Never forget where you began….
The weight was unbearable. The mileage, intense. The kit
list, never ending. The training regime relentless!
5 months later, perseverance, bloody-mindedness and a
focused mindset, here we are doing approximately 4 half Marathons a week is
“almost comfortable”. I say almost because, there’s been times that I’ve
seriously hurt.
With only 4 months training time left, distance and being on
feet obviously needs to increase but hey, putting comparisons together, it’s an
improvement right?
I’m still confident that 90% of the Jungle is going to be
adrenaline fuelled combined with mental strength. Although physical fitness is
going to be right up there when it comes to getting the job done it’s a test of
inner strength.
Kit Update: Sleeping bags (yep, you need two. A thick one
for the first night at 9,000ft and a thinner one for under the Jungle canopy)
are sorted. Fortunately I had a good mate who did the MDS last year offer to
lend me his lightweight one so that’s saved me a shedload of expense!
Hotel accommodation for either side of the event is booked
but there’s still plenty more to source. At least the list is getting smaller.
Good job too because I have no idea how it’s all going to fit in the pack! Next
up will be the compulsory medical supplies.
Top Tip: So, the pack’s inability to sit comfortably and not
wear skin away may have been solved. Was talking to a seasoned Ultra runner
(thanks Paul) who kindly shared a somewhat bizarre solution to the problem.
Apparently (and I know this sounds like a weird one), a work about could be to
use women’s pantie liners on the area that gets worn away. They’re light enough
to carry in the Jungle and may solve a whole world of pain. Yeah, I know it’s
laughable but tbh, if it’s a solution then hey, it’s all about survival right?
One thing I’d planned to do was to get some insulation
tubing and pack it at the bottom of the bag. I’ll try that first but great to
know I have a backup solution that’s proven to work.
Monday 21/01. After a rest day yesterday I probably could
easily have taken another! Weather was cold at around minus 1 but hey, kit on,
backpack repacked (again!) and back on it.
Gave some thought to how I could mix the training up without
having to travel to get the hills in and have a plan for Thursday (All will be
revealed later in this post).
Pace for the night was an intentional steady plod at a
slightly quicker rate than normal and was quite literally out for 5 miles and
back again.
No dramas, no grief, just a mental unwind, forget about
things you can’t change in life, head down, go and start the week off with a 10
miler. That’s about the size of it really.
Thursday 24/01. The intention leading up to today’s run was
to do 10 miles out and back followed by shingle hills on the beach. When I say
hills, there’s only two of them but they’re about 40ft high so my thoughts were
focused on getting hills in AND are local. Fortunately for me we have an Army
shooting range located on the sea front. There’s 2 fairly steep shingle mounds
so, my guessing was to run them repeatedly til it hurt like crazy.
After what seemed like a perpetual eternity of repetitive up
and down my legs were totally shattered. Realistically tho’, and in reality I
managed about 40 reps but jeez, it was haaard!
Light jog back along the beach to home saw the mileage tip
out at just over 13 miles.
I’d invested in some Injinji socks on the advice from a
seasoned Ultra friend. For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about,
they’re compression socks that individually cover each toe. In essence, they’re
like gloves for your feet. The advice was passed after I’d mentioned last week
that I’d given myself some nasty blisters when I’d don’t that weird thing with
my laces.
Additionally, the Injinji’s are allegedly good for wet feet
running (which is inevitable in the Jungle) and reduce blistering.
Anyway, thought I’d give them a crack and wow! Sure they’re
a pain in the butt to get on but once in place and out there running, they’re
soooo comfortable. In fact, the blisters I had we absolutely no worse and didn’t
cause me any grief on the session. Winner!
Friday 25/01. Trying to stick to the 45-50 miles per week
(approx 4 x ½ Marathons a week) knew I needed to crack on with at least a 15
miler today. Weather was a few degrees higher than it has been in recent days
and it’s noticeably better for running. Took in the cliff & Hook village
loop before heading home. Tbh my legs just felt heavy from the night before
shingle hill so just plodded away, music on and tucked into what needed to be
done. Pretty uneventful session with the exception of the heaviness> what I notice
is that when I have those lethargic legs, it can seem like treading water at
times. That’s when I find focusing on my surroundings rather than mentally torturing
myself far better than stressing about how far / what time it’s taken etc.
Anyway, run came in at 14.5 miles in a slightly longer
period but hey, Park Run tomorrow so wasn’t gonna be too harsh with
self-judgement.
Saturday 26/01. Needed to do a minimum of 3 miles so hit the
Park Run for more of a social & warm up combined before intentionally
meaning to head out for a little more.
It didn’t go quite according to plan. Took the dogs with me
for the Park Run and the three of us went nuts (not that I had much say in the
matter!).
Soon as we started I’d decided that a good sprint was all beneficial
training and proper going for it had its place where training is concerned.
Pretty much gave the dogs the lead and went with their flow.
We started at the back and soon as the field gave us the space
to get on the beach we just legged it.
Crossed the line with a PB (21:25) but it’s one I’ll not be
counting coz I’m sure it could be argued it was assisted. Either way, bloody
good fun AND there’s nothing better than running with the hounds.
We’d run to the event and ran home so the mileage was only 4½
mile but a leg killer all the same.
Sure the weekly total was slightly low but, 3 x back-to-backs,
horrific shingle hill reps & a speed sprint all in one week was a mix to
the usual total mileage so I’m absolutely not complaining. In fact, it was
quite nice to mix things up a bit.
Week total was 41½ miles bringing this month’s total so far to
185 miles.
Sunday is a well-earned rest day chillin’ before it’s back
to the Monday longish trail run and the start of new week.
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