Final Food Listing

Here it is. Approximately.  Of course there will be treats at the bivouac before the start.

MDS 2015 Food Worksheet                                 Total Kcals                   Date (2015) 4/5 4/6 4/7 4/8 4/9 4/10 4/11   Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7   Stage 1 2 3 4 4 5 6   Distance (km/miles)                 Stations (estimates)                 Bottles H20 (1.5 liters each)                                   Expedition Foods Scrambled Eggs, Potatoes and Peppers 1     1       1656 Expedition Foods Granola with Raspberries   1     1     1614 Expedition Foods Oats and Blueberries     1         813 Expedition Foods Oats with Sultans           1   801 Expedition Foods Rice Pudding with Cinnamon             1 440 Starbucks via 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 0                   Stinger Waffle 1 1 1 1   1   800 Gels (various) 1 1 1 1   1 1 660 Bars (various) 1 1 1 1   1   1900 Slim Jim (6 each, 1.7 oz)   1   1       400 Epic Bar 1   1     1   600 Nuts (Almond, Macadamea or Pine, 1.5 oz) 1 1 1 1   1   1600 Gu Recovery 1 1 1 1 1 1   1440 Astronaut Icecream         1     120 Gu Tabs 2 2 2 2   2   0 Salt Sticks 20 20 20 20   20   0                   Nachos 1             780 Expediton Foods Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice   1           804 Expedition Foods Asian Noodles and Beef     1         805 Expedition Foods Macarroni and Cheese         1     800 Expedition Foods Spaghetti Bolognese         1     808 Expedition Foods Chicken Korma with Rice           1   807 Custard with Mixed Berries       1       568                   Running Calories 1410 1410 1410 1410 360 1410 110   Non-running Calories 1608 1611 1618 1360 2415 1608 440                     Total 3018 3021 3028 2770 2775 3018 550 18216

Taper

This week begins the taper for the MDS in earnest.  While I will still be putting in some miles (along with a reduced weight pack run) all of them will be at a much lower intensity and will of course include walking.  Mileage will be about 60% of maximum this week and only 20-30% of maximum next week.  That will leave about a week for travel and just walking around Paris and Marrakech before the start.

While you can not really improve your conditioning this close to an event there are 1001 ways to hurt yourself especially if you are trained up to the edge.
 

Some of the 2013 MDS US contingent.  Note knee brace on the left - happened a week earlier at work!

Efforts now are focusing on some stretching/yoga, getting more rest and packing for the event!

It is getting real and close!

Communications

For those of you who would like to send emails to the field please follow the instructions on the MDS web site here.

My competitor number is 0897 - Garth Reader.  My brother Dirk is 0898.  Additionally there will be posts here relating to our progress.

We would love to hear from you all!

2015 Final Packing List

Time is running short!  The 98% packing list for 2015 is as follows.

2015 MDS Packing List
Item	Weight (oz)	Notes/Brand
Administrative
200 euros equiv.	0.5	required emergency funds
Credit Card(s)	0.5
Passport	0.8
Route book	3.0
Medical	-
ECG/EKG	-
Equipment
Pack	24.0	Raidlight Evolution 2
Sleeping Bag	16.0	Western Mountaineering Highlight
Pad	8.0	Thermarest Neo air Xlite small
Water Bottles	12.0	Raidlight with holders (2 ea @750 ml)
Headlamp/batteries	3.1	Petzl Tekka XP 2 with lithium batteries
Lithium Batteries (4)	0.8	Energizer AAA
Safety pins	0.2	Two large and eight small
Compass	1.0	Silva basic
Lighter	0.5	Small - get in country
Knife	0.8	Leatherman "Style" and/or Baladeo ECO131
AB ointment	0.5	0.5 oz tube
Venom pump	1.1	Sawyer Extractor and one tip.  Dump the case
Mirror	0.9	Ultimate survival tech microflash
Whistle	0.0	Built into pack and headlamp
Survival sheet	1.9	Space brand small
Spot PLB	4.0	Provided. Estimated weight
Salt Tablets	5.0	Bring SaltSticks or Ecaps (100 ea)
Light Sticks	-
Stove/windscreen	0.9	Esbit Titanium Wing plus DIY windscreen
Stove fuel	4.0	Order for delivery to race. 12 ea
Spork	0.3	Sea to Summit Alpha lite
Cup	1.9	MSR Titan Titanium
AL foil	0.2
First Aid/Medications	2.0	4 Band-Aids, gauze pad, suture strips, 2 alcohol wipes, 6 vitamins, 5 Alive, 6 Cipro, 2 Imonium, 4 Sudafed, 2 Tylanol, 2 Benadryl, 2 Ibuprofin, 2 Petos, 6 sleep aids
Blister kit	2.0	5 ea blister shield packets, Rock Tape (1", 2" and 4"; various lenghts), 2 ea needles/hypodermic, Tinc of bensoate ampoles (6 ea), 2 un-solve, super glue.
Sunscreen	0.7
Lip balm	0.4	Badwater brand
EZ towels	0.9	Compressed wipes (10 ea)
TP	1.7	lots with tube removed
Hand Sanitizer	1.3	1 oz bottle half full
Cord	0.1	3 feet very light bungie cord
Zip Ties	0.1	4 small ones
Duct Tape	0.5	3 yds wraped around venom pump
Ear plugs	0.1	2 pairs
Wisps toothbrushes (6)	0.6	six ea
Q-tips (12)	0.2	12 ea
Camera/extra battery/extra card	8.2	Nikon coolpix
pen/notebook	1.5	Moleskin 3.5 x 5.25, 64 pages and inka pen
soap	0.2	small piece
Sportslick	0.9	small container of
Flags/patches	0.3
Sew kit	0.1	needels/thread
Tenacius Repair tape	0.1	2x2 inch
Alocksaks/ziplocs	1.5	various sizes
Garmin Forerunner 101		with new batteries
Clothing
Shorts, compression	5.6	CWX (2 ea)
Shirt, race	4.8	2XU Tech Speed X Run Top
Shirt, long sleeve	2.0	Raidlight Desert
Buff	1.4
Goggles	1.7
Hat	-	Salomon XA+, white
Socks (3 extra pair, 4 total)	2.5	Wrightsocks (2) and Injinji (2)
montbell tacyon jacket	1.5
Running shoes	-
Gaiters	2.0	DIY
Comprsn shin sleeves	1.0
Cooling sleeves	1.0
Food
Food (competition)	160.0	est 6.5 days @ 2900 kcal/day @ 1.5 lbs/day
Totals	286.8	oz
	17.9	lb
	8.1	kg
Note: running clothes not counted in totals

Antelope Canyon

Making new friends is always a benefit of stage racing and at the Grand-to-Grand Ultra last year I made many.  Several were interested in doing the Antelope Canyon Ultra for fun and it quickly became a reunion event.  Everyone was intent on the 50 miler or 55K so I threw in with the plan of a long training run.

As it turned out this event is a great train-up for the MDS!  While there was little elevation change to speak of (coming from the mountains) the 50 miler course offered 12 miles (19+ km) of single track, 8 miles (13 km) of broken slickrock and 30 miles (48 km) of nothing but soft fine SAND.  The scenery was absolutely gorgeous too!  The 50 and 100 milers offer the added benefit of allowing you to run through one of the most iconic slot canyons in the world (in addition to two others).  Thanks to Ken Letterle for taking the time to snap the pictures below.

Antelope Canyon

I decided to break in the new MDS shoes and use the race gaiters for the event.  This was a very wise decision since I didn't have to stop to empty my shoes several times like most racers.  It was also refreshing not to have to run with the pack for a bit!

NO Pack - Oh what a feeling!

While the course was difficult, it was also fast.  All the G2G'ers exceeded their expectations and pulled down some great times.  Post race pizza and beer at the finish line hit the spot and old stories were rehashed as we caught up with each other.  The next day we were off to the four winds and our own race schedules, I'm sure we will see each other soon!

Happy Valentines!

As departure draws near the training is increasing.  But time is needed to spend with your Valentine.

This last weekend was spent with my lovely wife Lisa at the Caza Ladron Hunt event in the Santa Fe area.  While Lisa was out riding with the pack (of hounds) and looking for coyotes to chase (no foxes to speak of here in NM) I was able to get in some quality miles with my own pack.  Additionally there was lots of recovery feasting and general good times.

The trails outside of Santa Fe were relatively snow free and the temperatures were cool so the running was a pleasant break from the road miles and ice trails up on "The Hill" in Los Alamos.
One day I was able to get in a good stretch of sand training up Buckman's wash to the entrance of Diablo Canyon.  The best part was that the Hunt's "Woopie Wagon" was at mile 7+.  You don't find too many aid stations/check points that offer port or champagne!  They didn't even punch my ration card.

Coming up next is Antelope Canyon Ultra with some of the Grand-to-Grand crew.

Nuts!

Most ultra racers and stage racers know the benefits of nuts in their race diet.  High in calories, protein and fat these little wonders bring nutritional support in a small package.  Salted they also help satisfy the need for electrolytes.  High on the calorie per gram list are Macadamia nuts, Almonds and Pine nuts (Pignolias to some).  While I have always carried Almonds during stage races, for this year's MDS I intend to mix it up and bring some of all three for variety.  With respect to the Almonds I intend to use Marcona Almonds this time around since they are less dry and have a mild flavor making them more like peanuts.  Pine nuts will most likely be pinon pine nuts from around the local area here in New Mexico if I can find some.  The harvest this year was not very large!  You can also spice up any nuts with sea salt or other spices.  Many varieties of Almonds already come per-flavored.  An once and a half a day will bring you over 350 calories and some snacking enjoyment!