Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Base Month 2 & MDS2006!


Well i'm two weeks into month 2 of my "Base" training. Most of it is still all fairly low intensity. Trying to keep the heart rate down to less than 137.

I've noticed that I appear to be becomming much more efficient. Whereas a few weeks ago I could only cover about 8 miles in 1 hour 40 minutes, whilst keeping my heart rate under 137. Last week I managed a 9 mile in 1 hour 25, my average heart rate being 138. So my body is definately adapting.

I've not done my usual long walk for the last 2 Saturdays because I have been digging and laying turf on my back garden. It's finally done! I've only lived here 18 months!! So I can get back on track with walking this coming Saturday.

I've also been working and staying away from home practically every day. This hasn't hit my training schedule at all, as I've still kept it up to the letter. Well, except for the swimming, I've not managed any of that.

I've posted my last 2 weeks and next 2 weeks schedule at the top of this post as you can see.

I have included a couple of pace runs in preparation for a 10k race in about a months time. I've averaged just over 8 minute miles for 5 miles, which is ok. I'll work on stretching that out to 6 miles at the same pace.

This years Marathon Des Sables is currently being run. I've been watching nightly updates on Eurosport 2 news, and also on the organisers website http://www.darbaroud.com/
Click the English/USA flag in the top right.

Looks like it's been hot, tough and humid with 68 people out by day 3. 21 People on iv's on stage 1 too...!

I've been following the progress of another UK blogger who entered this years event. I've been reading his training log and preparation and I've checked on his progress, wishing him all the best and hoping he'd crack it. Sadly, he posted a time for day. He is then shown as abandoned. He got injured just 10 K'ss in it turns out. How terrible. All that training to get hit by an injury. Must be gutting. However, he's going back for 2008, fair play to him.

There's been a record number of abandons this year, 146! The humidity has been unusually high, and this stops your sweat from evaporating as efficiently and cooling you. THere's also been a whipping wind, and Patrick Bauer also thought that not all of this years entrants were as well prepared as previous years. NOt sure what he meant by that though.

I wonder if entrants appreciate just how much walking they are likely to do. Only the superhuman will run the whole way. I'm fully expecting to walk large distances, even though I aim to be very fit indeed. Walking stresses your muscles and rubs your feet in different places, so if you have not walked a lot in training you will encounter a lot of difficulty, from the accounts I have read from past competitors.

I'll take all the advice onboard, and read the diaries from this years competitors over the next few weeks. Preparation is key, and those that have completed (or failed) are the best to advise. I still don't know how I'll react to the heat, but I'm planning on tryng to acclimitise as much as possible with a holiday just before the 2008 event, probably in Tenerife. I'll also run on every holiday between now and then, to get an idea of how tough it is, and how much fluid I need to take on to stay hydrated.

OK, that's it for now. Speak to you soon

No comments: