Completed the 50 miler in 18 hours... not too bad I suppose. My feet had outgrown my shoes so I had to cut holes in the sides to let my pinky toes hang out.... I had done 50 miles the two previous days before where every step my pinky toes were slamming against the inside of the shoe. There was no way I could have done the 50 miles with every step that painful.
 
Perhaps the most difficult part was navigating the course alone at night. Went through some pretty steep canyons at midnight, which was pretty creepy, so I took off running for awhile just to get through it that much faster. I came into camp around 1am... my tentmates had stayed up for me, which was fantastic. When I went into the tent a dog followed me in... Erica shooed it out, but when I woke up a few hours later he was sleeping by my feet. Very cute.
 
Today is the final 10k into San Pedro... there will be a banquet tonight and then I am headed back to the US the day after. I am so ready for a shower... we all are.

So I am up to 2 days without sleep. Last night I sat in my sleeping bag, face in my hands, hoping that everyone around me would stop snoring. I cannot make myself sleep when everyone around me is making such tremendous noise. I might have a friend with an extra pair of earplugs... that would be a godsend.
 
Tough stage today... a lot of water crossings, and when you only have 5 feet of height to work with, you have to work harder to not get pulled downstream. I took almost 10 hours to travel 26 miles today... not proud of that, but what are you going to do? My knees are definitely hurting me... hobbled to the finish line. I consider myself a pretty decent road runner... I have won a couple of races, I usually place in my age group.. but I really stand in the shadows of giants here. Amazing athletes, with so much endurance and strength. I am the 3rd youngest person here though, so I figure I have some time to get to their level. And when you consider that I am carrying more weight on my back then some of these 6 foot tall guys, I guess you could say I am holding my own.
 
I could try to explain the scenery and the toughness of the course, but I will let the pictures do the talking. And I couldnt communicate the pain either... it was over 100 degrees today, your shoulders are burning from the weight on your back, the shoes are full of sand... well, just come out here and experience it for yourself. I cant do justice to the pain. :)
 
I dont plan on quitting, however. I have my pride to protect.
 
  Me so sweepy....
 
More tomorrow.

 Ugh, did not sleep last nite. Dont even wanna talk about it.
 
Just finished my first 22 miles in 6 hrs 44 minutes (give or take, its by my watch so it may be off). The thermometer on my compass read 93 degrees toward the end... amazing. A difficult day for sure. I found myself running way faster than I was supposed to at some points in the course, and I definitely paid for it in the end. My stomach was definitely bothering me in spots, and I was making beautiful music throughout the course, if you catch my drift (pun intended). The knees are definitely bothering me, and I have a few ingrown toenails that are bothering my feet, otherwise I am doing pretty well all things considered. Tomorrow is 26 miles, and at lower altitude, so we should be feeling the heat even more. At this point I am optimistic about my chances of finishing, but of course it is only day 1 of 6. I am saving my iPod for day 5 (have to cover 46 miles in under 24 hrs), so today was full of a lot of quiet time. At this point my  mind isnt getting to me too bad, but again, give me a few days. Feel free to send me an e-mail through the www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing website. Until tomorrow...
 
Todays cryptic message: The chicken alarm clock song was running through my head over the last 5 miles today... definitely drove me insane. And please post my blogs to Facebook, Buggles. Many thanks! :)

We are at camp! So excited. Yesterday myself and a couple of new friends found a local to drive us up to the mountains to get used to altitude. There is something pretty amazing about a Chilean, an Irishman, a Brit, and Australian, a South African and an American, all crammed in a Nissan pick-up, driving through the desert and jamming to Michael Jackson.
 
We spent about 2 hours hiking and getting used to altitude (we probably ended up at around 15,000 feet). I definitely felt it... headache, heart beating out of its chest, shortness of breath... but right now we are at camp and although the altitude is still pretty high I have not been affected. Definitely happy to have taken the free day to do some acclimating with a group of amazing people.
 
Tomorrow is 22 miles. I am just going to take it easy, pace myself, enjoy the scenery, take some amazing pictures and save my body for the rest of the week. This is without a doubt the most amazing thing I have ever done. Cannot wait to get started tomorrow morning! I will blog tomorrow night about my first 22 of 155 miles. Stay tuned! (and please head to www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing to donate to Habitat for Humanity to help those affected by the Chilean earthquake).
PS- Love you, Buggles. :)

... hitching a ride! I'm going to be stuck in Santiago, no avail. flights to Calama until 15 March I'm told?! Anyway... I know I shouldn't post my number for the world to see, but I really need to get in touch with another competitor who might want to work out a way to get to San Pedro together.

+011 717-329-8435

This is already a crazy journey, and I dont even have my pack on yet!

I leave for San Pedro tomorrow. I somehow manged to fit everything into my backpack... the seams look like they're screaming. I assured them they would be more comfortable as the week wore on (Yes, I spoke to my backpack. I live alone. Give me a break). I know some people are leaving the camera in the hotel because it will add weight to the pack, but... this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity/experience. I will be taking pictures like a shameless tourist. 

I'm really excited about my tent assignment. I am the only North American in my tent, and I love that. We're going to have our own little Olympic village in the middle of the desert, which is pretty much amazing. My tent in particular has competitors from Australia, United Kingdom, Chile and Denmark. I will forewarn them in this post that I have a fiery temper, but that will probably be more of an issue on the course than during down time.

Fingers crossed that my flights aren't all whacky. I am leaving from Philadelphia in the morning, stopping in Atlanta, and then flying into Santiago, where I'll catch a flight into Calama airport. In theory....

Since my birthday is on the day I'll be flying back to the US (the 14th), the family is having a birthday dinner tonite. And my request was Vietnamese. I'm going to enjoy it while I can, because a week of freeze dried meals awaits me.

Can't wait to meet everyone. I'll be blogging from the desert nightly, so stay tuned.

I'm a type-A individual, and it definitely shows in my running. The good thing about it is that I never miss a run... I would be overcome with anxiety if I did. The bad thing is that I like to subscribe to the belief that my body is superhuman, even though my hips and legs have not been healthy since I got back from Iraq. I've ran 5Ks with stress fractures in both legs. I ran the Army 10 Miler last October with a partially dislocated hip, and the Philly  Half Marathon a month later with a blown-up IT band. I don't ever really let myself be injured. I keep running and hope my body can keep up.

So it's a big deal that I finally admitted to myself a few days ago that my knees are ruined. By ruined, I mean that I can probably get 5 or 6 miles out of them at a time before shooting pains start running through the joint. They swell up at night, and they're stiff in the morning. 

I've made the decision that I would not like to be in a wheelchair by the time I'm 30, and that knee replacement surgery at age 24 is just a little too soon, so I've changed my race strategy to that of a run/walk. I was hoping to go into the event at least an age group contender, but my body is really not in any shape for that right now. At this point the goal is to finish. 

I leave for Chile this coming Thursday. I know a lot of competitors are already down there, but since I'm in the middle of a semester of grad school I couldn't afford to leave early. With the earthquake effecting travel I just hope that I don't get delayed in Santiago, since I've left myself with very little time to spare before the race starts.

Training has been a nightmare. Pennsylvania just keeps getting snow, and the one week that I went to South Carolina the snow followed me (and consequently led to the cancellation of the  marathon I had been training months for). And the fact that I've been training in 30 degree temps and will be running in 80 degree temps next week has me a bit worried. 

It's too late for worries, really. Here goes nothing...

I should have known better... last post I mentioned how content I was with my training. My leg has healed, my runs have been strong and fast, my entire body feels great... and I mentioned that I should probably have kept it to myself at the risk of jinxing it. Well, I jinxed it.

My marathon training schedule has been going so well. Haven't missed a run yet, despite temperatures in the teens most mornings. With a major snowstorm slated to start on Saturday afternoon and continue into Sunday morning, I made the decision to move up my long run from Sunday to Saturday morning. I had a 16 miler planned, and every intention of banging it out before the snow slammed us. 

I went to a friend's house Friday night with every intention to have one, maybe two beers, and then head home to get some rest before the next morning's run. I drank more than I was supposed to, but not enough to make me overly sick (I have a small frame but a suprisingly high tolerance). I think it was the food I mixed with it... a cream-based dip with brocolli was probably not the best thing to mix with alcohol. It upset my stomach... so my body naturally got rid of it. But that's not where it ended. I continued to puke, almost every hour on the hour, for nearly 24 hours... my body was out of food, and so I ended up getting rid of stomach acid for the better part of a day. Couldn't run to a drug store to buy myself something to end the misery, with the snow falling and my body not allowing me to stand up without heaving. 

I lost 6 pounds in one day... couldn't keep anything down, not even water. The stomach acids burned my throat to the point where I still can't swallow. I was hoping I would just pass out and rid myself of the misery for at least a few hours... to no avail. I'm still severely dehydrated because it's excrutiating to swallow. And I missed a very important 16 mile run. That's what probably bothers me the most. 

I've learned something here. No more alcohol until after the Atacama Crossing. You saw it here, folks. Not a drop. And yes, I know Christmas and New Year's are coming up, but I don't care. I showed a loss of self-control this Friday, and I really screwed up my marathon training schedule. And I'm really disappointed in myself. And to non-runners, that might seem ridiculous. But if you understand where I'm coming from, then you're probably a runner. Running comes first right now. That is all that matters. Eye on the prize. So, as I raise my can of Diet Coke (it actually soothes my throat, believe it or not)... CHEERS. And happy holidays to all of my fellow Atacama competitors, all over the world.

I don't want to jinx myself... but  my knee is completely healed! I am so excited. Shout out to Dr. Cericola, my amazing chiropractor! He takes my leg and totally cranks on it and does crazy painful stuff to it, but the next day I feel like a new woman. 

I started a strict marathon training schedule two weeks ago. Strict meaning that I don't just sit down on Sundays and throw together a random mileage schedule (which is what I usually do). I typically have a pretty fluid training schedule... I have a general idea of how many miles I want to run a week, but I'm not married to it. Now I am. I have a marathon in Myrtle Beach in February and I very much want to qualify for Boston, so I put myself on a more strict regimen of easy runs/long runs/tempo runs. It's going really well so far. If the weather cooperated I'd be happier... a 14 miler on Sunday in shorts while the sleet rained down on me was a bit miserable. By the time I was done my hair and shirt were frozen and my ears had the beginnings of frostbite. 

Again, I don't want to jinx myself. Everytime I get into a really fabulous training groove it always seems to be thwarted after about a month of running bliss. I've had a ridiculous number of injuries this year. I'm crossing my fingers that 2010 will be a banner year.

I ran my final race of 2009 on Saturday. A 5 miler in Bethlehem... I bested my 5 miler time by about 3 minutes, so I'm happy. This year I ran a ton of races all over the country (ok, well, all over the eastern seaboard) and it's been fantastic. I know that next year will be even better because of the Atacama Crossing. 

I have posted my fundraising page... finally. You can read all about my cause and help to support it by visiting http://www.firstgiving.com/pham_atacama2010. My initial fundraising goal is $5,000, but I hope to surpass it. 

Is anyone running the Crossing in road shoes? I have to ask... I've been training some days in trail shoes, as it was suggested, but my feet are so flat that I find that the lessened arch support typical of trail shoes makes running painful for me. I'm leaning towards running in road shoes, but I might regret that move with the terrain. I might try out my trail shoes with insoles and see if that helps. Any thoughts?

Can you believe how fast the time flies? The Atacama Crossing is coming up faster than we all realize, and at this point its crunch time as far as training is concerned. I realize that I cannot really afford another injury at this point because, 1. it will effect my training schedule, and 2. I'm not certain if I will have adequate time to heal. With that thought constantly at the back of my mind I've been trying to be more cautious... if that's even possible.

I am constantly thinking about my legs. What I could be doing to make them "happier," so to speak. And this is not something that has come as a result of my signing up for the Atacama. It's a runner thing... perhaps. Sometimes I find myself thinking thoughts about my legs that I know are not normal. Like when I drop something on the floor and I have no shoes on... my mind races with what the object is, how close it is coming to my feet, and how I should move my body to protect them from the thing that is about to come crashing down on them. Like when I am walking on campus... Lehigh is notoriously hilly, and if I've had a particularly hard run that day and my legs have lactic acid build-up I feel the burn as I climb my way to class. And I think about how bad I feel for my legs... to be having to work this hard, after their morning run. 

Probably the best testament to my motherly protection of my legs was when I was struck by a Chevy Tahoe earlier this year. Yes. An SUV ran into me during one of my runs. I was on the main drag in Myrtle Beach where all the hotels are... and I was running past a parking garage, when some jerk comes barreling out of the garage so fast that I knew I wasn't going to have time to clear his path. I followed his eyes. He was so concentrated on making a left turn out of the garage that he wasn't even looking straight ahead to notice me. Or stopping at the stop sign. So a million thoughts went through my head... will he stop? will he hit me? how fast will he be going when he hits me? will I be injured? will I have to go to the hospital? what should I do to protect my legs?!?!? 

So I stuck my arm out. I tried to stiff-arm a fast-moving Chevy Tahoe. Looking like a scared Heisman trophy, I shoved my arm out there. It hit the hood of his car, making a loud thumping sound. It scared the hell out of him... I mean, he didn't even know he was about to hit someone until he heard my arm hit. The momentum lifted me up in the air and jarred my shoulder pretty bad, but otherwise I was unhurt. He looked at me and I threw my arms up in the air as if to say "WTF????!!!!" in body language. And then I kept running. I wasn't about to let a near-death experience ruin my run. 

I know how integral my legs are to my completing the Atacama Crossing. As I write this, they are propped up, taking the night off.

I won't deny it. I'm a superstitious runner... or maybe ritualistic is more the word. It all starts the day before... 

THE PRE-RACE MEAL. Ask any runner what they eat the night before a race... it's almost always the same meal. I'm no different... except that I don't do the typical spaghetti and meatballs pasta dinner. No, sir. I'm a SERIOUS eater the night before a race. My standard fare? Get this... an ENTIRE Domino's medium thin crust cheese pizza, and  an entire order of buffalo wings. And I eat the whole thing... every last bite. And then I'm ready to rock it the next day... always works. 

GETTING TO THE RACE. I always have to be at a race site at least an hour and half before the gun goes off. I don't know why... I get nervous (and thus make many a trip to the port-a-johns), and I feel like I need to scope the place out, for whatever reason. I made a horrible mistake at this year's Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC. I wasn't too familiar with where the starting line was, and when I figured out I was over 4 miles away from it and there was only 40 minutes until race time, I got desperate. So I hitch-hiked. Yes. I know. It's dangerous. But I stuck my thumb up, out of desperation. Luckily some really nice women from Mount Pleasant gave me a lift. Crisis averted. 

PRE-RACE FUELING. I'm ridiculous when it comes to this as well. A Luna Bar and two Advil an hour before the race starts, washed down with a bottle of water... a Clif shot gel 45 minutes before the gun... and another Clif shot 15 minutes before the gun. I constantly check my watch to make sure I'm eating at the right time. I have it down pat, and it works for me. 

ONCE THE GUN GOES OFF... Surprisingly, this is a little less planned. And that's what I wanted to write about today. I just made it home from the Philadelphia Half Marathon today. Beautiful weather... 42 degrees is a runner's dream in the northeast United States this time of year. Any race I get to run in shorts and t-shirt is a blessing. I definitely started too conservatively this time... once I started hitting 5:45/mile paces mid-way, I knew I had gone out too slow. I mean, I NEVER hit speeds that fast. I finished just under the 1:40 mark, about 3 minutes off my PR... I felt good about it. But I felt even better about just being in the race. Once that gun went off this morning and all 8,000+ of us started into our rhythms, I realized... these people get me. They get my crazy rituals... they can identify with the 5AM wake-up calls to go on a training run... they get that Sundays are the days where you run for hours on end because you can... they understand when you blow snot-rockets throughout the race (it was a bit chilly and my nose was really dripping)... some of them (definitely not all) think it's ok to wet your pants during a race because if you stop at a port-a-john you just waste time (I admit I've done this... if you're trying to win a race or put up a qualifying time, every second counts)... they know how good endorphins feel... runners just get each other. And every person on that course is your friend, even though you don't know them, just by the mere fact that you share this crazy love affair with running. 

And the cheer sections... those crazy cheer sections.  They line up so early in the morning, stand in the cold, to cheer us on. They stand there with bags of gummi bears for us... with plates of french fries... with COLD BEERS (I've never partaken... maybe someday soon). In their own way, they get us too. And if they knew how motivating and uplifting their support was... running through Old City today the crowds were so loud I found myself running 5:30/miles... WAY too fast for me... just because they hyped me up that much. 

The training... the rituals... the fellow runners who get us... the races... the crowds... 

... this is why we run.

You have no idea how excited I am to report that I went for a short 5 miler today wearing a t-shirt and shorts... and that tomorrow's 11 miler will be run in fantastic 68 degree F weather. It's November in Pennsylvania folks! Now, understand that I will not ditch  my shorts until it drops below 20 degrees F here... I HATE spandex. I equally detest wearing spandex shirts as well, so I'm taking what I can get right now. This weather is out of this world amazing, and I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop in the form of a terrible blizzard. Training in these conditions is truly a blessing, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. 

The leg is about the same... I took off of running for 5 days last week (!!!!) in hopes of an improvement, but once I started up running again the nagging pain returned... along with bone pain, no doubt remnants of the stress fractures from this summer. PLUS, my back. Last weekend was an Army weekend, and after firing off a couple hundred rounds on the rifle range from a prone position, I could barely get up, my back hurt so bad. My chiropractor continues to work wonders every week, but by the time next week rolls around I'm in bad need of an adjustment. 

Next weekend I'm running the Philadelphia Half Marathon, and 4 days later, on Thanksgiving morning, I have a 10K. Today I was hitting a 7:30/mile pace effortlessly, and that is close to my half marathon pace, so hopefully I'm in peak performance mode right now. I must say that the quickly approaching Myrtle Beach Marathon in February has me nervous... I will need to be consistently training if I plan on running a decent time (a Boston qualifiying time would be icing on the cake). 

Haven't yet trained with the pack on... I'm going to wait until the beginning of December for that (and perhaps my back will be cooperating by then). My long runs haven't topped out over 11 miles in a long time, so I need to start pushing it, but not so much that I end up sidelined again. I've bought what I hope will be my shoes for the Atacama Crossing... the Brooks Cascadia. I haven't trained in them yet, but hopefully they'll pan out. 

I'm debating what food to bring to the desert. I'm tempted to buy some military MREs, because the caloric count is so high, but they're HEAVY. The entire meal weighs a couple pounds, and imagine what a whole week's worth of that stuff will weigh. But they taste great... so, that might be the trade-off. 

I promise to get my charity information updated and set up for donations by early January. I haven't been too proactive on it yet, but I'm certain we will rally and raise some funds to help those service men and women who have been discharged from the military simply because of who they love. You can check out the mission and the work of the Servicemember's Legal Defense Network at www.sldn.org. 

I hope my fellow racers are plugging along nicely with their training. Once again, I'll see you all in the desert!

I'm moving closer to official every day... last night I purchased my plane ticket to Chile. It's by a great stroke of luck that the Atacama Crossing coincides with Lehigh's spring break. While the undergrads are boozing and making bad decisions in various beach hotspots, I will be running through the world's driest desert. I love it. 
It's fall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and that means ideal training weather. There's nothing quite like running down historic Main Street in the morning and seeing the leaves changing color on the mountainside. For a northerner, there really is nothing like the spring and fall racing seasons. ::sigh:: I smile just thinking about it.
The leg is really coming along. I'm probably running 70% pain-free, which is 70% better than a few weeks ago. The hip still clicks and my IT band is still pretty inflamed, but the fact that I can put one foot in the front of the other without excrutiating pain radiating through my leg is quite the relief. I'm slowly but surely building up the base again... I haven't lost a whole lot of fitness since the injury, but I've definitely gained a few pounds (whoops... ate a whole bag of halloween candy). 
I've also been getting back into weight training, fast and furious. Not only is it fun, but it's a great way to cross train while the leg is resting up. I'm hoping to start training with the backpack late next month, once I've gotten my Sunday long runs up to 15 miles. Any suggestions on how I should build up the weight in the pack? I was looking to start training with a 7 or 8 pound pack and gradually build up the weight until I'm near 15, 16 pounds. 
I hope everyone else's training has been more fruitful than mine... I'm also hoping I can catch up within the next couple months. See you the in the desert!

Where does the time go? November is creeping up on us, and that means that there will only be five months of training left. My panic is setting in because I still have not been able to get into a steady training rhythm. I'm seeking help from a chiropractor for my leg alignment issues, and hopefully that will take within the next few weeks. 
Sunday I competed in the Army 10 Miler in Washington, DC. The weather was fantastic, my time was 9 minutes faster than the last time I ran the course, and, as always, the wounded veterans who have the courage and determination to complete the course are always a source of inspiration. My leg felt like it was going to fall off that night, but I'm still glad I ran the race this year.
I've been quite the slacker in terms of planning. I've yet to purchase my plane ticket, and the only required equipment I own is a backpack... which I've yet to test out. I'm still trying to decide on which running shoes I will be wearing in the desert. Any good suggestions out there? I was thinking the  Brooks Cascadia, but I think I might need even more support than that. Until next time...

I know that the race is over six months away, but if I can't fall into a healthy training rhythm I'll never finish. The last appointment I had with the chiropractor was in July, and although she was able to correct the misalignment of my hips and my sciatica consequently went away, I think my hips are out of alignment again. This time it's my left leg... my iliotibial band is extremely inflamed and it's made running unbearable. I can feel the clicking where the hips and the femur are supposed to come together, and the fact that there are misaligned is really painful. This could easily be turned into a critical commentary on the American health care system, or on how overworked the VA is in terms of getting veterans adequate and timely health care, but I'll resist the urge. 

I did manage to finish a half marathon this past weekend... I wasn't feeling at the top of my game, and a logistics snafu with the course put me in the middle of the pack after our front pack ran into a dead end on the course. Overall this month has done little for me in terms of building confidence. I have a ten mile race the first weekend of October, and hopefully the end result will be a little more promising. Training aside though, I am extremely excited about this undertaking. I will be naming a new charity in a few months, right now I'm working out the logistics, but I feel really good about the choice. To my fellow racers around the world... I cannot wait to meet all of you in the desert. Until next time...

It's been awhile since I've last posted. The training has been going well. I have a half marathon on September 13th, so I have been focused on that, but in the process I am slowly but surely building up the fitness I lost during my injury. I still have to wear a compression sock on my right calf, and at times I have bone pain, but thus far I think my fracture is about 99% healed. As for the sciatica, the chiropractic to put my hips back in line has been a godsend. No major sciatic pain, save the days when my right hamstrings feel sore and tight. Ran a decent 10 miler on Sunday... I'm having knee pain, but it subsides with time. 

Gear-wise, I received my backpack in the mail today. I went with the OMM 25L, and it looks like it will be a perfect fit for me. I also invested in a pair of Injiji socks, and I plan on wear-testing the Brooks Cascadia trail shoe this fall. Hopefully it meets expectations. I will slowly incorporate two-a-days into my training. With 2 half marathons and a 10 miler scheduled for this fall, I will need to ensure that I am getting in quality runs but also getting used to running with the backpack. I'm starting grad school on Monday, and with the additional commitment of a teaching assistantship, two-a-days will be difficult, but necessary if I am going to race strong this fall and develop fitness for the Atacama. I also need to get back into the gym... not lifting has made me lighter and faster on my feet, but I need to work on my core strength. Lots to do, but still lots of time to do it.

As of early this week I am an official competitor for the 2010 Atacama Crossing! I am anticipating months of grueling training, as I want to run/jog as much of the Atacama as possible. I am definitely not taking this race lightly... I've read blogs from past years, and I know that it will be the toughest experience, physically and mentally, of my life. Right now I am getting over a stress reaction in my right tibia, and I still have a pretty severe case of sciatica stretching from my lower right back to my heel, but I'm in the middle of chiropractic and acupuncture treatments, so hopefully it takes. 

Training right now is pretty much a joke. Because my tibia was so close to fracturing I lost a month of training... even now I have to run with a compression sock to reduce calf vibration. In the next few days I'll be moving from Myrtle Beach back up north to Bethlehem, PA to start grad school, and the timing couldn't be better. Bethlehem has amazing running trails and its hard to run anywhere without tackling huge hills, so my fitness should greatly improve. I have also been doing some pretty heavy weightlifting... the more muscle you have, the more oxygen your body can take in, and that will be crucial at the Atacama's altitude. I get tremendous headaches whenever I fly, so I think I will be prone to altitude sickness during the race. Nothing a few pills can't fix though, right?

Feel free to leave me a comment... and if you are running the Atacama Crossing in 2010 as well, let me know!