Training Diary - The Marathon des Sables 2007

The Marathon des Sables - aka 'The toughest footrace on earth'   150 miles, 6 days, 40 degree heat, sand dunes, wearing back packs.   It's a shame I find it hard to turn down a dare.   It means I am doing it next year.

And of course trying to beat my mate Phil who, unfortunately for me, happens to be a marathon runner. Well - didn't want to make it too easy...   I am not very fit, drink far too much and like to replace many meals with chocolate. It all has to change. Over the next year I have to get in shape and raise £5000 for Mencap in the process. Which leads nicely into a blatant request for sponsorship which you can do here   Then it is just a question of braving the heat, sand storms and tent sharing, with 5 smelly - yet finely toned - men, so that I can run, walk or crawl across the finishing line.

 

It's moved! We now have a website that is all about the marathon instead of this page roguely placed on This is not my.

 

So come and have a look at everything that has been going on and see a bit more about Phil too x

 

THE NEW VERY EXCITING MARATHON DES SABLES WEBSITE OF SUSIE AND PHIL

 

11th July 2006   Truly shocking   I was walking into town after my jog this morning and Parkour class last night* and realised that I have stopped drinking as it interferes with work and exercise (is this a frightening sign of age and maturity....?)   Well - apart from last Thursday of course but that was only as one of my best mates was having a crisis (moral support and rose wine was apparently the only available cure!)

It was quite alarming though.

 

I am away this weekend and already trying to ascertain when I can do exercise and how I can avoid over indulgence.

 

Frightening. I’m turning into a healthy person.

 

Thank god I had ice cream cake instead of dinner last night otherwise I would really worry!

 

* Very entertainingly went to a class where everyone else was under 17 - and still far better than me!

 

7th July 2006   Last week water, this week sleep Lack of it though rather than more of it.   Technically this wasn't part of the training but since it has been such a prominent issue over the last few days and proper exercise has been so - erm - unprominent I thought I would discuss how it might be able to help in terms of the mental challenge.   After all, running 150 miles in 6 days requires mental preparation (for the moment let's overlook the dubious mental reasoning powers of anyone who enters the race) as well as physical.

I have been starring (ok being an extra) in a film this week.

 

It did require running around (it was a running around scene) which was great. But it required running around - at night. Argh.

 

Although I can seem to keep going through sleep depravation I was likened to the bunny who didn't get the Energizer batteries. Which is something I will need to watch out for on the 50 mile day when we walk through the night. I think that this can probably be combated though with the brilliant invention that is the.... biscuit.

 

I was craving them all the time and am certain they are a tool which will enable my success.

 

Anyhow, despite this brilliant use of training time, I suppose I should probably try to get back to some proper activity.

 

Had a two hour walk yesterday (mostly in a weird - not too sure what is going on - am I actually awake - type way) and am back at Parkour tonight . They have assessed all the pain I have missed by not getting to the last two sessions and will apparently be adding it in to the training this evening.

 

Enquiries as to how bad last weeks lesson was received the response. "I want to cry."

 

Lord have mercy.

 

29th June 2006   There may be a drought... But I have been consuming more water than usual. Drinking water that is.   Someone told me that if you are thirsty you are already dehydrated.   I am always thirsty.   Well – I should say I was ‘always thirsty’. This week I have been ‘always on the look out for the nearest bathroom instead…’ (such a delightful topic!)   But apparently it is vital.

Being able to take in enough water and used to drinking while running is paramount to being able to complete the race.

 

So – in conjunction with the running, walking and – erm – DIY destruction (have found a new found love for hitting things with a hammer) that I have been up to I have been doing pretty well on drinking as much as I can before exploding.

 

Actually come to think of it – should probably check out the upper limit before getting too carried away…

 

19th June 2006   Ouch! Finally the training has begun in earnest. Which means that each day brings new and intriguing aches and pains. This wasn’t helped by the fact that I fell off my first wall in Parkour. Embarrassingly it was only about a metre high. Quite a good lesson about not losing concentration though and some very exciting bruising – a lump even!

Found some new places to run and the fact that I now plan to start leaping over stuff unsupervised means that everything looks like one big playground. (If anyone lives in the Peckham area and sees someone running and jumping around the park like a lunatic - come and say hi!)

The next step though is to get some new music.

Obviously “I need a hero’ is the high point of my jogging soundtrack (I was donated a free ticket to see Footloose on Monday – so so fun!) but it is the same soundtrack from last year and so getting a bit on the repetitive side.

Any suggestions are more than welcome!

Anyhow – yep – woohoo – finally managed to get into the swing of things. Which is lucky as it is only 10 months away… dun nun nun nahhhhh…

 

10th June 2006   And it was all going so well....   I turned the corner. My brain is slow to catch up with what I want it to do most of the time. So while I was urging it to embrace exercise it was idly insisting that it was still winter (well May was pretty wet and horrible) and being recalcitrant.   But then the sun came out. And everything changed.   The desire to run and leap about came back and so there was indeed running and leaping and (shock horror - I was forced into it) even some cycling.

Until.... dun nun nun nuhhhh - I got bitten by a spider!

 

I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE spiders (and I am now convinced that I have a spider living in my ankle that will lie dormant for months and then have spider babies that will take over my entire body...)

 

Anyhow - love them or hate them - one of my little fat feet is now attached to a little fat ankle (nice) which is a problem. I am hoping it will just go back to normal without actually having to do anything - apart from maybe having some medicinal gin...

 

31st May 2006   It shouldn’t be possible to do so little!   Ok so last week was my 10 year school reunion which was always going to contain too much wine and too little running but I had really believed that it would also include long walks, maybe some tennis, at the very least a bit of wandering around town....   No - despite the fact that I was with a friend who adores exercising at all times (a girl who wont do a marathon as it is far too easy!) I did absolutely nothing.

Even on my laziest days at home I manage a few miles of walking but there was just so much travelling and seeing people and weather being ABSOLUTELY FREEZING that the most we managed was a half hour meander with some star jumps – and those were because we were being stupid rather than for any fitness benefit.

 

Plus our diet consisted of wine, beer, cooked breakfasts, chocolate and (for old time sakes) an array of violently coloured sherbet dip dabs, chewits and penny sweets.

 

Absolute and utter failure!

 

Luckily we are still 10 months away to the race. Sadly when you have to go 250k’s up and down sand dunes that time can go all too quickly… So – I’m going to start again. I have no breaks until August and so today I shall plot a proper uninterrupted programme.

 

Marathon des Sables Training. Third time lucky….

 

 

* When I will visit the above-mentioned friend who is already devising arduous endeavours that I can't make excuses for!

 

23rd May 2006   One last excuse   So I was moving and very busy and then we had a housewarming so very busy and hung over and now - well - erm - it's the bank holiday and my school reunion!   10 year reunion. Very depressing - so depressing in fact that I will undoubtedly drink too much - again.

My one success of the week was making it to Parkour. Tired as I was, there was no chance of missing toned men and running about like a monkey - too much fun. In addition there was a lot of atrocious dancing on Saturday night and helping a lady with the heaviest bags in the planet run for a train (such a martyr). Otherwise though, exercise - again - took a bit of a back seat.

 

The clock is ticking.

 

Phil came over last night - just back from his triathlon... - to go over some sponsorship ideas. The summer event looks likely to be snail racing - very entertaining (though I am a little concerned that the snails may be faster than me with current progress)!

 

Will, of course, attempt lots of walking, running and dancing like a lunatic over the weekend but after that the proper training programme begins. Honestly. Definitely. Absolutely. Argh. Actually sure it will be fine. Looking at the experience of the past few weeks all I really need to do is find more exercise that involves hot guys...

 

Oooh p.s. Anyone got any snails...?

 

17th May 2006   A change is better than a rest   After a spot more running into walls on Wednesday (Parkour) I moved house over the weekend which certainly was not restful but was indeed a change.   All of the pounds shred from the stress were rapidly replaced by the swift consumption of a massive chocolate cake kindly left by the old owner.

The hours and hours of lifting, carrying and unpacking precluded any other exercise but I am happy to count them as part of my training as - since I have a terrible knack of living in places with a lot of stairs - it was pretty much the same as a three day step session with a good 15 hours of weights thrown in.

 

Did absolutely nothing yesterday but since I fell asleep while eating (never done it before and very pleased that it wasn't actually into my food) I figured I needed the rest.

 

Now in massive catching up with work mode but will try to get a long amble in a bit later on.

 

Got sent a very exciting article though!

 

Basically it mentions that the MdS is like the Playboy mansion for girls and that the only thing you REALLY need to help you up the massive sand dunes is a toned bum to follow.

 

Now that could prove an interesting training technique - or something that gets me arrested...

 

Ha ha - word of warning - don't try to find 'male bottom' on Google images when you are in a public place - it was an innocent search for a an image for this blog. I promise!

 

You can have people and packing cases instead - despite the fact that they look like they are having far too much fun.

 

8th May 2006   Massive blisters, emergency stop buttons and one leg shorter than the other...   So much stupidity over so few days. First of all walking barefoot. Don't do it!!! Perhaps it was a bit excessive to try 8 miles on the first attempt but basically it leads to blisters covering the soles of your feet!   They had recovered a bit by our physical assessment day on Saturday and the podiatrist wasn't too worried about them - but he was worried about the fact that I have one leg significantly shorter than the other and that one little fat foot moves as bit like a flipper... brilliant.

As if it couldn't get any worse it then came to the part of the day where we had to run till we reached 'volatile exhaustion'. Even though we were warned not to knock the big red emergency stop button in the middle of the treadmill there is apparently always someone who does. Clearly that was always going to be me! Oh dear. Luckily (?!) I get to do it again later.

 

That evening, in order to get over the ordeal I decided that the best course of action was drinking too much wine. Fortunately as I was located in a cheesy club at the time it led to dancing like a maniac for 3 hours. All fabulous exercise indeed.

 

Had a long (recovery) walk on the Sunday too so that was all good. Plus the feet are now almost entirely normal again.

Still - might try not to be quite such a nonce this week.

 

4th May 2006   Toned v Bruised   What's the most unattractive - a (tiny / almost non existant...ish) bit of wobble or fat bruises, hulking muscles and calloused hands?   I asked Ol after another session of free running. He suggested that I probably shouldn't worry too much about the muscles and callouses just yet as it was, afterall, only session two and I still can't actually do anything without being lifted!

That being said I do already feel a bit more toned and I can now run without gasping for air which is a veritable bonus - as well as all that bladedblah stuff about feeling better, happier, more relaxed etc.

 

The sun is shining and life is good. Been reading how walking bare foot is beneficial. Planning on a long wander this evening so might give it a go. Hoping not to end up like the bloke whose foot is pictured though - did you think it was mine? Did you? Did you? It's a mans foot!!! Plus mine are intriguingly wide (more commonly recognised as ugly and square...) it's an affliction.

 

Anyway - reassuring message from my brother today: "It's very kind of you to invent new and improved ways to ensure I get everything in the inheritance."

 

Thanks Pete!

 

2nd May 2006   My body is in shock...   After the fright of just how difficult this is going to be (i.e. the risk of ending up in a coma) I finally managed to get some exercise done. It hurts.   First step - two hours urban free running - brilliant brilliant brilliant - despite the fact that (polite description) it resulted in me walking like I was over 90 all the way home. Basically though, the lesson included running around and jumping with extremely muscular men... my kind of exercise!

No rest for me though as the next day I was dragged on a 3 hour walk with my friend who at some point decided to buy a big stack of shelves. The resultant shelf carrying was one of the most hilarious experiences I have had in ages - we were utterly incompetant and nearly wet ourslelves laughing! Since I am clinging on to anything that vaguely resembles exercise I am going to count that as stomach toning...

 

Anyhow - then there was tennis yesterday which I won.... well won one set of... I won one set after we slightly amended the rules so that if I got one game I automatically won the set... Hmmm - might need to practise!?

 

Ah well - at least I ran around alot.

 

Just got our training session details through for this Saturday. Not sure I am keen on the section that mentions: 'running until you reach volatile exhaustion'.

 

Gulp...

 

26th April 2006   Oh my god! Just read these excerpts from blogs of this years race.... (Mum don't read on...)   "days 1 to 3 were really bad... water supplies simply didn't keep pace with the unusual weather...I saw so many distressing sights...dozens of people collapsing... convulsions, loss of consciousness etc.."   "St 3 was a total disaster very very hot. 80 withdrawals. got to cp 2 and almot collapsed, was dizzy, vomiting, nausea, cold, clammy, yuk. took 90min at the cp, the irish guy was lying next to me in a coma...155 out so far biggest ever dnf. B"

Well at least I have started running again. Went for 6 miles yesterday. It was harder than it should have been but at least it is something. May have cheated ever so slightly by stopping at my Gran's half way for a cup of tea...

 

22nd April 2006   So - erm - how do you start training for a 150 mile marathon in 40 degree heat across the Sahara?   Probably not by working on your arm muscles using the old chocolate consumption technique... which was the problem with deciding to start the training at Easter.

Plus it was two of my closest friend's birthdays this week and so there was a bit too much drinking and merriment to get stuck into the exercise. I did manage a couple of 10 mile walks and a game of tennis but generally it was a bit on the pitiful side.

 

However, since seeing the footage of some of this years race I have been suitably frightened into getting my ar*e in gear. I have been too busy to get back into running since the end of - well the Autumn actually - but from now on I plan to be far more conscientious about becoming a lean, mean racing machine... or at least slightly fitter.

 

Anyhow - the last of the Easter eggs is now demolished and I have to go to the country for a couple of days (which means I can run around like a lunatic in the great outdoors). So I shall just start over.

 

Here we go - training for the MdS...

 

Take Two