I'm now back in the UK and it's been four days since I finished the Marathon des Sables.
Various memories start coming back, including the mild hallucinations I had during the night stage. Having had a very poor week of sleep (and sleep just doesn't really happen when in the bivouac) it was during the night of Stage 4 in the sand dunes that I saw a white Berber tent complete with guy ropes and folds in the cotton of the tent. I started moving softly and taking a wider berth around it, keen not to disturb its sleeping occupants . . . until my brain reinterpeted what I saw for what it really was: just a large collection of clumps of grass on top of a mound of sand. The lamb I saw also wasn't a lamb. There were other weird "sightings".
Back at the hotel it took an hour and 3 showers to get off a week's worth of sand and all the detritus of human existence but I felt amazing afterwards.
It had been over a week since I'd seen myself in a mirror and I was really surprised at what I saw after a good shower and a shave: there was very little body fat left on me, it having been consumed in place of calories from food that I didn't have.
On the morning I left the UK (4 April) I weighed in at bang-on 14st and this morning (18 April) I weighed in at 13st 12lb. Bearing in mind I've absolutely stuffed myself for the last 3 days (I and my tent mates were having 3 main meals and 3 breakfasts for the day or two after the MdS, and lots of snacks in between!) I'm guessing I must have lost between 7lb and a stone during the week. When my wife first showed me after the finish a picture of a runner on her camera I asked who it was, not recognising that in fact it was me.
Would I do the MdS again? After Stage 1 one of our tent mates, Tony, decided to abandon (he completed the MdS last year) with the ominous words "I know what's coming and I realise I'm just not motivated to do it a second time." We all gulped at that.
It's unlikely. Once the "toughest footrace on earth" has been completed I'm not sure what my personal motivation would be for trying to complete the MdS a second time.
But having said that we were shown a few videos of the event in the hotel the day after the finish at the British presentation ceremony (see gadget top right: MdS 2012 videos). The videos (there are more on YouTube) show lots of smiles, uplifting music, inspirational interviews . . . and the pain has all been forgotten by then. Was it really that bad and uncomfortable? Wouldn't it be great fun to come back and do it again? When I see these videos it brings a lump to my throat and I'm itching to get my cheque book out!!
To get a faster time might be a motivation but it wouldn't be enough for me as so many external factors beyond one's control can put paid to that.
What the MdS does do is break you down both physically and mentally and it's up to you to build it all back up again, or quit. I was very lucky to have been a part of Tent 78 during the MdS with the best tent mates you could hope for (Tony, Paul, Ashley, Mark, Richard, Dean and Wayne) and we all variously agreed that the MdS also teaches you what is most valuable in life: the simple things and family. The day we were told we were going to get a cold can of Coke, for example, we were all like giddy kippers, kids at Christmas! During the night stage I suddenly became overwhelmed with excitement at the idea of getting home to simply sit and read a few pages of my book; in the dark painful moments I covered a few hundred metres with memories of cuddling up with my wife watching TV, or of my nephew recently explaining to me over a pub lunch how his Lego toy and beer mat invention would help me defeat camel spiders and scorpions in the desert.
I've certainly got the bug back from my 4 year hiatus from keeping fit and doing mad events and this time I don't intend stopping. The world is full of other ultra-events that are similarly tough and I guess I'll aim for them (one or all of the 4 deserts? the Fire and Ice Ultra?) . . . and the goal of joining The 100 Marathon Club one day seems a good one to aim for.
So I'll crack on with that then for now: just another 83 to go!
