Running the Bataan Memorial Death March.

[Longstreet]

Jayson here and as cheesey as it may seem, completing the Bataan Memorial Death March is on my 'bucket list' and for 2014 I decided it was going to happen. I have already registered for the event and even bought my plane ticket. I chose not to participate in the heavy as I want to run the course. The longest runs I have ever done are 30km so the BMDM will be a real challenge for me.

I have done considerable reading about the course and from what I have gathered it has three types of terrain: road, trail and sand. There are also lots of hills. So to prepare myself I have been slowly increasing my running distances and engaging in two hill training runs per week. I just finished an 18km run and have run 9km hill runs where half of the distance would be up a hill. I am pleased with my timings and am confident I will be ready for the big day; however I do have a number of questions that I hope can be answered. They are as follows:

1. Running in sand. How does one train to run in sand when he/she does not have access to a proper beach? I live in Toronto and while there are beaches, soon they will be covered in snow or the sand will freeze. The other issue I have is even if the weather cooperates, I have a family and the only time I can run is at night. I drove to a distant beach last week for a run in the sand, but did not feel safe as it was very dark and secluded. Also the wind was so loud someone could have been following me the whole time and I would not have heard anything - I even left my Shuffle in the car so I could better hear what was going on around me. Any suggestions that may help solve this situation would be greatly appreciated.

2. Running in the desert. I have never participated in extreme physical activity in a desert so I have no experience on how this is going to effect my run. I have been wearing extra layers when running so that my body heats up more so that it should adjust better to the heat in New Mexico. While in the summer it does get hot here, the humidity is insane which is another reason I run at night. I plan on running with a 3L Camelbak using nuun tablets (and carrying extra) to keep my electrolytes in check. I will also bring some gels for energy. Would this be enough for the desert?

3. Toughening my feet. I know there are a number of threads about this topic so I would like to avoid a warning on using the search button, but I do have one question that I believe has not been answered. I run in Minimus shoes (not the Five-Finger) and while it is incredibly rare that I ever get blisters I would like to toughen my feet more. I have a copy of Get Selected and there is a chapter about walking barefoot on pavement to help toughen up ones feet. Would walking barefoot on a street in below zero weather be a good idea or is there another way? For this event I will gladly deal with the cold, but wonder just how long I can endure such frigid temperatures. Besides, getting frostbite is never fun. My basement is finished so I do not have any rough cement in my house and I am on paternity leave so walking around school is not possible either. I know this question may have an obvious answer, but one thing I have learned from PS is that obvious answers are not always the right ones. Comments?

I am certain I will develop more questions as time goes on, but for now those are the ones that are most urgent for me. Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.


jaYson