And Now for the Science…

My lovely caring Wife has been a little worried about how I’m going to sustain myself on the MdS, and fears that the minimum calorie amount of 14,000kcal that runners are allowed to carry is set with an 8 stone racing snake in mind. To make sure that I have planned to carry enough food; she asked her friend Alison, who is a nutritionist/dietician, to do some research and try to calculate how much a guy my size should be eating to survive such a race. Alison knew exactly how to work it out and provided the following formula to calculate my Basal Metabolic Rate, which gives my body’s calorific requirement for a 24hr period at rest:

Men:           BMR = 66+(13.7 x weight in kg)+(5 x height in cm)-(6.8 x age)

Women:     BMR = 655+(9.6 x weight in kg)+(1.8 x height in cm)-(4.7 x age)

So my        BMR = 66+(13.7x87)+(5x185)-(6.8x35)

                   BMR = 66+(1191.9)+(925)-(238)

                   BMR = 1944.9 kcals/day

Now clearly I am not going to be ‘at rest’ over this 6 days, so the kcal amount must be adjusted. That is where the Harris Benedict Formula comes in and is applied to the base BMR in accordance with your level of activity:

•                     Sedentary (little or no exercise):                                      BMR x 1.2

•                     Lightly active (light exercise 1-3 days/week):                  BMR x 1.375

•                     Moderate active (moderate exercise 3-5 days/week):    BMR x 1.55

•                     Very active (hard exercise 6-7 days a week):                 BMR x 1.725

•                     Extra active (very hard exercise or 2x training):              BMR x 1.9

So I’m guessing I’ll be extra active? Six days of 1944.9kcals multiplied by 1.9 gives me a total energy requirement of 22,172kcal. Michelle was quite right, but she needn’t have worried. I collected all of my food and race equipment together last night, catalogued and weighed it all with a complete menu of what I thought I would like to take. On adding up the calories; I found that the total came out at over 27,000kcals! This resulted in a pack that weighed in at 12.5kg. Dumping snack and supplement items to the tune of 3,000kcals brought the pack weight down to 10.5kgs.

Almost everything, less warm kit, goggles and hexi+stove

Just carrying an extra 2kg would mean burning several thousand more calories over the course of the race and is highly likely to be inefficient. Some, including Iain, take the view that it is actually more prudent to deliberately go into calorie deficit on such a race. It is certainly the only option for challenges such as polar expeditions, where it costs far more energy to pull food than can ever be recovered from it. MdS will not be that extreme, but I can certainly afford to burn up a few percent of body fat to save me carrying those extra kilos. I must now decide how far I want to go in cutting my rations, as I have 6,000kcals to play with, possibly worth around 3kg.

A week in the UK

Though Riyadh is still at around its coolest, Teesside was going to prove a much more difficult environment in which to simulate desert conditions. My two options were running in warm kit, and finding myself an indoor training location. The latter was provided to me by David Lloyd’s Teesside, a club at which I had been a member before being posted to Riyadh. Martin, the General Manager, is a very helpful chap and once he’d heard about my challenge; was more than happy for me to train at DL Teesside for the duration of my leave free of charge! The facilities are great and the entertainment system made the hours fly by whilst grinding away on the exercise bike. I wore track pants to keep the temperature up, but the hoodie I was planning on wearing was just too thick!

The hoodie came into play for my outdoor sessions as I ventured out for a couple of runs. The first was with the wife, whilst taking baby-sitting advantage of my parents, who were visiting for the baby’s belated first Birthday party. We ran around the top end of town for just under 40 minutes. I went on alone for a further hour, doing a nice loop around the Smiths’ Farm footpath, following the river back into town and kept motoring all the way up the hill to home.

I couldn’t resist being back in the North of England and not make use of the natural features, so took the opportunity to drive out to Great Ayton and have a run up Roseberry Toppin. This was not a long run, and did not really involve any huge distance or ascent, but wearing warm kit and possibly underestimating what I’d put into my pack; it felt like my heart and lungs were being ripped out and acid was being piped through my thighs. On reaching the summit; I met a lovely young couple of hill-walkers who were kind enough to take my photo.

 After a 10 minute chat about Yarm, the TA, and of course; MdS – I set off back down the hill. I was looking forward to the descent, possibly less than I was the climb, as I knew what it might do to my knees. I was sensible enough to take it easy and kind of scampered down sheepishly, only really letting myself open my legs on the lighter gradients. I tested out a new rehydration additive, but didn’t really get myself dehydrated enough to tell if it worked, but tested it well enough to know that it’s pretty unpalatable – proper report to follow.

I took another visit to see Stephen at Cotswold Harrogate to further abuse his kindness and stocked up on the Mountain Fuel Night sachets. Stephen even offered to order in the titanium pan I wanted, which his store did not stock, but I will order it online and have it sent direct. I stocked up on all my other milkshakes, powders and foods and am now returning to Riyadh with a case bulging with protein and carbs! I’ve also had my final fitting with my lovely Mother-in-law for my hand-made parachute silk sand smock, which weighs almost nothing and will protect me from the elements, should the sand blow up on the race.

I made some headway into the corporate sponsorship effort by ordering 1000 business cards with all the essential details of my challenge and fund-raising activities, and printed out over 100 letters requesting sponsorship from almost every trader from Yarm High Street (well those that are still current on Google Street Maps anyway, it’s been a rough year for some of the small businesses). The only instant result was from my trusty cobbler in ‘Feet First’ who gave me a cash donation and some free batteries for my heart rate monitor. If nothing else; I’ll get some more hits on the blog and I’ve met some nice people from whom I’ve had some kind messages of support.

SANGCOM Half Marathon & Fun Run



Ready for the off



Close in for a brief

Relief!

After giving the poorly knee a rest, sticking to the exercise bike and some circuits for a couple of weeks, I decided to make my comeback at the SANGCOM Half Marathon & Fun Run. As the event organiser; it was a 50/50 decision whether I would be running or administrating in the first place, but the knee injury had me erring on the side of caution. On the day pride took over, and I couldn’t resist participating. I had to stand by my decision not to run any more without weight, so I took my pack with the intention of taking it easy, but bloody Peter Bush kept me honest for the first 3 laps!

HRM record from my Polar watch; unhealthily high!

With over 200 runners and walkers taking part and with leaflets advertising my entry into the MdS for each of them; it was a marketing opportunity not to be missed, so that part of me that thought it was a sensible idea to retire at the end of each of the first 5 laps was given a firm slap in the face and I cracked on to completion in 2hrs 00mins 28secs. Try as I might; I couldn’t break the 2 hour mark, but I sliced 5 minutes off my previous best 13.1 miles with weight. Temperature on the day was up to 30 degrees celcius by the end of the race. Conditions are slowly building up, which is the perfect way to get ready for the Sahara in April.

Carrefour were good enough to provide food and drink at the finish line and as finishers and spectators moved through to the presentation area by the gorgeous swimming pool, there was a barbeque provided and 2 fantastic bands to keep them all entertained until the prizes were awarded and raffle was drawn.

The whole day was hailed as a big success, making over £12,000 to be split between Disabled Saudi Children, the Army Benevolent Fund and Help For Heroes. Corporate sponsorship was responsible for most of the funds (see our donating superstars at www.sangcom.org.uk), but other money was raised with entry fees and the sale of raffle tickets. The prizes were pretty impressive with nasair and British Airways flight tickets, a 42” TV donated by Harris, and meal vouchers for the Sheraton and Al Khozama hotels in Riyadh.

My knee and quads have been a bit stiff since, but that’s mostly due to having not run for a while. I’m feeling good after a tough leg weights workout this afternoon and I’m feeling excited about getting out on legs again tomorrow before work. I need to come up with a plan for training back in the UK next week, as temperatures in minus figures and slippery roads are not the best method of preparation for this race! Maybe it’s time to ask some of the UK based competitors for some advice. I’m thinking the frosty long grassed slopes on Simon’s farm could be good for simulating the dunes’, if not the temperature.

Ouch!

I missed out on the Dubai Marathon; thinking Michelle would not be too pleased with me abandoning her in Riyadh for her and Jess’ last weekend in Kingdom while I sauntered off for a run and a party! I did however sustain a fairly heavy work-rate in the gym and dropped a few more pounds. Chris returned from Dubai after finishing in a good time for his first ever marathon attempt, and regaled stories of outstanding efforts by Mo and Iain from Riyadh Road Runners. They both came within the top 60 finishers; which confirmed that Iain would be leaving me for dead on MdS.

Chris had managed to get Iain’s business card and put me in touch – Iain and I soon had a meeting arranged for a bimble around the Diplomatic Quarter together. On Monday night we set off as the sun was setting (very romantic), expectations managed by me complaining of a heavy pack, and Iain still be a bit stiff from running a very fast marathon 3 days prior. To be fair we were travelling at an unexpectedly fast rate (for me) and we were on for at most an 85 minute loop until disaster struck. At about the 10km point the sun had disappeared and I was taken by surprise by a speed bump. My knee snapped back the wrong way and catapulted me into the air, fortunately I managed to push out a half decent roll to avoid any other damage, but suffered swellings to my right knee and ankle. Iain was initially a little concerned that he may have to carry me back to the car, and at about 65kg to my 90kg; that would have been a greater feat that his Dubai time! I made it to my feet and managed a gentle limp for another kilometre of so and Iain said he’d run on to the North Entrance Car Park and collect his car and would meet me at the South Entrance, which was only a few hundred metres further on for me. We went straight for emergency aid at the Starbucks where I sank a vanilla latte!

The tendons in my knee are feeling pretty tender after 3 days of rest and ibuprofen, but the ankle is fine. I anticipate being back on the exercise bike by Saturday and running by next Thursday. I have taken great inspiration and comfort from reading ‘Feet n the Clouds’ by Richard Askwith, kindly lent to me by Nick from riyadh Road Runners, and happened to read chapter 6 whilst recuperating by the pool yesterday. Anyone that has the book may read back and recount the torturous injuries that Askwith and many other fell runners suffer on a routine basis and just crack on and ignore them. My knee hurts, and it is a hugely annoying time to have an injury, but I will get over it, and I will be training again in a few days. I’ll take the opportunity to get some conditioning done – skin conditioning sat by the pool and getting a base tan!

Fund-raising is going well and I‘m up to £1700 so far. Thank you for the support, and if you have any suggestions for potential sources of sponsorship; let me know.