Packed!!

Right this is my last blog before I go!  I have finished my packing and ready for take off 🙂  It is a crazy amount of stuff but I have somehow managed to get it into my tiny bag!  It is hard to prepare for all eventualities but hopefully I have not forgotten anything major.  I just need to print my flight details and get all my paperwork out and then we will set off to London.

Packing wise I have been unable to carry everything in my hand luggage so I am going to have to risk it a little bit and hope nothing bad happens to my suitcase in the hold.  I must go through my list one more time and ensure I have all emergency and essential equipment.

John has been amazing and he has got me an amazing Thermarest blow up mat and I am borrowing his awesome Go Pro so hoping to get some good photos and a few videos!  I am excited in a terrified kind of way…all the last 6+ months of training will be over so fast which is a weird feeling.  I think I will feel better when I get there and experience the climate and environment.

I had a lovely chat with my sister and brother yesterday who made me feel considerably calmer although I am still freaking out a little!!

Right time to get going and I will do another Blog when I get back 🙂 ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Final bits and bobs…

We are into the last 9 days now ahhhhhhh!!  I am just desperately trying to think of the last little bits I may have forgotten.  Last night I ordered a pair of disposable slippers like the ones you get in a hotel, I am hoping they are tiny but I can always trim them!

Ipod charging:

This has been a debate for weeks on what is the best and lightest way to charge your ipod/iphone while running.  I bought a USB charger portable charger (I had thought it was battery powered) and through trials at home it would only charge my Ipod one and a half times.  Now I am assuming I am going to need more charge than this, so the debate then was do I buy a solar charger instead or another battery/USB one and take 2 with me.

Solar charges are quite expensive and knowing me I would not get the most expensive so financially I decided to go for a second battery powered charger and then I would also take a second spare pair of batteries.  So in theory I am hoping I may have 3-4 full charges of my ipod which I am hoping may get me through the 7 days.  The last day is a short 10 mile charity run so I will not need it then so it is just the other 6 days.

The charger cost me £2 and comes Saturday so I can test it then and then panic and make some extra purchasing if needed!!

Stage distances: (this is word on the streets)

Stage 1: 38km Stage 2: 31km Stage 3: 41km Stage 4: 100km Stage 5: 42km Stage 6:12km

I also had delivery of 2 pairs of running shorts, I ordered 2 pairs as I thought it likely I would not like a pair….as it turns out I like them both!!  So now I need to decide which ones I prefer and I will send the other ones back.  Or I may just keep both!

My next Job is to get 200 euros to take with me.  Yesterday I sorted out my food into days and started reducing the packages as small as I could.  I also needed to make sure I had at least 200-2500 calories a day which I do have so it just needs some final sorting and reducing in size then hopefully there is a chance it may fit in my bag!

Tuesday I did a quick 7 miles with a 7kg pack on my back…wow it was heavy!!  I have a little tenderness in my left calf and so I am avoiding running today while I do a course of deep tissue massage but I am doing spin etc in a bit and I have been doing as much hot yoga as I can at a sweaty 37 degrees!

Tomorrow I am seeing my GP at 11am and I am desperately hoping he will sign my medical form otherwise it will be mad panic after that!! Fingers crossed 😀

Preparation

Well I am finally in the last couple of weeks and unfortunately I am having some abdominal issues.  I have very acute abdominal pain since Friday lunchtime and it is now Sunday morning.  The pain varies in intensity but is fairly constant so I may need to visit my GP tomorrow to get it investigated.

Other than that I have started preparing and packing my food into days and working out calories.  The last thing I need to get is some pepperami and I have ordered 3 packs of Cliff blocks and another tube of 20 electrolyte tablets so when they come I am sorted.  I need to now condense it all down and fit it in my pack which seems an impossible task at the moment!

The wonderful guys I work with gave me a good luck card and a generous present so I have ordered the above bits and some shorts to run in are on their way!  Apart from that my kit is fairly sorted but tonight I am going to go through the essential list and double check if there is anything else I need to order.  Yesterday I also ordered some travel bottle to decanter some toothpaste etc into smaller bottles.

My injinji socks and long sleeve running top came so I need to give them a trial run when I can.

Tapering….

Well it is less than 3 weeks now ahhhh and so the tapering begins.  This week will be lots of stretching, yoga and sauna time with 3 shorter runs between 10-15/18 miles.    I want to get some more pack training in but with a heavier weight over a shorter distance.

Everyone is being really generous with donations and I am raising lots of money which is fantastic as I can safely say this has not been easy!!  Poor John has taken the brunt of fatigue, mood swings, grumps, and just not seeing me as much…..basically I have been a boring girl friend the last 6 months!  Without his support I would not have got this far so for that he is my rock!

Yesterday I ordered a long sleeve running top although in small so hopefully the sleeves aren’t too short etc!  I have also ordered some Injinji toe socks as I have been having problems with toe rubbing and getting blisters so hopefully they will help.  John says he has a ration tray I can take and then I just need to go and buy some shorts to run in this week.

Apart from that I have a few little bits of food to buy and then this weekend I have to work out how to fit it all into my small 20l pack!! It is all about final preparation now, hopefully the tanning lotion will come which I can start putting on my feet.  Before that I need to soak them and give them a good pedicure as they are not in great condition and need to be softer.

Very exciting final stages and I can’t believe that 3 weeks today I will be running!!  I am also nervous about how I will feel after when it is all over and I won’t know what to do with myself!!….But I can assure you I will be entered into something else fairly quickly I am sure!!

Blisters

Well I have recovered really well from my 45 miles Saturday and I am back running again.  I have tried stretching and releasing but I have been quite sore for the last few days but last night and this morning I did some good spin classes.

I did sadly get some nasty blisters on my big toes which needed some treating and draining and are now starting to dry up and heal.  They have been rather painful and I am a little concerned about blisters in the desert.  I am going to have to start using the rubbing alcohol but at the moment it would be too painful.  My pack also rubbed quite badly and that is also healing but improving slowly but I will have to run without a pack for a couple of days to make sure it is all recovered.

Tomorrow morning I am going to do a nice run but I will wait and see how my legs feel but perhaps around 15 miles and then a longer run hopefully with my pack on Friday.

Today I bought some fatty pork scratchings to add to my feed pile, 60g of them adds a goo 400 cals and they will be used for post run recovery as I assume I will not be wanting to start heating water as soon as I stop running.

This weekend I am going to start sorting my food into days and calories so I know how much I have got and then I can finalise all my food choices.  I need to have over 2000 kcal in total and therefore 14000 kcal in total. I also need to go to some sport shops and look for shorts and a running top to wear which are performance and will not rub.

Green Man

They released the MDS route map yesterday and the long day is longer than ever totalling over 91km!  With this in mind I decided I need to increase and push on the long runs so….

A slight last minute decision with a little bit of ‘life is short, it is only money and just give it a go!’ I have entered the Green Man ultra around Bristol tomorrow a hearty 44 miles. So I have printed off my map and hopefully I will manage to not get lost this time!  Laura who I am sharing an MDS tent with is doing it with another girl so fingers crossed it will be a nice day.

I will be driving back to Devon then after for the night to et this ECG done so I shall update my blog after on progress!

Exhausted

This week is not feeling as good as last week and psychologically I am not feeling so good either!   I had a couple of days at the beginning of the week doing classes and then yesterday I enjoyed my morning spin class and Ella and I did about 3 miles before that.

Unfortunately I had a very busy day yesterday and I have a been a bit stressed with work so this morning I decided to have a little lie in and slow morning rather than get up and run like I normally do.  I procrastinated for a while and then when I finally went for a run I felt awful!  My legs felt heavy, I felt tired and motivation was low.  Ella and I did 4.2 miles and then I carried on and managed 12 miles in total.  I did not use my pack as I still have healing skin on my back from where my pack rubbed last Sunday.

Tomorrow morning I am meeting a friend Becky at 7am in the morning so I shall try and get a few miles in before I see her and aim for 20+ in total.  Tonight I have a free evening so I can rest and get an early night and try and recharge my batteries.  Lots of vitamin C, multivitamins and my probiotics too today with all my vegetables.

On a positive my sleeping bag came yesterday: https://www.myracekit.com/product/rab-neutrino-200-sleeping-bag

So that is one less thing to worry about and today I am researching running tops.  I still cannot decide whether to go short sleeve or long sleeve so if I can find some which are reasonably priced I may get both and then the first night in camp I can decide which ones to wear.

Saturday I am driving home to have an ECG with CRY back at Pilton College so hopefully that will be ok.  It is cheaper to drive home than get it done at the Spire or Nufield as they quoted about £80.  I have also had the delivery of my iodine which I have put away to be packed and I also got my rubbing alcohol so I can start mixing this with olive oil and putting it on my feet.

My next job this afternoon is to write down all my food in a table so I can have all my calories planned out.  Then I also know what I am left to get like the salami, beef jerky and maybe some more super noodles!

High Mileage

Last week was my best week yet! To finish the week off I did double spin Saturday wearing a hoody in the first class as a bit of heat training.  Yesterday (Sunday) I did a hearty 24 miles with my full pack and about 4kg.  It went really well except I wore the wrong running top which was just a cotton t-shirt and as a result it rubbed all the way.  I now have terrible sores on my back and I am suffering a little but I managed to keep going.

My feet are a little better and I am ordering some iodine to help deal with any blisters when in the desert, I am also going to order some alcohol and mix it with olive oil and start applying it to my feet to try and toughen them up.  At the same time I must try and keep them soft and supple which is why I shall add the olive oil.

Yesterday John and I trialled some of my kit, I need to start wearing my trainers around the house to soften them up now they have velcro around them.  We trialled my awesome head torch which is tiny but very powerful and I just need to get a spare battery for it.  I wore my gaiters which are very comfortable and fit my trainers well.

Saturday I trialled adding milk creamer into my porridge…..SUCCESS!  Such a great and easy way of adding extra fat and calories to my breakfast.  I am slightly concerned about the sweetness of the porridge I have so I shall be getting plain oats instead.  I am also taking more savoury options just in case I get sick of sweet porridge, I also want to take some muesli with me but this could also be too sweet but I shall just have to try and force it down.

Saturday I also bought an extra 500ml foldaway water bottle with a caribiner clip so I can attach it to my rucksack and it hardly weighs anything.  I also got a breath freshner spray…essential, and my body wipes and some body wash to take with me.

Oh, and most importantly last night I FINALLY ordered my sleeping bag!!!  I have gone for a slightly heavier bag weighing about 680g but it has a comfort rating of 5 degrees so I am hoping it should keep me warm.  It is the Rab endurance 200 sleeping bag in grey and orange. Yippeee!!  Thats all the main kit done, I just need some running shorts and a running top and then I just need to practice getting it into my 20L bag!

High Mileage

I am into the last 3 weeks of heavy training before the tapering and it is going really well.  This week has gone like this:

Monday and Tuesday: rest and classes

Wednesday: Spin and 2 short runs with Ella totalling about 5 miles

Thursday: Long 22 mile run with full pack but not full weight.

Friday: 15 mile run with a slightly heavier pack (about 1kg heavier)

Saturday (today):  Double spin, the first was spent in a hoody so as to get some heat practice in.

Tomorrow I plan on another long run, hopefully 22-25 miles again with full pack.  I had a slight water bottle holder malfunction on my pack Friday so I need to sort this out tomorrow.  I am still taking the echinacea and the probiotics for my tummy.  My tummy still feels quite settled so this is all good.

I was hoping to go for a long social run this afternoon but I didn’t know anyone and they weren’t starting until 12 so I do not want to be running into the evening in the cold as I would probably end up ill again.

Kit: This week my new Raidlight sahara hat has come which is baby blue and rather lovely!  I am still on the hunt for the perfect sleeping bag and I will hopefully order one today.  My charger has come for my Ipod but it is not battery powered as I thought it is mains charged so I need to charge it and see how long it will last.  I have also had a delivery of 40 electrolyte tablets, 20 are High5 and 10 are Powerade ones so they have been stored away.  I also tride some wide boy pepperami which are delicious so I shall be taking as many of them as I can stuff in my bag!!  My merino wool top has FINALLY arrived and looks rather warm so I need to try this out.

We had some good new yesterday, this year they are getting rid of the emergency flare and instead we all get a GPS tracker which updates my location every 10 minutes.  It also has an SOS button in case I have any problems and this is a massive reassurance to me, John and most importantly my parents 🙂  At the end of the day I am out to see what my body can do and have an adventure…..I don’t want to get lost in the desert and put my life at risk!!

Legs going well and continue to be injury free (touch wood).  My only other concern at the moment is my feet again 😦  I am still unsure of what I am doing with them but they are not looking great at the moment!  They need to be tough but soft!?…Laura and Alan have started using the Tuf foot; http://tuffoot.com/ and they think it may help so I may give it a try!

Awesome week!!

Well after a bad and rocky few weeks I am finally back on track!  Last week went like this:

Monday: Rest and a couple of classes to teach

Tuesday: Rest and a short run

Weds: 2 spin classes and a short run with my full pack (about 4kg)

Thurs: 15 miles full pack (about 4kg) and a spin class

Friday: 20 miles with full pack (4kg) in the sand dunes in Porthcawl in Wales with a couple of my tent buddies Laura and Alan.  This was awesome but insanely hard!

Saturday: Recovery 6 miles

Sunday: Steady 12 miles with full pack (4kg)

So it was a good week and my pack is sitting very well and not rubbing much which is awesome, once I get going I forget it is on my back.  I have now started to take Echinacea (http://www.avogel.co.uk/herbal-remedies/echinacea-echinaforce/) so hopefully this will help fight off any bugs.  My tummy still feels good on the Biocare probiotics so I shall continue to take these.

This week will see higher mileage, more pack running and lots of hills.  I need to plan another trip to the sand dunes over the next few weeks as it was incredibly challenging by exactly what I need.  I need to sort out my electrolytes so I shall have another chat with Jacky about this, I think I shall take some Nuun tablets as well as the torq sachets, and tablets.  My food content currently is expedition meals (varying companies), 9bars (amazing), Cliff bars, Cliff blocks, trail mix, protein sachets, milk creamer, salami (varying types), beef jerky, coffee and hot chocolate sachets.

I need to start some serious heat training now into the last few weeks so I have hours in the sauna ahead of me.  My partner is away the next couple of weeks Mon-Fri which means I can be very selfish and go to bed early and focus on my own health, rest and recovery while getting the mileage in.  I might do a 50k Saturday but it is a socially organised run so I am going to decide at the end of the week.

I am currently injury free (touch wood) but I am seeing the amazing physio Richard Spink tomorrow for a bit of an MOT and hopefully he may spot an issue before it becomes an issue!  My trainers have been stitched and all sorted and my new Raidlight bottles have come.  I now want to order a new Raidlight sahara hat and I need to get my sleeping bag and running clothing then I am nearly ready 😀