Time for a bit of guidance

It's simple really isn't it, you train to run ultras by getting up and running miles and miles and miles, don't you?

Well yes I guess so, but lets be honest how many of us actually know how many miles to run, at what pace, what HR, what other areas we should be giving some time to, what not to eat and generally how the heck we get the very best performance we can from ourselves.

So the plan was to get a professional on it, find out how fit I am and get a plan on paper, this hopefully would hit two aims with one rock; the first being to give me an idea of exactly how much work I should be doing and some of the other areas I should be putting time into, like core work, and the second, I'm a lazy sod and easily distracted, so having a bit of paper with it all spelled out on gives me just one thing to do, everything on that bit of paper!

Now I know there are hundreds of trainers and get fit bods out there, but I thought it made a little sense to speak to someone with some MDS experience, and you'd be hard pushed to find any one with more MDS experiance than Rory Coleman, having run it 9 times. Cheap it was not, but the sponsors will pay, when I get some, and I suppose you can't put a price on advice, the bit that did stick in my throat somewhat was my lttle car being classed as a van on the Severn bridge and having to pay £12 quid for the priviledge! - but again sponsors are needed.

We started with a little mental preperation and warm up, then on to the VO2 max test. My only experiance was what I has seen on telly where peoplen seem to pass out on treadmills with what looked like respirators stuck in their gobs, so I was looking forward to this bit!

I'm not sure how we did it but I ran my arse off for a while and at the end I went white the room span an equation was done and I was aparently fairly fit, which was good, I should be running sub 3hrs marathons according to the result, so stepping up is certainly in order!

After this we went for a brew and wrote up a 12 week plan, and had a nosey about on ther tinterweb for some races to enter, Jurasic Coastal here I come.

All in all a very positive and usefull little adventure. I now have a nice wee plan that, although initially scary, puts ones mind at rest, having everything written down in front of you allows you to tackle one day at a time, whilst still planning for the big days to come. Sounds odd but it helps to take it one day at a time, and still being aware that come week eight I will be running three marathons back to back.

Now is certainly the time for hard work, every step I take now is one less to take in the desert.

For more info and to sponsor me check out my website: https://sites.google.com/site/sandbetweenmytoesmds/home