Today is the last day and there is  a 10k trek into the town square to finish, they will be waiting with beer, pizza, soft drinks.  Yssterday  one of the competitors, Angus, came in after CP2 after peeing blood!  Most of the people who were pulled or withdrew went direct to town to the hotel.  I got to beat the drum when the people crossed the finish line, help them with getting the packs off, water, etc.  The winner - Ryan Sanders from So. AFrica - ran in like he could run more, Amazing.  Jo Z - who I met in santiago and is borrowing my running shorts - won the womans. It was great to see her cross.  I played den mother for the remaining competitors in my tent (Lawry Brophy the 78 yr old had to withdraw at CP1), fetching hot water, piercing blisters, retaping, etc.  Charlotte my walking mate, she continued on after I was pulled, was pulled last night at CP3, she can barely bend her knee.
 
This  morning I am am emotional wreck, I so wanted to finish and get the medal.  And of course now I am confronted with the challenge of finding another race to actually complete so I have something to show other than ruined toenails! 
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement - they meant so much.  I don't regret coming, I regret not being able to pushthrough and finish.  Ah well, onto another race.
 
See/talk when I return.
 
Clancy

Hi All: Sorry to say but I was pulled from the race today at CP2. I couldn't stay hydrated and my pulse was getting wonky. The hallucinations of the shady overpass to my right was rather interesting as well. The doc said I could go through the infamous salt flats but that I would probably not make it. Judging on how I felt when I got into the CP it doesn't surprise me. To recap the last few days: Tuesday was the journey down the slot canyon which was amazingly beautiful, a canyon in the middle of the desert, crossing and recrossing the water many times. At one point there is a road sign pointing the way to several "towns" or wherever. We came up to CP 1 and then moved on up a canyon (not like the canyon from hell) that took us through a tunnel built in 1930. The tunnel is unusable due to the boulder that dropped down from the roof but easy to walk through. We the clambered up onto the ridge which went forever and forever but with amazing views, then it was down the sand dune to CP2 where we watered up and continued on over to CP3 and on into camp. Charlotte and I were exhausted but we did it as you know. Yesterday was supposed to be hardest day and there is no doubt that it was. Lots and lots of climbing up, going down, across some salt flats and then up and over some small sand dunes. I was so relieved to see CP3 I can,t even begin to tell you. I was pretty happy with myself because I was 1.5 hours before the cut off and there were some people there who collapsed and couldnt go any further. The rest of the story you know as I managed to send a quick note last night. It turns out quite a few people before/after me got lost due to lack of lights The last person in last night got in at 10.30pm or so and he had to pull out today. His feet are so bad that he had to be helped from the truck to the Medical Tent and they send him back to San Pedro with antibiotics. Today involved going up/down/up/down/up/down sand dunes, walk across sand, then down a cliff of sand (not exactly a sand dune as there were rocks underneath). It was exhausting to say the least. We made it to CP1 and then struggled to get to CP2 before the 3.00pm cutoff. The temp at this point was approx 32 deg (celsius) and it was a hard slog, it seemed never ending and when we reached the orchard for the CP we had to go all the way through it to the edge of the salt flats. We did make it to CP2 but that was where the doc pulled me. Based on what I am seeing in the Medical Tent I think the doc was correct. One of my tentmates passed out in the middle of the Salt Flats and, luckily, someone happened to be there to get him back up. I still don,t know if Charlotte and Lawry are on course (both tentmates) or whether they will be picked and be pulled from the race. I am very bummed and disappointed. I did the correct thing, i.e. burst into tears while the volunteers kept arms around me. It took me about an hour to feel normal again - not feeling so hot, hydrated, clear headed, etc. Rather than go back to town though I have opted to stay here in camp and volunteer. The three Canadians in my tent are in first place as a team and my other tentmates (except for Kent who had to withdraw yesterday) are still in it and I want to cheer them on. Tomorrow is the Long March which is some horrendous amount of mileage. In looking at the route there is no way my feet could do it. Currently my feet are the ugliest things ever. Toenails are loose, blisters are all over, old blisters have new blisters nestled right next to them and my pinky toes should just be amputated right now. Last night the doctors looked at my pinky toes and had some discussion about them - not good I thought but they bandaged me up and sent me on my way. Tonight we are camped at the big salt lake here. Its almost like Death Valley but the reverse in altitude. I would like to do one of these again. Certainly I know the tricks of getting my pack down to 6 kilos which makes all the difference. Jo Z is the leader of the women and I am glad to say that I know her (not to mention that she is wearing my running shorts as her bag never made it to Santiago). I understand we have had another massive quake about 80 kms outside of Santiago. I won't know if affects my flight home until tomorrow. If you would please donate some money via the RTP website for the EQ victims I would be greatly appreciative. Peter: One last thing, please reschedule the Cats tix, I forgot to do so and I would like to see if it there is still time. Thanks for the emails, your words of encouragement are amazing and wonderful to read. Sorry to not have finished but I have some good stories to tell not to mention toenails to show. Much love, Clancy

I am alive and for the love of God I don't know why (must be the rosary and pin Paul/Lois gaveme).  Yesterday was stage 2 andI finsihed after the cyber tent closed.More details on that but I will say this race is  the hardest thing I HAVE EVER DONE. And if I ever sayy I want to do this type of thing again please lock me away.
 
Today started out with trekking across the salt flats(more tomorrow  oh yay), 30 mins in the Checkpoint 2 to tend to blisters, I had to make the cutoff for CP 3 which I did and then the fun began.  Needless to say there  are not enough glow sticks (there are more being sent out) and I got lost.  A farmer put me back on track and I was here in about 5 mins, slogging up a stupid freaking sandhill.  Go figure.
 
I'm glad I am here, I am going to make some dinner, go to sleep and contemplate whether or not I will continue onwards tomorrow. 
 
My legs are strong, my blisters are beatiful (will stop by med tent after this) and then I am going to bed.
 
Thanks for the emails. I can;t see my blog right now.
 
Cheers, Clancy

Well today was interesting which would be the understatement of the year at this point.  The day started well enough - the race started at 8.15am and I did manage to trot along however trotting along at 10k feet is an interesting experience.  We started out in a fairly green valley with some water crossings and then worked our way up and across to the desert - I know, imagine that a desert in the Atacama Desert, what are the odds.  I started out at approx 3 to 3.5 miles/hour, cruising for me and I was feeling rather smug and superior.  Needless to say the 6  mile stretch after Checkpoint 2 was HELL! and did me in speed/time.  A loooooooooooong flat hot plain, alternating between rocks, sand, rocks, sand, turn the corner and enter the Canyon of Hell, gentle sloping up and up and up and up and up and it was HOT.  Did I mention that we;re in a desert.  THere were some lovely breezes though which helped.  Halfway up I met up with Rachel and we both urged each other on until we saw the blessed flags of Checkpoint 3 and were advised that we were 4km from camp.  Needless to say our pace picked up although I must say the rock count increased, the hills were still there and it was HOT.  Just before the finish line we held each other;s hand and ran across the finish line to the beating drum.  Blessed people, they took my pack off of me, gave me 3 1.75 liters of water and took me to my tent.  I  have been good and did my stretches, will do more.  Peter - Please call Mette at Studio Pilates and let her know that I have done my stretches.

 

All of the above aside,  I  must tell you the scenery was amazing, the route we were given took us through a rock canyon where everything is sculpted by the intermittant rainfall.  I hope the pics I took do it justice when I get home.

 

Thanks for the emails and the post to my blog.  I can;t begin to tell you how much they mean to me.  I crossed the finish line close to tears feeling so relieved and proud of myself.  Although I am used to doing 20+ miles as you all know, let me tell you when its close to 100 degress in the desert with a 10.6k pack on the back, its completely differnt.  I am glad that I hauled around that pack with the weight in it though because I knew I could do it (although I will admit that the canyon almost did me in, I ws getting so pissed off with the neverending up up up up - the walls resounded with Rachel's and my colorful descriptions).  We did smile for the cameraman though.  I don't know if the pic will be posted, check it out and let me know.

 

Peter:  I miss you more than I can say.  I am already teary eyed.

 

Eric:  Mummy loves you soooooo much.  I can;t wait to see you and hug you tight

 

Max:  I wish you were here to share the adventure.  I will fill in details when I get back and we go to dinner

 

To Eeveryone Else:  THANKS for the words of support. 

 

My feet are pretty good, they were pretaped last night so I hope I will be fine.

 

Love to everyone.

 

Clancy

My pack weighs 10.6 kilos (and will weigh less after I toss some stuff tonight at camp) and I cleared gear check, thought I had misplaced my jacket but I had put in a dry sack to keep it safe - ha.  I pcked my pack, had to unpack it, repack it and pack it again out of the crush of people.  Its stuffed full of stuff.  I did manage to trade my bigger sleeping bag for a smaller one so now I have room in the pack for all the stuff thats stuffed into it.  I have a lot of stuff  .

Some people arrived this morning and were missing their kit - everyone is pitching in including me.  I donated one of my smarttubes to a woman from Canada, safety pins, running shorts, underwear, peanut butter and some other stuff that escapes my mind.

My bib number is 63 which I will take as an auspicious number as its the year I was born.

I met up with Rod and Kent from No. Cal and they are way funny.  Met Charlotte the other woman in my tent.  She is a trauma nurse and will help out with the taping of the feet.  SWEEEET...........

Will blog tomorrow and let you know how much fun we are having in the sun.  Its 22.01 miles.

It is HOT here - right now its about 30 degrees, 28 in the shade.  I think that is plenty hot - something around 90-95 degrees farenheit I suppose.  This morning we set off at 4.30am to see the geysers which erupt only at dawn.  It was approximately 32 degrees when we arrived and slowly warmed up.  The milk for the coffee and hot chocolate was heated up in the water.  It was amazing.  On the way back we saw vicuna, llamas and stopped off at a local village.  We wanted to take pix but were told it would be $5k pesos so we opted out.  Also, llama kabobs taste like lamb - I was in heaven.

I have been hanging out with a few Brits, So. African's, Scots and Irish.  They have been great fun but I must admit these people are at the top of their game - throwing around things like "When I was in Marathon des Sables last year..." or some other race that one has only vaguely heard about, I wonder why on earth are they letting me hang around with my 3 10k's.  I am reassured by listening to them that the amount of trail mileage Peter said I should do will stand me in good stead (thanks honey).  Its really how lucky one is as one blister can be the end of the best racer in the world. One of the guys (Richard who is letting me use his laptop for the last few posts) was terribly unlucky last year as he had to be pulled out at Checkpoint 2 on the third day.  When he got home to England he was hospitalized!  I will plod along, keep an eye on my feet and my blister kit at hand,hoping that I make it through.

We have been advised that the race is starting on Monday and rather than have rest between the Long March and the final 10k, you finish one at 12.00pm (ideally) and continue on at 3.00pm (again ideally) to finish at 6.00pm (have I used the word ideally yet?).  The closing dinner is at our hotel thank heavens although the hotel is about 3km's from the finish line but at least once I'm there I am within crawling distance of the dinner.  Me and 139 other people, all crawling along.

I found out that Rod and Kent fom No. Cal who originally thought they couldn't make it, are supposed to arrive today and are coming in via Bogota!  Its amazing the ways people were routed here.  I am lucky.  Anyways I am going to head over to their hotel and see if they are there yet.

Gear check is at 11am tomorrow, leave for the start line at 3.00pm to arrive at approx 6pm, race starts Monday 8.00am.  

Its one foot in front of the other, one checkpoint at a time.

Thanks for the messages I've gotten so far they mean a lot and will mean even more as I slog through the Atacama Desert.

Peter - please give Eric a kiss from Mommy and please call Max and pass on the same (no you don't have to kiss him).

Eric:  Mommy misses you so much.  Have Papa show you on the computer what a vicuna and llama look like.  Have fun at school and gymnatics. A big kiss and hug. Listen to Papa and your teachers.  Love you sooooooooooooo much.

Made it and I am exhausted.  My original flight left as scheduled - well about 20 mns late - and I landed in Santiago arund 7.00am thursday mornng.  I spotted Diana Murphy from Ireland in the customs line and she kindly let me stay in line with her which was good as the line snaked across the tarmac and would have taken me about an 1.5 hours to get through.  My bag was waiting for me which was bonus.  the airport is closed and everything is being handled in tents - there are a lot of weddings ths weekend which are going to be missing their tents.  We cleared customs with no food confiscation and nothing appears to be missng from bags whlst in transit.  We cleared customs and Diana was off like a shot with me trailng behind - its no wonder she won the womens last year - remindng her that she has my bags on the trolley and wait for me.  Its a good thing we ran because we made it nto the terminal for the domestic flights and that was a nightmare but between the two of us we got in and got confirmed seats.  Diana and I made ourselves the unofficial ´´usherers of Atacama Crossers´´ and managed to get somethng like 30 people into the terminal to get seats on the few flights to Calama.  I escorted to gate and she got them through.  It was a lot of fun but I am exhausted now.

tomorrow we find out the revised plan as the race now starts on Monday in lieu of Sunday.  I have been told that we will stll do the complete 155 miles.  this should be very interesting to say the least.  tomorrow I am meeting up with people and we wil decde what to do to pass the time.  Probably head up to some nose bleed altitude to get used to it.

Will update tomorrow.

I leave LA Wednesday on the 3rd, arriving on the 4th.  I am getting very excited.  I have been in contact for months now with 2 guys who are going to be my tentmates and have survived Gobi and sahara.  I worry about the rest of the people in our tent but if it gets too bad, I'll push the guys outside.

I did my last big mileage last weekend.  Left my house on foot and headed out to Backbone Trail with every intention of getting to Malibu Canyon - I was 2 miles short but still 33 miles ain't nothin to fret about in my book.  I have spent this week mentally checking my items, tomorrow is last minute shopping, sewing patches, packing/repacking, etc.  Sigh.

See you all in a week.  I so wish it would hurry up and get here!!!!!

I finally made my reservations for the trip and am arriving on Thursday.  Tonight I will do some of the final shopping for the trip.  I absolutely have to get the shoe guy to get the gaiters on my shoes!  And pack my pack to see what I need to keep/leave behind.  Maya said she uses a spread sheet, perhaps I should do the same.  Last night I dreamt about the race.  Second time now so although I give the appearance of calm, perhaps I am not.

I am going to spend the rest of the week resting and stretching along with Pilates and some weight work.  This past weekend's exploration of The Backbone Trail was a disaster - the trail marker was gone so instead of going left I went right, detouring about 6-7 miles out of my way (but I did run through the site where MASH was filmed) and I was just exhausted.  So on Sunday I walked the dog to the beach, collected shells with my son and vegged for the rest of the day.

More rain is scheduled for sunny So. Cal this week so perhaps its just as well that I rest.  Ah well, enough of the kvetching. Time for a glass of wine or some beer. 

I managed to spend a good chunk of my time on trails this long weekend although part of it was cut off on Friday as my husband got terrifically ill while I was out running.  At the half way point where they met me, my 4 year old excitedly told me that "Daddy was sick three times while we were waiting for you Mommy."  Sure enough the color green was fighting with the color white, I bundled him into the car and we headed back to where my car was parked on the other side of the mountain.  Eric excitedly asked Peter if he was going to be sick again.  He was sick until Saturday evening so I know it wasn't anything from NY Eve fun..

My IT band issues that cause me knee pain is still kicking up a fuss so concentrated on fast walking yesterday on the Backbone Trail.  I used my night lights which worked quite well, it was a little disconcerting at first to have a light that kept moving with my head (no duh) but it was quite bright so good to know that I will be able to see in the desert.

Every hike brings more and more of my kit along for the ride to get used to all this stuff and use it.  I am exploring new shoes this week in an attempt to help with the IT band issues (along with all the stretching that needs to be done....sigh... I just don't have the patience but am learning it).

My kind husband has taped a note on the bathroom mirror reminding me how many days until The Day, another one on the refrigerator reminding me that bread, butter, cheese are not my food friends right now and yet another one in the bread drawer reminding me that rice cakes are better for me than a slice of buttered bread.  I am so jonesing for a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato............................

I'm back on the trail!  Yay.  My racing pack feels fine. no rubbing on the shoulders or any other body parts as I hit the trail on Saturday, loaded with 20 lbs.  I even managed to run parts of the trail to get used to the difference between the Camelbak and my Salomon.  My knee started to mutter but I did the stretches I was told to do and the muttering stopped.  I felt so confident that I borrowed my husbands mountain bike and took that out yesterday - for the first time ever I went on a real mountain bike ride.  Why on earth do people do that sort of thing anyways?  I'm sure that some of the brush that I became intimately acquainted with is somewhat singed by my comments.  And I am so looking forward to doing it again.  Maybe Santa Claus is getting me my own mountainbike.  

So to play catch up for not doing much of anything for 6 weeks I will only be resting on Fridays and Mondays, stairs, gym, Pilates, jogging, biking and then the trails on the weekends.  Can't believe we are 10 weeks away!!!!!  Woo hoo!

Yay!  Cleared for running, training, walking around town with my pack on my back to break it in and get used to it.  Seems to be that its not my knee but my hips which impact my knee (and leads to that song about hip bones being connected to the thigh bone, etc. etc.).  So no more boring treadmill.

I will trot on down to Pilates today, give Metta The List of stretches, exercises.  It will make Metta her so happy - inflicting more stretching agony on me.  Her day will now be complete.  Saturday I am back up in the hills behind Will Rogers State Park, working on getting the mileage up and the time on the trail down.  My husband has broken out the Exercise Book and is madly scribbling up a workout regimen - little did I know that how happy he could be when tracking exercise.  

Now I need to make my travel reservations, hotel reservations (I plan on getting in to town Tuesday or Wednesday before and Tuesday after the race is completed).  Yay!

Argh!  Its been a month since I did something to my knee and no running allowed.  Between that and a bit of business travel for the first half of  November, I have not had a chance to run since Halloween when I ended up walking a long 4 miles, downhill to my car.  Bitter, bitter, bitter am I. 

Soooooo, that being said, another doctor will take a look at it next week and tell me why its not getting better - or maybe it is but its going very slowly, frustratingly slow.  I can walk and do some clambering around but about a mile or two into a run it starts giving me grief and whining.  I will start swimming and continue with the Pilates and weights in the meantime.  Maybe a bike too.  But, oh so frustrating!

I will continue to think positive and know that I will be back on the trail in a couple of weeks and work my way back up to my prior mileage, getting ready for the adventure of my life.

So I will live vicariously through everyone's else's traning regimen's, dreaming that I am doing something similar.

On the food front, the dried food that I have been trying out haven't been half bad!  I'm starting to put together a menu for the 6 days, wishing that there was some way of bringing fresh fruit with me.  Will try out dried fruit varieties so I don't get tired of the apricots.

I am getting so excited now as the race looms closer and closer.  I have bought a large quantity of food along with some other stuff as required (REI loves me right now) and my sis-in-law and I will begin taste testing starting on Halloween.  The REI guy has made me promise to come back and give my opinions.  At some point I am sure that I will be banned from Adventure 16 and REI by my husband.

My first marathon (yes I have never actually participated in a marathon but my weekends seem to be consumed with covering the length of a marathon both days so maybe in a sense I have) is in December and I have a half marathon in November.  I am also planning on taking 3 days out of the Thanksgiving holiday to hike/camp Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains.  Thursday will be turkey and all the goodies, the remaining three days will be freeze dried foods.  Nice contrast.

Otherwise my running goes well, my workouts in the gym are moving along, Pilates is keeping me stretched and my 4 year old keeps me jumping on the trampoline.  My dog has given up running with me - the last time she ended up walking the last half mile home and was quiet for 2 days. 

I still  have no luck in getting anyone to participate in any part of it except for taste testing the food.  My pleadings of "But I'll be all by myself" are not working.  They advise me that I will be with alot of people with the same mindset so I will not be friendless and they remind me that I am a litle loose in the head (I chalk it up to years in insurance).  So true.

I feel as if I am becoming a member of The Club as I am contemplating my two pinkie toes losing their nails.  This has of course taught me a couple of lessons - clearly learned the hard way:

1.  When you think its probably a good time to turn back because you feel the first serious twinge from your little piggies, do it.  Trust me that extra mile down the trail just ain't worth it and turns a 1 hour return trip into 2 hours or so. 

2.  When you start thinking that its time to explore different running shoes, run to the nearest running store and get it done.  

3.  Your spouse is NOT interested in checking out the state of your toenails no matter how fascinating it really is but the 4 year old thinks they are coolest, uckiest things EVER! and can he watch me pop blisters the next time around.  The 22 year old son thinks its just gross and wishes me good luck and no he's not going to even volunteer.

So those lessons learned (and will probably have to be relearned a few more times, at least the ones about blisters and shoes) I will be running barefoot in the sand at the beach this weekend, waiting for my little piggies to complete their recovery. And then I will trot on over to the running store and invest in some different shoes.  It will only get better.

That being written/said I at least managed to get in some 40 miles this past weekend and some time at the gym during the week.  So all was not lost except, possibly, my toenails.

I still have not convinced any of my friends that trotting through the Atacama is a great idea.  I will be working on total strangers soon if no one I know wants to participate in a great adventure.

My very first blog for Atacama and as I am typing this I find myself amazed that I have signed up for this event.  Woo hoo!  Of course this means that I have to hunker down and increase my weekly mileage so I can look like I sort of know what I will be doing as I make my way through the race.  My husband is busy tracking every step I take and every bit of food that I am eating - he is so happy to do this, why I haven't figured it out.

Now if I can only convince someone else that doing this race is going to be fun, lots and lots of fun........