Next year this will be me! I have signed up to run the Marathon Des Sables. It is billed as the toughest footrace on earth.

This is what the website blurb says ” Imagine yourself in the Sahara desert with nothing but rolling sand dunes for miles around. When you plough your feet through the sand, a fine dust kicks up. You can’t feel the sweat dripping down your face because it’s evaporating in the baking heat. Your lungs feel parched. Today’s temperature is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees centigrade). Part of your brain is screaming at you to stop, right now, to drop out of the race, but the other part of your brain is stronger. The other part of your brain knows that when you complete the final stage of the Marathon des Sables, you will have run the equivalent of five and a half marathons in five or six days, a total distance of some 251 km – 156 miles”

And this is what my dear friend Jo said when I told her of my plan. “No, you will totally wreck your body, you can’t do it, it is totally hideous, it is so so bad for you. I am not going to talk to you about it anymore I am so angry. You live in a fantasy world!” And she LIKES me.

I was wheedled into it by the persuasive Charlie Shepherd. He is running it too and the only minor differences between us are that he is super fit and skinny and he lives in Morocco.

But I DO love a challenge and this is really going to be that. I am a pretty useless runner but I have got good endurance so I am going to train like a demon, and hope the endurance pays off.
Did I mention that I haven’t actually run a full marathon before? Hmm.

So, if you have any hints, tips, thoughts, ideas, want to come and buddy me on some training runs, please let me know. I need all the help I can get. I am running for MENCAP and will be doing some great fundraising events through the year.

This week I started my training with “Hal Higdon’s Novice Marathon Program”. 3 miles, 3 miles, 3 miles, 6 miles. You have to start somewhere.

Our lovely Hayfield Post Mistress – putting the application in the post for me. No turning back.