The Marathon des Sables

I have had a busy day with an early start to clear some work and then a quick presentation at Tilbury Primary School, followed by work a trip to the docs a sports massage and a kit check…
The talk was great and the head even turned out to be able to knock off a highly respectable 1hr27 half marathon!

I was glad I toddled on down to see the GP to try and sort out this ear, he took one look and said it was a good job I did pop in as it was a very nasty ear infection which, if left, could have been awful. With a double course of antibiotics (one for the ear infection and a second course should I encounter problems with anything else whilst away) the Doctor assured me I would be fine by Wednesday and ready to fly, he wished me well and I was on my way home.

After work I had a second massage session with physiotherapist Hugh Crossland of North Ferriby, who kindly donated his services, it was a second sports massage which has left me feeling excellent. Any tights bits have been loosed and all areas have been checked and are ready to go. His prognosis is good and it looks like I should remain trouble free.
No doubt that by Tuesday or Wednesday I will feel a little bruised but that is natural.

With a kit list drawn up, checked, double checked and packed up the pack is sat beside me (almost) ready to go. Just a couple of sundries to buy, top up the sun cream and I am ready. It’s probably a little heavier than I would have liked but I not weighed it yet.

The time is nigh!

With barely days to go one of the main questions people are asking is “Are you nervous?", and honestly, without hesitation the answer is that I am not. With around two years of mental & physical preperation behind me I honestly couldn’t be any more ready, I will never have done as many miles as I had wished and I am sure I could have honed my training a little more but that will almost always be the case. I anticpate my answer will be different when stood at the start line next Sunday.

Unfortunately, I am also sat here with a sore throat and severe earache … in fact, I don’t think I can even hear out of my right ear. At least the throat is subsiding and these things usually clear up after a day or two so I’ll just have to ride it out.

So, I’m just going to relax, get some sleep, check & recheck my kit and hope this passes quickly, in the mean time I am off for another mega hot bath to raise my core temperature.

There have been some comments on the complete lack of calories I am taking and it’s true, there really isn’t a lot. But this is OK, we can dip into some of the amazing mechanisms that evolution has provided us with, and in this instance it’s body fat reserves.

If you have 15% body fat (’average’ for a male) you have enough energy stored in your body to run at marathon pace for 3 days straight … everything else would give up long before you ran out of energy! This energy store was of course to help people when times were lean.

So, how do I work out what I need?

Firstly I worked out my Basal Metabolic Rate using the Harris-Benedict Equation, using the heavy excercise factor I my BMR is normally

3394 = 1.752 * (66+(6.23*180)+(12.7*73)-(6.8*26))

For the purposes of this I am going to use the average factor (moderate excercise) and add the estimated use on, the BMR is now a nearly average
3003.

Lets add the excercise on to that. Running on the road with no pack burns approx’ 1cal/kg/km. So, 1*82kg*250kg = 20500 cals for the weeks running effort, lets conservatively add 40% to that to account for sand/backpack/hills, thats 28700cals for the running. Lets add the daily BMR for the 7 days (7*3003), 21021, so total calorie consumption is 49721.

So I need to find approx’ a whopping 33000 calories from me…

In terms of energy stored body fat holds around 3500 per lb, which means I need at least 9.2lbs of body fat to serve my needs during the race. 9.2lb = 4.2kgs. 4.2kg is about 5% of my body mass. So provided I have the base level of around 4% & and extra 5% body fat I should be fine.

Realistically, total energy consumption could be even higher so here is hoping I have at least 9% body fat, because although there will likely be a little bit, muscle catabolism is painful and inefficient!

Isn’t the human body amazing?

I was asked about equipment by a ‘new starter’ to the exciting and heady world of running so I thought I would ramble on and write an artical for a more general audience. I hope it’s useful.

The “art” of running is almost primeval, it’s a leveller, mano-a-mano if you will, and as such the greatest gear in the world will not make you a great runner. It will however, make your experience a whole lot more comfortable and I call that a win win situation.

Like most runners I took running up in a pair of shorts I found in the cupboard, a cotton t-shirt I wasn’t particularly fussed about and some trainers I already had. In many ways that’s great, you can chuck this gear on and get used to knocking a few miles out and transitioning your life to that of a runner. But, start going out 3 tines a week, get caught in a the changeable weather of Britain and discover that damp cotton plays hell with your nipples, you know it is probably time to think about what you are wearing.

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This isn’t strictly ultra running related, or related at all … but it’s such a good weekend away that I feel I need to spill the beans and tell the world.

The Real Ale Wobble is a unique event and comprises the two normally mutually exclusively activities of Real Ale and Mountain Biking, they have though fused these two events into one amazingly crazy weekend in the Welsh hills around Llanwrtyd wells Wells.

Now that I am sat by a roaring fire in the front room it seems almost unreal that at some point during Saturday afternoon I was up to my waist in a peat bog requiring assistance of a fellow madman to pull me and my new bike out …

During the past 5/6 times I have done this event I have seen some serious mud, snow, rain, blood and beer but this was by far the wettest Real Ale Wobble I have been too! Waiting for the Enduro start along side over 600 riders, there was some great banter, Storm Troopers, single speed bikes a tandem mountain bike, and a dog in a bag.

To say it was muddy would be an understatement and it wasn’t long before I had to be pulled (bike and all) when I was up to my waist in a peat bog which I had found, inconveniently, in the middle of the path.

After some of the best riding in the UK, some of the best beer and much wetness it was back to Llanwrtyd wells to further enjoy some excellent beer and company. In terms of the people we met there was the two GPs and there partners (who we met earlier riding the ultra muddy loop), Jed and his stag do and of course Dave and Brian ( see http://www.kinverbrewery.co.uk/ ) and anyone we met, had a beer with or helped us out!

Now please stand for a chorus of “Davy, Davy Crockett, the man with the beaver on his head!”

• http://www.green-events.co.uk/
• http://www.neuaddarmshotel.co.uk/
• http://www.stonecroft.co.uk/
• http://www.kinverbrewery.co.uk/ - try the “Over the Edge". Tasty!