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Yesterday I went for my first proper run with a loaded backpack, to simulate some of the weight I'll be carrying in the Marathon des Sables.

 I've got an Osprey pack, highly recommended by many of those in the know, with straps, buckles, clips and webbing all over the place, but weighing remarkably little.

 The problem I've always had with trying to run with a pack is stopping it bouncing up and down every step, throwing you off stride.  With this pack I pulled everything tight and, hey presto, no problems.  Whilst it was harder running than with no weight, it wasn't that much harder - a pleasant surprise.

 For a bit.  After a while the shoulder straps were slowly removing the skin from my neck, the chest strap wouldn't do up tightly enough and the waist strap wouldn't sit on my pelvis.  Adjusting one strap or another to alleviate a problem simply moved the issue elsewhere.  Loosening anything resulted in more unwanted bounce, and tightening everything so nothing bounced reminded me of a straitjacket. [No, that's the wrong phrase - of course I've never been in a straitjacket...]

 So it seems I've got a fair bit of experimenting to do.  Having an uncomfortable pack for a couple of hours is manageable, but it won't do for a week.  Still I was pleased that the weight didn't seem to be an issue, but in the race the pack will be much bulkier, with sleeping bag, mat, food, cooker, water, etc, rather than just a pile of weight-lifting weights wrapped in towels.

 I've got about ten days more 'normal' training before hopefully I start on the heat acclimatisation in the University heat chamber.  That should be lovely - for a man that normally takes his shirt of when running at anything above freezing as he gets too hot.

 One training tip I'll remember - when taking your dog with you along anything but the quietest roads, put it on a lead.  Stopping to grab it every time a car goes past - either that or it tries to jump into the driver's window to say hello - becomes seriously annoying after the 30^th or so time.

Diary