Thankfully, the backpack I ordered a couple of months ago has arrived. It's a Raidlight Evolution 2. It's a smaller pack than I am used to, the main pack being 20litres instead of 30l. It is debatable if I can fit in all my kit for the MDS, but I will certainly give it a go. Immediately it was obvious that I would have to store my sleeping bag and roll mat under the rucksack, attaching with straps to the eyelets that are helpfully located there. I have managed to get my sleeping bag and roll mat in one 'dry-bag', and it sits under the rucksack nicely. I have decided to actually carry it all on the Round Rotherham event, to see how it feels over the distance. I will also be using a 1.5litre mineral water bottle slung across the front pack with a smart tube attached near my shoulder to drink from. 600millilitres of the water from the 1.5l I will decant into a 600ml drink bottle and use that for mixing up my electrolyte.
I am staying over at my uncle’s house near to the event the night before. I am taking my actual MDS breakfast with me to see how that goes down, and I will be eating the exact trail foods, and not taking anything from the checkpoints apart from water. I am carrying 200g of salted cashew nuts, and also a Peperami for snacks. I have also packed 3x40g of SIS go electrolyte.
My food for the day is as follows:
Breakfast - 75g Porrage oats, 60g dried milk, 20g Honey Banana chips = 594Kcal
Breakfast - 100g of PSP22 to wash breakfast down with = 371Kcal
Breakfast total = 965Kcal
Trail snacks - 200g Salted Cashews = 1090Kcal
Trail Snacks - 30g Peperami = 162Kcal
SIS GO - 3 x 40g = 438KCal
on-the-go total = 1690
Total Kcal = 2655
I also have 80g of SIS Rego recovery drink for afterwards. I will have a proper meal more than likely though, because I will have a 2 hour drive home afterwards.
Basically, this is now turned into a full dress rehearsal. I ran a few figures and calculated that I will actually be carrying around 6kg on the long day (day 4) of the MDS, which is what this event distance simulates. So, it is a 6kg pack I have packed. If I am really struggling I could hold onto the 600ml bottle and ditch 900ml in the mineral water bottle(600ml should be sufficient to carry me to each checkpoint. Not in Morocco though!), but that's not in the game plan.
I have prepared and tested my PDA's GPS system, packed a backup PDA (also tested), and I have the route description and rough map printed out and in situe in the rucksacks road-book holder on the front pack.
Taking the new pack is a risk, as it is a total unknown factor. I don't know how it will sit when I run, if it will bounce, or rub etc? I'm not sure how the smart-tube system will feel over that distance, with a heavy bottle slung across my abdomen. This will really be a true test and will shape my final MDS equipment preparation.
Physically I feel ok. I did a 25min V02-max blast on the treadmill on Tuesday, followed by an hour strength and stability. On Wednesday I ran just 5 miles on trails at endurance pace. On Thursday I went to the gym and did the session I usually do on a Friday. This will enable me to rest up a little on Friday. My uncle is going to check my back and ankles over on Friday evening. I know my back is tight, and that causes me problems further down the chain (legs), after high mileage. I'm hoping he can sort that out too, hopefully ensuring I am in good shape for the following day. I don't know if I am fully recovered from the last few weeks’ exertions; I can only hope I am.
I desperately want to finish the event, for the mental boost it will give. I know it will be hard, and I expect to feel truly dreadful come 30/40 miles. My mind will try to convince me that I'm going to collapse and die. I need to remember my body is stronger than my mind and keep that at bay. I have never covered this distance, so I am playing to finish at any speed, however slow. My game plan is to run the flat and downhill sections, at a very strict pace of 5mph or less. The slightest sniff of a hill and I will slow to a walk. Pacing is critical early on. I can't be feeling tired come 15-20 miles, so I must be very careful. I fully expect to be crawling the last 10 miles should I make it that far. We start in darkness and we end in darkness, so I will be packing my head torch, as well warm clothes. We have had a lot of rain tonight, so the ground will be heavy going even if it doesn't rain on Friday. It's not going to be a pleasant experience out there!
The weather is looking fairly grim, and with the wind chill, it's looking cold. 'Feels like' sub zero temperatures for much of the day.
Fingers crossed for me!
12 comments:
Hi Rich, thinking of you as the weather here is atrocious! Hope all is going ok and looking forward to reading your report, especially as I think I will be aiming to do the RR in 2008.
By the way, where do you get the honey banana chips from, they sound good?
50 miles of sub zero (wind chill), driving rain, and mud filled misery. I'll post up the story this evening.
Honey Banana chips are by whitworths. Amazing calories per 100g.
http://www.whitworths.com/tree.htm
Second in the list. Available from many shops, I think even Tesco has them.
"20g Honey Banana chips = 594Kcal"
I don't think that's right. Even pure fat, which has the highest density of calories, is only ~9 calories/gram.
http://www.whitworths.co.uk/our_products/whitworths/fruits/banana_chips/ suggests that 125g of Banana Chips has 526 calories, which is 4.2cal/g, which sounds far more realistic :)
Roger, Just a glance at that and I can tell you're absolutely right, I must have fat fingered typo'd something when I wrote that back in 07. As a rule of thumb these days, if it's got 500kcal per 100g of weight then it's pretty good bang for buck. Honey Roast cashew nuts are fairly high in calories. Other than that you're into high fat foods, pine nuts etc. Italian's on multi day races add olive oil to their melas to boost the calories for minimal weight.
Cheers! I didn't realise the date was 2007; I just came across your blog as part of my prep for this year's race.
As you say, it's a question of how much fatty food can I handle, in terms of reducing weight per calorie!
How did you find the cold during the night-time part of the long day, or just night times in general? I realise every year will be different, but were you wishing you brought more warm pants or tops, gloves or beanie/buff etc?
Roger. It was so cold that 25% of the field failed to finish that year. That was the reason it no longer runs in December. They moved it to October these days for a milder climate. A waterproof and long sleeve top is all you'll need these days. You're never far from civilization. A hat or gloves won't do any harm either.
October? Are we both talking about Marathon des Sables, which runs in April?
Sorry thought you were still talking about Round Rotherham wen you said prep for the race.
The MDS night time temps in 2008 were mild, probably about 8-10C. The day time temps were very hot - the coldest day was 38C, most days it was mid 40's, but the hottest was 50C+. They have had the odd year when nights have been colder. I took a 0C sleeping nag and it was too warm. I would run in long sleeve top and long leggings if I did it again, to reduce the number of clothes needed, as you can sleep or run in them as well. A lightweight fleece hat and running gloves should weigh less than 100g for the lot. Well worth taking. The mornings can be a little chilly, but it soon warms up! Try and keep your pack light. I had a 9.5kg pack as a newbie doing the mds, but I race with a 7kg pack for desert races these days. You need less stuff than you think.
Thanks Rich. I have got a long-sleeve shirt, knee-length compression pants and SandBaggers knee-length gaiters, so I'm pretty much covered up.
I've also packed an ultralight fleece and windbreaker and light gloves (just in case it gets cold on Long Day) and a very light pair of shorts to let everything hang a bit loose while in camp - total 389g for the four. I can't imagine 7 straight days in compression pants!
My 383g PHD bag is rated 5C with and I have a 94g silk liner to add a bit extra in case it gets colder, or to use by itself if it's warm - and just to keep the bag a bit clean from my filthy body!
I am at almost exactly 8kg all up at the moment. That includes 4.7kg of food (21000 calories including the Pocari sachets, which are apparently not counted towards the minimum calories). I can easily take about a kilo off the food list and still be well above the minimum 14000 calories, but I'm deathly afraid that I'll be sitting around camp starving, desperately wishing I'd brought extra food... What are your thoughts on that?
A couple more question for you, sorry to nag but it seems really hard to get even basic information from the MdS reps!
- do you have any idea roughly how much the MdS pack weighs, i.e. the road book, flare, salt tablets, toilet sachets(?), CP card etc?
- do we have to take our passport with us?
- did you take a sleeping mat? I have read of a few hardy souls who managed without one, but I gather the ground can be quite uncomfortable (stones) under the carpet?
Roger. Have a read of this thread on the MDS forum, this thread I've been replying to today, answering a lot of the questions below. It also has my kit list from the Atacama (which was about 6.5kg)
http://www.themds.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?3474-PACKING-TIPS-required-please-HELP!&p=62358#post62358
The stuff they give you weighs half a kilo. The flare was about 370g on its own.
Food, it's such as persoal choice it's not possible to advise. Take it all and if you find you're not eating it after day 2, give some of it away.
I have a feeling that a passport is not reqd, but may be recommended in case you need a medical evac. I can't recall if I took mine or not in the MDS. I don't carry it on events these days.
Take a mat or you'll sleep badly. The ground is very cold and sucks the heat out of you. It's also stony and not comfortable. A good nights sleep is priceless.
Cheers!
Bugger... I can't download your pack list from The MDS Forums because you need to have logged in. However I haven't been able to register due there is some sort of bug in their registration page - and they have studiously ignored 4 emails I have sent them over the past few months seeking assistance. Charming people!
Could I trouble you to email it to roger_graham@hotmail.com?
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