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Atacama Crossing Blogs 2010

Ian Anderson

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Atacama Crossing (2010) blog posts from Ian Anderson

05 February 2010 04:24 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

Why do we run these type of races in the early part of the new year? Its only one month away and I've just realised that the UK is not the best training ground. Minus 20 degree celcius temperatures, knee high in snow in some occassions, heavy rain, high winds and dark at 4pm in the evening. We should get a medal for just doing the training!!

However, on a more positive note, my training this week has gone well with a total running distance of 85 miles and no major injuries (at the moment!!). I always worry when things start going well because we all know that its not often that we don't have at least one wee problem!!

But now we are within a month away I'm confident that i will manage to get 'team myself' to the start line. I'll worry about finishing the challenge when I'm there and take every day at a time.

Best of luck to everyone in the final run up to the Atacama - wherever you are in the world.

Comments: Total (14) comments

Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 12:46 pm

Brilliant effort Ian, fancy a easy 20 miler on Saturday morning when you get back????????

Posted On: 12 Mar 2010 10:41 am

Dig deep Big n! doing sooo well :) pissing down here ! freezing too, so enjoy the sun ;)

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 11:03 pm

Great that you did Stage 3 so quickly. It's exhausting reading about the race. Keep on running Ian, we're all proud of you. x

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 08:04 pm

WOW WELL DONE IAN. YOU ARE DOING SO WELL AND I IMAGINE EACH STAGE MUST BE SO GRUELLING. KEEP GOING WE ARE FOLLOWING YOUR SUCCESSES AND LOVED SEEING YOUR PHOTO (NUMBER 138) OF YOU CROSSING FINISHING LINE IN STAGE 2. GOOD LUCK FOR YOUR FINAL STAGES KEEP A POSITIVE HEAD. LINDA.

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 01:55 pm

Run Forest, Run. I'm sitting here out of breath just reading about the race, keep going big man

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 11:04 am

Doing well Big Man! Joanna must be a right racing snake!? you should be well climatized with the weather you've had at home!?!?!?!? hope its not causing too many problems! Keep on rockin....

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 09:45 am

Good luck Ian, everyone asking about you from the club. Pint waiting for you in the Globe on your return. Helen

Posted On: 10 Mar 2010 08:45 am

Good Luck Ian, i will keep checking the website to see how ur getting on, Frm Hayley

Posted On: 08 Mar 2010 01:37 pm

Best of luck Ian, will be checking site to see how you are getting on. Enjoy! Annie

Posted On: 08 Mar 2010 12:40 pm

Hope you have a great run Ian, look forward to hearing all your stories and experiences. P.S. Celtic actually won a game yesterday... beat Falkrk 2-0 and Queens beat Partick 1-0 - Happy Days!

Posted On: 08 Mar 2010 10:33 am

Good luck Ian I will keep up to date with your progress have a Great time.

Posted On: 07 Mar 2010 06:20 pm

Good luck Ian i will be watching the web site make sure you enjoy the warm weather have a beer at ther end

Posted On: 07 Mar 2010 05:27 pm

Good luck again Ian, will keep having a peep at how your doing! Laters Dude Llewy

Posted On: 06 Mar 2010 08:38 am

good luck! were all rooting for you here in China. Have a good time! From, David, Fang, Tom, Lucy, Hello English.

26 October 2009 11:09 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

After a worrying and slow start, I'm finally back on track... fantastic!
Mixing the training up a bit at the moment, but as long as I'm doing something for 5 days of the week I should be fine. Mixing the running with road running (with the running club) and some trail running with one of my mates - who is also doing this race! (Thanks to her for nearly killing me on some of the hardest forest runs about). Also doing some mountain biking on the famous 7 staines courses and some hill walking in the Scottish Highlands - 1200 metres climb in under 1km followed by 15km of ups and downs along a ridge!! Character building
At the moment I'm doing about 50 miles per week running plus all the other stuff. All going well I hope to increase the distance by about 10% a week up to 100 miles (160km) by Christmas. Thats my aim but as they say - "Best laid plans of mice and men" - Who knows what can happen before then....
Best of luck everyone, and i hope all your training is going well

Comments: Total (0) comments

04 October 2009 09:01 am (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

Thanks to those who responded to my last blog. Its reassuring that not everyone that does this event are super fit athletes who train 24/7, but instead there are normal every day people who have to juggle paper work and training who do this race.
On that note I've had a good week. Managed to get 5 runs in and a cycle. All in all I'm happy with what i've done this week so far considering my concerns at the beginning of the week.
As Marc says - its only paper work and there are far more important things in the world, and its those important things that I'm doing this challenge for. 
So to anyone who has those doubts about their progress, think about the reason you first said you'd do it because those reasons must be a driving force and important to you, and the rest will fall into place! Go do it!
Keep up the good training folks!

Comments: Total (0) comments

27 September 2009 12:26 pm (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

Just sitting at work at the moment - Sunday night at 20.30 on a duty weekend - and decided to write my first blog. Im currently looking at a pile of paperwork that requires doing and wondering where i'm going to get the time. I also have another little thing i need to deal with - The Atacama Crossing!
Although i run about 4 or 5 times a week, i'm desperately needing an injection of enthusiasm! I'll get there some way or another. Just wondering if anyone is in the same boat. Finding it difficult to balance work with a half decent training regime at the moment. Days at work seem to be getting longer and nights darker.
Anyway... onwards and upwards... here i come...whew 

Comments: Total (5) comments

Posted On: 20 Oct 2009 07:15 pm

get out and run ya big girls blouse.

Posted On: 30 Sep 2009 01:51 pm

Hi ian, I am currently preparing for Sahara (3 weeks) I totally can relate as I felt the same. Have a solid training plan and be in the moment. Don't think too far ahead as it will surely mess you up. 5 months will go FAST! Besides, it's only paperwork!

Posted On: 28 Sep 2009 10:19 pm

Thanks Mary and Maya... I'm sure i'll find the enthusiasm soon. As long as i keep ticking over for the time being! And i'm sure there will be ups and down in my training between now and the start of the event

Posted On: 28 Sep 2009 04:11 am

HI Ian, I battle this all the time. I find buying some near gear or changing something in the routine can help. Cross training for sure helps as well. Mary

Posted On: 28 Sep 2009 02:03 am

Hi Ian, It's tough and I think a lot of us feel the same way as you! But, I think you'll be just fine and closer the event gets, the more excited you'll become, and more of that paperwork will be tackled :) Seriously, if you can see yourself competing in Atacama, then you can definitely handle paperwork! Maya