The task is best described as .... tricky.
Having had some leg issues in the past (stress fractures), I have always been conservative with my running. Less is more, if I get past 60km in a week I tend to get sore, despite getting a weekly massage.
In 2010 I did the Comrades marathon in South Africa, an 89km race that is very hilly. Training for that involved one long run every weekend, with a few shorter runs during the week.
Looking back, I think doing very long runs every weekend (longest 62k, 8 runs of 40km or more) actually took too much out of me, even though they were at a low heart rate and intensity. And of course, the idea there was to peak for a one day event, not be capable of backing up day after day for a week like you need to do in the MDS.
So the program here was different, I would need to run consistently, and to train the body to recovery quickly, and go again the next day. But I had to be careful, I had to start slow in order to avoid injury, but I had to build mileage quickly if I was going to prepare myself adequately.
So training was going to be a fine balance due to the time available.
The answer of course, is to train at a low intensity. This event for me is not about winning, its about finishing. And I wont be running the whole way so its about a run / walk strategy. With that in mind, building miles was then as much about time on the feet.
I set a limit as no more than 30km in any session, but would do lots of 25-30km sessions, trying to mimic as much of the event as possible.
Training for the event started in the last week in December and I decided I would continue to do some swimming and biking as cross training, to keep building the fitness, without the impact of running.
TRAINING PLAN
The following table shows my MDS training:
Week Run Km No of Runs Longest Run X Training sessions
Dec 9 1 9km 1
3 Jan 37 4 12 7
10 Jan 44 4 16 5
17 Jan 57 5 21 5
24 Jan 58 4 21 5
31 Jan 60 3 25 3
7 Feb 82 5 25 4
14 Feb 84 5 30 2
21 Feb 41 2 25 2
28 Feb 84 5 29 1
7 Mar 102 6 29 1
14 Mar 52 3 25 0
The race taper began on Mon 21 March and given its such a long event at 250km, I have decided that the taper needs to be long also, so its a full two week taper.
During that time, I plan not do any running sessions at all, giving the legs, muscles, micro fibres etc, plenty of time to heal and recover. After all, in the last two weeks I am not going to get any fitter, only risk injury and soreness, so its time to let the body absorb the training that's been done, stay healthy and freshen up.
You will have noticed the number of cross training sessions drop substantially from 14 Feb onwards. There is a simple reason for that, I got a job. Having taken a package from my last employer when the company was acquired and a significant restructure done, I had plenty of time to train as and when I liked - which really helped the fitness levels.
From 14 Feb onwards, doing a Chief Financial Officer role, I quickly lost almost 12 hours from every day with working, travelling to work and preparing for work. This was a significant adjustment and in order to keep the sleep levels up and stay healty, I dropped some of the cross training.
Also to fit in the long runs, I found I had to run into work and out of work during the week, about 16km each way. However that was great training to get the body to back up, just as it will have to do in the MDS.
TRAINING WITH BACK PACK
A key element of the training was to train with a weighted back pack. After all, the MDS is not just about doing the 250km, but doing it with a back pack carrying all your food, requirements and certain compulsory items for the duration of the event.
Having viewed a fair bit of footage on You Tube and a DVD of a past event, a very popular back pack seemed to be from a company called Raidlight. So I jumped on their website and ordered one from France.
It arrived a few weeks later and I couldnt believe how light it was! I also couldnt believe how small it was! It had a 20 litre capacity at the back, and 4 litres at the front. I was very keen on a front pack as you had ready access to food, gels and drinks without having to struggle reaching around the back (and I am not that flexible) or take the back pack off all the time.
The front pack (below) proved to be a problem.
The problem being, with drink bottles in the sides of the front pouch, it would bounced a lot, making running difficult. Tightening all the various straps to keep it from bouncing (a) didnt work and (b) made it very tight around the stomach, which was uncomfortable, and didnt stop it from bouncing anyway!
Having a 1.5 litre bottle across the front worked out, so that was a possible solution, until I heard from a mate of mine who has the same pack, that his pack ripped when he put a 1.5 litre bottle across. Feedback from past years of the MDS was that every year, some people had problems with their packs... so the question was, to risk it or not??
The back pack though was very comfortable on the back.
But it really was small.
So in the end, I decided to try again.
The Aarm Marathon Magic 22 litre pack was the one I ended up choosing, and that also had a 3 litre front pack as well, but was better designed and didnt bounce at all.
Below is a photo of me with the Aarn pack running on the coastal trail on my way to work.
It was a warm humid morning to run into work, but with no wind, was very enjoyable. And the views were terrific...
Specific event training would be done in the following ways
- a trial event - would be the Maroondah Dam trail run. Up and down hills, on trails, a good test on a tough course/
- back pack runs along the coastal trail - a sandy & rocky surface.
- specific training on the beach and on a sand dune to test equipment.
Reports on each of these will be done separately.
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