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Namib Race Blogs 2008

Michael Thompson

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Namib Race (2008) blog posts from Michael Thompson

12 October 2008 03:13 am (GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Well, just over a week until my wife and I fly out for Cairo. We get there a few days earlier as my wife, Rachel, is a volunteer. Will also help me acclimatise to the heat at least a little - although I have been doing heat training for a few weeks now - wearing heavy clothing and turning the heater on full blast next to the treadmill ( best I can do to simulate a higher temp ).

Ran 15km in heat conditions this morning, 10km of that at a fast pace - with full pack weight. Certainly highlights the challenges I will face - mostly OK, but I am definitely feeling the soreness in the shoulders despite training for around 8 weeks with the pack, and 3-4 week with full pack weight.

It looks like my pack will be right on about 10kg now - which I am fairly happy with as I was afraid it would reach 12-13kg.

Has anyone ever had one of the RTP-designed packs rip /tear or a zipper break? This is one fear I have as the pack is absolutely stuffed with food and gear. Will be thinking over the next week about what emergency repair kit I should take in the event this happens, as it could be a major problem.

Shoe wise - I was originally going to get an extra pair of shoes another size larger, but will stick with my worn-in Brooks. They have a little bit of extra space and are working well for me, so the lesser risk is to go with these.

Food - by far the most challenging part of all of this! Trying to decide what to take, and weighing up the total volume / weight vs. nutrition requirements. Last thing I will want is to be feeling hungry while coping with everything else.

That's it for now - getting exciting with the race start in 2 weeks to the day from now!

 

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