Wow what a day.  Finished all 86kms of it but the hardest thing I’ve done, physically and mentally.

Coming into this race my only aim was to finish and get the medal.  After a really good running day on Wednesday, I was determined to just finish the day regardless of how slow it was or how long it took and that’s exactly what I did.

The first part of the course was through a really rocky canyon along a river bed and lasted almost 20km and had a river crossing at one point to make things more interesting.  Really started to hot up.  Some really nice sand dunes when the rocks finally ended although this was then followed by a 10km stretch from cp3 to 4 that was all uphill on winding rocky roads.  Really mentally and physically challenging in the heat.  Another really steep climbing section into the mountains between cp4 and 5 and some really beautiful views as the sun set.

Cracked out the head torch and warm clothes as, once the sun sets, it becomes really cold in the night. As I was on my own once again, id taken out the iPod and was really motoring listening to some tunes.  Although it was pitch black and I was walking in the middle of the Jordanian mountains, I was having a really good time.  As they say though, all good things must come to an end and felt really drained as I wondered into checkpoint 6 at around 11pm, having been walking for 15 hours.  I was physically and mentally tired which isn’t clever when you’re walking on mountain sides with sharp drops off the edge.

 

Took some time to warm up and have a hot meal and decided to walk the next 10km with Atul from the US.  This seemed to go on forever and we were both shattered but met up with Liz who helped motivate us both to keep going (and sort Atul’s IT band problem at the same time).  We keep motoring on and walked between cp7 and 8 which we reached at around 5am.  I was suffering from sleep deprivation and was really starting to notice it physically although a nice little slap to the face from Liz and a few choice words did the trick.  I put in the earphones and cranked up the volume and the three of us along with a Danish competitor walked to the finish line in Petra at just after 8am, 24 hours after starting.  The camp was situated at the bottom of  deep valley that took 30 mins to negotiate at which point I’d had enough and was mentally shattered.

I’ve heard other seasoned runners say it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever done which makes me feel a bit better about how I feel about it.  Tomorrow we walk a short 5k into Petra to be presented with our finishers medals in front of the Treasury which should be an amazing and unforgettable experience. 

As I said though many times today, never ever will I be doing this ever again.  Once is more than enough and I can’t wait to get home to sleep in my own bed and have some proper food.  Many an hour was spent running/walking in the desert or eating those freeze dried food packets thinking about that first plate of chips and pizza washed down with a nice glass of coke.  And after 155 miles in the desert, I think I’ve well and truly deserved it.

Made it.  One of the best days but also one of the worst.

Felt good this morning physically and the course was expected to be downhill a fair bit although it didn’t turn out that way.  Within 15 mins of setting off my right shin started to ache a fair bit and I was getting really sharp shooting pains with every footstep.  I stopped and took a couple of paracetamol and had to crack out the cheapo mp3 player that I had with me that helped, especially on a really long uphill section between cp1 and cp2.

The drugs and music helped and weirdly, it felt less painful to run than walk so run I did.  The lighter backpack no doubt helped too.  Today was the most I have run so far this week and it felt really good to have a really long running stint.   I even found myself running up some uphill sections which is crazy.  After cp3, we had to crawl through a 20 meter long tunnel that went under a busy highway – as if running in the desert wasn’t hard enough!  I found a bottle that someone had left so carried it to near the end where I saw a Japanese guy who was really pleased to see it.  Let’s hope that gets me some good karma for tomorrow.

The last section between cp3 and the end was horrible.  On rocky ground and undulating although I was motoring along with the music.  It’s amazing how fast corny songs like ‘holding out for a hero’ can make you run

!  had a really good long run to the finish line powered by U2s Vertigo which felt amazing and was pleased to get my fastest time so far.  Got some Ibuprofen for the swelling and took some more paracetamol when I got into camp.  Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

On tomorrow, it’s the long stage and is going to be around 54 miles long with really rocky and steep climb along the side of a canyon.  I’m hoping I don’t have to do too much of it in the dark but based on how crappy I was feeling today and the fact that I’ve come so far already, there’s no way I’m not finishing now.

Got to mention camp. The tent situation sometimes makes things harder.  Too cramped at times but thankfully no more rain expected until showers on Friday.  The atmosphere and characters are amazing including a blind guy who is running the course, a guy dressed as a cow and, my favourite, the Korean professor who is just nutty.  The best moments though our our late (8pm) chats with me, Liz, Duncan and Linh.  Barrels of laughs every evening and really motivating to make it back to camp the next day.

On Liz – she’s doing absolutely fine and motoring through every day with her walking buddy Mark from Australia.

Next update after the long day on Friday now.

Good day today.  Sleep last night wasn’t the best but nice and dry again, if a little cold.  Felt okay this morning and shoulders which had been aching at the end of yesterday’s stage were feeling ok.  my left Achilles was aching and was all the way through so had to keep an eye on that.

Started the race going through the camp and through a very rocky canyon that had us scrambling down single file.  While we were waiting I blasted out a few verses of Korean opera with another competitor (as you do) and I thought I sounded pretty good.  Carried on with my run/walk strategy from yesterday – running the downhills, run/walk the flats and walk all the uphills.  Achilles was tight so was really conscious of my footing. Got into a nice routine at cp1 by having the rest of my freeze dried breakfast and a gel.  Between cp1 and cp2, we were going through a canyon with really soft sand again although, unlike yesterday, it wasn’t uphill.

A really awesome stint between cp2 and 3 that had a really long downhill that I ran most of before we reached some salt flats which was really hard and seemed to go on for ages!  It was beside a camel racing track that looked ace but no camels were out unfortunately.  Walked half of the salt flat and ran the second half.  Felt the best I have all week and at one stage thought I could race one of the jeeps.  Stupid idea.  I do feel better about myself now that I’m running much more, if a little sore at the end of the day.  Camp is starting to resemble a zombie movie with everyone aching.

Got into cp3 which was inside a village and had another gel.  Felt good so didn’t spend too long there.  Crossed a road and a railway track before a really long uphill.  Just after the 5k mark, my right shin started to ache so decided to take it really easy to the finish.  Stick on the mp3 player for the first time this week and was treated to a bit of Cascada and Chemical Brothers which bought me home in just over 6 hours.

I find myself thinking a lot about home and what the kids would be doing at certain times of the day such as going to school etc.  it feels really surreal to be running through an amazing desert at 8am in the morning.  And yes Aneesa – you can tell mum I’m in one piece and feeling fine.

Wearing the same running clothes so I probably stink but so does everyone else.  Think I may have to peel off my Skins shorts when I finish!

Looking forward to tomorrow which is the last day before we start the long stage.  Hoping my calf feels ok so might take it a bit easier especially as its mainly uphill.

A better night as it didn’t rain although we had to walk through 2 others to get there.  Slept better too thanks to the 25 miles I did the day before and was woken up at 5am by our Korean friends getting ready.  Who needs an alarm.

Clear skies and sun expected today which would be welcome after the day before.  Course was expected to be slightly shorter than yesterday – 23 miles instead of 25 but with lots of soft sand.  I had planned to take it easy again but the start was on a downhill so I ran for a bit and it felt good.  Ran/walked to cp1 and everything was feeling good.  It was definitely hotting up and the sun was pretty high up in the sky even though it was only 9:30am.

Between cp1 and cp2 was a nightmare.  5k all uphill on really soft sand.  It was hard enough to walk with a 12kg backpack, never mind attempt to run.  Had to climb over a big rock (technical term) and down into a really big valley.  It felt good to be able to run a little bit and have a slight breeze.  A long march to the other side and another steep climb to get to cp2 although the ground was harder.  I can’t begin to describe how good it feels to go round a corner to see a checkpoint or the finish line.  

I had a good stint between cp2 and 3 and had got into a nice routine with my food and electrolytes which I think is definitely helping.  I’m having a gel at every cp and some small snacks in between. Really beautiful scenery all the way around today with fantastic views of Wadi Rum.  My legs felt better today than they did yesterday and I put that down to doing a run/walk combination which means I’m not constantly using the same muscles all the way round. Cp3 came sooner than I was expecting which was a bonus, although I was greeted with Tony’s face so not all positive (joke).

Felt some twitches so slowed down a bit and had a nice little section between cp3 and the finish which involved trying to squeeze though some gas in some rocks that was barely wide enough for a person, nevermind a wide bag.  Walked/ran to the finish and was glad to knock 1.5hrs off yesterday’s time and feel better at the same time.  Camp was nice and sunny so made the most of lying in the sun whilst stretching.  Feeling really sore now so hopefully better for tomorrow.

It’s amazing how good freeze dried food tastes after you’ve run/walked 23 miles in the desert sun.

Tomorrow is also meant to be difficult with a scramble at the start but hopefully less hills. Glad to get this far blister free hope it continues.

Today has really bought home the meaning of the phrase ‘to finish is to win’ and with people suffering/out of the race already, it makes it a bigger achievement.

Apologies for the delay but we weren’t able to update after stage 1 due to the weather conditions but more on that later.

Starting with the night, it rained and rained and rained.  It’s fair to say, we weren’t expecting that. Most of our gear including our sleeping bags got wet.  It was also cold.  Not the best of starts.

The morning started ok although overcast with expected showers later in the day.  The atmosphere at the start was amazing.  Although I’d seen it on videos, to experience the thing first hand was awesome.

We started slowly to get used to the conditions.  I was walking with Liz and Linh, a really funny woman from Canada. It was roughly 10k to checkpoint 1 and we had 2 hours to get there  sounded easy but at the 5k mark, 53 minutes had gone so I started running a downhill section  I reached the checkpoint with 30mins to spare.  Between checkpoint 1 and 2, I did a run/walk strategy which felt good although i had to stop at the checkpoint to check my feet.  I taped them up to be on the safe side. Met up with liz and we walked for a bit before I started running a downhill section.  We were actually glad for the rain as it meant the sand wasn’t as soft and dusty. 

Between checkpoint 2 and 3, the heavens opened and we had a massive downpour.  It had been drizzling on and off most of the day but this was really heavy rain.  Met up with liz again at cp3 where Tony Bremmer was the checkpoint captain – it was good to see a familiar face.  We walked off in the rain and had to put our ponchos on as it was so wet.  I was glad id invested in a half decent one.  Unlike Liz whose resembled more of a carrier bag than a poncho.  Needless to say, it didn’t keep her dry.  We walked all the way to the end together.  It was a long day and took us almost 8 hours.

Back in camp, things were in a right state.  The weather had caused havov with setting the tents up and the cyber tent had been turned into a drying tent for everyone to dry their clothes.  Thankfully, it didn’t rain overnight although we seem to be getting a smaller tent every day.  The tent situation is almost as tough as the course.  And I won’t even get started on the toilets which are literally a shallow hole in the ground which makes for interesting situations when you have cramp in your leg!

Feet are fine and legs feel ok which is as much as you can expect.  It’s definitely going to be a slow one but my aim remains to finish and get that medal.  

25 miles down.  125 to go.

So I said I wasn’t going to update this until the end of stage 1 but seems like we have the ability to update before then and we only get 6 opportunities during the week so making the most of this.  I’m also using a tiny laptop with keyboard so excuse the typos 

We’re at camp at stage 1 and it’s raining  that’s right, rain  in the desert.  The scenery is amazing although it got dark at 5.30pm  really looking forward to starting tomorrow now but hope the weather heats up and we see some sun  got the course booklet today and we’re going to be getting soft sand for the first four days with some hard hilly stuff on the long stage. Its going to be a slow one – more details tomorrow.

Liz here…its freezing, raining (our tents are very waterproof…not), I hate sand and its EVERYWHERE…Joshua Whiteley I am going to kill you when I get back.

As I write this, I'm lying in my bed at 5am on Saturday morning after not too bad a nights sleep. We have our official competitor briefing at 9am, and later, our kit check, before heading out to base camp one deep in the desert at Wadi Rum around 2pm today. We'll get set up our tents etc. this afternoon at base camp and sleep in them overnight, ready to start stage 1 tomorrow morning at 8am. We're staying in Petra so Liz and I took the opportunity to visit Petra yesterday as once we'd checked in yesterday morning, there was pretty much nothing else to do! The place is amazing! Walking through the steep sided rock formations was awe-inspiring and the sight of the Treasury itself, as it appears through the narrow slit in the rocks is going to be an amazing place to finish on day 7. Temperatures are ideal so far. Around 20 degrees in the sun and a nice little breeze at times although felt hotter when in Petra with the heat radiating up from the hot sandy ground. Hopefully it stays like this tomorrow for day 1 although the forecast is predicting light showers. All the other competitors so far have been really nice and it's really reassuring to find others in your situation that are also doing their first race and full of nerves too!! It's also true what they say, everyone's key question is 'How heavy is your pack?' I'm glad to find others whose pack is also around the 11kg mark although mine looks like a deformed whale on my back once I've managed to stuff all my gear in! Really good dinner last night in the restaurant with other competitors where we were talking about the course. Karen from Hong Kong had done the roving race in Jordan before and told us that most of the days were soft sand with the long stage involving a brutal 10km climb up a steep winding hill. Other hot topics included blister management and toilet conditions at base camp, Yumm! Really small world too and a funny moment when myself and another competitor called Fiona from the UK knew we'd seen each other before until we finally remembered we'd ran together for a long period during the White Rose Ultra only a few months previously. That's cemented my gameplay in my head of taking it really easy on day 1 to get used to the conditions. My stomach hasn't fully settled down since I caught a bug just before flying over (I'll spare you the full details!) and my left knee has also started aching the last few days from a previous injury so going to be extra cautious at the start although literally cannot wait to start running now. Anyway, next stage, competitor briefing time. Thanks to all the guys back in the UK for their wishes of good luck for both me and Liz and keep them coming with the 'email a competitor' link on the 4Deserts website. Will be great to be reading those whilst we're in the desert. Going to make the most of my last moments of comfort now with a shower and breakfast. Next update will hopefully be after stage 1. 'To finish is to win'

One more day to go until Liz and I head off to Jordan to get ready for the race. Sitting here, there are lots of thoughts/doubts going through my head around what gear/food I have, if I've done enough training (answer: no), and the main one being am I going to have what it takes to finish the race. I'm trying to put all those to one side and concentrate on enjoying the event. Unlike many of the others, I haven't done lots of stupidly long races and, until last year, hadn't run a marathon, so this is going to be by far the toughest/longest event I have done. My one sole aim is to finish and prove with a moderate amount of fitness, anything is possible. Regardless of how long/slow it takes, I want to finish and have that medal placed around my neck at Petra. The last year has been one crazy journey with all the training etc so I'd just like to thank everyone who has helped both physically and with advice/donations. Hopefully I/we can do you all proud. I'm aiming to keep this blog updated throughout the race with my/Liz's progress. Feel free to email through any questions/motivational comments to us both as I'm sure we'll need the motivation. Finally, one thought that will keep me going throughout... "To finish is to win"

So I've started packing and logging the calories in my food and I've got 21,700 which is around 3,200 per day for the first 6 days and around 2,500 for stage 6. I must admit this seems like plenty with a. Mixture of expedition foods, gels, bars and recovery powder although I've still to add snacks such as nuts, crisps and the all important jelly babies. As I'm already well over the required 14,000 calories, I'm starting to think I may have too much! I'd rather have too much and ditch though than not enough. There may be some food going spare if you manage to catch me in the hotel or at my tent. I'll be the one with the big rucksack. Form an orderly queue...

‘Not enough’ would be the simple answer.

When signing up for the event in January 2013, Feb 2014 seemed a long way off but it’s quickly crept up. I hadn’t run a marathon in January and my aim back then was to get up to the distance. Thought it might be a good idea seeing as I’d have to do 6, in the desert, back to back. Doh!

Thanks to being a regular at Pure Gym in Halifax and attending the regular Spin, running and pump classes, I was soon fit enough to enter the Greater Manchester marathon which I finished but totally blew my hydration strategy and took on too much fluid. Running with cramp in both calves for the last 8 miles was not fun but taught me a valuable lesson.

Building on a solid foundation, We took a trip to Spain and climbed Mulhacén, the highest mountain in mainland Spain along with an overnight camp towards the top of the mountain. Unfortunately I managed to come off a mountain bike on the way down a hill the following day and managed to bruise the capsule in my knee which meant laying off the running for 2 months.

The rest of the year involved a couple of big events including the Hell on the Humber which involved running as many laps of a 2 mile bridge in Hull for 12 hours. I managed 44 miles with little to no training over the previous month as I was fasting during the muslim month of Ramadan. My longest single distance covered in a ‘traditional’ race was 31 miles at the White Rose Ultra. Again, this was done with minimal training and as a result was slow and in typical British weather consisting of horizontal hail and rain in between bouts of hazy sunshine and showers.

Numerous aches/pains have prevented me from training fully in the second half of the year and the little matter of having a new born in October wasn’t exactly ideal for the training! Lots of bleary-eyed early morning sessions followed.

I’ve spent the last few months trying to adapt my training to how I’m planning on running the race in Jordan following some advice, ie. slowly with bouts of walking/running. This has involved working on my leg strength with lots of hill walking/sprints along with more weights to get used to wearing the backpack for long periods of time. Speaking of the backpack, I’ve done a couple of sessions with the pack with 6/9kg and it has felt comfortable on the back although that may change once I’m running with it in the desert! The one thing in hindsight I wish I would have done differently is to start with the backpack earlier and have more sessions on soft sand. I’m hoping these are limited in Jordan (wishful thinking) with more rocky/trail-like conditions. Either way, I don’t feel I’ve done as much as I would have liked to especially when looking at the calibre of other competitors, but with just 27 days until the start, now is not the time for regrets. I’m going to run my own race with the sole aim of finishing. ‘To finish is to win.’

It

Hello World... Thought I'd start off my blog on here now that I have registered for the 2014 Sahara race. This will be the biggest and craziest challenge I have ever taken on and, having not run a full marathon yet, is going to be the most challenging think I've done. I've entered the race with my friend Josh Whiteley and we have a blog over at www.sahararace.co.uk and a twitter account Twitter.com/sahararace which we'll be updating on a regular basis with our training, equipment, charity events and other random stuff chronicling our road to the Sahara and beyond. Amjid