Back to back marathons in Nottingham

During the past 3 weeks we have been steadily increasing distance and packing more weight, combined with consecutive days of running. Saturday and Sunday saw that put to the test, along with our full kit!

Last Thursday Ben and I had got together to have a run through of kit to see if there is still anything we haven't got. Needless to say there's some medical kit that I still need and a couple of bits of clothing but in the main, we're both pretty much there. The kit check also allowed us to load our backpacks as if we were heading out to the desert tomorrow, so we could test some new bits and see how we got on with the weight.

10:00 on Saturday we arrived at a warehouse in Long Eaton, Nottingham where we would be based for the weekend. We made our way upstairs where a doctor was doing BP and ECG tests on other MDS 2008 entrants, it all seemed pretty odd in a cold, drafty warehouse! Ben and I didn't have ours done at the weekend but more on that in my next post.

About 25-30 people had turned up to share in a weekend of lack of sleep, freeze dried food, sharing of ideas and of course running! The plan was to run a marathon on Saturday, bunk down in the warehouse for the night using my new Minim 300 sleeping bag from PHD Mountain Software and thermarest. Then get up early and head out on Sunday and do the same again.

At 11:00 we headed out on Rory Coleman's 26.2 mile circular route, with our run/walk game plan, which we will be using in the desert. The route itself was good and not because of beautiful vistas and quaint villages but because the route required constant navigation from the map, which we haven't been practicing much recently. The route had quite a bit of up and down and varied terrain, so it provided a really good test. Even though we had all the kit, things just didn't feel right and strangely Ben was feeling the exact same. We couldn't really explain it but my new front pack was bouncing around and feeling uncomfortable, Ben's water bottles were slipping down his backpack. We were out of our comfort zone. We both made some changes and got ourselves running in a group of 5/6 others. Instantly this helped pick us up and we started clocking up the miles.

We got back in 5hrs 59mins, honestly! We were a bit disappointed but we were both carrying 10-11kg's of weight, cross country and with the same to do the next day.

We ditched the kit and tucked into some much needed food, fortunately the Expedition Foods stayed tucked away and Rory put on a Fish and Chip supper. During the evening there was lots of talk from MDS veterans and a guy called Olly gave a really good presentation with some great photos and stories from last year. By 10:00 everyone was starting to hit the sack and by 10:30 it was lights out. I felt very comfortable but the wind was howling through the warehouse and the noise of the snorers made it a tough nights sleep!

The alarm went off at 05:00 and I got stuck into an Expedition Foods Porridge and Strawberries combo. Apart from being a bit runny I'd give it a thumbs up.

We headed out at 06:15 with slightly lighter bags and no front pack for me (cheat I know!). Everything felt better and we decided to push on and not fall into a large group, which can slow things down. We made it round with more running in 5hrs 49 mins. So only 10 minutes quicker, it felt like we had done it 30 mins quicker!

I slept well on Sunday night!