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We'll regularly update this page with info and images from our training - from race reports, to kit purchasing to boring weekly long runs - this is where to keep up to date with our preparation for this epic adventure.
We're very proud to announce that the lovely team at Den Creative have thrown their support behind our challenge. For a little bit more about them, check out our Sponsors section or check our their (amazing) website here. Thanks guys!
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The Bavarian Beerhouse in Tower Hill was the venue for our latest fundraising planning meeting. Nothing set in stone just yet but the plan is to run the following events over the course of the next 5 months:
- Half marathon, Richmond, Race 1 (late November) - Carol Concert, Clapham Old Town (December) - Half marathon, Richmond, Race 2 (early February) - Black Tie party (February) - Golf Day (mid-March) Watch this space for more details! Great week on the running front with 35.4 miles in total including two fantastic longer runs with a friend who's training for the gruelling Himalayan 100. The first in the picture-perfect Richmond Park for a 14.33 mile run (2 laps). The picture is of my heart rate during the run where you can clearly see the effect of the undulating terrain! Then on Sunday, we did a tempo run covering 8 miles in just over an hour. Feeling strong at the moment, but next week training really starts, with the introduction of pack weight - a very important part of the training, given we will be running with around 9-12kgs on our back during the actual race - not a nice thought!! After a rather sketchy few months with his calf injury, Andy was rather apprehensive going into Sunday's marathon with only a half marathon and a couple of light jogs to his name in the last month. He needn't have worried... An early start meant we arrived in Munich with the whole day to check in and relax. About 6 hours later having seen pretty much every square inch of the enormous Olympic Park and finally managing to get a taxi to do the circa 1km journey to the hotel, we settled in for an afternoon of tea and jaffa cakes. Morning came and with it a bit of sunshine to counter the single figure temperatures and I headed to my first spectator station at 7 KM. The boys came flying past in good time and i only managed to get to 14 KM with a few mins to spare before they flew past me there too. As the day warmed up and the legs got tired, i thought their average speed would slowly drop off but as they passed me at 32 KM and again at 36 KM, the pace was sticking constant as the boys forced a smile and a wave for the camera. A few minutes later Andy crossed the line in 3:55:01 - a 20 minute improvement on his Paris Marathon result earlier in the year. The time, plus no calf pain at all, meant Andy could celebrate a very positive day with a Schnitzel and a couple of Steins of lager. I was of course happy to join him after my tiring 4 hours of clapping... EG. Andy and Kieren were down in Dorset last weekend, primarily for a golf competition which Kieren won(!), but more importantly to do get some miles in over the difficult coastal terrain of the Jurassic Coast.
First run was on the Friday with just over 12km on the beach and up and down the coastal paths. On Saturday a further 13km run with c.1200ft of ascent. And finally on Sunday, another 11.2km. Good weekend all round - with just over 35km of miles along the beautiful but not entirely leisurely Jurassic Coast! My training for the 2014 Marathon des Sables had been going really well until 4 weeks ago. I went out for a 13 mile run and ended up injuring my calf after 7 miles, needless to say it was a long walk home. The physio said it would take about 6 weeks until I would be back running to the level I had previously. Frustratingly this meant absolutely no running for 3 weeks but on the bright side, meant I could work on my one-rep max bench press at the gym! After 3 weeks of stretching and strengthening, early last week I went out and did 10 minutes, consisting of 30 seconds walking, followed by 30 seconds running. I built on this every day and after 5 days had worked up to 40 minutes exercise with 5 minutes of running followed by a minute of walking. With my recovery going well, I decided to try the calf out at the Henley Half marathon last Sunday. After taking it easy for the first 5km, I had no pain so decided to up the pace. Thankfully the calf behaved and I managed to complete it in 1:46 with no problems. Officially back to full fitness, next up is the Munich Marathon in 10 days time. It would appear we've done Kieren a disservice over the last few training posts as despite being on holiday in East Africa for a few weeks, he has indeed kept up his MdS training with some good acclimatisation training in 35+ degrees along the beaches of Lamu (an island off the coast of Kenya).
He even managed to recruit a local runner to take him out on the first few days - however, after having his proverbial behind handed to him on those particular runs, he decided to do his own thing the rest of the time! Needless to say, a good few weeks of training along the sandy beaches and the heady height of Nairobi (6000 ft above sea level)... w/c 9th : 16.01 miles w/c 16th: 36.11 miles As a team, we're not having the best of luck with 3 out of 4 of us currently injured! With Andy (calf), Kieren (knee) and Elliott (achilles) all currently unable to run but trying to do as much alternative training as possible - we're still all super-focused on the challenge ahead and hope to be able to report more positive training updates in the weeks ahead.
Thank you to everyone who's sponsored us so far, we've had a really strong first few weeks of fundraising with the pot currently standing at £2,290. We'll be in touch with everyone soon about a big Christmas Party that we're going to organise so watch this space! Few more miles that last week... as a team we've managed to throw together just over 30 which with the injuries still in the mix, that's definitely an improvement on last week!
Kieren: 0 miles (holiday) Elliott: 22.5 miles Andy: 0 miles (injured - calf) Ben: 7.5 miles (holiday) Lots of cross-training and rehab going on in the background so we hope to report some much bigger volumes in the weeks to come. Not an entirely productive first week of logged miles for the team:
Kieren: 14 miles Elliott: 0 miles (injured - rib) Andy: 0 miles (injured - calf) Ben: 0 miles (holiday) We'll improve, promise! |
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