MDS 2009 ....

Things aren't looking good for the folk running in this year's MDS. There's been heavy rain in the desert and localised flooding which has caused the start of the race to be delayed by a day and the first stage abandoned. Hopefully the race will now start on Monday as long as the weather improves. Regardless of what happens, there must be many disappointed people out there who have gone to so much effort and expense to get to the start line only to find that they won't be able to complete the full distance. The photo below shows the flooded campsite from where the race was supposed to start.



I went for two runs today. The first being a 9.5 miler this morning and then a 4 mile trot around Hankley this evening. I felt pretty good on both runs and reckon on getting out tomorrow and Monday to add a few more miles to the monthly total which currently stands at 129 miles. The target for March is 140 miles so I should be able to reach that without too much of a problem.

12 months to go...

The current (2009) MDS runners left for Morocco yesterday and will be starting their race in a couple of days. I would have liked to have followed their progress online but will be away in Ireland next week, without internet access so will have to catch up with the news next weekend.

Since I first entered the MDS in November 2006 I've seen the 2008 race come and go and now the 2009 event about to start. So it's my turn next!! With just 12 months to get into seriously good shape I've started to gradually adjust my training and lifestyle. Less alcohol (down from 2 glasses of red wine per night to just a couple of drinks on Friday evenings) has meant that I've been getting to bed earlier, sleeping well and getting up early most days, feeling fresh and ready for some quality early morning runs. My diet has always been pretty good -being a vegetarian helps - but I've made a point recently of substituting fresh fruit for other less healthy stuff!

So overall I'm feeling pretty good and looking forward to some hard work on the running front as the weather improves and the days get longer. I've entered a couple of races before 'The Picnic', namely the Trionium Skyline 10k in April http://www.trionium.com/skyline/ and the Saab Salomon Turbo X in May http://www.saabinmotion.co.uk/turboxtrails/
I'm also down to do the Snowdonia Marathon again http://www.snowdoniamarathon.co.uk/Index.asp and am planning to enter the Athens Classic Marathon http://www.athensclassicmarathon.gr/html/ent/045/ent.1045.1.asp which takes place 2 weeks after the Snowdonia.

So a busy year ahead and the hard work starts now!!

Leith Hill Half Marathon

In the end I opted to give Saturday's 10k a miss and concentrate all my efforts on the Leith Hill 1/2m. If I'd gone for both races in one weekend I wouldn't have done justice to either.

As it happens, the half marathon on Sunday was a superb race. The weather was perfect - sunny and dry and not too cold for the time of year. The race started from a school just outside Dorking and I arrived about an hour before it was due to start so had plenty of time to register and prepare.

And to get everyone into the right mood, the organisers had arranged a little curtain raiser in the form of a 'Wife Carrying Race' which was held 30 minutes before the main event. It was great fun to watch but looked pretty hard work for the carriers, some of whom were also running the half marathon!
Here's a video that I made of the wife carrying event.


My target for the main race was to beat last year's time of 2 hours and 2 minutes, so I set off at a slightly faster pace than I was comfortable with on the basis that I could relax a bit on the return leg which is essentially all downhill. The ground underfoot was fairly dry for the most part but where there were stretches of mud and water I decided to run straight through them rather than lose time just to avoid getting wet feet.

The mile markers came and went pretty quickly and I was soon clambering up the last couple of steep hills before reaching the tower at Leith Hill. There was a brief chance to take in the views towards the South Downs before turning around and heading back again. I checked my time at the halfway point and saw that I'd taken 1 hour and one minute. So, in theory, I had to be in with a good chance of a new pb for the course.

The return leg was much easier and I managed to race down the tracks and footpaths at a pretty decent speed. The last mile, however, had a sting in it's tail in the form of a very hard climb which had the effect of reducing everyone to a walk and adding valuable seconds to the overall time. But once at the top of the killer hill it was a sprint to the finish and a very satisfying time of 1 hour 56 minutes - over 6 minutes faster than last year.

And I'll be back next year for an attempt at getting under 1 50'.

Sunrise...

I took the camera with me this morning to capture some daybreak scenes at Hankley Common.

So, an early morning run today and a 30 minute session on the rower this afternoon.