I'm in no way medically qualified but researching the training needed to complete the MdS suggests that carrying fat on the body through the desert isn't a great idea.
The closer the heat-producing muscles are to the surface of the skin the easier it is to keep cool (or, at least, keep cooler than when carrying a large body fat percentage).
Over the last 6 months I've made gradual changes to my diet, trying to cut down the amount of rubbish I put in and hence the body fat percentage. This will take some time. As I can't yet be certain I'm definitely doing the MdS this change in diet has met varying degrees of success (well, there doesn't seem to be any urgency to stop having cake just yet, does there?!).
Trying to get back into running has been difficult. My Achilles tendons are giving me real problems. Years of inactivity haven't helped and a lack of stretching during thee years I was running mean I lack flexibility and suppleness.
Try as I might I haven't been able to run more than 10 miles in a week. My total mileage since June 2009, when I joined the MdS Wait-list, has been a poor 75 miles. Not a good start, though I have lost a few pounds from reducing the rubbish-food intake.
I've recently read Chris McDougall's Born to Run which has ignited the bare-foot or minimalist-shoe running debate. Essentially, heel-strike running is a bad idea and the argument is that running up on the toes or ball of the foot (which is the natural way to run if you try it bare-foot down your hallway) is the way to injury-free running.
So I've started to try and change my heel-striking ways (which I've done for 12 years) for forefoot striking (in trainers!). It feels a little odd. So far I've learnt two things:
- while I'm now not having any lower-back pain or tightness for the first time in ages it's killing my calves, which lock up and take a good deal of stretching to undo (it apparently takes a while for the calves to get used to forefoot strike);
- concentrating on a quicker foot turnover and a "light touch" is giving me a quicker pace without any increase in perceived effort.
This might be worth pursuing for a while as I've plenty of time before the training needs to get serious: if I keep having Achilles tendon problems I'm going nowhere!
