Off we go!

Finally - a plane to catch in 2 hours! Ready as ready I can be!
Now I only need to get all my race gear and food through customs as carry on baggage....don't want to risk loosing anything I need to survive the race :-)
Next blog from Morocco!

Packed and ready to go

Finished packing my bag and ended up with 11.2kg. Quite happy as I expected to have much more. So now it is fine tuning and trying to get rid of a few bits and pieces to get as close to 10kg as possible for the starting weight.

Half of the weight is just food - I tried hard to reduce this without getting under the minimum of 2000 calories we need to show per day to the organisiers.

My running equipment comes to about 1.700 kg including shoes and watch/GPS. I guess there is not much hope that it will look anything close to the colours I start with when I cross that finish line 245 km and 7 days later :-)

So that's it - of on Wednesday to Morocco. Please bear with me now for the next few weeks as I won't have much access to Internet or phone but I will try my best to contact Phillippa with my status and progress as often as possible - so you will have an idea of my whereabouts in the desert of
Morocco.

'See' you all on the other side of the race at the finish! And keep an eye out for race number 528!

The heat is on....

The week ended with a 4 hours jog and walk along the coast

helping the Marathon Man distributing his flyer's for his fundraiser gala dinner this coming Thursday evening at the IMAX cinema in Darling Harbour http://www.marathonman.com.au/

We got quite a lot attention in our outfits and interest from

people inquiring about reason for our dress-up.

I ended up getting a good training in completing 100 km for the week and with a knee still kind of in tack.

Today I went to a Bikram Yoga class to get some heat training done - very nice sweating but too hard for me knee - all those twists and balancing exercises, so not so sure if I will go back as I am afraid to damage the knee more.

Less then 20 days to go!!!

Sweeper got swiped...

Could hardly find the start yesterday morning in the thick fog after Friday nights storm up in Katoomba but eventually the bus found its way to the starting line of the 6ft track marathon.

I was kind of weary heading out for this though run with 10kg on my back and my doggy knee but it was a great opportunity to try out my race gear and test last little bits and pieces. All looked fine at the start when Action Jackson handed my the broom and off we went at 8.35am at the end of a record field of runners down the steep steps towards Cox River and the Jenolan Caves.....

The up and downs took a toll and especially the steep downhills together with the heavy backpack did not go down well with my knee and I started to slow down and after about 4 hours and 26km I got swiped away by my fellow sweeper as I did not want to hold them up.

I continued slowly on my own (out of the race) and did all the flat bits of the race course to cover about 37 km in 5 1/2 hours. Even so my knee feels like a thousand knifes are stuck in it I was happy to at least hold up for more then 5 hours and I also found a few problems with my gear which I can now fix before heading off to Morocco.

There are a few more long runs on my training plan the next 2 weeks but I guess I will have to walk them more the running - to keep my knee happy and together till 6th April.

The route for 2008

The below report just got posted on the offical website - so looks like a few more K to go this year....
"The route for 2008 is 245.3 Km long, making it the longest ever in the history of the MARATHON DES SABLES. The race will be challenging from day one - and continue that way - offering all the variety of the Sahara. The course will take runners over ergs (dune zones), seriously steep jebels (up to 25% slope factor) and rocky plateaus. They’ll have to cross hard as iron salt-flats and the driest of wadis. The backdrop to all of this is the most beautiful of landscapes with vistas accessible only to those on foot. The desert has its secret gardens and competitors on MDS will be lucky enough to find them...."

Run4Vision visits Marathon Man

Visiting Trent running on his treadmill at Rebel Sport in

Bondi Junction last weekend. The Marathon Man is

organising a fundraising event at the IMAX next Thursday,

13 March 2008 for Facing Africa.

Check out http://www.marathonman.com.au/index2.html for details and booking options. Looks like a great night of entertainment with dinner, auctions and fun in support of Facing Africa helping the hundreds of thousands of kids suffering from Noma.

Relaxing week

Well, certainly took the doc's advise to heart and enjoyed a relaxing week - only 40km all in all and my knee is holding up fine.
Uli and I enjoyed a very nice weekend away - first wedding anniversary after 4 years of marriage.


Lot's of good food, wine, great concert in the Jenolan Caves with
Didjeridu Dingo!

I will be back up there next Saturday running the 6ft Track marathon as my final preparation - with all my gear and equipment for the Marathon des Sables - final test!

This weekend I did some slow running and walking with the
Backpack - a nice change from the normal running. The nice
spa at the end of every day was a great bonus in our very
secluded and great hideaway in the Blue Mountains

A bit of running and lot's of x-training until Saturday - then 7 - 8 hours of running and walking the 6ft Track plus a couple of hours on Sunday will close up my final week of heavy training - after that it is reducing and getting ready for Morocco.