Sorry for missing an update, but a lot has happened in the last 48 hours.

So I ended up waking up on the morning of Day 7 (4th day of racing) and could not see. Everything was cloudy, I couldn't make out faces, and my eyes were killing me. Apparently the sun burn I had gotten around my eyes the previous day was a lot worse than I thought it was. There's no ozone over Antarctica, plus the light reflects off the snow making snow blindness a pretty common issue out here. There were a few of us going through the same issue, and according to the doctors it would just take time for our vision to come back to normal (no permanent damage). I will no longer be making fun of Dewey when he isn't wearing his contacts and can't see two feet in front of himself.

I then blindly stumbled to our morning meeting where they announced that it would be a 12 hour stage (the long day). I was not very pleased to say the least. I couldn't even imagine running for 12 minutes without being able to see anything, never mind 12 hours. The wind however kept getting worse and worse as a storm rolled in, and the boat had to shut down all outdoor activities before we even got to the course. This really did save me from what was certainly going to be a long, long slow day out there. As soon as they announced this, I went into my room, closed my eyes, and listened to music for the entire day. My eyes were still pretty bad at dinner, and I had Belinda picking food out for me at the buffet because I had no idea what anything was.

I woke up on day 8 feeling much, much better. I still was having trouble seeing longer distances, but could clearly make out at least 5-10 feet in front of me (pretty important for running). They announced that it would be the last day of racing, and would last about 4-4:30 hours. Chema and I were still tied for miles, but he was a little under 30 minutes ahead of me on the tiebreaker. We were returning to Deception Island (a volcanic island missing the center, similar to Santorini. The loop was only 3K, which meant I would have to lap him to steal a win. The terrain was once again very snowy, with the footing never really getting packed down enough for anything fast.

I went out pretty hard in the beginning to try to sneak ahead, but he was right on my heels every step of the way. Numerous times he saved me from running towards random rocks that I was thinking were markers (the eyes clearly weren't back 100% yet). We ran like this for the first two laps, and then he turned on his Chema turbo mode and blew right by me. I kept pushing even though I knew I was locked in 2nd, and ended up tacking another 36K onto my mileage total. At about the 4 hour mark I was given the last lap warning, and really just enjoyed my last few steps on Antarctica.

In the end, we tied for mileage at about 165K, with Chema winning the tie breaker by about 40 minutes. This really good guy Andrzei rounded out the podium with about 150K for the week. It was really cool making an Olympic runner (someone who has run a 2:08 marathon) look over his shoulder all week. It was also incredible to see all the support I had, both from fellow racers on the course, as well as emails / comments from friends and family (a big thank you once again for that). I'm leaving Antarctica with a ton of new friends, some ridiculous memories, and a few hundred incredible photos (I'm somewhat sure I didn't break the 1,000 photo mark). It really was an awesome week, and one that we will be celebrating heavily as we head back through the Drake Passage to South America.

Today was by far the nicest day in Antarctica so far. Our zodiac ride to the course weaved through a ton of light blue icebergs to Danko Island. From there, we had views of the Antarctica mainland (where we were yesterday) and a bunch of other islands. The course was originally supposed to be flat, but was changed due to a penguin colony blocking our route. Instead we ended up on a switchback going straight up the side of a mountain, followed by about 1K around the top of the island and down a steep slope, before meeting back up with the lower half of the switchback.

----------

Once again I ran the first two laps with Chima. At the end of the first lap, we had a hilarious encounter with a penguin. You have to stay 5 meters away from the wildlife, and the penguin kept rolling down the course on his belly, blocking us on every turn of the switchback. This meant a lot of 'rerouting' to get far enough away from him, and a lot of laughs from the staff.

----------

After lap 2, it was snack time for me, and turbo mode for him. There are a bunch of very specific rules in Antarctica, the first being that if we want to eat something on land, we have to do it in our designated eating zone. The other is that you can only go to the bathroom in the portable one they bring to shore. So yeah, if you choose to eat, you cannot eat while you are on the course (and yes, I chose to eat something on almost every lap).

----------

The sun came out in the second half of the day, and things really heated up. There was a nice loud avalanche on the island behind us. I also made the mistake of not putting on my sunglasses, as it was tough to judge all of the ruts in the snow with them. The end result was me frying my eyelids. But yeah, it was all worth it for the ridiculous views we had today.

----------

Once again, we tied for distance (41K total), but he finished 8 or so minutes ahead. I would like to blame a quick bathroom break for that one, which brought back fond memories of the 24 hour Stratton race with Dewey and Alex. I was trying (unsuccessfully) to get some credit for the 0.1K hill trek to the bathroom. So in total, we have both covered about 129K, and I'm now 30 minutes back on the tie breaker. I think we have about 11K over third place.

----------

It's almost 11 pm now, so I need to get to sleep. I did however want to thank everyone for all of the awesome comments and emails I've received this week. It always to get that sort of support from back home (and sometimes a bit further away from home from past racers). Until tomorrow.

I'll start off by saying I recommend just skipping this blog and just go look at Zandy's ridiculous photos from today. I'll try my best to describe where we were, but my words will not do it justice.

---------

Today started with a bit of an audible. We are the first recreation/ tourist boat to come down to Antarctica this season, which means everything is pretty much untouched. It also means that no one has checked all of these locations for accessibility. We were originally supposed to take the boat down a channel to our next racing pits top, but the channel was completed blocked by ice. As a result, we had to take the boat another few hours down the coast to a backup location. This meant a later start (noonish), but in no way an easier day. It did mean the long stage was once again delayed until tomorrow.

----------

So, our new location ended up being Gonzalez Videla (spelling butchered), a Chilean research base. It appears that they were studying penguins because there were thousands of penguins all over the place. To reach the course we had to climb halfway up a mountain in some knee deep snow. The course ended up being 2.2-ish K up and down the mountain deep in the snow. It reminded me of backcountry hiking without the reward of skiing the actual mountain. Side note, I really wish I had my skis for this trip. Pretty much everywhere we have gone has been perfect powder skiing spots.

----------

The hardest part of these races is not noting exactly when the race will end. We are told to just keep running and that they will warn us when our last lap starts. It's so tough mentally not knowing how to pace yourself, and having no idea when the race ends. Chema (once again I need a spell check) and I ended up breaking trail together for the first two loops. After that, he took off. I did manage to catch back up to him around loop 6 or 7, and ended up about 2 or so minutes back when today's racing ended. Because of the way this race is set up, we are technically still tied for first (I think). Although he still does get the super-cool yellow jersey for being faster both days.

----------

We got back to the boat for a buffet dinner of chicken, French fries, ice cream, and probably some salad that I didn't notice. You can only imagine the size of the plates everyone was eating. That's probably my favorite part of this race compared to the others (besides the scenery of course), as we certainly are not starving this time around.

----------

It's officially time for bed, as tomorrow is once again rumored to be the long day. Until then...

We finally reached our location in Antarctica at about 6 am this morning. It was a pretty ridiculous sight, with snow covered mountains coming straight out of the ocean. Our first location was Deception Island, where they set up a 3-ish mile loop. They ended up pushing back the long day. We still aren't sure when we will be doing it. They let us know we would be running for at least 6 hours, but it could be longer or shorter based on weather conditions (good weather = longer, bad = shorter). This is by far the hardest part of the race, as it's tough to really pace yourself when you don't know when you will be done.

The course was pretty awesome, starting on a black sand beach for about a half mile. It then turned straight up a snowy mountain (that seemed to grow with each loop). You then ran through the snow for about a mile before hitting the beach again. It then went up through the snow again before returning back to the beach to close the loop. So yeah, a lot of snow and sand.

Right at the start we were visited by a penguin (don't worry Sarah, I did not trust him). There were also a bunch of sleeping seals, and a number of weird looking birds.

The race went pretty well despite the conditions. Chema (the Olympic Marathoner/ superhero) and I both logged 13 loops (about 38 miles). He got a pretty big lead right off the start, but I was able to hold the gap from growing too, too much (minus a nearly disastrous loop 10 for me). I believe he finished loop 13 about 15 minutes ahead of me, and just missed the cutoff to do a 14th loop. The next few people behind us were able to get 12 loops in, including my roommate George. I'm not sure how many people were in this group. But yeah, it ended up being a pretty long "short day."

The winds really picked up at the end of the day, and we all got soaked on the zodiac back to the ship. The last few hours have been spent getting as warm and as full as possible. I think I'm finally back to normal.

I'm still not sure what the game plan is for tomorrow. We pretty much just have to wing it every day. I'll check in again (hopefully) tomorrow.

I arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina on the afternoon of the 31st. I had about 24 hours in Ushuaia to catch up with friends, see the town a bit, and grab a few last pieces off gear before setting off for Antarctica. In other words, I spent my time eating a few long meals and buying a bunch of socks. Ushuaia is pretty awesome, with snow capped mountains pretty much coming straight out of the ocean. We left Ushuaia for Antarctica on the 1st, and have been traveling by boat for the last two days. The boat is pretty fancy, especially compared to the tents we are used to living in for these races. The passage has been pretty rough so far (as expected). Yesterday was much worse, with by far the craziest ocean conditions I have ever seen. I wish I had taken some physics classes so I could understand how our boat hasn't flipped over yet. Luckily I have avoided getting sea sick (so far...) I'd say our meals are the most entertaining parts of the day. Glasses are flying everywhere, chairs slide across the dining room, and there is a constant sound of plates crashing coming from the kitchen. Even walking down the hallways or up a staircase is an incredible challenge. We are planning some obstacle courses and relay races for the ride home. Other than that, it's a lot of sleeping or sitting around and talking. I was surprised to find out we will have some limited internet. It's strong enough for me to post my blog and find out the Patriots crushed it this week! I should be able to blog everyday. We have about 6 more ours of rough seas before we are sheltered by a big peninsula of Antarctica. I think that makes our travel some time in the 54 hour range. I believe we are racing tomorrow, and it's supposed to be 10-12 hours of running (we shall see though). It's Antarctica, so the plans are constantly changing. Until tomorrow!