As many of you know, I set myself the enormous challenge of completing the Marathon des Sables in 2010 and I have completed it. The Marathon des Sables is an endurance race of 256km of desert running. I will be running this event in aid of the charities, F.R.O.D.O . http://www.frodokids.org/ and you can sponsor me by visiting my just giving site http://justgiving.co.uk/georgie-islip.

As I train for this event I am keeping an online diary here, so that you can track my progress and also pick up on any tips or discoveries I happen upon along on the way.

20th January 2010. Oh my goodness it now this year. How scared am I? It's too real and too near! Running sessions are now getting so ridiculous that I'm embarassed when people ask 'how long did you go for today?'. They are seriously silly. So how is my training getting on? I did about 70 km last week, and felt ok, and this week I ran for 40km on Monday in just over 4 hours. I'm running with loads of clothes on and carrying my backpack. So please if you see me, wave as I need all the support I can get! I'm mentally working on building myself up to do the distance. The double marathon day scares me slightly because 12 hours is a long time to be up and out running/walking/crawling! I did hills yesterday and my quads can hardly move today. Never mind, only 10 more weeks to go and then I'm off! It's really count down now.

18th November. It has been hard work the last few weeks as I must admit my motivation is not great at the moment.... I've not really done a long run as I missed Monday this week because my youngest was off school and I also had a rather heavy weekend with a friend's 40th. All excuses I know, but never mind. I did do another weight session though to try and stop myself feeling guilty. However, today's run was hard. The weather was against me and I only managed an hour and a half. It should have been nearer two and I should have run about 15 miles. Instead I did a good 9 at a quicker pace though!

With the weights I'm working on strengthening my legs and upper body. I'm also doing several stomach exercises to strengthen my core and oysters to strengthen my hips and glut muscles. These are vital muscles which help stabilise you during long distance running.

7th November. I should have completed two ultra marathons this weekend, but I had a cold and I was concerned about jeopardising my training programme. I did, however run for 3 hours 40 minutes around Richmond Park as I needed to prove to myself that I could and I felt excellent. For this ultra race I need to build up my long runs to a level where I can (not happily but uncomfortably) carry on running. I ran for an hour and 20 and then walked for 5 minutes before picking up running again. I carried on in this manor for the rest of my run, so every 20 minutes I'd walk for 5. I completed 22 miles carrying a 3 1/2 pack, which I'm pleased with. This week is my hard session since I had nearly two weeks easy. I then ran a tempo yesterday at 4.41minutes per km for 40 minutes. I will be including two weight sessions this week focusing on legs, shoulders and core work. Core work is really important in ultra races since you rely on your posture during running distances. Next week I will do a shorter long run, probably about 15 miles.

4th November. My training has been going really well. I had a slight set back in July with an achilles pain, but this seems to have gone now, apart from minor aches. I have now increased my long run to 3 hours, covering 27km with a 3-4kg pack on my back. I'm running over at Box Hill because the terrain is rough and hilly. I run on Monday mornings with John, my companion in this mad race. He is mega fit and happily runs up the hills whilst I am walking as fast as I can because my running is slower than walking! I find I get to a point where I feel I am going backwards not forwards! However at the top my recovery is OK and we are quickly off again. Box Hill is a great training ground and I'll be heading there in the next few weeks to do repeat hills. There is one hill at the start that is tough and I plan over the next month or so to make it all the way up to the top without stopping to walk. I'll keep you posted. This is important to do because in the MdS there is a day of the dunes where you travel up and down across the dunes.

I'm training 6 days a week which includes a speed session, hills and 2 weights sessions. Sometimes I have good weeks and complete all my training but other weeks fall a bit by the way side with other commitments, family, children and a social life. I should be running a 56 ultra marathon this weekend but having gone for a gentle hour and a half run on Sunday and then stood in the rain with my young children watching them play rugby, I've a cold. So I sound like a goods train when I run now. Also as it has been half term I've only managed to get out a couple of times. But a little rest is good. You should never train hard continuously and allow yourself a week easy training every 3-5 weeks.

I am focusing on my food intake and what I need to eat every hour during a long run. If I calculate how many hours I'll be running in the MdS, it could be about 40 hours. I'll need a minimum of a kilo and a half of snacks to take with me, and that does not include my meals!  

11th July. I've been running over that last few weeks in the heat and it has been brilliant. I am comfortably up to two and a half hours with a 5 kgs pack on my back. I've now purchased an aarn rucksack which will hopefully see me through the race. Unfortunately the packs have been rubbing on my back which has caused large scabs. However, I feel this will be the least of my worries! It is something I need to work on and may have to run with tapping round my back. The only other niggle I have is my Achilles, but I'm sorting this out.

31st May. Half term week is always difficult to fit training in so I rested for a few days and did not try to fit a hard session in. However, I ran today for 2 and 1/2 hours around Richmond Park. It was great and my 5kg pack did not feel heavy which is really good news. I left early running to the park via Ham House and included hills and running on the sandy horse track around the park. The weather was warm but again I felt fine. I found I may need to take more water with me as I drank my 500mls of diluted juice reasonably quickly. I also ate 2 packets of raisins which I gave me an instant boost. Although my pace was slow and I only walked to drink or eat. I was really pleased with this session and my recovery was good. Lucy Johnson a friend of mine, who is a sports dietician, has recommended that I re-fuel with about a pint of skimmed milk and then eat a meal within 2 hours of training. I also sat in a cold bath for 5 minutes which improved the condition of my legs. Great run, so here's to the next long run this Sunday morning.  

For backdated training details please contact me on 07736 070612