Awesome Media Coverage

From the beginning it was my intention to raise as much awareness for autism as possible by approaching the media and I have had some good success in spreading the word on autism and how people can help. This last week was a good week as I was featured in the Dubai Timeout as well as on the MDS Official website. I hope this will spark the donations back to life as we have just reached $ 2000 and still some way to go till we reach $10 000. Here`s the links to my run coverage:

http://www.darbaroud.com/detail.php?pub=504&langue=en

http://www.timeoutdubai.com/community/features/12281-10-dubai-heroes-of-2010

I am looking forward getting 92Fm and Mens Fitness involed early in the new year and as we get closer to April. I am also in the process of approaching sponsors again and will submit my applications early in the new year, hope some good Samaritan comes to the party soon!

I am also finalizing my race kit and will be ordering this all in the next couple of day! Very excited!

94 Days to the greatest adventure of my life!

Dubai Heroes 2009

I want to thank TimeOut Dubai for placing me in the top 10 Dubai Heroes for 2009. This is exactly what I wanted to achieve, spread the world on autism and how to deal with this. I believe this will help me achieve my goal of spreading the word and making a difference in 2010. I want to be the change in the world, no matter how small the impact is.

Autism will be defeated!

You can help me achieve my goal by visiting my donation site located on the lefthand side of my blog! My goal is $ 10 000, but I would like to smash this target and make as much as possible to help with research and care for people suffering from autism! Help me make difference!!

Merry Christmas

Hi people!

I am sorry for being a bit quite, just started a new job in Abu Dhabi and have been commuting daily so pretty burned when I get back home! I have also battled to get enough running in but this will change in 2010 as I will be more settled and my running can come number 1 priority again!

I want to share the 2010 life-book with you, see how many of this you can do in 2010 to make your life the way you really want it!!

1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy
5. Make time for prayer
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day ---- and while you walk, smile

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
13. Don't over do ; keep your limits
14. Don't take yourself so seriously ; no one else does
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
25. Call your family often
26. Each day give something good to others
27. Forgive everyone for everything
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day
30. What other people think of you is none of your business
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right things
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
34. GOD heals everything
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
37. The best is yet to come
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least :

40. Give this to everyone you care about

Make sure you check back after the new year for updates as we move towards April and the toughest marathon in the world, The Marathon des Sables 2010!

Marathon des Sables 2010

Race distance for the 2010 Marathon Des Sables confirmed.....

With the race less than 5 months away the official distance for the 2010 edtion has been released. The race distance will be 250km. The stage route however is not released and will be kept a secret till the day of the stage. In my mind 250km does not sound to far to be honest, and I think that is the right attitude to have. I have always said that I will not be intimidated by the distances and I am looking forward to the long stage that could be anywhere between 70km - 90km.

I suppose it will all come down to the conditions during the race. I am hoping and praying for cool conditions as this will definately help. But if it is hot in April I will just have to deal with it as I have perfect training conditions on this side! I got an email from Phil Carpenter in the UK who`ll be over next month for business and hope to get a run in with him as he would like to test shoes and gaiters. I hope he would be able to bring out a set of gaiters for me as they do not stock this here in the UAE. Imagine, all this sand and no gaiters........

So the magic number is 250km!!!! Bring it on.

115 days to go!

I am now in the last few months before the MDS and I am beginning to feel a bit nervous! When we went to New Zealand last month we bought some of the equipment that would be needed for the raced. One of the most important components of the race is your diet as you need to maintain your calorie intake to ensure you have enough fuel to take you through the duration of the race.

The MDS requires you to provide your own food form 4th April 2010 to the 10th April 2010 inclusive. The stipulate you carry no less than 14 ooo k/calories, so a minimum of 2000 k/calories per day otherwise you will be penalized and not having enough calories is also a risk.

I have bought some Back Country Cuisine freeze dried food - http://www.backcountrycuisine.co.nz/bcc/ that will make up some of my main meals.

I have also bought One Square Meal that will serve as breakfast http://www.onesquaremeal.com/productinfo.html

The rest of my meal pack will be made up from dried meat and fruit, 2 Minute noodles and pre-cooked oats! As I start making up my foodpacks for the race I will post some more info on how i have done this.

Given to Fly - A 111 day run.....

Back from holiday!

Hi Everyone,

You must have wondered what happened to me as it has been a while since I have updated my beloved blog, well, we`ve been to New Zealand for a two week break and to attend the wedding of Mariko and Simon. What a great trip, was nice to get out of the desert for a while!

My running schedule has been a but disfunctional or the last 3 weeks, which is not a bad thing, as off today I have 5 months to the MDS. I have the following races lined up for my preperation:

- Dubai Marathon

- RAK half marathon

- Wadi Bih Wadi relay

I will shortly post my NZ runs, what a great country for runners, that`s if you like killer hills and cold wet weather!

We also bought my MDS food, pics to follow as well as my favourite new movie, Running the Sahara!