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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:33 pm 
 

hi folks

just wanted to let everyone know that i aint gonna be around here very much for a while....at least til mid-late April.

I fly to Morocco for the Marathon Des Sables on April 5th and am currently in full training mode, so dont have time for all my collecting and other interests right now, so i have to make sacrifices for now :)

i hope you are all well and spending money you havent got to fill in all them little gaps :D

btw, just in case anyone is interested, right near to the time, the organisers set up a system on their website, where you can e-mail me out in the sahara desert!!! i will pop back on here nearer the time and let you know the address and stuff. i would be most grateful if you would e-mail and offer words of support, cos i have absolutely no doubt that i am gonna need every little ounce of it, come the time!

take care all and see ya's all soon!

Al

ps. if anyone is interested, i am using my MSN my space as a journal for my training - check it out! http://spaces.msn.com/members/killjoy32/


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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:57 pm 
 

holy shit! 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O

are you really going to be running that? Isn't it something like 10 marathons in 10 days (or somesuch)!!!!

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:01 pm 
 

red_bus wrote:holy shit! 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O

are you really going to be running that? Isn't it something like 10 marathons in 10 days (or somesuch)!!!!


hey reddy :)

nooooo - its 6 marathons in 7 days  :wink: (like that makes it any easier).....and not only that, its across some of the harshest landscape known to man, in temperatures reaching 49C :D

well imo, if youre gonna give yourself a challenge, aim high :D

if you go to www.darbaroud.com , you will see more about it - the actual organisers are french, but if you look at the top, you will see a little union jack symbol which you can read the pages in english.

Al


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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:07 pm 
 

killjoy32 wrote:
red_bus wrote:holy shit! 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O

are you really going to be running that? Isn't it something like 10 marathons in 10 days (or somesuch)!!!!


hey reddy :)

nooooo - its 6 marathons in 7 days :wink: (like that makes it any easier).....and not only that, its across some of the harshest landscape known to man, in temperatures reaching 49C :D

well imo, if youre gonna give yourself a challenge, aim high :D

if you go to www.darbaroud.com , you will see more about it - the actual organisers are french, but if you look at the top, you will see a little union jack symbol which you can read the pages in english.

Al


I think I saw a documentary about this not so long ago.  I am amazed that it is physically possible - let alone an actual race!  Best of luck - certainlty it will be some achievement.  8)  8)

  

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:17 pm 
 

Wow, best of luck!  
Well, you're certainly doing your part to bury the stereotype of D&D fans as unathletic slobs.   :D

  

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:17 pm 
 

red_bus wrote:I think I saw a documentary about this not so long ago. I am amazed that it is physically possible - let alone an actual race! Best of luck - certainlty it will be some achievement. 8) 8)


well, putting it into perspective, only about 3000 UK citizens have participated in the event, in its 21 year history! now how exclusive is that :)

(or mad...whatever your perspective is)

not only that, i do plan to do it again too....  8O  8O  :D


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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 2:16 pm 
 

Al,

As I was in the Army and had to do 30 mile road marches with 140 lbs of extra gear on my back every 3 weeks or so :x , I'm going to tell you something you already know.  For events like this, it's all in the training.

I would do extra runs in the evenings in between the road marches to keep up my conditioning.  Other guys did nothing and always had a tough road march.  So stick with the training, that's where you win (complete) these kind of endurance events.


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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 2:35 pm 
 

Good luck to you mate, you have my utmost admiration!

I second the comments above re training. In the Army they used to say 'train hard, fight easy'!  If you train with a backpack weight slightly heavier than you plan to run with, you might appreciate it at the start of the race, particularly on soft sand. You could try getting a set of spring-loaded scales from a fishing tackle shop (with an internal spring and a hook at the end) for weighing your pack.

That's all very easy for me to say from the comfort of my swivel chair, but I wish you all the best.  If I were a few years younger, and a few stone lighter.......!

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 3:23 pm 
 

otherworld wrote:That's all very easy for me to say from the comfort of my swivel chair, but I wish you all the best. If I were a few years younger, and a few stone lighter.......!


bah thats no excuse! i was talking to a guy on saturday who is 16st in weight and hes doing it - there are plenty of ppl over 40+ yrs of age taking part too (some over 50, even 60!).....so you aint getting out of it that easy :)

i've been training with a pack on for about 6 months now and i know its over 7kg in weight but dunno how much cos my scales max out there :)

i will be increasing the weight over the weeks to come too, up to about 11-12kg. am aiming for my marathon pack weight to be about 8.7kg without water, so fingers crossed that it pans out that way.

running wise, i am really pushing myself now, last three days i have covered appx 43-44 miles, so will hopefully max out at appx 85-90 miles for the six day period. seventh day i get to rest...woohoo! :)

so far so good, so gotta keep at it!

will keep ya'll posted but as above, i will keep all the info in my journal anyway!

thanks for the interest guys!

take care

Al


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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 3:40 pm 
 

Heh, heh. I was wondering where you'd gotten to, Al.

Yeah, train, train, train, train.....

Knowing what it feels like to do one 30 mile cross-country jog-walk in Scotland, I think I'd've struggled if someone had put sand dunes and rocks in the way.
Erm, and then multiply that how many times??? :o

Good luck, mate! :D

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:10 pm 
 

faro wrote:Knowing what it feels like to do one 30 mile cross-country jog-walk in Scotland, I think I'd've struggled if someone had put sand dunes and rocks in the way.
Erm, and then multiply that how many times??? :o

Good luck, mate! :D

[ Image ] [ Image ] [ Image ]


ah so faro = david - was wondering who that was - not being around, was trying to figure it out without looking so stupid :)

just to give y'all some perspective, last years marathon was was split up as follows:

stage 1: 29km
stage 2: 37.5km
stage 3: 41km
stage 4: 76km (you have 36 hours to complete this one and it means running/walking in the dark - well you do have a head torch etc)
stage 5: 42.2km
stage 6: 20km

and then thats it :D :D :D :D

exciting stuff!

i got my sleeping bag today - only weighs 490g - well light. backpack, whiistle (emergency), silver survival sheet and a swiss card. good job i aint getting RPG stuff...poor card would tell me to feck off at this stage :)

i will be taking a camera too (disposable), so will take pics for my journal - now they are guaranteed to be worth a look lemme tell you :)

Al


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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:38 pm 
 

killjoy32 wrote:ah so faro = david - was wondering who that was - not being around, was trying to figure it out without looking so stupid :)

Shane blew my cover... :?

killjoy32 wrote:just to give y'all some perspective, last years marathon was was split up as follows:

stage 1: 29km
stage 2: 37.5km
stage 3: 41km
stage 4: 76km (you have 36 hours to complete this one and it means running/walking in the dark - well you do have a head torch etc)
stage 5: 42.2km
stage 6: 20km

Heh. Nice taper at the end, there.
That's still going to be murder after the first four days, I'm sure :D

killjoy32 wrote:i got my sleeping bag today - only weighs 490g - well light.

Neat! Am sure it can still get cold enough in the desert at night, in April.

Kudos, again!

  

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:55 pm 
 

faro wrote:
killjoy32 wrote:i got my sleeping bag today - only weighs 490g - well light.

Neat! Am sure it can still get cold enough in the desert at night, in April.

Kudos, again!


well the SB is meant for mountain endurance events and will do nice for temps down to 0C so whould be cool - gonna get a sheet of silk for the inside to help with any cold issue and its literally weightless and packs down to nothing basically.

i aint even thinking about all the days....just checkpoint by checkpoint. gonna pace myself and just try and adapt to what i get faced with at each point. thinking about anything else is literally pointless really.

not completing it aint an option really, so fingers crossed all will go well!

all good fun :D

Al

ps. what did you change your name for? you can spot ya a mile away - basically the way you ask things :D


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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:27 pm 
 

Al, good luck. I hope everything goes great for you and please be careful of any arabic looking men who have on trench coats in the middle of the desert during the day. :P {j/k}

Seriously though I do wish you the best of luck and hope you are able to make the entire journey. I for one will be the 1st to admit that I would not even have the drive to even attempt it, let alone follow through with it so you have my utmost respect. :) It is too bad you arent coming to the staes this year, but you always have too put your family first especially when it comes to our silly games. Maybe next year, but should I go thsi year I will be sure to buy a Tsoj in your honor. :wink:


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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:30 pm 
 

Just wanted to throw my support in.
Best of luck to you!

ShaneG.

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:05 pm 
 

dathon wrote:Wow, best of luck!
Well, you're certainly doing your part to bury the stereotype of D&D fans as unathletic slobs.  :D


This is great....in an attempt to restore the balance to its natural position of unathletic slobdom I am commencing a serious pigout......taped down in front of the TV in a massage chair being forcefed Pringles....


Bree-Yark!

  

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:03 pm 
 

RWilson wrote:
dathon wrote:Wow, best of luck!
Well, you're certainly doing your part to bury the stereotype of D&D fans as unathletic slobs. :D


This is great....in an attempt to restore the balance to its natural position of unathletic slobdom I am commencing a serious pigout......taped down in front of the TV in a massage chair being forcefed Pringles....



    :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:


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Post Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 2:05 am 
 

MShipley88 wrote:
RWilson wrote:
dathon wrote:Wow, best of luck!
Well, you're certainly doing your part to bury the stereotype of D&D fans as unathletic slobs. :D


This is great....in an attempt to restore the balance to its natural position of unathletic slobdom I am commencing a serious pigout......taped down in front of the TV in a massage chair being forcefed Pringles....



  :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


actually you know what, once i have my food sorted, i will list what my "diet" will be for the week while i am running.....in fact, its prb not so very much different to what you guys eat now i wouldnt doubt :D

plenty of fat/sugar/calories....bring it on mama!!!

i will use up around 28,000-30,000 calories in that week, so i have to replace as much as i can, so that my body has something in it to keep sustaining itself and using what energy it can find, so the little puppy fat i have will come in very useful :D

Al


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