Marathon des Sables: hill training

The easy bit!

Perhaps not surprisingly, Marathon des Sables has a fair few hills - both of the sand and rocky variety. Some hills are long, slow inclines. Others are brutal sharp, steep inclines.

Last year on day 4 (the long day) the organisers gave us a 2 hour climb up rocks and boulders, before traversing via a rope down the biggest dune I've ever seen.

The big dunes are infamous in MDS, but there are also cutely-named "dunettes" - smaller, rolling dunes that can last for many kilometres.

So hill training has to be a big must in any MDS programme.

Last year, outside, I concentrated on getting up long, sustained hills rather than sprinting up short ones, as that's what MDS is going to test you on.

I devised a good gym session as follows:
5 minute warm up on stepper.
15 minutes on stepper at level 8/9 effort carrying 10kg weight in bag.
15 minutes targeted strength exercises - lunges onto balance ball, one legged squats, side lie glut med lifts.
15 minutes on treadmill. 10% incline. Run 3 minutes at 8.5kmh. Rest 1 minute. Repeat.
10 minute stretching routine.

I also ran a specific hill training session 1x week, but also make sure they were included in most runs too. However, I was a little too haphazard in my approach. I think it would have been better to plan out the hill sessions 1x week so you are slowly increasing the difficulty over time, and making sure you do include specific hill training routines into your running.

I would advise working on:-
Intervals - 250m up to 1 mile. Increase sets slowly up. For 250m, I would work on 5 reps, then increase up to 5x3 sets. For 1 mile, I would work on 2 reps, then increase up to 5 reps.
Medium-long hilly running - plan an run a few routes with considerable hills. If you can get out to somewhere like to Peaks or South Downs, this would be excellent practice. Get out for at least three hours, preferably more. Don't worry about time, just think about getting up and down the hills with good form.
Weight - don't run with your pack on all the time, but do try your hill reps with your heavy pack to get the feel of it. It will shift your balance and posture, so takes some time to adjust. Plus it's much harder with an additional 10kg!

Want more hill talk? See here

The hills are alive with the sound of...runners' feet

View from North Downs just West of Dorking...in mid February!

Sticking with theme of offroading in new and exciting places in and around London took me and the other half to Dorking to run on the Surrey Hills.

I'm in love with the place. There is something about big open spaces that I'm drawn to (hoping this will add to my enjoyment of marathon des sables, being rather big and open).

Added to the beauty of the place was that the sun decided to join us. Positively balmy! Running past vineyards made me feel like I was in France, not Southeast England in February.

For the marathon des sables training plan I'm trying to fit in more challenging runs than flat roads in London, so the North Downs was perfect. It has hills. It has mud.

What hill training happened?
Saturday was an extremely hilly 10km up and around Box Hill. Now most people generally take the well marked trail path or road up to the top of Box Hill. Not me. My other half decided the right path was one that looked suspiciously like a wrong path. We ended up scaling the sharp end of Box Hill instead.

I could go on about men and directions, but I'm not going to. I'm just going to put this paragraph in bold instead.


Climbed up this. Rock climbing equipment not to hand.

On the plus it worked my calves out like nothing else. It was probably coming up for a 65-70% incline so it was a case of scrambling and holding onto tree roots to scale it's heights...

And not looking down.

Considering I've now heard some of the sand dunes on the marathon des sables are pretty scary to climb, I reckon this "training" we did (aka got lost) was probably a good thing. I just wish I could get used to not being scared of heights!

Sunday was more of a horizontal affair, though still hilly. More like rolling woodland than in-your-face vertical incline which was a little more pleasant. We ran 20 miles west from Dorking along the North Downs Way.

Why should runners do hill training?
I've posted on my hill training previously, but to recap I'm trying to concentrate on hill training to build my strength, build my running fitness in general (so I can run further before I get completely worn out), and get my legs used to running up hills, as there are going to be a lot of dunes to crawl over in April in the big sahara race.

So I've been a lot of running in places like Ally Pally, Queens Woods and Hampstead Heath, but it's always good to get out of London sometimes - particularly for me at the moment. I am suffering from a severe case of LACK OF ENTHUSIASM FOR RUNNING.

The North Downs, I am glad to say, has revitalised my love of running. How could you fail to be happy out in somewhere like this? In mid February as well? Happy days.

Sand dune training for marathon des sables

Yes it is ridiculous as it looks - but pretty funny

South of the sleepy unassuming town of Bridgend, South Wales lies the pretty sand dunes of Merthyr Mawr.

As well as being attractive they are also home to Europe's biggest sand dune - the big dipper. It's 245m long and I reckon 45 degree incline in places.

Which means....great training for marathon des sables!


View Larger Map
Map of Merthyr Mawr sand dune complex - A marks the village of Merthyr Mawr

The map above shows the region. The sand dunes range from about 3km wide to 5km across, so there is great scope for running a few circuits as well as specific dune training.

The dunes range from gently rolling to the huge big dipper. There is also a lovely stretch of flat sand to run across, which is also not very busy, as you have to get across the dunes to reach the sea - so it's just a really beautiful area to go running.

And easy on the old joints too.


Very pretty (nice dog called Rolo too)

I managed three sessions there.

Day 1 - short, sharp dunes x10
Found a really steep dune and ran/slid/fell up and down it (and how fun is it to run down a sand dune? Feels like you are wearing springs)

Day 2 - medium dunes x20
Up and down a steeper dune in the snow.

Completely ridiculous but pretty good fun as well!

Day 3 - the big dipper x10 plus a circuit of dune network (maybe 2 miles total)

I have no one to compare against but to put into context I managed to jog up the whole way of the big dipper only once out of 10 times. The other nine was a combination of half jogging and half walking. It was really, really difficult.

My other half fared a little better than me, but also struggled to run the whole thing in one go too.


Come on slacker I finished ages ago. Tsk.

How did the gaiters fare?
I've got Sandbagger long gaiters. Happy to say they worked really well.

I had next to no sand in my shoes after pounding up and down in deep sand.

I only velcroed them to my shoes, and the velcro was only held onto the trainer with superglue, as I haven't figured out the stitching option yet. Stitching is essential though as the velcro would have definitely come off after a full day out there, but it was fine for a few hours here and there.


Happy face with gaiters

I also tried the shorter Raidlight gaiters too and these also seemed good.

I prefer the Sandbaggers though as they are really easy to put on and take off, whereas you need to take off your trainers first to get the Raidlight gaiters on, which may prove a little annoying after a while.

My other half had more troubles with sand. We worked out this was to do with his footwear, not the gaiters (as I tried his). He has inov8 Roclite 285 trainers , which are very lightweight but a little "holey". Whereas my Brooks Cascasdia 7 tend to let less sand through the air holes!

How to run up sand dunes?
Well, it's a bit of an oxymoron but the secret is to walk! Or at least take a slow, controlled jog up there.

I found that trying to leg it up sand dunes gets you nowhere, and tires you out.

The other half and I played around a bit and timed us walking versus "running" up the dunes, and it made a tiny bit of difference jogging up but not much compared to a steady walk. Plus you are exhausted at the top if you try and run the whole way, rather than being able to carry on and recover on the move.

Running up also seemed to dislodge more sand meaning you could end up slipping backwards instead of travelling forwards!

Finally, walking/short jogging strides meant you could work on a better foot placement. Following another's footprints in the sand is much better than digging your own trail up a dune. The sand is more compact where someone else has trodden so you can get a bit more traction and grip.

Position wise I found I couldn't look up as it overbalanced me - yes it was really that high! It also messed with my morale as the dunes look so steep from the bottom.

I found it easier to try and keep upright and maybe look a few steps ahead (maybe 1 metre or so) so you could see the next few strides to take. This was better than concentrating directly on the next footstep, as that meant you pitched yourself forwards too much, and I can imagine that would cause bad backache after a few hours.

All the time thinking strong core! strong core! Abs of steel! Abs of steel! Feeling like Rocky! Feeling like Rocky! Not about to die! Not about to die!

The other point to consider are walking poles. I don't have them, but I did think they would have been really, really helpful to get up the dunes. They help with balance and obtaining some grip.


Yes finished!

Other sand training options for marathon des sables
There is lots of good sand training options if you have more time or scope to train on sand including...

Reps up and down different sized dunes (as per moi)
Create a big circle half way up a dune and run around and around it
Circuits around different sand densities - from stony, sandy ground to deep sand
Circuit type training - side, back running, hops over objects etc

Logistics if you go to train at Merthyr Mawr
You can easily stay in Bridgend even if you don't have a car, and jog the 2.75 miles down to the start of the dunes every day. It's a pleasant jog through the edge of Bridgend, and down a country road through Merthyr Mawr village.

However, I would recommend taking a car if you have access to it, as it means you can solely concentrate on dune sessions rather than spending time jogging there and back. It also means you can do two sessions in a day, as you can leave for lunch and come back later.

All this would be fine as well without a car if the weather is good as you could take a picnic - but it was snowing when we were there and bitterly cold, so hanging around was unfortunately not an option.

There are no pubs or cafes in Merthyr Mawr village, but there are a couple of options in Ogmore, the next village along, if you do stay out there all day and it's too cold to be outside the whole time.

There is a car park for those who have a car, and basic toilet facilities, but not a lot else so make sure you have everything you need!

Hill training for endurance running

Looks easy.......Isn't.

Another part of the marathon des sables training plan is to add in more hill training sessions.

I've been trying to do a few hill training sessions here and there, but only now have I set them in to the training plan to run them at least once a week specifically, and at least once a week minimum into a run too.

Why is hill training good for endurance running?
First and foremost, it adds strength to your legs. Running uphill targets quads, calves, hip flexors and calves. Running downhill (often neglected) targets hamstrings. So hill training is a great way to improve leg strength in a running specific way (as, in case you hadn't clicked, you are running as you are training!)

By improving strength, you are also improving your running economy (how efficient you are, and how well you use your oxygen when you run). Therefore, you should be getting faster, and crucially, increasing the resistance of your muscles to fatigue.

By running hills, you are effectively training your muscles to be able to run for longer before getting tired. And this is the key to endurance running - being able to long periods of time (fast if you are really good!) without getting tired.

More specifically why is hill training good for marathon des sables?
Marathon des sables has A LOT of hills, or more appropriately, sand dunes, which must be the big daddy of all hills, as they move under your feet. Tres difficile!

You're running marathon des sables? You are going to be running many sand dunes! You want to be okay running over sand dunes? You gotta practice running over sand dunes. Simples!

The other week I did my first hill training session on the treadmill. I set the machine to:-
3-5% incline
3 minutes at 10km pace
2 minute rest
Repeat 4x

This felt okay to me - a bit hard but doable. Maybe I wasn't challenging myself enough?

So last week I had a MONSTER session. I reckon even Rocky would have been proud (maybe).
5 minute warm up on stepper.
Not sweaty.
15 minutes on stepper at level 8/9 effort carrying 10kg weight in bag.
Very sweaty.
15 minutes targeted strength exercises - lunges onto balance ball, one legged squats, side lie glut med lifts.
A little sweaty.
15 minutes on treadmill. 10% incline. Run 3 minutes at 8.5kmh. Rest 1 minute. Repeat.
Overly sweaty.
10 minute stretching routine.
Glowing.

And feeling on top of the world.

Of course hill training is not only done in the gym. In fact, there are HUGE amounts of variation in hill training, from short bursts of speed up really steep hills to prolonged tempo runs up slight inclines over a longer distance.

As I'm training for marathon des sables I'm not aiming to sprint up sand dunes, merely hobble up them, so I'm focusing on sustained slower hill sessions; increasing the distance and pace I run at, and decreasing the recovery period, over time. I'll also definitely be concentrating on the stepper with a pack - it's a fantastic, targeted workout for the marathon des sables, and is also very easy on my poor old joints.

Hill training will be done both in the gym, as I can control the environment but also outside. London has a wealth of great hill training spaces which I use a lot including:-
Primrose Hill
Hampstead Heath
Ally Pally
Queens Woods
The steep and not so steep section in Richmond Park

I think hill taining is a good plan for any beginners trying marathon des sables but also hill training is good for anyone training for any distance over any terrain.

It challenges your body in a different way and uses different parts of your muscles therefore improving overall performance and technique.

Plus it mixes it up a bit and keeps the motivation going. Always good if you are anything like me and suffer a bit from a lack of motivation for running sometimes.

This weekend?
The Big Dipper sand dunes in Wales. I want hills? I got hills!

Training plan changes

My excuse for not running very far last week is that I think some changes are needed to the training plan.

First running into work and back every day sounds good in theory but in reality is
1) boring
2) a bit of a logistical problem
3) probably not doing very much good for the stamina aspect of training

None of these actually give me a real excuse not to have done much last week but anyway. So last week I have mainly been:-

1) running in a measly 1x week
2) started hill reps
3) back to back 8 miler
4) still eating a lot of food

Really enjoyed first hill rep session. May have had something to do with the fact that weather was glorious and I chose Alexandra Palace to begin this part of the new training plan.

Ally Pally, as it's more affectionately known, is an area of North London which has pretty cool panoramic views over London. It's a bit of an odd place as well, like a Z-list star - could have been really, really big but never quite made it. It's probably most famous for being the site of BBC TV in the 1930s but other than that it's a bit of an anomaly. There are occasional enthralling but random events held there such as darts, a dolls house fair and a model engineering exhibition. Mix that in with a gold course, ice rink, and a pub which is more Phoenix Nights than Phabulous and you have Ally Pally.

But, it still has something a little bit special about it, and more importantly for me, it has hills. I thought I would be able to do 10 reps up and down the grassy hill. Nope. I managed 5 reps half way up and down the slope, but it's a start at least! Here's the bit of hill that foiled me..bah..

One of the eight miler's done was through the Capital Ring/Parkland Walk again but this time from Crouch End up to Finsbury Park, around Finsbury Park and back to Crouch End, then the usual route into work.

Me getting out of bed

Not happy about the heavy rucksack

But pretty nice running territory - who'da thought this is zone 2 London town?

And to top it all off I have FINALLY joined a gym! Only taken 2 months to decide which one. I've gone for LA Fitness, only because it has a pool, it is marginally nearer to my work and the gym instructors are less hairy.