Training towards the MdS 2010 - 4

How wonderful to be able to get out on the road this evening, and get in a comfortable 13-km run. No record-shattering paces, but a casual average of 5:06/km with a couple of spikes and a few slow moments.

It's funny, but pre-MdS-decision, my thoughts while I ran were mainly directed towards my upcoming first full mara in Zürich on 20th April. Now, each running step is a step towards the MdS - nothing else matters. I wonder if I really am a nutter. Who cares, though, as it's my greatest obsession in life, and I'm going to achieve it, no matter what. I have never been so motivated.

Something I am learning slowly, though, and that is, that "normal" people are as interested in the MdS as I am in politics (i.e. zero interest!!!), and I think it's time to confine my enthusiasm to my blog and the MdS forum, as well as a few people who really do show a fascination in what I am doing. My daily text messages and/or e-mails home to South Africa have also started taking on a less-MdS tone to save myself from threat of ex-communication!!!! Big smile. My friends and family all think I'm a nutter anyway, and I think the MdS has convinced them of the fact!!!!! My fascination with the French Foreign Legion and the US Marine Corps have also had them thinking about casting aspersions about me!!!!! Some things are best left kept to oneself, or to specific forums and websites.

Well, that's it for today. I feel excellent after my run, although do notice, that I have lost a fair amount of condition during this injury time, and have a lot of serious training to do before Paris on 2nd March, and Zürich on 20th April. Regretably, my 18-week training programme for the full mara has been shattered due to the leg/hip thing, but I will catch up as best as I can. All that matters for me is the ability to achieve the MdS - not to win (that doesn't even come into question), but to partake and enjoy it!!!!!!! I can hardly wait!!!!!!!

So, now for a relaxing evening, reading. Why haven't more people written books about the MdS? I got through Mark Hines's book in two days (because I was so totally absorbed in it), and am now gasping for more!!!!! Ah, well, I'll enjoy James Brady's new work Why Marines Fight - a quite intriguing look at the psyche of the US Marines.

'Til the morrow.......

The Final Diagnosis

Wow, am I relieved!!!!!!!! I had my appointment this morning with the orthopaedic speclialist, Dr. Hasler, and he assured me that my leg/hip problem is not a stress fracture of the femoral neck, nor do I have osteoarthritis. There are, indeed, two problems, but they will not prevent me from running:

1. I have a slightly malformed femoral head which rubs against the hip joint from time to time when I run, especially intensely. This is not an immediate problem, but will be watched because it could be a cause of future osteoarthritis. This is not what is causing me the pain from which I have been suffering, but rather ....

2. an infection of the Psoas muscle where it joins the femur (I think!!!! - need to research it more), also caused by intense running without stretching and warming up properly. This can be treated with continuing use of Ecofénac and Aspirin, coupled with specific stretching exercises three times a day. With time, the infection will reduce and the pain with it.

Most importantly, I can run again, although I will suffer form the pain for a while yet, and can use Aspirin during the day to alleviate it - Ecofénac only to be taken at night.

Once I had heard all this, my rather depressed and sullen mood of late, rose markedly, and I am ready again to take on the running world!!!!!! I really had feared that my running life would come to an abrupt end only a few months after it had seriously started.

So, from tomorrow (Tuesday), I am back into training. Was going to go for a run this evening, but it's pouring with rain, and I'm not in the mood for the dreaded treadmill at gym.

Training towards the MdS 2010 - 3

As the forecast foretold, we are in a situation of rising damp, and I have had to forego my running, and shall not forgive the weather its inclemency!!!!!!

I have thus far had a productive morning, after re-watching Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring yestereve. Before I wax eloquent about my efficacious forenoon, I'd like to record something I heard from one of the chappies in LOTR: Decide what to do with the time that is given to you. I find this a most appropriate quote, especially with regard to the MdS. Thus endeth the philosophy lesson. Now to my fruitful matinal Sunday......

Whilst tidying out my study at home, I discovered a pamphlet I had picked up at my last race (31st Zürcher Silversterlauf) in December, and, lo and behold, it's something that got the gonads all agog, and literally lambasted the legs for their lax, layabout manner of late.

I present the Swiss Jura Marathon!!!!!!! See:

http://www.swissjuramarathon.com/5/Welcome.html

and, indeed, for the very last time (sounds very pythonesque, doesn't it? And now, for the very last time on television.....). Wow, I cannot resist this. Not quite the self-sufficiency, spartan conditions of the MdS, but certainly something to seriously consider, and on my door step - well, the other side of the country, but our Helvetic Republic is not exactly the largest country in the world. The course is from Genève in the south to Basel in the north, and covers some 350 km over 7 days, through (and this I can confirm) some of the most beautiful landscapes in Europe.

What to do? Quite simple - overcome two major hurdles.

1. Get the leg/hip problem sorted out - tomorrow I see the specialist.

2. Convince our employee, who always takes his summer holidays in the first three weeks of July, that this year he can't.

Oh, and run more!!!!! Damn this rain!!!

Training towards the MdS 2010 - 2

Well, couldn't wait for my clean running clothes of yesterday to dry, so donned some skiing underclothes and a track suit, and set off. Never again. The track suit irritated me from the start, and the underclothes seemed to become saturated in sweat - no wicking potential!!!! - and within minutes I was not happy!!!!!! The Föhn was strong, and made running tiresome. I decided to quit whinging, and persevere - on the MdS, whinging is not an option, so why should I allow it here.

Good excuse, but my leg was still hurting, and my overall run was slower than yesterday's. Managed an average pace of 5:10/km, and covered 8,72 km. I noticed a discrepancy of 0,5 km and concommitant pace difference between the iPod/Nike+ and Garmin 305 - the latter displaying the more conservative values. Somehow, I trust the Garmin gadget.

I doubt if I will be running tomorrow - not only the leg pain, but the Föhn is expected to collpase, and cold, very wet weather is on its merry way to our neck of the woods 'til Monday. I shall spend the day reading and slothing.

Here is the graph of my pace for today's run - certainly not an elite runner's pace, but I am injured, after all - huge relived smile!!!!! The very slow bits are where I had to stop at traffic lights - annoying!!!!!!! To the right is anothere slow part - nose bleed!!!!! Not too sure about the two rather fast parts towards the beginning - don't remember sprinting.

Training towards the MdS 2010 - 1

Decided I'd seperate these blog entries into Training and Countdown - the former, obviously, being my training blog, which will cover over two years; the latter, a blog of general ruminations and thoughts concerning the race, as well as diverse matters such as shoes, equipment, contact, etc., and, finally, the blog of my participation in March/April 2010!!!!!!!

Today's training blog actually pertains to yesterday. I hadn't run since 26th December (and before that, the last run was the Zürcher Silversterlauf on 16th December!!!). This leg is really getting to me. There are times when I have no pain at all, and other times when I can hardly walk. The frustration is telling, and I'm becoming really aggressive because I am not able to run. Anyway, yesterday was a good day, leg-wise, so I decided to hit the road towards evening. I dressed in my running gear, did some stretching first, set up my iPod/Nike+ gadget, and attained satellite connection on my Garmin Forerunner 305.

I planned on a short run, no more than 5 km, but, once I had got going, it felt so good, that I deviated from my planned route, and ended up running down by the Rhein (Rhine), and through the military area. The mild Föhn wind was blowing quite strongly, but my spirits were high, and my leg/hip felt good. I didn't once have pain in my body, and could easily have run a half-marathon distance, except that it was getting dark (I had no light with me), and it may have been foolish after having not run for so long.

Back home after 7,84 km, I downloaded all my data, and was pleased with my results, given the circumstances. Managed a 5:05/km pace on average - not an elite, but not bad for an injured old sod of 51 years of age.

I did feel a fair amount of pain in my leg/hip once I'd had a bath, and we had walked into town to do some evening shopping - but nothing that Aspirin and, before I went to bed, Ecofénac couldn't mask!!!

It's now Saturday afternoon (5th January), and the Föhn is still blowing, keeping the temperatures far milder than would normally be the case for January, so I'm going to go off for another run, being suitably dosed up on Aspirin. Mental note to self: buy another pair of long running tights!!!! Have to wait for my longs to dry after I washed them late yesterday evening (and forget to hang them out to dry!!!!!).

Countdown to the Marathon des Sables 2010 Part 5

Today, it was business as usual in our small company, after the Festive Season break, during which we did work quite often. My ailing leg is still playing up, but the appointment with my orthopaedic specialist comes ever closer (7th Jaunary). Today, however, was a good one, and I experienced very little pain indeed. Took my Ecofénac tablets yestereve, and then Aspirin at lunch time today, with the intention of a short (5 km) late-afternoon run to see how my leg would perform. Regrettably it was not to be as several business factors got in the way, and I got no run yet again today. If it goes on like this, I may as well burn my running shoes, and resort to chess.

One good thing happened, though. I had been given the mere surname of someone from Chur who, apparently, ran in the MdS at some stage, and that this person works in a bank in Chur. I duly 'phoned the first of several banks, and hit the jacktop. This fellow partook some ten years ago, but is still very active in marathons and ultras, and is very keen to meet me. Swiss TV did a reportage of his participation at the time, and he's going to post me a copy of it, and then we will meet next week. I never thought I would meet someone in this small town who is as mad as me!!!!!! I look forward to next week.

In a way, I am almost glad I couldn't go running today - not only will it give my leg yet another day to heal (hopefully), but there is a Föhn storm blowing today, and, whereas the temperature reached 6,6°C this afternoon, the windchill factor made it certainly feel like well below zero - I hate running in either wind or cold (better get used to extremes before I hit Morocco), but the two combined are anathema to me. I would have gone, however, had I had the chance - or not? In a way, I think I am putting most of my training on hold until I have seen the specialist - probably a wise decision, but it's frustrating the hell out of me.

So, tomorrow is another day.

Countdown to the Marathon des Sables 2010 Part 4

So, it's 2008 already. I remember thinking about how I would be "old" at the age of 43 when 2000 started, and now I'm already in my 50's, and am planning for a major event in March/April 2010!!!!!

Had a brilliant 6 days down in our holiday house in the village of Carona near Lugano in the south of Switzerland. Carona lies above the Lago di Lugano, and it's a 155-km journey by car right through the Alps from Chur - Chur itself lies deep in the Alps of south-eastern Switzerland, in the valley of the Rhein (Rhine). Whilst enjoying the peace of Carona over New Year's Eve, I thought a lot about my hopeful participation on the 2010 MdS race, and also considered some training ideas over the next two years. Presuming that my leg injury heals soon, I'll do my planned two full marathons, three or four half-marathons, and a few other races in each of 2008 and 2009, but also want to get in at least two long solo, multi-day runs.

One of them would involve taking the train from Chur down to Zürich, and then running the 130 km back to Chur over two or (more likely) three days, carrying a rucksack with all provisions (including light tent) with me. Zürich lies at 408 metres above sea level, and Chur is at 600 metres a.s.l., so it's a 200-metre rise in elevation over the 130 km - I cycled it a few years ago, without any training, and it's a nice route, with one small, sharp incline about halfway to Chur. The mountain bike trip took me about seven hours; the running will be considerably longer. I shall plan it for in summer, of course, when, by the way, the temperature in the valleys here in Switzerland can reach up to 38°C at times, and even higher in Chur.

In 2009, I plan to do the same thing, but this time from Chur to Carona. This is far more strenuous. Chur lies at 600 metres, as mentioned above, and Carona is at 602 metres, but in between, on the route I'd take over the San Bernardino Pass, I'd reach an altitude of 2065 metres a.s.l. before the long descent down to Lugano at 280 metres, and then, the very last stretch would be a 320-metre climb over 6 km from Lugano up to Carona - the bastard at the very end - and this is not to mention the climb from Bellinzona (at 227 metres) over Monte Ceneri (at 534 metres) before the secondary descent to Lugano, and the final ascent. My partner and I want to do it by mountain bike as well (perhaps in 2008), but I can't wait to run it over about five days, camping next to streams on the way, and carrying all my food (water en route is not a problem in Switzerland!!!!).

My partner is also keen on the idea of a Nile Cruise this year, followed by a week in Sharm al Shaik (spelling?) - my first thoughts were that this would be a good idea, because then I could get in some desert running behind the sea resort. It's amazing how the mind of a running fanatic works - others would be thrilled at the prospect of the clear sea and reefs; I turn my thoughts to the mountainous area behind the resort and imagine running into the desert!!!!

At the moment, there's always the first consideration: what will be the diagnosis of my leg injury when I see the specialist on Monday next (7th January)??????

Anyway, Happy New Year to whoever reads this, and all the very best.