Run and remember

Slow running differs from fast in biomechanics, so I had to brush up on my technique. It seems I did it.

Thanks to my coach Lenya Shvetsov, I prepared for the competition. He has been messing with me for more than a year, trying to make me a “running man”. And of course, I thank Liviu Croitoru, who has run with me more than one thousand kilometers.

In 2017, we, Sporter (nonprofit sports organization committed to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and the development of amateur sports in Moldova), organized the first Rubicon, an ultramarathon relay across Moldova. There I was able to test my sneakers, food, and running technique. And of course, my running performance in kilometers. Honestly, it was hard for the brain to “digest” 150 kilometers in two days. People who were aware of my plans joked: “Dimon, you’ve organized a really impressive training for yourself before the MDS – hundreds of people, hundreds of kilometers, hundreds of thousands of lei…” :)

Let them joke, but seriously – I have a dream to organize an iconic Moldavian race like Marathon des Sables or Comrades in South Africa. And I think we’ll do it.

Things to take to the desert with you

The organizers of the Marathon des Sables have outlined a set of necessities for a desert runner: a backpack, a sleeping bag, a torch with spare batteries, 10 pins, a compass, a lighter, a whistle, a knife, disinfectant, a venom extractor pump kit, a mirror, a space blanket, sun screen, 200 Euros, a passport, a medical certificate, ECG tracing and food for seven days (14,000 kcal).

These are not mere recommendations – these are absolutely indispensable things. Here is the list of penalties for failure to comply with the requirements:

– No medical certificate and/or ECG tracing while motionless – 200 Euros + one hour of penalty for each paper;

– No backpack – disqualification;

– No sleeping bag or compass – three penalty hours;

– No signal pistol, road book, salt tablet, food (in an amount of 2,000 kcal per day) or space blanket – two penalty hours for each;

– No 10 pins, knife with a metal blade, whistle, antiseptic medicine, mirror, syringe with anti-venom, torch with batteries, check-in card, lighter, sun screen, money (200 Euros) – one penalty hour for each;

– Non-compliant backpack weight (must be between 6.5 and 15 kg) – one penalty hour;

– Absence of any item of individual equipment – 30 penalty minutes.

“Basically, hardly any runner can get into the MDS with no penalties.” – Me

The particular choice of obligatory and personal items depends on the individual preferences of the runner, so that is left to your personal consideration. Some athletes try to save money and stay hungry, others take more food and comfortable clothing and end up hating their heavy backpacks.

I spent several months trying to define the list of things I’m taking with me. Finally I managed to put together the list of items with their weight in grams. Looks quite thought-through but in the long run only distance would reveal how well I’d managed.

Obligatory items (612 g)

– A compass (24 g) – so that I don’t get lost;

– A knife (4 g) – to defend from the Berbers;

– A torch + three batteries (113 g) – to keep running at night-time;

– A whistle (4 g) – to whistle tunes while running;

– A space blanket (47 g) – to warm up or cool down;

– 10 pins (4 g) – to pin up the number;

– Sunscreen (23 g) – so that I don’t turn into a charcoal;

– A mirror (10 g) – to signal to a helicopter pilot;

– Venom extractor pump kit (29 g) – to deal with snakes;

– A passport (15 g) – so that they knew whose body they found;

– 200 Euros (1 g) – to stay in a 5-star hotel on the way;

– A national flag of Moldova (50 g) – will help me not give up;

– A lighter (11 g) – to cook my food;

– Disinfectant (37 g) – to lick my wounds.

Also one should take into account that before the start you’re going to get a whole bunch of things that you’ll have to carry with you:

– A road map with the race route (42 g) – they give it to runners the day before the start. I don’t even imagine why would they keep it secret;

– SPOT Gen3[10 - a device that you can take with you on a trip, to a marathon or to other places where there is no mobile connection, and from which you can signal “OK” and “SOS”] satellite tracker (113 g) – so that they could see the location of each runner;

– A chip [11 - part of the timekeeping system attached to your BIB number, which allows you to record your time](20 g) – to fix down the time of each stage;

– Salt tablets (25 g) – to maintain salt balance under conditions of dehydration;

– Toilet bags (30 g);

– BIB number[12 - personal race number, which is issued to a runner.] tags (10 g) – one for the chest and one for the back.

Washing (90 grams)

Participants of the race usually take with them the following hygienic belongings: soap, wet wipes, toilet paper, antibacterial liquids, dry shampoo, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a towel. In general, I’m an ogre13 by nature, so I’m pleased with the prospect of not washing for a week. I decided to take only toilet paper (90 grams).

Sleeping (642 grams)

I noticed that training is successful if you have a good night’s sleep before it. Even if I don’t eat, even if I’m not in a good mood, and even if it’s raining.

Sleep is the main thing for refreshment. I want to sleep long and tight when I’m in the desert, so I take with me a sleeping bag, a mat, and earplugs. Some take a pillow as well. I decided to save 100 grams on this and I’ll put a backpack under my head.

It took me a long time to choose a sleeping bag. There are many ultra-light sleeping bags with cool down on the market now. There is also another interesting option – a pair: a waistcoat plus a pocket for your legs. I scratched my head and chose an optimal combination of weight, volume, and cold-resistant properties, taking into account the expected +5°C at night – Minimus Down Sleeping Bag, K Series (372 grams).

Sometimes I climb mountains and take inflatable mats. Honestly, they are uncomfortable, creaky, narrow, and even unreliable – a spark can make a hole. It takes a long time to inflate and blow them up. Therefore, I decided to take a sleeping mat (a foam mat) to the race. Therm-a-Rest Z-Lite (270 grams) is the coolest and lightest mat.

To save weight, I cut off one third of the mat. My feet can lie on the ground, as the main thing is that my bottom feels soft.

Clothing (2579 grams)

The most important thing here is a backpack.

A lot depends on it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to rack my brains for a long time and took a 20-liter WAA MDS ULTRABAG (1086 grams). More than half of the people run with it at the Marathon des Sables. It’s such a proven workhorse.