On the Beach - Chris Rea

If only it had been like this today...

Lyric:- The sands of time will blow a mystery - Rea (Interestingly Chris Rea is an anagram of 'Rich Arse' which I've always found amusing)

Song Choice:- Less amusing was my run today where this song rang round my head today during 26.2 miles in the sand dunes of Merthyr Mawr in the most horrendous running conditions I've experienced in a long, long time.

I did it as part of some hard-core training for this year's MdS and of course the sand provides perfect specificity for what the 500 British Competitors are in for in just 41 days time. Funnily enough I didn't see any of them doing the same session today. Getting the feel of running in endless sand in extreme (and I stress extreme) conditions should play a massive part of anyones MdS Preparation as far as I'm concerned. Lots of this year's competitors have signed up for Heat Acclimatisation which is a great idea but if their first experience of sand is in the race itself it's going to be one hell of a shock.

Sand running speeds are basically whatever you run on the road in mph becomes your speed in kph in the sand.

Today in the driving rain on 6 x loops of 4.36 miles - I hit the grand speed of you guessed it, 4.36 miles per hour a heady 13.75 minute miles. At the end of the 5th lap, it would have been SO easy to have just given up as my legs had become so cold and wet they just lost their ability to work properly. My average heart rate of 117bpm shows it wasn't a lack of energy...The Sand had got to me and I just felt completely destroyed just like you feel in the race itself when the shit hits the fan on the long day.

If you haven't run lots of miles in sand yet or up some 800 metre high mountains, it's time you did! Come and see what it's like next weekend with me at my Desert Training Camp .

Then you'll know what you are REALLY in for at MdS and you'll soon be packing a whole lot lighter too...