ENVIRONMENT CHAMBER

Good news today as I have received a phone call from one of the lecturers at Liverpool John Moore University confirming that I will be able to use their environment chamber before setting off for the Sahara Desert. I had contacted them last week and wasn't sure if it would be possible. The call today was from an environmental physiologist - but even better he did the Marathon des Sables himself in 2005, so has real experience of what I will be facing.

The plan is for 4 sessions (March 11th, 13th, 18th and 20th) wearing the same kit as I will be running in and carrying rucksack etc and taking fluids on board as expected for the event. The temperature will be between 30 and 35 C and I will do 1 hour sessions. This will push up my core temperature and should help acclimatising to the temperatures I will face in the MdS. I will also have weight checked before and after each run and will monitor my pulse rate and this should give me a good idea about fluid replacement strategies.

Last week was a very gentle recovery week - did just under 30 miles and also managed 3 gym sessions and 3 core muscle sessions. I also actually played golf for the first time in about 6 months as well as getting out with my camera for a couple of hours. It made a good change from churning out the miles.

Have started this week with a 10 mile sand dune run on Sunday. I have decided to take trekking poles with me - what a difference they made when working my way up and down the steeper sand dunes. Followed up with an 8 mile run yesterday with the middle 4 as a tempo run and have just had a gym session for an hour tonight. Am planning 9 miles intervals tomorrow and if time permits a gym session on Thursday morning before heading to the airport and out to the apartment in Tenerife. Will be good to run in some warmer weather - predicted to be low 20s on Friday and Saturday - and hopefully will help a little with acclimatising.

Next blog entry will be written either in Tenerife or when I get back!