Hey folks

So here we are in the thick of it to get through the Drake passage. We are really experiencing the Drake this time vs on the way over. I have wrist bands and patch on and I am still quite seasick. I have been struggling to eat for a while now and we all cannot wait to hit land. So, we take it step by step and count down the hours until we hit the Beagle Channel and the seas will become calm again. The waves are so big that they splash all over the front deck. We are rolling side to side and front to back. It is quite the experience to say the least. It is a huge thrill and feels like a 48 hour roller coaster.

Tonight after dinner and hopefully within calm seas,we will have the awards ceremony. I am so excited. It will be the true finish line for us all. It will be so special to share all of our goals at completion together before we head back to our homes. I am still in shock that the quest is complete.

Time to get off the computer before I get seasick again.

Cheers,

JAX

Hey folks

Here we are on the flip side of our epic snow running adventure. We are about 18 hours into our adventure back at sea heading to Ushuaia. The Drake Passage is projected to be quite rough this time so there are various protocols taking place to prepare. They have placed large ropes in the lounge to have extra points to hold on to. In addition, the doors to go outside are locked as the water eventually could come over the decks as it rolls. I am not handling the sea as well this time, and we haven

Hey folks!

I am not sure how long I will last typing this with us back in the Drake Passage and the boat is rooooooling and nowhere near as bad as it is projected to get on the way back.

Stage 6 was so fun. We ran at half moon Bay. Now mind you the day was fun because I only had to run two of the 2.4k loops to finish 250k and then another leader victory lap with Kyle later on followed by getting our medals. The course was flat, but technical with super crusty snow that you kept falling in. But every frustration on the course turned to excitement as thoughts of a yearlong project took place. There have been SO MANY ups and downs during the Grand Slam Plus adventure that sometimes you look back and wonder how you actually survivied.

What we all assumed would be an easy race full of victory laps was the most challenging week of running of my life. We are so excited to finish and totally exhausted at the same time. Every pain in my feet and legs today, I knew that in just a few km

Hey!

WHAT A DAY!! WOW! After a break yesterday as the day was cut short at 15.2k, it made today a lot more important to jam out as many kilometres as I could in 6 hours as I really want to join the boys in making it to 250k by the finish line. Yesterday we enjoyed some time with my fellow American friends celebrating Thanksgiving. Sat phones were down so my attempts at calling did not work. I guess we have been too far south for almost 3 days to get and satellite connections. The upside is I just came back to so many beautiful messages from people. THANK YOU!!

Today started early with a 5:30am wakeup call to get the race started as close to 7:30 as possible. Out here that includes breakfast (such a lucky plus), and then packing up a race bag and drop bag, then a course briefing followed by a process to clean our boots and then board zodiac boats to get to the race site. Today was another challenging day. The loop was 3.1k and all in was 5,800 feet of climbing. The weather here is 32F / 0C so the snow is not the easiest to navigate through. Each day for the past three days, we tend to spend the first loop or two just packing out the track a bit. Today I was honoured to run the first 4 loops with Kyle, which were his last 4 loops. It was really exciting to see him come to the finish line as the first male.

All day I pushed and pushed and never let up to get every kilometre I could. I never let up and only stopped twice on the tarp to eat a snickers. Here you must eat your snacks at the tarp due to rules in Antarctica. I will jump more into that when we start to sail home and the running is complete.

Absolutely everything hurts right now. Sunburnt lips and face, swollen feet, strained tendons, strained Achilles, tight and sore legs that throb all night long, and then for some reason my body always decides to have another period. We all just waddle around the boat like penguins. Our bodies are completely wrecked and I really don

Hey there folks

Hey there folks,

I am not really sure where to start here. I am sitting in the observation lounge on our typical cyber tent tablets as my legs throb from 127.8km run in the past two days. Everyone is trashed, walking around like zombies and sore. The format is quite different here at The Last Desert. Personally for me, it is really taxing on your body. Due to the risk of bad weather coming in at any given time, there is a huge push for very long days if the weather is good. Thus, day 1 was 79.8km and today ended with 48. Now add in extremely challenging terrain with slushy slow, crusty snow, mud, sand, and a roughly 5 kilo pack. Last night we finished at 8pm, dinner at 9, stretch, recover, shower (such a gift), and pack for today. We went to bed at around 11:40pm and then woke at 5am to run by 8:30.

The loop yesterday was 11.4k in a boomerang style. It was fun but exhausting and our first day wrapping ourselves around the idea of running in loops. The terrain was really hard due to the snow being soft and slushy from warmer weather. Then there were roads that melted and had a mix of snow and running water so having dry feet was out of the question. The weather was magical I guess for that area. Super special for us and allowed us to run foreeeeeeever and a joy for all of those that live at the various research facilities. As the day rolled on, I began to struggle quite a bit with my IT band cramping up and pulling on my knee. Not so fun =( then it became endurance, strength and pain management. I was really afraid.

Today was really hard with little sleep. I rolled half of the night trying to loosen up my legs while we were at sea all night until 6am. I was so worried my IT band would tighten up again and knew a big day was ahead. The loop was on deception Island and was 2.9k long. This already was going to be

Hey folks,

The journey has begun. We have been at sea for 37 hours and boy have we been lucky. On our journey at sea, 48 hour of the 2.5 day journey is at the Drake Passage. The Drake passage is known as the roughest seas in the world. So rough that you don

Hey Folks

Just like that, The Last Desert is upon us. The completion of a year long quest to become the first woman in the world to complete the 4 Deserts Grand Slam Plus.

As I type this note, I am looking at our boat docked at the port that we will live on for the next 10 days. What a rush eh?!?!

The journey is going to be a tough one at points as we adventure through the Drake Passage and some of the roughest seas in the world. We have all of our sea sickness medicine lined up to try to conquer the odds and end up 2.5 days later in one piece.

From there, the journey will begin with the long day as the first day. The goal will be to run around 100k if possible. Each day in The Last Desert is weather dependent. Antarctica can have variable weather and change in a moments notice. At any time that can end the day.

Final preparations take place today with last minute shopping in the town of Ushuaia, a team meeting at 12 noon and then we will embark at 4pm.

I am so excited, nervous, and beyond for this journey. The training is in the bag and has been complete. From here it is time to rest up and enjoy the long journey at sea.

I am ready to get out there and give my last push. Here are the goals at hand:

1. Become the first woman in the world to complete the Grand Slam Plus

2. Become the female champion at The Last Desert

3. Be crowned the 2016 4 Deserts Champion

4. Raise at least 10k for the LymeLight Foundation

Just one of these goals is a huge feat, let alone all four. I am so honored to have the potential and be in a position to try to get them all in 10 days time. As the year comes to a close I want to take this first post to showcase information about Lyme Disease and the LymeLight Foundation. Please joing me by donating to help provide a medical grant for a child or young adult to gain the medical care they need to get better here: https://lymelightfoundation.org/auxiliary-event/4-deserts-grand-slam-plus/

ABOUT THE LYMELIGHT FOUNDATION AND LYME DISEASE
The LymeLight Foundation provides medical grants to children and young adults under the age of 25 that are suffering from Lyme Disease. To date they have currently raised $2.1M. The grants help children to get the medical care that they need as insurance to this date does not cover it. Often times families go broke trying to help their children out. Lyme Disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in the world. Here are some other facts and information:
WHAT IS IT: Lyme Disease is an infection caused by the spirochete bacteria - Borrelia Burgdorferi. Lyme Disease has 6 times more new cases each year than HIV/AIDS yet receives less than 1% of the funding. There are 300k new cases each year in the USA alone. That is 1.5 times more than the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer.
HOW IS IT TRANSMITTED: Lyme Disease is typically transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. The most common carrier is the backlogged deer tick, Ixodes Scapularis. However, various types of ticks have been known to transmit the disease, and can be found in all fifty states and 6 continents. Ticks often carry other co-infections such as Babesia, Bartonella and Chrlichia.
LYME DISEASE TESTING: Because Lyme disease evades the immune system, Lyme disease is only detectable by conventional testing when it sin the earliest stages. If the bacteria infection becomes chronic, the rate of false-negatives in testing increases exponentially. These ticks, often the size of a poppy seed, can leave an undetectable bite. Some cases will create a red bullseye effect around the area. The medical community is conflicted on treatment guidelines. Therefore, health insurance often does not cover the treatment for Chronic Lyme Disease. Fewer than 50% of patients with Lyme Disease recall a tick bite or any rash.
LYME DISEASE SYMPTOMS: Fatigue, neck stiffness or pain, jaw discomfort, muscle pain, joint aches like arthritis - typically in the knees, swollen glands, memory loss, cognitive confusion, vision problems, digestive issues, headaches, and fainting.
LYME DIESAESE TREATMENT: When detected early in its stage, Lyme Disease is treatable with an appropriate course of antibiotic therapy. If undetected and untreated, the bacteria replicates and the disease progresses into its late stages, becoming chronic. Treatment for Chronic Lyme disease is prolonged and complex. Patients often require years of intensive conventional and alternative therapies to fight the infection, recover immune function, and gain strength.
Lyme disease is a worldwide infectious disease and has been reported in all 50 states and every Continent but Antarctica.

OTHER FACTS:
Children are at the highest risk of contracting Lyme Disease and are more vulnerable to central nervous system infections.
Transmission of Lyme Disease can happen in a matter of minutes, particularly if the tick is not removed properly.
Lyme Disease has been called