Method and logic to the madness...!!!

Started considering the Dodo Xtreme at the beginning of the year ( http://www.dodo-trail.com/ ) , when I saw the Dodo newsletter with a description of  the trails. This year's trail covered lots of private grounds that are not usually accessible to the public, and this was a great opportunity to discover places I'd probably never even knew existed in Mauritius, and take Pictures...!!!! :). Snag, is that this monster is advertised as a 50 Kms leg buster with 3500 m of elevation gain. Last time I tried doing a trail during a competition was the 35K Royal Raid with half the elevation gain, and I almost killed my knees in the process, limping my way to the finish line almost from the midway point. I had sworn to myself: NEVER AGAIN!!! Hmmm... ... ...

What tipped the scale was a stage of the TMB I did last year: 31 kms with 2300 m (Just checked, not 2700!!! ) of elevation gain with 23 Kgs on my back! With no cargo to lug around, I thought it was doable with adequate training and equipment :P . And as a gadget freak, there was no way I was taking this on without a few new gizmos...:P

1.       lightweight trail hydration backpack.

2.       trail shoes (previous one died during one of my subsequent test trails).

3.       running shoes.

4.       compression legging.

5.       trail head lamp (trail starts in the dark).

So, 4 months ago, I started quietly testing the legs, to see how they would respond. I have notoriously weak knees and ankles, and wasn't confident they were up to the job of tackling the extreme pounding they would be subjected to. The plan was to build up trail fitness and joint strength gradually by starting some road work, and only move to the trails once the body was adequately prepped for it. Signal up and down once...Then twice...Then 3 times...By the third week 4X...!!! Time for the first trail outing!

Small session in the national park from Petrin parking all the way down Camphrier, my trail shoes start to literally disintegrate some 8 kms from the starting point!!! Super cautious snail walk back...!!!

Is that a sign from above that the Dodo is not meant for PiGgY??? Lucky PiGgY does not fall prey to such petty superstitions...!!! New trail shoes bought the very next day!!! :P

Things were going well, until I was hit by my annual bout of flu that literally negated all the training done to date!!! Once I had recovered, combination of lack of drive (mentally, it's really tough to get going again after all the hard work is wiped clean, knowing that you have even less time to get ready) and mountain bike related events, which precluded trail specific training. Another series of signs from above??? NONSENSE...!!!

About 7 weeks before the event, after a quick E-Mail Exchange with Gim (the endurance trail master), who reassured me that it was still feasible, I finally resume training, still a bit conflicted. Should I tone down my expectations, and go for the mini dodo Trail (10 Kms) , which would still allow me to climb Tourelle Du Tamarin? But then, I would miss out on the Chasses at the back of Le Morne! The mini was out of question (25kms) since I already knew most of it, and it defeated my main objective for doing the Dodo to start with (Take pics of trails I hadn't done before, pointless suffering not part of that equation). I would leave that decision to the very last minute, depending on how things went.

So back to Signal mountain, and the first week is pure torture. Muscle and joint soreness after only 1X Signal mountain...!!! Morale sapping stuff...!!! Luckily within 3 weeks, back to 4X again, and was ready to move to trail running. First outing was a 39Kms test run with about 1700m elevation gain. In pain for the whole week with no mid week training sessions whatsoever possible. Second outing the next Sunday was about 42 Kms with 2200 m elevation gain, and the outcome was just like the previous week's trail outing; another week completely out of commission! With so little time left to prep, I could not really afford to have days off like that, so no more extended trails during week end, and concentrate on 2 sets of Signal mountain road workouts during the week, with a shortish Sunday trail session!

On registration deadline week, I managed to cram 2X parakeets (trail) and twice 4Xish signal during the week, so I confidently registered for the Xtreme. Had been trying to recruit some fellow peeps to suffer with me on the Xtreme, but they all either bailed out completely, or went on the lesser trails... :( Last week of training was ruined by crappy stupid weather, and somewhat jello legs....So doubts started to creep in again... Too late now anyway...happen what may...

On the eve of the dodo, I got all my race gear ready, attended the registration briefing and in bed by 8.30. Must be the excitement, but could not get decent sleep, and was wide awake by midnight! Might was well watch the loser's final of the world cup!!!