Running up mountains

My Marathon Des Sables training for 2009 continues...

The last few days I've spent running up the local mountain trails around Cypres Provincial Park with a light pack. I found a new trail the other day and decided to explore. Part of it was washed out and led to a 40 foot drop off so I had to do a little bush whacking to find a way to bypass the small ravine. It turned out to be a muddy uphill grind. A lot of mountain bikers use the trail which means loose earth, and it seems that some of the local creeks are flooding and the combination led to a messy uphill slog. Fortunately I was in the mood for a challenge so it was an afternoon's effort well spent.

Today was a trip running up through the Brother's Creek trails. I felt great and ran the entire way up with a pace like clockwork. Ok, maybe I 'slow jogged' but it still felt great. The run down was an absolute blast, but I keep having to hold back a bit in order to protect my knee. It's a weird sensation having the rest of your body chomping at the bit to really go for it but forcing yourself to ease back - the knee's not quite 100% yet and if I go and injure it again I'll probably end up having to walk the 245 kms across the Sahara!

That aside I'm starting to make some decisions about what equipment I'm going to be taking for the big run. A bad decision can have serious consequences and I have been agonizing over my choices as a result. It looks like my backpack will be costing about $200.00, but if I buy wisely it may just be the best $200.00 I spend. Overall weight, load distribution, reducing friction points, hydration access, capacity and airflow are just a few of the things that I've been quite literally obsessing about. But I think I've narrowed it down to either the New Zealand made Aarn racing pack or the French Raidlight 30L pack with 5L frontpack attachment. I'll be making a decision later this week and then coughing up some of my hard earned lunch money!

I'll post a picture of my selection soon.

All the best...

Ian