Not the best start in the world….

So, all my good intentions last week to begin this blog of my Atacamah Crossing training with a vengeance and fighting fit have gone to pot. I am currently laid up on a sofa (which is an improvement from a sweat soaked bed), with a hot water bottle on my belly, a throbbing head, and achey limbs. Yep, I finally succombed to the flu this year. Having never caught it off my patients previously, it has struck me down quite literally – in fact I don’t remember being this sick in a long time, I’m only relieved that the desert race is in October and not like the MDS  this coming April, as losing a week or so’s training at this point is not too drastic, but does feel on the mileage front a little bit like being back to square one!
Still, now that I am feeling up to typing, and looking at a screen again I can browse all the kit lists for the race and feel the stirrings of excitement as I look at off road trainers, sand gaiters, useful desert tools, etc etc.
Hopefully my next entry will see me back in trainers – until then, I must blow my nose – byee!

…..the next challenge….2015

Hello folks….!!!!
Yes, I know it’s been a while since my last entry, over a year in fact. But I’m back now, and will be blogging hopefully quite regularly for the next few months. Yes, I have a new challenge and I am officially signed up for the ATACAMAH CROSSING 2015!!!!!

What is that I hear you ask, well for those of you not in the know, it is a multi-stage race across the Atacamah Desert in Chile, which is known to be the driest desert on the earth and at quite a high altitude. And one year when they were running the race the had to deal with earthquakes amongst the sanddunes, and salt planes! So some new challenges in the bag this time.

The race is in October, so over the next 8 months I will be building my training up and intending to get to the starting line fighting fit and strong as an ox – and to help me with this desert race I have the most awesomely fantastic trainer (he slipped me a tenner to say that!), Luke Worthington – who I train with at The Third Space gym in Soho, where I teach the odd class.
Luke genuinely is awesome and over the last 12 months has helped me rehab from two semi-prolapsed discs in my lumbar spine which I acquired from the joys of my nursing job. It’s been a long steady road to full strength again, but with the combination of Luke’s rehab and some physio and chiropractor work I seem to be getting there. I tested my back out last November back in the Nice to Cannes marathon which although goes down in my record books as my worst ever marathon both for my time and the experience, it served it’s purpose and my back survived the pounding of 26 miles, even in the pouring rain – my ipod however did not survive and drowned rather miserably!

So, onwards and upwards. I train with Luke once a week – and will report on my training sessions and as I step up my running and long runs will begin to write about them…

As yet, I haven’t chosen a charity to run for and am still looking….details will follow…

The exciting thing about this race, is this time, even though my folks still question my sanity – they have been looking up the race and all the information about it, (4 Deserts website is http://www.4deserts.com), almost more than I have!