Darren Roberts and brothers Steve and Nick Tidball are Team Men’s Fitness.Here, in their latest Team Men’s Fitness blog, they talk about how they feel in their thirteenth and final week of training for the fearsome 120km Namibia Desert UltraRace on 8th April.
Steve
It's interesting how differently each of us has trained for the same event. I’ve done the most running, Nick’s done the most eating, and Darren’s done the most kit buying. This close to the race, all my training is about event-specific workouts with a backpack full of weights. The first run was hideous – like trying to move with a fidgety elephant strapped to my back. But you quickly get used to it, and I’m now running at a good pace with 14kg – what I’m hoping will be double the weight of the bag I’m racing with – strapped to me.
Nick
In 11 days time I will have run 120km across the Namib Desert. It will undoubtedly be the toughest thing I've ever done. The fact I'm running it with my brother and a very good friend will make it a damn sight more manageable though – especially because I've got at least five hours of jokes about Darren's kit fetish to keep us all amused! The other running joke (pardon the pun) is how we should cross the line at the end. Steve and Darren want to do it holding hands, but I think it should be every man for himself for the last 100 metres. Whatever we do, I am crossing that finish line. Even if I have to crawl.
Darren
It's our last entry before the race. We fly to Windhoek, Namibia, on Wednesday and start the race on Saturday. We've got two days to acclimatise before beginning the longest, most extreme trail run any of us has experienced. Barring Steve's foot (which is now a lot better), we've made it here without any major injury concerns and are in the best shape of our lives. I can't wait for the race to begin.
Thanks to Berghaus for supporting Team Men's Fitness.
Go to the Adventure Racing website for more information about the Namibia Desert Ultra Race.
