Action Asia - February-March 2018

TOP TIPS

Pavel Toropov, training

Many people jump straight into an ultra without proper training

mileage and walk/trudge it, barely survive, have a horrendous time and

then claim a mental victory and trumpet away on social media. In my

book, that is not being prepared or fit enough and then barely surviving

a problem of your own making... Your training mileage is a better

reflection of how far you RUN. A competitive marathoner will be on

140-160km a week – he or she can run an ultra in their sleep.

Zandy Mangold, feet

People underestimate the time it takes for your feet to adapt. For

Atacama, I trained on gnarly trails and purposely soaked my shoes and

feet during runs because those would be the conditions in the race.

Michael Wardian, blisters

Vaseline! I lather my feet in a thick layer regardless of the climate or

conditions. Feels a bit weird at first but damn it’s great... As soon

as you feel the burn, sort it early. Cover, clean socks etc. If you have

access to clean needle, iodine and string, get rid of it and let it breathe

overnight in a multi day. But prevention is better than cure and no

warrior can get through an infected blister!

Websites

Kalahari Augrabies Extreme marathon, http://www.kaem.co.za

Marathon des Sables, http://www.marathondessables.com

RacingThePlanet, http://www.racingtheplanet.com & http://www.4deserts.com

Ultra Gobi, http://www.ultragobi.com

PHOTOS: CIMBALY/ALEXIS BERG/MDS 2017 (LEFT); THIAGO DIZ

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March/April 2018 —