MDS 2009 - General update

Dear all,
I have been away for a while so I thought I ought to catch up with you all and let you know what I am up to.
Susan Turner mentioned in one of her recent posts that I was competing in this years Marathon des Sable ( approx 155 miles in the Sahara).
I have been training since I got on the waiting list 2 years ago. My place was confirmed in early December 2008.
From experience I knew that loads of mileage would cause me an injury so I purchased an xtrainer (ex gym complete with built in tv) to cut down my mileage and impact on my knees. My running is obviously consisting of mainly LSD. My core session has been running from Oxford to home once a week with a 6kg back pack - approx 22 miles along the Oxford canal. I increased the pack load in January to 13kg and stuck in a couple of back to back days. My running has got slower but I can go pretty much all day - in fact bordom is the limiting factor. I also have been working on getting my walking speed faster as much of the desert is unrunnable (ask Hanno about my walking speed!). My maximum distance in training has been about 75 miles running +Xtraining. I still managed to pick up a knee injury and this has resulted in a couple of steroid injections.
Training races have been ultra distance; Thames Meander (50 miles) 2008, Tour de trigs (50), Tring to town (40). I took part in a training weekend in the Brecons and been driving over to the Welsh dunes to test myself in the sand.
I am now over the peak in my training (hence time for the update) and am counting down to the big race day. I notice that an 2008 MDS veteran (david Wylie) is also a club member. If you would like to take part then the next opertunity is in 2013 as all 2010, 11 and 12 places have gone!
Further details can be found at my race web site www.kevinmayoultra.co.uk . On here there, are links to my just giving pages and if you wish to donate to any of the 3 charities I would very much appreciate it.

The first day of racing is 29th March and the 'big one' (50+) is on April fools day. Daily race results and news can be found on the official web site ( from my links page).
I'll give a full race report when I get back (and the feet have grown back), and be swimming on Monday evenings.

Kevin