MdS Posts
Here are links to my MdS posts that make up the entire race report for my first MdS experience. Each stage was pretty much a first for me in terms of running so it was very hard to provide an overall summary that captured my experiences. Enjoy!
Post-race Musings
Equipment
Overall, I wouldn't change much regarding my equipment. For next year, I'll probably carry the minimum in terms of medical items and rely on the Doc Trotters for foot care.
Something to note: figure out what your daily consumption rate is going to be for your inventory and continue to lighten the load as you complete each stage. There is no need to carry more or be the hoarder of consumables within your equipment. My sleeping bag rocked and there was a ton of room. I'll probably post a more detailed review of this bag in the near future. I would also try to work in a small sleeping pad for the waist area. Some of the bivouac locations had some super hard ground and it felt like you were sleeping on concrete. Recently, I learned that you can dig a "hip-hole" if you are a side sleeper. I may experiment with this in the future and may continue to disregard the idea of carrying a pad. The Raidlight Olmo pack was a little to large for my frame and I will definitely be looking for a new pack for next year. Everything from shoes to the wind jacket worked perfectly.
Nutrition
My nutrition plan was probably the best I've ever worked with in terms of expeditionary experiences. To make this better, I would work on boosting my daily fats for each day. I would also add another meal on days 2 and 3. I had plenty to eat but I felt like I ran out of a little steam on the 4th day. Those meals would be to try and maintain what's in the reserves. On the long day, Day 4, I really need to work on what I crave in terms of food. I quickly stopped being able to eat Shot Bloks and I eventually stopped liking the taste of Tailwind around 6 hours into the run. I scheduled mainly race-type nutrition to be consumed on this run but I think I would have performed better if I had some solid food that was high in sodium, fats, and carbs to consume at least twice during the 14-hour period of running. I had some good prospects of food on this day that I'll probably explore in future long-runs: Tanka Buffalo Cranberry Jerky Bites, Bacon crisps, Salty nuts, and a creamy sausage soup were all good prospects that I had a little amount of throughout the day.
Training
Being injured right at the beginning of the training period proved to be slightly challenging for MdS. Liza devised a plan for me to get back into the groove of running and before I knew it, I was running double my current mileage. I had to be real careful in pushing too hard because I absolutely didn't want to continue to tear anything else and be out of MdS completely. We pretty much teetered on the edge for a few months. I look forward to keeping up my mileage over the next year and really putting the finishing touches on training for MdS 2016. For the first MdS experience, I don't think I would have changed a thing.
In terms of things I would do differently or train for in the future...
Liza did an awesome job essentially building the running week to emulate (to a certain percentage) the MdS race. This meant that I was running 5-6 days a week replicating a moderate day, moderate day, hill day, long day, moderate day, and a short day. On certain days, I would run with a pack that was weighted around 20-25 pounds. To make this more effective, I would probably add in a few 'mock' training weeks where I would run all 5-6 days with a pack. I would start with a fully weighted pack (17 pounds) and each subsequent training day drop the consumption rate of equipment/nutrition from the pack. There is no need to run with more weight than you plan on carrying on the first day. I found that I ended up training at a slower pace than what I was capable of running and built in training scars when it came to actual performance.
Running during the MdS stages
Running in competition is still fairly new to me. Each day I would line up in the back and would take my time for the first mile. Although there is nothing wrong with this approach, I felt like I wasted a lot of time and energy trying to maneuver around other runners. It wasn't until the 5th stage of MdS that I really understood my capability of running. Next time, I need to line up in the middle or even closer to the front to ensure that I don't get caught behind other runners or at least I'll be running at the same tempo as other runners. This will be especially important during the Jebel Et Otfal and the mountain days. Most of these runs were major choke points if you weren't out in front of the general field.
Thank you....Thank you...Thank you!!!!
To everyone who has supported me during training and my MdS adventure...thank you so much! The rumors are true and I do plan on going back to MdS next year.
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| Mosi and I finishing Stage 4 - Long day |
