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Newsletter May

May turned out to be a productive training month. I stepped it up with quite a few mountain trails and in the process tested my equipment as well as the food I would need during the race. Overall I was happy with these achievements.

I had gained momentum and just had to keep it going. There was no way I was slowing down. My body had to get used to longer workouts which would make it a lot stronger. Despite the duty travels that were still to come, I stood a fairly great chance of accomplishing my goal of being in relatively good shape by the time I needed to rest my body before the big day of the race.

Gradually I intensified the positive altitude gain during my training runs on the Salève, which by now was my dedicated training mountain.

This month's final training run will definitely stand out in my mind for quite some time. Let me tell you about it...

I had just returned from Atlanta, still recovering from jetlag (which by the way I am increasingly having difficulties dealing with) when I decided to do a 70 kilometer long training. This meant I would leave straight after work on a Friday evening and trail the whole night through.

It started off pretty fine. As I reached the last bus stop where I got off to start the trail run, I found the weather was nice and sunny with just a few scattered clouds.

I started my run and dumped 4 liters of extra water at a point where I would pass several times during my trail. Then I continued with my running at a steady pace, not too fast, not too slow.

By 2130 hrs the sun was gradually disappearing and then suddenly as if someone had flipped a switch, the sun was gone. Rain took its place and did it ever make its presence known.

I don't think I had ever seen so much rain in a long time. I had put on my rain jacket and continued to run. I think the biggest problem was not so much getting wet but actually visualizing where I was going. I had put on my head torch as the rain poured down quite heavily. It seemed like a thick curtain of white rain drops was in front of me. In addition to poor visibility, the trails were extremely slippery which made it much more difficult to run on. Furthermore, there must have been a recent storm in that area because some of the tracks were covered with trees that had fallen over, which again made it more difficult to advance.

Downhill running was particularly tough and punishing. It was nearly impossible to keep my balance on the slippery rocks and muddy trails. After hitting the ground a couple of times I decided to slow down. There was no point in sustaining injuries at this point in my preparation and I realized being stuck somewhere in the neck of the woods would make it fairly problematic for people to find me in the event I had an accident or got seriously injured.

It rained all night long, with just a little break from 03.00 AM until 04.30 AM and then it started again. It dawned on me how complicated and exceedingly arduous it would be if it rained during the race. It would slow me down significantly. When daylight came and the birds began to sing, I had consumed most of my energy gels and electrolytes. I finally returned to the bus stop to go home. Before jumping on the bus, I did some stretching, put some fresh dry clothes on and drank a recovery drink. I arrived home about 1 hour later. I was tired yet happy that I had done it. I was also pleasantly surprised that my legs didn't even hurt too much on succeeding days which meant that my body was indeed getting stronger or perhaps at least a little more used to the efforts.

Slowly but surely I finalized the choice of my equipment. My back pack was adequate. As for the poles, I was still hesitating between 'one piece poles' or the very light poles I had tested during my last run which were telescopic and hadn't moved an inch during the training run. As far as the shoes were concerned, I decided to go for the Montrail, which had fairly thick soles thus providing me with a bit more cushioning. The Salomon shoes I had tested previously though super light had very thin soles that probably would not provide adequate cushioning.

Now decisions regarding food… I was pretty sure about the Gels and electrolytes I would use. The only thing I was still a bit reluctant with was the drink I would take. So far I had taken just pure water in my camel back and that was fine, but of course there was no extra energy in it. Given potential stomach problems I was a little hesitant to put anything sugary and sweet in the water. Most of the products available on the market were citrus or orange flavored and I don't want to suffer from acidic reflux and a burning esophagus during the run. I also hadn't quite figured out whether I would take in solid foods during the race. So nutrition is still something to work on.

Meanwhile, the race organizers had updated the website with the course profile of the 2008 edition of the trail - 98 kilometers and 5600 meters positive altitude. I tried to study it as much as I could but the best plan is to do a reconnaissance of the track before the race. Therefore, I have decided to conduct two reconnaissance tests. The first will be scheduled some time in June stretched over 3 days while the second will be in July over two days. That should suffice to get to know the trail before my actual race in August.

The last but certainly not the least update is on the charity project's website donating mechanism. The RMCC (Ronald McDonald Children's Charity) was finalizing a contract with a reliable and affordable vendor for the payment gateway to facilitate online donations, also we decided to publish the bank account details of the account dedicated for the project. Once all this was done, we could finally start raising funds. Three months to go and 100,000 USD to raise, I realize this is an extremely ambitious goal, but I am counting on all of you to help me achieve it.

It is really simple- a child should be able to laugh and smile freely and not feel embarrassed or hurt about it. Think about the children and how much it will change their lives. Ask yourself what if it was my child, wouldn't I do anything to see him or her smile?

Please help me spread the news about the project. Tell your family and friends. Let's mobilize ourselves and embrace this worthy cause. Please give a little contribution to something so much bigger than us.

JUNE PLANS

There is only one duty travel scheduled in June (Burundi from 06-15 June), but on the other hand I am moving to another apartment, so that would probably take up some of my time.

Nevertheless, I had scheduled the reconnaissance of the CCC trail over three days from 21-23 June and I will give you a detailed report in my next newsletter.

The weather in May had been so so… I am hoping that June would bring a bit more sun. Running on dry trails is much nicer.

© 2008