Should you wish to read about the charity I am running for there is some information here:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/futurestarsghana

Many runners seem to have their training plans, ramping up of miles, diets, specific body sculpting classes and of course their tapering down to a fine art. I am not one of these people, not for the want of trying, but mostly because I lack the enthusiasm to be that organized. To be honest I spend more time looking for the worlds smallest toothbrush than I do planning a taper regime, fully aware the additional 0.02grams I have saved will not make me Mo Farah all of a sudden! I still do it though.

There are 3 other reasons I have not really got a proper plan, reasons I am sure many of you also have:

1. Life gets in the way. Although I do not travel with work as much as I used to, I do have a full-time demanding job, a slightly less demanding wife, a 7-year-old energetic demanding boy, a 4 year old feral boy and the world’s most fussy dog when it comes to walking times (always when I ruined on the sofa and not wanting to move).
2. I am constantly injured in one way or another. Mostly surrounding my inability to listen to professionals, do the right exercises and stretching and to fix old injuries properly. I only do this because I hate listening to advice, (despite rarely being right) and also because I am happy that eventually my body will give up and I can have an excuse to be lazy and fat.

So, with my procrastination, Life commitments, failing body and Beer to contend with, sticking to any sort of plan has been hard / impossible. If you have had similar issues, don’t beat yourself up about it or worry about how it will impact the race. Carry on doing what you are doing, enjoy the last few weeks of training and know that you are in the majority when it comes to wishing you had done a bit more!

Pre-race Goals

• Weight – 73kg (failed)
• Mileage – 120km a week at max (failed)
• Alcohol – nothing in 2 months prior to race (very failed)
• Body conditioning – 4 sessions a week (failed thanks to point above)
• Bag weight – 8.5kg (achieved maybe – Mo Farah mode activated)
• Taper regime – Well I am injured again (chronic shin splint due to being fatter than planned) so my Tapering is a hard stop now until the race and hope for the best….. it will be fine…. probably.

I am from Cheshire / Manchester UK originally and I love running through the countryside there. When training for the Gobi in 2017, my Saturday mornings would be Hills, fields, small country lanes and lots of wildlife all in the a cool (and wet most of time) climate.

Running in Ghana is exactly nothing like that. The nearest bit of green to my house is a 10km uphill along a main road that even at 5am is packed with vans and trucks older than me, pumping out black smoke. Once in “The Green bit” it does however become mildly pleasant. The occasional Snake, scorpion and Monkey can be spotted and relatively few people. None of this matters though as I tend to be so busy battling the heat and humidity that I can not see past the sweat in my sunglasses. It is an oppressive heat that saps you and constantly makes me want to stop and find shade, which I often do.

I have taken to bringing a spare set of running clothes with and I look forward to the 20km mark in Accra University, which is both the highest point in Accra and my half way. I get to put a dry shirt which stays dry for almost 3 seconds, but those few seconds feel good! A gentle down hill through the university grounds for about 10km puts me in a good mood, before I am forced back to dodging traffic for the final 10km.

I used to be able to recover fairly quickly from my Saturday morning runs, but I find myself these days generally unable to walk more than 100 yards for the rest of the day. I volunteer to play football (I will go in goal!) with the kids, followed by swimming (floating making sure they don’t drown), but beyond that I am shot. I blame the heat, but the truth is…. I just turned 40. Everything hurts more.

Thankfully I have a wonderful and understanding wife who picks up my slack when she can, and even takes over the dog walking duties when I am sofa bound. She has been great at letting me wander around the world looking for places to race without too much moaning about it. This year however, she has taken the bold step in to coming along on the race as a volunteer. It is going to be strange passing through a check point seeing her in it. I am resigned to the fact I will get less sympathy than any other runner and that she will 100% out drink me under the table at the awards party, but I am very excited to have her there. Fingers crossed I get to finish line and she can give me my medal!

I tend not to run for charity, not because I am mean but because I (like most people) get annoyed with so many requests for donations and use it as an excuse not to do it myself. This year however, after meeting Simon Milton and Titus Bramble of the Future Stars charity, I felt compelled to do something.

I have been living in Ghana for 8 years (on and off). It is a country of the have and have nots with a stark divide. The future stars charity is investing time and money in Ghana and Togo to make sure children from poorer communities are given the chance they deserve in sport and in school. Often sport in schools here is a case of “open the classroom door and let them out for an hour”. With no / poor facilities trainers and no way of traveling to and from sporting events. I am sure most of us at events such as the Atacama Crossing believe that sport in education is a must!

Future stars is addressing this in some of the most poverty stricken areas of the country. They are providing equipment, and more importantly qualified professionals to help in schools with a focus on Football and Netball, they have opted against Ultra Running in 8-year olds for the time being. Alongside this Future Stars also helps to refurbish schools that are in desperate need of attention. The most recent project they have undertaken is to provide safe transport for the kids to get around for the sporting events. Having spent many years pounding the streets of West Africa, I shudder to think of the quality and safety of some of the tro tro’s (local vans converted to small buses) that represent many children’s only option to get around.

If you have the chance, please do visit the website and if you have the inclination I welcome all donations to my fundraising page… which will be posted shortly.

http://www.futurestarscharity.org.uk/who-we-are/about-futurestars/

Equipment list

So the Mandatory equipment is what it is, you can not ignore it. I have often thought what would I do with the compass if I did get lost, just try and head in one direction I suppose?? Without a map and not knowing which direction San Pedro is in, I think I would resign myself to hoping the staff find me or becoming a fossil for future man to find and wonder why I had died clutching a mirror.

I do try to go as small and light as possible with all the mandatory stuff, Tiny knife, mini compass, little whistle, very light rain jacket that fits easily in my pocket. Without food, I have got my bag (OMM 25) down to about 3.5kg. Strap on to that the Z-lite pad, because air beds keep popping and I don’t like sleeping on rocks, and my black Diamond poles which I know I will use on the sand and salt and it takes me to about 4kg. if weight were no option I would add another Kilo of pain killers and sleeping pills.

My only electronics are my 2 x ipod Shuffles and my trusty Garmin 101 GPS, still the only GPS watch that runs on AAA batteries as far as I know. I normally only need to change them once. I don’t post runs weekly or track my progress on various apps, however I do like to look at my wrist and see how far I have to go and how slowly I am going. Doing the math’s and figuring out a finish time keeps my mind off the sore knees and chronic butt chafe.

So really that just leaves the food to play with. I always seem to arrive in the host town with a huge pile of food in my suitcase and then leave with just as much. Check out the photo of what I have been collecting over the last 6 months! My plan this time out is:

Stage 1-4

Morning: Coffee mix / Noodles / Jerky

Running: 2 x Gu / Tailwind / Peperami /Bounce Ball

Evening: Recoverite / 800Kcal meal / Soup

Stage 5

Morning: 500Kcal meal / Jerky

Running 5x Gu, 1 x Cliff Bar, 2 x Peperami, 1 x naked bar, crisps and nuts

Evening: Recoverite / noodles

Stage 6:

Morning: Gu

By my calculations I am just over 14,000Kcal which is fine for me (I never manage to lose weight) and weighs in at 3.7kg.

That’s the 8kg plan, feel free to laugh at me at weigh in when I figure out my scales are wrong.

I have done a few races before, but never blogged, mostly through laziness to be honest. As  I am raising money for a great charity (will save that for another blog) this year, I thought I should try and raise my profile  little.... so thanks for reading and sorry if it’s boring!

Why I signed up:

I ran Atacama in 2015 and have always promised I would never repeat races, but seriously Atacama...... its just wow (Ask Ashacama! 10 times now??). When my good friend Z asked if I would run with her this year it was a no brainier and I honestly can not wait to get back to spend time with her and plod through the stunning stages once again.

learning from past experience:

2015 actually went ok for me, perhaps not as fast as I wanted, but that is a common theme! That said there are words of advice from me to me that I shall pay attention to:

1. It gets cold at night, very cold! I am trying to travel light (8kg) but I need to take an extra layer or two for the first few nights, either that or convince the tent mates that “snuggling” is the best way forward.

2. Save some energy for the dunes. I spent a lot of time trying to go fast, only to reach a dune the size of a mountain and want to cry. Dialling back 10% and treating it as a (ultra) Marathon and not a sprint will be beneficial in the long run (pun intended).

3. Stage 3 sucks. For me it is the hardest stage I have done. After km’s of salt “flats” that are impossible to run on, you come across many more Km’s of soft sand which Is my nemesis..... hate the stuff.

4. The Hoka’s may not make the week. I trashed a new pair in 3 days and this time although I am sticking with them, I am taking a “repair kit” with me to try and eek the most out of them I can.

The training

I am like the Ricky Hatton of running (although waaaaaay less talented), by that I mean I tend to Pile on loads of weight poss race for 6 months, realise I am getting fat, sign up for another race and go mental on training again. It is totally unhealthy and pretty extreme, but I like beer and that I still my 6 month weight gain reward for finishing a race.

i started training in Feb, after moving back to Ghana and have managed to drop 7kg (3 more to go). I am enjoying training and it forms part of my routine as I run commute to work. My weeks at the minute are:

mon - bootcamp - 10km run 

Tue  - Weights - 10km run

weds - circuits - 12k  run

Thurs - 10km run

Friday - bootcamp

saturday - 40km with pack

Sunday - Vodka and Slimline tonic 

I am doing all my training in Ghana, so humidity And heat should help.......  but boy do I sweat. I am the sweatiest person I know. I drank 7 litres of water on my long run last week and still didn’t need a pee until the evening!

Equipment

Menu is set, but I will end up ditching things after I pack it all this weekend and decide it isn’t too heavy. Beef Jerky and sleeping pills are the only items that are 100% making the cut.

Happy training people!