My recovery has been nothing like I expected. No muscle aches at all, but my legs have been so swollen. By the time I got off my flight the swelling itself was painful. By monitoring my weight on my accurate scales, I've now lost 7Lb in 3 days. That's about 7 pints, or 3.5L of water, and I suspect there's more to go. I suffered at work on my first day back as I couldn’t fit my feet into my shoes, and then the blisters on my toes were being squashed. My calf muscles feel like porridge. I've also started getting cramps, which I didn't even get in the desert, I think my body hasn't reacclimatised, so I've restarted the Nuun's!

I signed up for Namibia last night! Couldn't help myself. Figured I could try to give Ryan a run for his money now that I'm not injured and can train properly (only joking).

I think I got most things pretty well right for the desert. Things to remember for next time:

Sleeping tablets, Caffeine tablets, Painkillers which have less of a harmful effect on the Kidneys.

I hope to prevent my blisters next time. I should have taped my back with wide elastoplast tape from the start, I knew that I got blistering there. Also I always get blisters on the same 2 toes. On this race I did nothing to prevent them, and then when I got the blisters I put tape on just the injured toes, which rubbed and blistered the next door toe. I saw someone with rubber “toe caps” she said she got them from the chemists. They looked like they could prevent toe blisters without affecting neighbouring toes.

I’m going to try Perpetuam, Ryan and Paul and many others swore by it, maybe it will help overcome my nausea for the long day. It doesn’t seem to be stocked by any of the main running shops in the UK but I’ve found the Hammer nutrition uk website, which seems to sell it on line.

I was really happy with my shoes,  Asics nimbus. Wearing road shoes wasn’t a problem at all, and I was very glad they were 1.5 sizes too big, I would probably go even half a size bigger next time. The gaiters were great, using double sided no more nails tape, with epoxy resin did the trick perfectly, no need for stitching or duck tape. I liked my single raidlight ultra light weight  walking pole, I used it on the dunes and when walking on the long day, although it was more like a security blanket! I liked my water system, a camel pack which the volunteers could take out my pack and put back quite easily, but it did slow the check points down a little relying on them, I think I’m going to aim for 500ml waterbottles on a waist strap, will have to shop around for those.

I’m aiming to reduce my pack weight by a further 0.5kg. I certainly wouldn’t take any fewer calories, about 2,500/day was ideal, with less for the rest day and last day. I used 400 calorie dehydrated main meals, which suited me well so I had the remaining calories to snack on through the day. I put pinenuts into the dehydrated food which boosted calories and added flavour. I’d probably decant the dehydrated meals into ziplock bags to save weight and space. More cuppa soups would have been good.  I didn’t need clean socks every day, maybe 2 or 3 pairs total.

Having showered and removed all the strapping tape from my feet and my back, having eaten my first icecream and drunk my first beer and coke of my return to civilization, the last week, and even this morning is fading into just a happy memory. But let me fill you in on the last leg.

The organizers decided that having set us such a long course for the long day we only needed to run a mere 5km for the final stage. This seemed like a triviality as we all set off on the final journey to the Pyramids at Giza, but Piers, the course organizer doesn’t understand the meaning of gentle, and this route took us again, only on soft sand up steep hills till we rounded a corner and there were the pyramids, staggering. Unfortunately after Ryan, expert lead for the entire week followed the correct route of pink flags, the rest of the leaders (about 50 of us), didn’t notice the turn off and continued down a nice easy tarmac road, adding at least an extra 2km to the route. I didn’t realize until I crossed the finish line and saw some of the people who usually finish hours after me all milling around enjoying beers and pizza.

I’m almost a little disappointed at this race. I can honestly say I was never in pain, never physically tired, the odd bit of muscle ache and a few blisters, but this is meant to be one of the toughest races in the world. Paul from my tent thinks the answer is I wasn’t trying hard enough. Next time I ought to feel more pain and maybe then I’ll win. I’m not sure that’s true, pain is a boy’s thing, I think girls just enjoy themselves more. I love my running and I look forward to many more pain free races in the future.

Have had a tough week acclimatizing!

It’s been strange meeting all the competitors. Most of them have run similar races before. Suddenly this race has changed from the toughest challenge I could possibly consider to just another race. No one denies that it will be tough, but talking to people who have run the same distance 10+ times before, they just say “you’ll be fine”. When I panic that my injuries will be a problem the response is “just take more painkillers” like that’s a totally normal thing to do. I guess it must be.

There are still plenty of very nervous people around. It is reassuring when I’m in a calm phase to watch other people panicking about the weight of their pack, or whether they have the right food, or enough blister protection. The bags of one poor guy have been cleverly misplaced by Alitalia, fortunately most of his kit was in his hand luggage, and he’s managed to make up the remainder of the compulsory items from other competitors.

I have two main concerns at the moment. Firstly I’m worried that my gaiters will come off my shoes. Most people have had Velcro stitched to the shoe, as glue will melt in the heat of the desert. But sand still gets in through the Velcro, so instead I have secured the gaiters directly to the shoes. I had already used no more nails double sided tape and duck tape, both of which are supposedly strong to 120⁰C, with an extra layer of UHU and superglue, just for luck. But in my panic I’ve now added a double layer of Epoxy resin, that I found in an Egyptian supermarket, which is meant to withstand temperatures up to 90⁰C.

My second panic is that I’ve only just realized that the long day, ie day 5, after running 80 miles over the previous 4 days, is about 100km long. That’s 60miles, 10 miles further than I expected. 50miles I could deal with, 50miles is only 17miles further than I’ve ever run in one go previously, it’s less than 2 marathons in a row, it’s only the distance from London to Brighton, I can cope with 50miles. 100km is a whole different kettle of fish. 100km is a ridiculous distance, it’s a 3 figure number, a car driving legally on an A road would take an hour to cover that distance. OK, lets try to keep a little bit calm, take one day at a time. My training for this long stage is that I’ve operated at work for prolonged periods, the longest I’ve done more or less none stop is 34hours, I’ll finish 60 miles in less than that, I’ll be fine!

I am writing my blog today, while high on codeine. Not, I hasten to add, because I’m having any sort of ongoing troubles with my foot. That has finally been sorted with lots of stretching, strengthening, massage, loosening, ultrasound, and even acupuncture. The reason I have just taken two co-codamol, is because in all my life I’ve never taken any sort of opiate analgesia. I am concerned that the time might come while I’m running across the desert, at my absolute limits, that it is finally required. I know that the majority of my patients who have taken the drug have very little effect from it, especially when they are in severe pain. However I don’t want to discover that I am the exception to the rule while on my own in the middle of nowhere, I might be found in a few weeks time wandering aimlessly in Sudan, living off my own urine.

In preparation for the trip, my hair has been cut, short and spiky. Fortunately when I look in the mirror, I don’t see Victoria Beckham, but I do see myself aged 15.

I’ve had to pinch myself to escape all the insecurities I used to have as a teenager. Anyone who knew me when I was 15 will remember this is exactly what I looked like then. Even my brother’s first thought was that he’d entered a time warp.

I am now confidant I have everything I need for the race. I decided that given how little running I’ve been able to do with full weight, on account of my foot, I would compensate by making my pack as light as possible. At the first weighing it was 8.6kg, without water.

Laid out on the floor it looks pretty and colourful, but I’m dreading spending 7 days living on dehydrated stodge and e-numbers.

I’ve been in Egypt almost a day now. Working hard at doing nothing, and eating lots. The heat hasn’t been too unbearable, maybe sauna training has worked. I will be meeting up with some of the British contingent in the next couple of days and will write again on the eve of the race.

This week has mainly involved gentle training in the sauna! I’ve had lots of strange looks. But I’ve made an interesting discovery that compared to the gym, where no one talks to anyone, the sauna is very sociable. I suppose being in a small wooden box with a lunatic marching up and down on the spot with a heavy pack on her back does beg the question “why?”. Anyway as a result I’ve recruted several extra sponsors – it’s very tricky to complete a paper sponsor form in a sauna! My “sauna mates” suggested I put a sign up at the gym asking for sponsorship, as many people have seen me training with Ruckie and my extra jumpers over the last few months. Unfortunately although the trainers in the gym were happy with the idea, the senior management vetoed it. So if anyone reading this was considering joining a Kinetica gym because I’ve said it’s so great, don’t – the management are boring bastards and don’t deserve your money.

I had my first sports massage yesterday – ouch. He was recommended to me by Michaela, my physio, because all my post fracture injuries have been due to my calf muscles becoming too tight while not being used. Every knot was kneeded away and my peroneus muscle which had become so tight it had changed from a flat muscle to a circular cord and was sticking out through the skin, is now lying nice and flat again. He warned me that I might wake this morning and feel like I’d run 2 marathons and he wasn’t wrong. So if anyone in the Winchester area has been picking up sports injuries and think a sports massage might help I highly recommend him, he comes to your house even in the evenings and weekends, and only charged £25 for a full hour:

[email protected]

Preparing for this race has almost become a full time job, there’s so much to think about. I don’t want to take a gram too much food, but I don’t want to be hungry or dehydrated. And I’m very aware that the commonest cause of death in Marathon runners is hyponatraemia caused by drinking water and not enough salts. But if we have to drink 8L of fluid per day, that’s a lot of salt! During acclimatization the body learns to conserve salt better than normal, so maybe we won’t need as much as the average marathon runner. It’s just going to be a case of keeping my fingers crossed I've got it more or less right.

The next time I write I will be in Egypt!!! How scary, I’ve been having nightmares already about getting a cold and not finishing. I can’t possibly get any more nervous, I just need to get started.

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster week. While running on Tuesday my heel suddenly started to play up again. I stopped early not wanting to cause any new problems, but still ended up hobbling home. And it was no better by the next day.  It was a different pain from the fracture and not as bad. But I was still hobbling. I became convinced that it had refracture. I was making all sorts of compromises in my head to justify still making it to the desert. Whereas my friends were all trying to tell me it’s ok to pull out, they wouldn’t think any less of me etc. I had some very panicked, sleepless nights before I could get myself an appointment with a physio on Saturday morning. She immediately diagnosed Achilles Tendonitis, related to the changes in my feet due to the fracture, and lack of running for 2 months. With a bit of physio hocus pocus, including a large ultra sound machine, as well as a course of homeopathic arnica, within 24 hours it was back to normal! Pain free enough to let me run another marathon on Sunday! I can still feel it, but I have another physio appointment on Tuesday, which I hope will mean the end of it.

I’ve learnt a new recovery trick. Well it’s more than I’ve adapted it. I met some people running the Atlantic coast challenge the other week who wore some special tight compression leggings called “skins” in the evening/overnight to help squeeze the fluid out of their legs and make it easier to run the next day. It seemed a great idea to me, as I have previously mentioned I’m a fan of sleeping with your feet on pillows for the same reason. I found the company selling “skins” easily on the internet, but for 1 pair it would set me back more than £50. So instead I got some TED stockings (compression stockings all patients wear to prevent clots) from work. If you don’t work in a hospital, I’ve seen them sold for about£10 from larger chemists. I’ve worn them after my last 2 long training sessions, and I feel they are helpful. The advantage of stockings over leggings is I can wear 1 leg at a time if necessary, and I can easily take  them off in the night if I get too hot. The disadvantage is that they include the foot, which might be too painful if I have nasty blisters, if that is a problem I’ll just cut the feet off in the desert.

I’ve started my “heat training” in the sauna. The temperatures are about 85-110⁰C, so hotter than the desert, and I suppose a different heat. But I think good practice for getting my body used to sweating. So far I’ve only managed 2 lots of 30 mins. I drank constantly, but I still seemed  to get dehydrated, I  think starting after 3 hours of cross training, or a marathon didn’t help!

I’ve had a great weekend of training. Just 6 days after returning to running I thought it was time I checked whether I was still fit enough to run a marathon distance. My heel ached a little, but I was so pleased to be back running in the beautiful setting of the Cornwall coastline I didn’t even notice feeling tired despite the 4500ft of ascent, including many soft sand dunes to climb. I ran most of the way with a guy called Oliver Sinclair, who came 3^rd in The Atacama Crossing in 2007. Before I got too excited that my time spent in the gym had increased my speed that dramatically he made it clear that he was running at a slow pace to keep his heart rate low. Apparently this is a technique for speedy runners to improve speed and fat burning ability when the pace is later increased. Anyway this meant I had many hours of tips on running desert races from an “elite” runner.

Eating

I’ve finally accepted that I have to take note of my disinterest in eating while running marathon distances. I know that I could if I wanted to, I’ve successfully eaten loads of pepperoni bars, tracker bars, and even sandwiches when training for the Ridgeway. When I’m running marathon distances ( or up to 33 miles) I need to drink enough to keep on top of my thirst, and energy levels. But I don’t need to eat. I don’t eat as it takes extra concentration and I keep getting side tracked talking to people, then I reach the finish line and realise all the food I’d intended to eat is still in my pack.

Things don’t seem to improve after I cross the finish line either. Despite various delicacies like bowels of pasta or organic burgers being put in front of me they invariably go cold and mostly end in the bin. What I do manage to get down very easily is protein drinks, which I could bring to the desert dehydrated in a variety of flavours. So I plan to start with that. Then my appetite is never brilliant in the evening after a long run, I’m concerned if I take a 800 calorie dehydrated meal it will be cold before I’ve eaten it all. So I plan to take a smaller meal and then pick at an assortment of energy bars and nuts throughout the rest of the evening. I had a great trip round Tesco’s the other day, I was only interested in things with a calorie count over 450kcal/100g so sweets were out. Even dried fruit was only about 350kcal/100g. I ended up with a variety of nuts. The highest energy density was in pine nuts at 700kcal/100g! Not sure if I’ll fancy eating them neat, but I plan to mix them into my meals. I’ve found that the morning after a long run is when I’m ready to eat. And I’ve not been troubled by starting running after a big breakfast, so I’m aiming for 600 calories at breakfast, including my days luxury – a cup of coffee, I will get withdrawal headaches if I don’t and caffeine is meant to improve performance.

Finally

I got some bad news on Tuesday. It was a quiet day at work, so I was sat in the doctor’s mess flicking through the gossip magazine which happened to be sat in front of me. There was a photo of Victoria Beckham with her new haircut. I would like to make it clear that I’m not a fan of Victoria Beckham and would certainly not look to her for fashion advice. For the last 6 months I have planned to have my hair cut to a short spikey style while on my week acclimatising in , so I have less weight to carry, less hair to hold dirt and sand, and less insulation on my head making me too hot. So clearly Victoria Beckham has copied my idea!

Although I’m back running, I’m not able to do as much as I would if my heel had behaved. So I’ve been paying more attention to my heat training instead. I’m sure it’s made a difference. I’ve been wearing a long sleeve Helly Hansen top with a windproof jacket over the top, and long leggings while training in the gym. I’ve had lots of funny looks, especially when I carry Ruckie round with me everywhere. I’ve been sweating like a pig – yuk! But that’s the point, getting the body used to controlling its temperature under extreme conditions.  I’ve certainly got used to the heat, so when I take off all those layers I’m really cold, especially when I went for a swim after a hard workout, however hard I swam up and down in the pool, I couldn’t get warm – good excuse to spend ages in a warm bath afterwards.

I had a really good session at the beach yesterday. 4 miles into the wind, and as I turned round to do an easy 4 miles back with the help of the wind, the sun set and the wind dropped, so I had to do all the work myself. Running on the beach is tough; I will try to do at least 1 or 2 more sessions there before the race. The sand got me thinking of my rules for the Sahara race. My rules at the Jurassic coast challenge were that if it was going uphill, very steep downhill, or soft sand, I was allowed to walk. But no stopping even at the checkpoints. I pretty much stuck to that for the 3 days, although I did run Very slowly. And the last 3 miles of the race were on sand, I used all my will power to make myself run those 3 miles as I knew I would be finished in about 30 mins if I ran, but it would take over an hour if I walked, I was so pleased when I finished that I had run it although it was tough at the time. So I think for the Sahara race I will stick to the same rules, especially for the first 4 days. During the 50 mile day I might let myself do a bit more walking, but definitely No Stopping.

Fund raising has been the toughest bit. I’m only about ¼ of the way to my target. I have managed to get money from a few people at the gym who were commenting on my strange attire. I think I’m going to have to get more ruthless, just ask everyone – so if you’re reading this, please sponsor me, I’m running for a very good cause: Water Aid, a charity who brings running water to people who live in the developing world and have to walk sometimes miles to fetch all the water they need.

To sponsor me go to: www.justgiving.com/cleooliver

A final point before I go. I’ve learnt something new this week about cross training which I’ve never heard before, so I thought that I’d share it with the world. While doing all my non weight bearing training I’ve had real difficulties finding something that will get my heart rate up to the levels I get easily when I run. The rowing machine is quite good, but my hands are covered in blisters and my bum is very sore! My trainer at the gym has taught me about the spinning bike this week, it’s brilliant. The difference between that and a normal bike is that you can’t free wheel, and if you stand up on the pedals the training’s even tougher. My average HR when running is 150-170 when I’m on a normal bike outside or even an exercise bike in the gym it’s 120-140, dropping to <100 every time I go downhill. On the rowing machine it sits dead on 140. Whereas on the spinning, I can sit comfortably at 135, and then it gets easily to 170 every time I stand up and increase the tension.

It’s been 4 weeks exactly since my heel imploded. I’ve done a reasonable amount of cross training, but I’m beginning to accept that I wont be able to do as much running as I thought so, I’m working out a serious training plan for a Sahara marathon without putting any (or as much) weight through my heel.

On holiday last week with my family I tried cycling on the beach. Hard work, I’m sure not good for the bike, and if I didn’t keep peddling the bike would just sink into the sand. I did also manage to spend time running up a 30m sand dune, on my toes, then coming down the sand was so soft I couldn’t feel it at all in my heel.  

This week I’ve been reunited with my “Ruckie” my close friend over the last 6months of training. He’s been refilled with out of date bags of intravenous fluids, so he weighs 10kg, hopefully the max weight I'll need in the Sahara . I’ve been carrying him while cycling, and they’ve even given me permission to bring him into the gym, so we don’t have to be separated while I’m on the rowing machine, or doing leg strengthening exercises either. Hopefully I'll stand out at the gym with a pack on my back and several layers of clothing (to train for the heat) and even attract some extra sponsorship!

I don’t think Ruckie would add to my training in the swimming pool however, I think I might drown if I tried!!

Some of you may have noticed that I've been a bit quiet recently. The reason for that is a disaster occurred a few weeks ago.

About a month ago I went to the local specialist running shop to buy my extra large shoes to wear for the race. I’ve always warn the same, very cushioned Asics Nimbus shoes, for whatever race, so I was keen to buy the same pair again. The shop assistant wasn’t so keen on that idea and convinced me that the terrain in the desert is very rocky and therefore I needed shoes to protect my feet. I tried a few pairs and was surprised to find the pair I found most comfortable was half the price of my Asics.

I started breaking them in slowly. I ran 3 5mile runs, then a 15miler, over a two week period. I noticed by the end of each run an odd pain in my heel which wasn’t at all severe and went when I stopped running, so I ignored it. The day after the 15miler I ran a 30mile race on a national trail, wearing my old shoes. I ran the first 15miles in 2 ½ hours and was feeling good, but shortly after the halfway point I noticed the pain had returned to my heel. It got worse and worse, but with the support and encouragement of a kind stranger, I completed the course in 5 ½ hours, first in my age group!! (out of 7, but I’m still very proud, the first race I’ve won)

As I crossed the finish line, I realised I could no longer stand up. The race organiser came rushing over looking very concerned, but I decided that I was just being ridiculous, I’d run 15 miles, of course I could stand up. With great effort I found the first aider, who put ice on my achilles, then bought a sports massage in aid of a local charity. Neither seemed to make any difference. Fortunately driving was ok, but the 5 minutes walk from where I park my car to my house, I literally crawled, grabbing on to hedges and fences for support, attracting very strange looks from passers by, who didn’t think to offer assistance. It was too painful to stand to cook, so after a bath, I went straight to bed with my foot elevated.

Unfortunately the next day it was just as painful, so I went to A+E before work. Nothing showed on the Xray, so they dismissed me with painkillers. But as I’m a doctor myself I tried to do some research to find a diagnosis and therefore the best exercises to make it better. Wherever I looked, whoever I asked the only possible explanation for the type of pain I was in was a stress fracture of the heel bone. So I convinced the radiologist to do an MRI scan of my foot, to his and I think many of the doctors I work with, surprise, it is definitely broken:

They now seem to be panicking at work; they want me in a cast for 6 weeks on crutches. I can’t do that. I’ve been walking on it for the last 2 weeks. If I’m in a cast I can’t cross train; I’ve been cycling, swimming and used the rowing machine almost every day to keep my fitness up. And the pain seems to be going now, I’ve not taken any painkillers for 24hours now, and it’s barely tender.

I’ve looked in the medical literature and found the definitive medical publication advising on the treatment of stress fractures in athletes. It says calcaneal fractures are the lowest risk for problems. It advises a strict activity programme of non weight bearing exercise, then:

If I count today as my first pain free day, I can start running again on the 26th August. Which gives me 8 weeks to build up to the sahara race. No problem! I will miss the long run I’d planned, but I’ve found a 50mile walk/run in the middle of September which I might do with poles and weight, then there are 5 potential marathons to run on the 2 weekends after that.

We (Venetia and I) have booked our flights. It involved a bit of a panic, Venetia looked a few days ago and she thought there were several to take her from Edinburgh for about £300. I looked yesterday morning and the cheapest flight was from London for £306, but there was only 1 seat left, and by the evening that flight had gone, so we decided it was time to book, come what may! We will fly out a week early to acclimatise, then back on Sunday after the party. Trailfinders didn't offer our airline, didn't think they were reliable enough, so hopefully if things go disasterously wrong, we've got a week to run/hitch to Cairo! I haven't actually booked the leave from work, it's a bit difficult when I don't know where I will be working by then, I just hope my next boss is understanding, or I might not have a job to come back to.

I've also started collecting sponsorship, last time I did that was when I was a student running my first marathon, I thought that maybe now I'm running somewhat further and with inflation and the fact everyone is now working I'd get slightly more per person, but it looks like I'm just going to have to ask a lot of people to sponsor me to reach my target.

Right, time to get back to the easy bit - running!

Being an average female, I’m good at talking! In fact I find running much easier when I’m talking, the miles just fly by. My friends think I’m mad when I say I like running marathons as I find them sociable. 

But I was running with a friend the other day when he commented that we really ought to think about things to talk about when we run the Ridgeway Ultra, which is 85miles, we are expecting it to take about 20 hours. What do you talk about for 20 hours? I think I’ve grown out of I spy. I suppose that’s why some people wear Ipods, but that’s very antisocial. Don't they say that’s why people get married? the man runs out of things to say, so asks the woman to marry him, then there’s always something to talk about, weddings, mortgages, babies etc etc.

I read in Dean Karnazes book that most people don’t run together for ultra-marathons, he thought it was because it’s hard to keep the same pace as someone else over that distance, perhaps it’s just because they just run out of things to say so speed up or slow down as an excuse to avoid the awkward silence. I have spent 5 hours talking about training tips for the sahara race while running with a complete stranger, there’s endless things to talk about there! But once we’re out in the sahara it will be too late to talk about training.

One friend has a great habit of asking a long open question like “tell me your life story” as he hits the bottom of a hill, which saves his breath for running up the hill, and means that whoever he’s running with has to slow down enough to get the sentences out – great for him!

Maybe I should try to talk about something useful while I’m running, if I find the right person I could learn a new language, I could even learn more about how to improve my finances. ..

No, in order to help the miles fly by it would have to be a topic I find enjoyable, interesting, but light-weight, I don’t think I’ve got the brain capacity to concentrate on a new language while putting one foot in front of the other, and not falling over.

I think I will just have to wing it, say whatever comes into my head; it’s not let me down yet.

I've read a great article in Trailrunner, the newsletter of the trail running association (in UK). It was written by a researcher in sports physiology who recently ran the MdS. He's found there is very little research into ultramarathon running, which he defines as any race of either single or multi-stage over 26.2 miles. So far he's done a questionnaire study. The most interesting thing he reports (I think) is that majority of his respondents ran on average 20-50 miles/week, increasing to 40-70 in the weeks approaching an ultra race, but there was no link between mileage and performance!!!!!! the top runners who completed the questionnaire were acheiving this performance on 40-60miles/week, whereas some of the slowest responders claimed to run 80-90 mpw. Therefore I see no need to increase my mileage. Maybe, just a little, I only ran 16miles last week, but I've entered another 30mile race in 2 weeks, so I've got something to aim for again.

Anyway the next stage of this guys research is to measure a load of blood tests, lung tests and stuff on ultra runners running on a treadmill in his lab, which is in Lincoln, central England, I'm going next month. If anyone else is interested in giving up a morning or afternoon to find out more about their physiology, he can be contacted at: [email protected].

I seem to have had a little blip. I went runnning last weekend and halfway round decided I was bored of running and refused to go any further! I've not run since. But I'm trying to think of ways to motivate myself. I went for a cycle ride yesterday. I've also ordered myself a fancy new Garmin, I've decided the time has come for me to own a GPS, that way I can spend hours seeing what my pace an heart rate are doing, and not think about the fact I'm running. The battery only seems to last for about 10 hours though, so it wont last across the sahara.

It has also been pointed out to me that I've never run cross country in the dark, which I'm sure is very different from running on the roads at night which are usually lit. So we are arranging an overnight run, just for the sake of it! It was going to be last weekend, but we wimped out as it was due to rain. Well it better not be raining in the sahara.

I'm starting to get worried about my lack of heat  training. This summer has been a bit of a washout. I wonder if the local sports centre would let me put an exercise bike or running machine in their sauna? I suppose I should train wearing jumpers and things, but I'm too vain, I want a sun tan when I'm outside.

I ran the South Downs Marathon yesterday with 9.5kg in my pack, although I drank the 1.5L of energy drink quickly, not difficult on a warm day (for ). By coincidence I bumped into Sandy Gordon, (of “Ramblings of a Scotsman”) also carrying his full weight, so we spent the 4 hrs 55 discussing kit and training tactics, and the miles flew by.

I decided it was time to start preventing the blisters I have been getting in training. I used Zinc Oxide tape. It worked a treat preventing the nasty blisters I’ve been getting from my bag rubbing on my lower back. I also put it round my toes, to see if it would help reduce the blisters under the toe nails, it didn’t, it made them worse. Wont be trying that again, but it did work on the arch of my foot and my heel.

Again I seem to have recovered quite quickly, I ran another 10 miles this morning, carrying full weight, which was slower than normal, but pain free. I definitely swear by the sleeping with my feet up trick. It’s not comfortable, but it seems to work.

I also spent 5 days the week before last walking in North Wales , carrying full weight. To start with Venetia Price (who will also be running the Sahara race) was with me. She dragged me to the top of every mountain, generally involving clambering over boulders once the paths disappeared. I walked between 5-9 hours per day, Rucky (the name of my pack!) and I became well acquainted. I started wearing the raidlight front pack, with extra water bottles, and food for easy access, but it seemed to put me off balance, pulled on my shoulders and generally annoyed me, so that went half way through the first afternoon. (If anyone wants it, or the attachments for waterbottles onto the straps, let me know, they’re barely used) I was encouraged that I still had loads of energy at the end of each day, so in the desert if the running gets too much I know I can keep walking.

I've been unable to run for the last week becuase of a horrible cold, but I did learn something interesting because of it. After an endurance race, the cells in the blood which fight infection caused by viruses (lymphocytes) go really low, whereas those which fight bacterial infection go up. I don't think that's particularly useful information, I know that I often get colds after a long race, it's not going to stop me running them. I've yet to work out how to prevent the lymphocytes from going low. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know

Reference:   Robson PJ et al Equine Veterinary Journal 2003; 35:133-137   Yes I know it's a paper on horses, but I'm sure we work the same. Why has noone done the same study on humans?

I ran the Marlborough Challenge yesterday, 33 miles if you don't include the slight navigational errors, the furthest I've ever run in one go, and I feel absolutely fine today, I'm almost planning to go for another run.

How have I recovered so quickly?

1. I was carrying very little weight
2. I went at a gentle pace the whole way round, stopping to read the map, and walking up every hill.
3. I was snacking every 15mins all the way round
4. I ate a big bowl of pasta within 30 mins of finishing running
5. I slept with my feet on 2 pillows the night before the race, and after, to keep the swelling out of them
6. I drank an SIS nocte recovery drink before bed after the race.
7. My legs are used to doing 3 days in a row after the last race I did

I wish I knew which of the above were the most important factors, I suspect it's point 1, which I can't avoid in the desert.

I tried the travellunch chocolate mousse - horrible, and I normally live on chocolate. It was so heavy, and I couldn't mix it properly so there were lumps, and I kept getting mouthfulls of powder. I also got loads of stomach cramps the next day when I tried to run. So that's coming off my shopping list for the run.

Just over 6 months to go. I'm back on track with training I think, the bursitis melted away with my combination of stretching and icing.

Today’s blog is to update you on my training timetable for the next 6 months, and fill you in on my chosen charity.

To plan my training, I first identified my areas of inexperience of relevance to the sahara race:

• I've not yet run further than a single marathon distance in 1 day  
• I've never run any sort of distance with more than 6kg of weight    
• I've only run marathon distance for 3 consecutive days  
• I've not run in the extreme heat 
• I've not exerted myself continuously for >20hours (the time I'm estimating for the long leg)

  I've broken up the next 6 months into approximately 1 event per month, each of which I hope will add something to the experience of my legs.

  In-between events I'm aiming to stick to a weekly milage starting at 40 and increasing to 55 by September, approximately half of which will be with weight, which I'm now up to 7.5 kg, but to increase to 8.5 kg by next month. Hopefully I won’t be carrying too much, once I've worked out what I'm taking and how heavy it will be I may have to increase that weight.

  I will also do a bit of cross training. There’s a league of fortnightly 5 mile races organised by the local running clubs for a bit of speed training, and some of the people at work have organised a weekly game of touch rugby.

  This months even is the Marlborough Down's challenge - 33 miles cross country, which includes a navigation component. I will run this without weight.

  For June I have 2 events, firstly I'm going walking in Snowdonia with friends; I hope to walk with full weight, non stop, 20+miles per day for 4 days, to practice endurance. I will also run the South downs marathon, a cross country marathon on a marked route, running with full weight.

  In July I don't have any set plans, but I hope similar training to June, only running this time.

  August I have agreed to run the Ridgeway challenge. 85 miles, non stop along a marked trail. At first I thought it was a ridiculous idea if I only need to run 50 in one go for the Sahara race. But then I realised 85 miles starting fresh, without much weight in the cool of , must be pretty similar in difficulty to the long leg, so I'll give it a go. Less than half of starters finished last year, but the friend I'm running with has made me promise I'll finish - I hate to think what will happen if I don't now.

  I read on the MDS website that for an endurance event like ours you don't need to taper like you would for a marathon. Sod that, I think we have to taper double, to ensure we are not injured for the event. I’ve seen the evidence that muscle strength starts to reduce after 2 weeks of inactivity. However I also know that when I ran my 4^th marathon, which I did more than 5 years after my 3^rd, with very little exercise imbetween, after only 10 weeks of training, my legs still knew what to expect and it felt much easier than my 1^st three, and 30 mins faster than my first time. I’m therefore confident that as this is an endurance race based on the power of the mind more than muscle power, at least a month of tapering is appropriate.

  Anyway the conclusion of all that is that I plan to run my last event at the end of September – the Clarendon marathon, another marked cross country marathon organised by a friend. I will again run with full weight.

  With all of that I'm not planning much heat training, I’m hoping for a hot British summer after the dismal one we had last year – I thought we were in the clutches of global warming!! And I’m going to hopefully arrive in 1 week early to find a resort and sit on the beach, eating well and relaxing while I acclimatise.

  Right, that’s the train plan. Now for my charity. I’ve chosen Water aid, as I think that is not only an incredibly good and important cause for the millions of people across the world who have to walk several miles from their house just to find water to drink/cook/clean. There’s no time left in the day for anything else. I also thought it was relevant to our event, I think I will be in need of some severe Water Aid by the end of the week.

Disaster!! I seem to have developed a flare up of Trochanteric Bursitis/Iliotibial band syndrome since the jurassic coast marathon. I had this for about 6 months when I first started running, but it settled after seeing a physiotherapist. I've had little twinges of it since, which I've got on top of with a bit of stretching, but this seem to have rapidly become ingrained, and I'm having difficulty walking down stairs. I'm determined to nip this in the bud before it becomes a problem. I'd hoped to restart proper training today.

I'm going to try and stretch the iliotibial band, strengthen the gluteal muscles, ice and massage  the painful areas twice again, with the aim of getting back to running next wednesday, although all the websites seem to imply the only treatment is rest. Hmm, don't have time for that.

The Jurassic Coast Challenge – Joining the nutters

I parked my car on a miserable Friday morning at a caravan park on the Dorset coast and got onto a minibus. It struck me that this is what really stupid people look like, and I was becoming one of them. The caravan park was our accommodation for the next 3 days, and the minibus was taking us to the start of my first Ultra marathon. A 3 day event covering at least 26.2 miles of the South West Coastal Path per day, assuming you can read a map while running. The first brief informed us there had been a minor landslide near the start, so we could all run an extra half mile diversion, for free!

The rain seemed to stop as the start siren sounded, and as the sun came out, we were off. This wasn’t exactly my normal marathon start, after less than 50 yards, we hit a steep hill and the entire pack slowed to a walk.

The course was not marshalled by any stretch of the imagination, simply 3 checkpoints, where food and drink was available. Nor were there any signs except the national trail signs, which mysteriously disappeared at every critical junction. This all added to the “challenge” allowing excuses to pause while the map was consulted. It was a gamble to follow the person in front, on several occasions I overtook runners faster than me who’d taken the wrong turn, but I had to save my smugness when it happened to me 3 miles from the end of the first day.

After completing the first day in 5Hrs 36, my personal worst, but not too bad considering the winning time was 4:35, I was very aware of the impending 2 further days of running. I tried to get plenty of food and fluid into me within 30 minutes of finishing replacing muscle glycogen, but all this was limited by incontrollable shivering and mild nausea, so instead I had a warm shower and sat in my sleeping bag. Supper was in the local pub, the runners were all very sociable, and we compared notes of the course, as well as discussing peoples past events and future running plans, however much I wanted to believe these people were completely mad, I realised I was one of them!

On Day 2 I woke up starving hungry with aching legs. My body was telling me I had done well and now I could relax and catch up with eating. My mind knew otherwise. I panicked and took some strong painkillers. The weather was absolutely miserable, and the start was certainly a hobble rather than a race. Fortunately I had a guardian angel, Jeff Lynn, a friend from Winchester and District Athletic Club, who took over the map reading after I dropped the map which was nearly blown off the cliff. Although the first half was relatively flat, instead we had gale force winds, and pebbly beaches to contend with, and by the hills in the second half there was no chance to sprint down the descents as the paths were so slippy, and the winds were doing their best to blow you off balance into the sea far below. I again attained my personal worst marathon time of 6 Hrs 24.

Psychologically day 3 was the easiest, although it was the hilliest yet, with all the hills being too steep muddy and rocky to run either up or down. The sun was shining and the end was in sight. The sun brought out the locals which meant a little bit of welcomed support, except on one occasion when I stopped to look at the map at a junction and a helpful passer-by told me the route was down the hill. Off I went full of enthusiasm, only to find I was off track and ended up behind the 2 runners I had successfully managed to overtake earlier.

The last 2 ½ miles of the challenge were on a sandy beach, if I ran I would be finished in about ½ an hour compared to closer to a full hour if I walked. I used all my will power and managed to keep running the whole way which brought me to the finish line after a total of 19 hours 39 minutes. There I had to say goodbye to the many friends I’d made over the 3 days, but I suspect I’ll be seeing some of them again. I really am insane now.

Just completed the Jurassic Coast Challenge; 78.6 miles of steeply undulating coastline over 3 days. Probably more as there were some minor navigational issues.

My 120g Raidlight walking poles were invaluable for the steep, muddy assents and decents, especially as my centre of gravity is shifted with the weight I carried. I only used 1 pole as I liked to have a free hand, so I leant the second to a friend, and we both lost the elastic bit to fold them away, I hope I can get a replacement. Will do a bit more training before I decide to bring 1 pole or two for the race in October.

I've tried 4 pairs of socks:

Injini - slipped down into my shoe, so I got a huge blister over my achilles

Nike Ladies Elite Running Quarter Sock -great, kept my feet dry so not a hint of a blister

X Sock Run Performance Sock - probably ok, but they were too big and had a strange orange bit sticking out at the back, which is meant to prevent rubbing, but I think was just in the rong place for me.

1000 miles socks - just stayed wet, so got blisters, and they slipped down into the shoe so I had to stop to readjust them.

While running I ate tracker bars and pepperoni, and drank SIS energy drink. I had Jelly babies and Brazil nuts as an extra energy boost, which were great.

After 24 hours of recovery I'm doing well, a gentle swim and sauna was really helpful. Hope to start running slowly tomorrow

I have set a picture of the 2007 Sahara race as the background on my desktop for inspiration.

I've got blisters on my back from where my bag rubs, and the friend I am meant to be running the Jurassic coast challenge (78 miles over 3 days) with in 4 weeks time has just broken her ankle. She thinks she will still be able to run. Hmm, not according to my pathology text books - we'll see.

My life is now revolving around running, so I thought it was time to write down the advice which I have recieved so far.

I am training 4 times a week, as that is all I have time for. As often as possible I'm training with my running club, as then I find running more of a social occasion and I don't notice the effort. 3 times per week I run with weight. I intended to increase by 1/2 kg per month, but speaking to someone who's run it before he suggested I train with full weight from the start, so I'm compromising and increasing the weight quicker, I've got to 5kg + the water I need to drink.

I'm trying to do 15mins of yoga per day to prevent injury. I havent found a yoga for runners DVD, but I've got a great DVD called Yoga for surfers, it doesn't take the yoga side of things too seriously, but it's hilarious to watch. Probably even more hilarious for the people walking past while I'm attempting all these strange balances.

I'm also practicing eating while I run, I've started going out after a meal, which used to give me cramps, but now seems to be ok. and I eat a peperoni or tracker bar every hour. I drink SIS as I find that doesn't taste too sweet, and I'm hoping that will replace lost salt.

I met a doctor of sports medicine recently who gave me some tips:

Try to take slow release energy, ie products with lowest glycaemic index, Walnuts and almonds are good, and porridge, esp with the larger oats and sweet potatoes.

At the end of a days running we will have used up all the glycogen stores in our liver, this is best replaced by eating carbohydrate rich foods, within 20 -60mins of finishing.

As we will be in negative energy balance will start to burn up muscle. So it is essential to take in adequate protein to reduce this. You need 30g protein/day, and this should be spread throughout day as you can’t absorb more than 10g at a time.

He also recommended cinnamon, I don’t remember why.

I'm contemplating using walking poles. I had a friend who's a physio, who did his ressearch showing how much less energy you used if you walked in the mountains using walking poles. I subsequently bought myself some and never used them, so I've given them to my mum who's never used them. I don't want to buy some more, and still never use them, especially if it also means I carry them 150miles. I'll think about that.

Thats where I'm at. I hope I can keep up with the pace until October