Antarctic Odyssey

August 28, 2013

Balmedie Beach Run Report: Antarctic Odyssey Rehearsal Part 1

The week commencing 19th August was going to be my Antarctic Odyssey rehearsal week, and as such a fairly epic and momentous week for me. It was another milestone in my preparations. The objectives for the week were: to test my ability to run long distance on a surface similar to the Antarctic snow; test the nutrition plans; test my recovery rates; hit a new weekly mileage total. The keynote activities were to be a 20 – 21 mile beach run on the Wednesday and the Speyside Way Ultra on the Saturday.

August 16, 2013

Going for that lean, mean running machine approach

With only 14 weeks to go there is light at the end of the training tunnel, but things are getting tough as my training starts to peak. I have had a tired and hungry week so far this week. A 6 mile beach run on over 24 hours without food due to bad timing on one of my fast days was tough; and the planned easy session the following day (2nd fast day) was cut short as the energy just was not there.

July 21, 2013

Clyde Stride Race Report, 2013

In 2010 Clyde Stride ultra was my first ultra. I completed it which was great, but it was not one of my better moments and there was plenty to learn from it. I entered for the following year but had to withdraw about a month before the event due to a knee injury. I duly entered for 2012 and was a DNF (did not finish) at 20 miles due to energy problems (which I subsequently found out were caused by a magnesium deficiency. So, was 2013 going to be my year?

June 28, 2013

Foundations in Sand

So, how do you prepare for running on snow in Antarctica during British summer time?

Answer: run on the beach, something that had not occurred to me initially, but which with hindsight is quite obvious. John Killingworth, a previous Antarctic Ice Marathon participant suggested this to me, so many thanks for the tip.

April 13, 2013

All Things In Moderation – My Nutrition

My great grandmother always said, ‘take everything in moderation’, and she particularly applied that to diet. She was born in the late 1800′s and died in the early 1970′s, in her eighties. Although latterly her health was not great and she had a touch of dementia she enjoyed good health and a steady weight through out her life.