Ready for the Saunders

I have had a real lazy week of training, mainy as we went out to watch a couple of performances at school as part of our iPerform week; a series of drama and music events. Tracey and I went to the comedy night on Tuesday (with Alun Cochrane, yes, THE Alun Cochrane) and the band night on Wednesday. With the various fixtures taking place, I just did not have enough time to fit in some training so have just accepted this week as a bit of recovery before the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon this weekend.

Despite the horrid weather forecast, I am really looking forward to the event, which runs from Wasdale this year. The organisers have come up with a different slant for the Elite class which will add another element to the strategy of the race. I'll talk about this in my race report.

I have not done a full two day mountain marathon since the OMM in 2010. I missed all the races last year due to my injury and recovery so it will be great to get my compass out again and use it in anger. I am definitely out of practice with regard to the packing for the race. It usually takes about an hour to get everything together but today I have spent about 2:30 hours packing the rucksack.

In this 20 litre rucksack is everything I'll need for upto 36 hours of self-sufficiency; leggings, thermal top, fleece, waterproof top and bottoms, hat, gloves, torch, foil blanket, sleeping bag, sleeping mat (bit of a luxury but it's only flooring underlay!), water bottle, tent, poles, pegs, 1st aid kit, stove, gas, lighter, pan, mug, spoon, food for 2 days of running and food for the camp. About 4.5kg all-in.

I am going to make sure I do not go full bore during the race and will try to keep some of my competitive juices under control as I am using this race as my final big weekend before the Lakeland 100 which starts 3 weeks tomorrow. We are now into the business end of the season!!