One year ago

It is already one year since we stood in the middle of the Sahara desert in Morocco at the starting line of the Marathon des Sables 2008. Well, I am glad I did it last year - this year the organiser had a hell of a job on hand with all the rain and flooding. The first stage got cancelled and since the race is on the way, they improvise every day. The runners do not know where they will go next day and for how long as it all depends where there is no water and flooding! Apparently it is also very cold out there, especially at night and the runners struggle to keep warm. Looks like a hell of a challenge for this years run as well. More info you can find and follow the race at http://www.darbaroud.com/index_uk.php

I am on track for the big race in May - lost a few kilos, which is good and knees are holding up with all the hill training I am doing. Last week I did a 3 hour walk with the backpack and finished the week on 70km. Hope the weather will improve again as I am not yet ready to run in the rain

Cheers
Markus

6ft - done and dusted

I am glad I got this one out of the way - a good run in excellent conditions and as usual with brilliant support from all the volunteers. Arrived very happy after 6 hours at the caves. The first section down from Katoomba was wet and slippery and as a result everyone took it slow. Unfortunately Trent (Marathon Man) twisted his ankle (twice) in the first 2 km and struggled for 7 hours all the way to the finish - his foot looked more like a ball then anything else by that time.

The way down to Cox River was as usually crowed with a single line of runners and it was almost impossible to overtake - in hindsight this was a good thing, as I saved energy during that section which I used as soon as I finished the climb up to Pulivometer - once that monster hill was out of the way, it was all downhill (kind of) to the caves.

As a training run for the coming TNF100 in May it was an ideal test - I managed the final 10 km in great shape and good legs - all that hill training is paying off. Had a hard time to eat and even get the gels down after a while this time and I lost 2.5% of body weight during the race. This needs to be addressed until May as for the 100 km race I can not allow to drop that much weight after less then half the distance.

8 more weeks of hard training ahead and then we are back in Katoomba for the 100km race. Will start running to work again once or twice a week and do some more steps and hills - those Blue Mountains sure looked hilly yesterday....

6ft Track

I can not believe it is almost a year since the Marathon des Sables - Saturday I will be on the start for my 3rd 6ft track marathon from Katoomba to the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains. http://www.sixfoot.com/course.php It is a pretty full-on course and I will be happy to finish within the given timelimit of 7 hours for the 45km. Last year I could not finish the race due to my knee problems but hopefully on Saturday afternoon I will be having a cool beer at the Cave House! This race is all done in preparation for the big on in May, so I will carry my good old MdS backpack along. A shame my buddy Michael had to drop out due to injury last week but I am sure to meet some old faces on Saturday during the run.
More (good) news on Sunday - Save running and happy training
Markus