Pro advice
Pro Tip #7: Saving weight and volume
Saturday, February 9th, 2008Preparing for my second Marathon des Sables, I have become a minimalist in regards to my packing; I am looking for creative ways to reduce volume and weight for the things I need to carry in the desert. I am trying to cope with a 10 litre backpack and a 5 litre front pouch, if possible. Here some things I do to reduce volume:
- I counted the number of breakfasts and dinners that I will take in the Sahara, to carry only the number of Travelunch meals and cereal bags I need
- With a safety pin, I pinch a hole in the Travelunch bags to squeeze out the extra air, then seal it with a piece of tape
- Being vegan, I will nourish on nuts to a large degree; they provide plenty of calories for their weight. To keep volume down, I will chop the walnuts; the almonds and macadamias are fine, vacuum packed in ziploc bags
- I will have my own mix of cereals for breakfast, vacuum packed in ziploc bags
- I will attach the emergency flare to the outside of my backpack to save space inside; the same for the sleeping bag for the first few days, until there is enough space inside
- I will bring mixtures of maltose and fructose sugar, individually vacuum packed in small bags, so that one bag will be for one bottle of water
- My wardrobe for the week will consist of the dress I wear for the race stages, plus one pair of long tights, a long-sleeved warm shirt for the night, spare socks and underwear, and a second buff; that’s it. The spare clothing will go in vacuum-packed ziploc bags
- To counter-balance the weight of the backpack, I will place as many heavy items as possible in the front pouch
Pro Tip #8: Running for Charity
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008A while ago I have set up my fundraising website for the Marathon des Sables. Please visit
http://www.justgiving.com/adoerfler
and support my favourite charity, SOS childrens villages generously! 100% of the donations go to the charity, I am not making any profit on this at all.
SOS Children’s Villages provides family homes for children who have no one else to care for them. Over 60,000 orphaned or abandoned children are currently cared for by SOS mothers in clusters of family homes in more than 450 of our unique children’s villages, in 123 countries around the world. All donations are welcome and every donor will receive a copy of my MdS story a few weeks after the event.
If you are an MdS candidate, please consider setting up a fundraising site, too, and ask your friends and colleagues for charity contributions. Combining your favourite sport with your favourite charity is a winning combination that guarantees success and smiles not only on your face at the finish line!
No Comments »Pro Tip #6: Organizing life at the MdS
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008Organization is vital at the Marathon des Sables. Right now, I am drafting four different packing lists for the MdS: Obviously, the most important one is for the backpack. I am listing all the mandatory items, food, medical kit, clothing, etc., keeping a note of the weight of each item and the calories for the food.
The second list includes all those items that I will carry in the front pouch of my backpack, i.e. the things that I will need during each stage (food, isotonic powder, etc.). In the evenings at the biouvak I will fill up my front pouch for the next day with the things I used up during the day.
The third list is for stuff that I will have in my suitcase but will not need during the race, that’s things like normal clothes, shaving kit, a book to read during the flights, etc.
And then there is the fourth list: All those items that I will want to have at the biouvak before the first stage, but after having handed in my suitcase. This includes food, especially the breakfast on day one, some fresh fruits, olives, bread, extra solid fuel (Esbit) for a hot cuppa, band aids, isotonic drinks, etc. It will also include a strong adhesive tape, the type used to seal cardboard boxes; I will use it to tie the signal flare to the outside of my backpack, because my experience at the MdS 2006 was that you can not fix it properly with straps because it doesn’t have any kinks or loops.
I will bring a cheap nylon bag to the Sahara for all those things on list #4. This will help me getting organized when packing the back pack and the suit case to hand it in. On race day, I can just throw away the nylon bag with the remaining few items.
No Comments »Pro Tip #5: Managing water at the Marathon des Sables
Monday, January 14th, 2008At the Marathon des Sables you are given nine litres of water a day. That’s it. Managing your water supply is crucial. But how much water will you need? It depends. Factors that influence your water consumption are:
- Outside temperatures; obviously, the warmer, the more water you will need to cool down body temperature
- Humidity; greater levels of humidity require more fluids, as your body will need to produce more sweat to cool you down than under drier conditions
- Your body weight; the heavier you are, the more water your body will require
- Weight of your backpack - keep it as low as you can
- Your speed: The longer you are baking in the sun between each checkpoint, the more water you will need
- Sun exposure: wearing UV-protecting clothes, a hat and sunscreen lotion will reduce your sweat rate
- Minerals: If you don’t refuel your body with the salt you sweat out, you will loose more water than need be
- Your personal body physiology: Some people just need more water than others
- Your rate of water intake: Drinking in small sips every few minutes is more efficient than downing an entire bottle in one go
Obviously, there are factors you can’t influence, but you can do something about your discipline of drinking, your minerals, your clothing and the total weight you are carrying around. If you are a heavy sweater, a slow runner or if conditions are very humid like at the 2006 MdS, think about starting each race stage with an extra bottle of water. While this adds to your total weight, it might prove to be a life saver if you run out of water on the course. Keep in mind that you will receive only one bottle of water every 8-12 kilometres. If you need more than that you have to carry it with you from the start.
No Comments »Pro Tip #4: Field Post at the Marathon des Sables
Thursday, November 15th, 2007There are plenty of things on the Marathon des Sables that will seriously challenge your motivation: Heat, cold, sand, wind, sun, terrain, dehydration, hunger, pain, blisters, distance, to mention just a few.
But then again, there are plenty of things to motivate you, first of all the camaraderie among the runners. Another great source of motivation are mails that you can receive from family and friends. The darbaroud website will post a link to a page where your loved ones can leave messages, so make sure that they know the URL. The mails are received and printed at camp and handed out to the runners each evening. In 2006 I got messages from family, colleagues and friends - all full of encouraging words and motivating messages. I read them countless times and still keep them today as a wonderful souvenir from a very special time in my life.
Pro Tip #3: Wearing that race number
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007For years I did what most runners do: burglar my wife’s sewing kit the night before the race for some safety pins and fix the number onto my shirt. Works great for most races.A few years ago I ran the Hamburg Marathon. It was freezing cold at the start, so I wore a jumper over my normal running shirt. During the race it started to heat up, so I decided to strip down while keeping up the pace. It took about 10 minutes and a small miracle until I had taken that number off my jumper and pinned it onto my shirt. I lost two safety pins in the process.There is a better way which is great for those long races where you expect to adjust your clothing. While nicking those safety pins from that sewing kit, get a piece of elastic band, too. For the fashion conscious, they come in black and white. Put the elastic around your chest and tie the ends together, so that it’s tight but comfortable. Pin your number to the elastic with your safety pins. If you like, use a second elastic for the lower part of your race number. Now you can slide that number up and down your body in seconds - no undoing of safety pins during the race, no broken nails nor bleeding finger tips. If you expect torrential downpours, put your race number in a transparent zip-lock plastic bag for protection.And make sure you have a good excuse when your wife asks for the whereabouts of that elastic and those safety pins.
Pro Tip #2: Total weight
Friday, October 12th, 2007When I ran the Marathon des Sables in 2006, I weighted 85kg. Add to that my backpack of 12 kg (at the start) and some water bottles, I lugged 100kg through the dunes. If you look at top athletes like the Ahansal brothers, they probably run with half the total weight I did. No wonder they can race the MdS twice as fast, or with half the calories, or half the water intake, regenerate twice as fast, enjoy this whole thing twice as much. Maybe all of the above. It is a vicious cycle: The heavier your are, the slower you will be and the more water you’ll need. The longer you take between each water station, the less water you have per hour. Having less water slows you down further. For me, water was clearly the limiting factor at the MdS, which due to weather conditions was extremely dehydrating in 2006 (high temperatures, high degree of humidity). This is my most important lesson learned from the Marathon des Sables: Reduce your weight. At the same time it became my biggest motivation for doing the MdS again next year: I want to see how a lower total weight, based on changes of life style, nutrition, training and equipment will pay off. I effortlessly lost 15kg during the last 6 months and will have a much lighter backpack; I expect my total weight to be below 80kg, backpack and water included.Tips on shedding some extra pounds and what to leave out of your backpack to come.
No Comments »Pro Tip #1: Memorize your map or road book
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007So you’ve chosen your maps for the Thames Meander or have been given your road book on day 1 of the Marathon des Sables. Now you want to make sure that you digest your reading before heading out.
For the Thames Meander, you should memorize the larger towns and land marks and the distances between each of them. You should know when to expect a bridge where you have to cross the river. You don’t want to go back because you missed a bridge or a compulsory water station.
At the MdS, you will want to spend at least 30 minutes each evening studying the next stage in your road book. While it is virtually impossible to get lost in the Sahara, you need to know what terrain to expect at what part of your stage and the distance between each water station. Keep in mind that crossing larger dunes or mountains will take a lot longer than crossing a flat salt lake. With water being rationed, you need to control your fluid intake and adapt it to what you anticipate the time to the next station will be. If you prepare mentally at the bivouac the night before, your run will be fairly smooth and according to plan; there will still be plenty of opportunities where you have to adapt and improvise during the course of the race.
If you anticipate the things lurking ahead you stay in control, rather than being controlled by the course. It’s the difference between actively managing your race, and reacting to things that you could have known in advance with a little preparation.
The same applies to the rules and regulations of your event - you need to know them. During the MdS 2006, I asked for an extra bottle of water during stage two. Although I had read the race regulations a few weeks before, I didn’t remember that I would get an hour penalty for one bottle of water and that I would be out of the race doing this again twice. Had I remembered, I might not have asked for that extra water just a few miles before the bivouac on stage two, keeping it as a last resort for later stages of the race.
Be wise - memorize.
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