or donating to Mencap at www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet.  All donations are gratefully received!

Peace, out.

Hi Honey I'm home!

Hello everyone.

Well, after about six weeks of the non-blogging malarkey I decided to come crawling back to you, with my tail between my legs. Yes, I confess. I have been running around not-blogging here there and everywhere. Having all sorts of not-blogging fun and doing not-blogging things whenever I liked, wherever I liked, and with whoever I liked. All the time shamelessly not-blogging.

This is a pity, since I have had a lot to blog about. I didn’t blog about a 30 mile training hike that culminated in me lying on the ground under a canal bridge at 5am with snow settling on me; excruciating blisters; and a dose of hypothermia. I didn’t blog about a subsequent three week break from running and a rumbling chest ailment that has lasted for over six weeks. I have run twice in New York and not blogged about it. I have had my medicals and my ECG (both passed against all the odds) and have not blogged about them. I have met Andrew Murray – ultra running machine – and not blogged about it. I have broken a bone in my hand and pulled a hamstring and not blogged about either of them. Finally, I have put together my nutrition and my equipment and not blogged about it. I am sorry for being such a bad and unfaithful blogger. If it is any consolation I can assure you that I did not post to any other blogs during this time of self discovery.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll be a little more organised now and get back to my routine of writing about my training and my preparations.

I want to do something specific about my food and about my equipment over the next couple of weeks. I’m waiting for my final items to be sent (some ziplock baggies for food; some new injinji socks for blisters) and then once I have them I will lay them out on something flat and massive and attempt to capture in one widescreen shot all the things that I will then attempt to cram into my little backpack. Wish me luck folks!

Oh, finally, the other thing that I have not been doing while not blogging is collecting money. So, for old time’s sake, here is a little bit of the begging that I know you love. Please please please sponsor me!!! :)

http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet

Peace, out.

Wednesday 8th February 2012 - Loneliness of the Long Distance Fundraiser

I like to keep this blog mostly about running because it's what I love to do.  From the outside the runners experience can seem like a dubious pleasure, full of pain, fatigue, cold, hunger, danger at times!  But it is also incredibly rewarding.  We run through the rain on dark roads with aching limbs and cramping bellies because doing so fills us with a fire and a sense of being alive that the rest of our day sometimes fails to deliver.  All of us runners know that the tough runs of winter build the fitness that will see us stride through the flowering of spring and into the joy of summer with strength and energy.

Running, like life, is full of ups and downs.  Living in hilly North Wales I often feel like my running has more ups than downs, literally.  The other side of my challenge, the fundraising side, also has it's ups and downs.

For every hard run with sore legs that I've done I've spent an equal amount of time trying to raise money for Mencap.  Posing for unflattering photos in the local paper, walking around delivering leaflets, standing in the freezing cold in the town centre rattling a collection tin.  These are tough times and I've been incredibly grateful for every single donation.  To all of you who have sponsored me - thank you.  I truly appreciate every single penny that is donated.

This week I have had my first corporate donations, one from a company called Berendsen who specialist in hygiene and workware products, primarily for the healthcare and hospitality arena; and the other from my mother's employer, Rowan Foods.  I am so grateful for these donations and I hope to gain many more before I set foot in the desert.

In these tough times I am constantly humbled by the generosity of friends and strangers alike.  Thank you.

If you would like to support my efforts and donate money to Mencap then please click on the "donate now" button in the side bar, or use the Text Giving details above to donate directly from your mobile. If you prefer to donate cash or cheque then please contact me at miffjacobs@hotmail.com and we can make the arrangements.
Thank you.  Peace, out.

Sunday 5th February 2012 - 31 miles

Total so far: £853.53
Text "MIFF70 £5" (without quotes) to 70070 to donate £5 to Mencap.  Change the amount to whatever you are comfortable with.
Click on the "Donate Now" link in the sidebar or visit www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet.
Thanks!

So, after yesterday's 29 mile effort I woke up in a little hotel room in Llangollen with the same distance ahead of me home.  Actually a longer distance.  For my own confidence and peace of mind I wanted to break the 30 mile barrier that had beaten me in Anglesey two weeks ago.  So I made the decision to run on, past my home and down the road to my parents house for dinner, adding an extra two miles to the route and thus taking me over the psychological 30 mile barrier.

But as I got ready in the morning all that was a long way ahead of me.  I ate a good cooked breakfast and drank four cups of coffee; a decision I would come to regret!

Like yesterday I decided to walk the first three miles to loosen up my muscles and avoid running on hard roads.  I was a good minute per mile slower even on these early miles than yesterday and my legs were tired and painful almost from the off.  At the start of mile 4 I leant forward onto my toes and began running.  With the fatigue and the weight of my pack I ran like someone on a planet with far stronger gravity.  But all the same I did 6 miles at sub 12 mpm before the Chirk tunnel forced me to walk and a stop to re-fill my water bottle gave me a 21 minute mile.  I ran/walked for a couple of miles then at about 15 mpm before upping the running for 3 miles of 12 mpm before another water stop at 17 miles slowed me down again.

I ran on until the 20 mile mark by which time my ankles and calves were so painful and weak I felt certain that I was one mishap away from an injury.  I am so determined to avoid injury at this stage that I was walking way more than running by this point.  As is evidenced by my pace records, showing me averaging around 17 or 18 minute miles.

The final two miles were on busy, darkening roads with no pavements so a lot of time spent avoiding the traffic.

At the finish I had done 31 miles on the day and 60 miles over the weekend.  I was broken.  At dinner I just sat in a heap of pain and exhaustion.  My brain was befuddled and my enthusiasm gone.  I feel like I've taken a huge leap forward though in my preparation for the Marathon des Sables.  I've proved to myself that I can do long distances, albeit very slowly!  I took on the biggest physical challenge of my life and I did it.  Without any fuss or external motivation - just me, and my determination not to give up.  I am actually rather proud of myself.

It was also great fun.  The kind of adventure you dream about as a kid.  At one point near the end of the run I got a view back over the plain from Hanmer to Chirk and the smoke rising from the Cadbury Factory, far far in the distance.  To think that my own legs had carried me here from many miles past the other side of that smoke.  It was quite humbling.

My plans now for this week are Recovery Recovery Recovery.  I will probably have some sauna time and maybe a few short runs but mostly I want to allow my body to repair the damage inflicted this weekend and come back stronger for the next escalation in two weeks.  I haven't yet decided what it will be but at some point I want to break the 50 mile mark in a single run so I may hit that in two
week's time.

Thanks for reading folks! Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 78.9 Kg

TODAY
Distance 31.0 miles
Time  8:05:00 hrs
X-Trainer 0 hrs
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna  0 mins

TOTAL
Distance 464.22 miles
Time  90:24:53
X-Trainer 17:41 hrs
Press-ups 620
Swimming 13,000 m
Sauna  7:35 hrs

Contact me: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP.

There are 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability. Most are treated as ‘different’ however with the right support people with a learning disability can have access to education, jobs
and an independent place to live. Mencap works with people with a learning disability to help them live the lives they want.

Be cool and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet