MdS
#CapitalAtRisk
To the postbox
Last week might have marked the end of my ultra marathon running days.
All this started in Edinburgh around May 2001 because my colleague Michael would often run around Arthur's Seat after work and another colleague, Ali, had run a marathon. I wanted to be able to do both of those things.
So one day with new trainers, shorts and t-shirt I set out from my flat in central Edinburgh. At the time I was cycling loads, easily doing 30-40 miles each weekend, so I thought I’d whizz to Arthur’s Seat in no time. However that day I found running to be a different thing altogether. I got as far as the postbox down the street. I had to stop because I was out of breath. I’ve just looked up the distance and it was a whopping 0.3 miles. That’s not even half a kilometre.
But I stuck at it. I kept running to that postbox and one day managed to run there and back to my flat. Another few weeks later I attempted to run around Arthur’s Seat. From my flat, up and around Arthur’s Seat and back to my flat was 4.2 miles. Those first few times I had to stop and walk up the steepest part of the hill but then one day I didn’t. And I never stopped to walk again — I thought if I’d made it up there non-stop once then there was no reason to stop and walk ever again.
I didn’t really like running but I liked being able to do it.
So after my Arthur’s Seat success I had to try a marathon. I did Paris first (because it’s pretty flat and I had loads of air miles through work) and it was only after running the Paris Marathon that I actually started to like running. After that I couldn’t get enough. I ran the marathons in Edinburgh, then London and Edinburgh again I did the Great North Run and the Edinburgh Half Marathon.
In around 2005 I read the fantastic Feet in the Clouds by Richard Askwith and around that time I thought to myself, I could try to get quicker and quicker at ‘normal’ road marathons or I could try something a bit different like Richard had (because at some point I knew I was going to get slower and slower…).
So I did the SLMM in the Lake District as an entry to ultras and then did two OMMs in the years that followed. I loved that in the ultra marathon world no one asks about timings, you just get a cup of tea at the end and that it’s more mental than physical — to keep going past 30, 35, 40 miles in the middle of nowhere with no crowd cheering you on you really are left to your own devices. They were followed by the ultra route of the Northumberland Endurance Life Series a couple of times and, just last year, The Wall, which at 70 miles was by far the furthest I’d ever run.
I must have got through thousands of miles in training and, I reckon, 20+ pairs of trainers (mostly Inov-8s but I’m now on my second pair of Altras and love them).
Then I tried the MdS
And all the while the desert appealed. I think I first read about the Marathon des Sables in Survival of the Fittest by Mike Stroud — that would also have been around 2005 so the MdS has been in my mind for a while.
It was on a run in late 2021 that I decided to finally sign up for the MdS (that was also the run when I decided to delete LinkedIn — more on that here) and so began a lot more training, a lot more kit purchases and some wonderfully helpful calls with a guy called Charles.
In the run-up to the MdS I’d tell people, “I have a place at the start line and hopefully I’ll be at the finish line too”.
Well, I was at the start line and it was spectacular. The scenery was incredible, the camaraderie enlivening and the ‘Highway to Hell’ quite terrifying.
Then I quit
Of course I’d have loved to have finished the whole race, get a medal with the 750 others and celebrate that achievement, but it wasn’t to be.
The weird thing was that in quitting the MdS I actually felt great. I’d found my physical limit. I'm thriving on this set back more and more as it sinks in. I thought I’d feel a lot worse, and there were some really upset people on the bus out of the desert but I’m pleased to say that I wasn’t one of them.
My last big failure was failing my Grade 7 piano exam in 1994 by 3 marks. That was really annoying because I should have practiced more and I felt that I’d let myself and my piano teacher, Tim, down. I didn't have the work ethic that I've since developed and that failure was all down to me.
However failing the MdS was different. My fitness was good, my feet and legs were fine, my head was in the right place. It was just too damn hot for me. At 10°c hotter than expected I just couldn’t keep my temperature down and I was simply going too slowly to hit the checkpoints.
There were some grim sights of people face-planting the dunes, passing out and on drips being helicoptered out. If I was feeling too hot and was too slow to hit the checkpoints on Day 2 I didn’t think there was a chance of making it through Day 3, then Day 4 (the long day at 56 miles) and then Day 5 (another marathon) and so I quit with my feet, legs and head intact.
Was it all was worth it? The money, the training, the emotions at having had to quit?
100% yes.
I know (running around a desert anyway) what my physical limits are now and I didn't before.
I’d encourage you to find yours.
And if you ever fancy a crack at the MdS I’ll happily talk you through my failure.
In other news
The next mtrx syndicate investment opportunity is EVware and they pitched to my syndicate tonight.
If you’re keen to join me in investing please get in touch with me on matthew@mtrx.vc or you can join the mtrx syndicate here.
Important: None of these posts are investment advice. If you are thinking about investing you should seek the advice of a suitably qualified independent advisor.
#CapitalAtRisk