Run and remember. Dmitri Voloshin
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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.
I only cut off unnecessary straps, ropes, hooks
and rubber bands – in total, more than 200 grams of excess weight. The final weight of the backpack was a little more than a kilogram.
The second most important item is sneakers. Well, this is my favorite pastime: to buy, run, become sad, and give away. I did so three times before I decided on the design and size. I chose Hoka Challenger ATR 3 (a pair is 660 grams).
I took one and a half centimeters bigger than my usual size. After all, it’s known that the main trouble for runners at the Sand Marathon is calluses. 90 percent of participants get them. The formula is very simple: heat + sweat + friction = calluses. Moreover, if some sand gets into your sneakers, you’ll have to throw away your feet.
To avoid getting sand into your shoes, gaiters, shoe covers with a hook and loop fastener, can be used. The hook and loop fastener is sewn to the sneaker and to the gaiter.
Wear them and you can safely run in the sand.
I chose RaidLight Desert Gaiters (76 grams): they are light and don’t rub. It’s very important to choose the right socks. Fivefingers13 prevent friction between the toes and help to save your feet. Before the MDS, I ran a marathon in Injinji (32 grams) and didn’t rub anything.
There is another strange technology for protecting the skin of the feet – tanning.
Yes, legs are tanned like a leather jacket. There is a simple recipe: make baths with lemon juice every day for a month before the race. The skin coarsens and becomes resistant to rubbing. It’s in theory. In practice, the same 90 percent suffer from calluses. I think they all tried to save their feet, and many of them with the help of tanning.
As for me, I don’t mind a couple of calluses. This will allow me to fully experience the desert and to suffer a little, as I love…
On my head, I wear a light Salomon Cap XA + Cap ear-flapped hat (95 grams) with neck protection from the sun. Sunglasses (30 grams) are for the same purpose. On my body, I wear my favorite Waa Ultra Carrier Shirt (174 grams) and comfortable Salomon S-Lab Exo Twinskin shorts (142 grams).
I have in my backpack a woolen shirt with long sleeves (205 grams) to keep warm at night, spare socks (39 grams), and weightless slippers (40 gramms) from the hotel to walk around the camp.
Treatment (78 grams)
The first-aid kit weighs a little, but everything depends on it. Therefore, I try to foresee any surprises (it doesn’t hurt to dream).
The first-aid kit includes:
– Loperamide – against upset stomach;
– Ketanov – against pain;
– Nurofen – against inflammation;
– Persen – against insomnia;
– Compeed plasters14;
– Alcohol for disinfection;
– Tape for knees;
– Sunscreen.
The “medical block” includes a mandatory doctor’s certificate, assuring the organizers that the runner will not kick the bucket at the first stage. I’m always astonished at the bravery of doctors signing such papers. Organizers also doubt the adequacy of Aesculapians, so they always require a cardiogram (and from old fellows like me – a cardiogram under load).
Charging (810 grams)
Well, how to go without devices? After all, it’s not for nothing that I graduated from polytechnics and I love all these pieces of metal. But…all these things weigh a lot, so I take only the most important.
The phone is not the most important thing, because there is no coverage in the desert and the iPhone turns into a pretty toy. Therefore, it will wait for me at the finish.
However, a Garmin Fenix 3 (82 grams) watch will run with me. I decided to shoot this six-day torture on GoPro HERO 5 Black camera (117 grams) in 4K mode, and later I will make pictures from the video. In addition, on a trial basis, I took with me a Garmin inReach Explorer + ®15 satellite messenger (213 grams). It allows communication with the family, calming the wife with the message “I’m still alive!” after each stage. By the way, this piece of hardware sends the host’s coordinates via space to a server every 10 minutes. And voila, you can see exactly where I’m crawling through the desert.
All this gear should be recharged. Therefore, I had to take a SunnyBAG LEAF + solar panel with a power bank (348 grams) as well as various cables and adapters (50 grams).
Many people take headphones and iPods. I firmly stand against headphones with music, audiobooks, podcasts, and other informational noise during the run. We are already overwhelmed with news, music, social networks, messages, videos, jokes, pictures, memes, calls, notifications, TV flickering, radio mumbling, and other trifles. During training, at least one hour a day, you enjoy the silence and the opportunity to listen to yourself and your body.
“Feet, how are you there?”
“Very well, Commander! Thanks for the new sneakers.”
“And you, dear heart, how are you?”
“I’m beating little by little…,” my heart answers out of breath, “Can we slow down?”
“Ok, we can, we will reach the hill and have a rest.”
Here the brain intervenes:
“Look! You’ve been thinking recently about the medals for the Triathlon. Here’s a solution – make them black, it will be unusual.”
“Yes, that’s a great idea, thank you.”
“No problem! Anytime!”
I don’t know about other people, but I get many ideas while running. The brain, cleared of debris, can calmly put everything in its place and
fingersocks or 5-toe socks. It’s about socks, right!
the best plasters in the world for treating blisters and corns.
same as a satellite tracker, only with an additional texting feature.