It's official that Billy and I finished the Atacama Crossing! I wanted to blog after the race, but needed some time to reflect and think about everything. It's really quite difficult to put everything into words. One really has to do this race themselves in order to really understand. But I'll begin with stage 5.

Stage 5 started earlier (7:35am) than the other stages for those of us not in the top 10. Right off the bat they had us going through another 15k of salt flats after going through 14k of salt flats the afternoon prior. My feet did not want to go through this section and I could feel the tendons in my feet swelling and throbbing. I was paranoid of rupturing any tendons and a little worried that it could be a fracture and not a tendon issue. I had no choice but to start slow due to my paranoia and the pain. Within 10 minutes I managed to step in a soft spot on the salt flats and my foot fell through into the salty water. I was beyond pissed off that my morning was starting off with salt water going into my sore blisters. After cussing and wimpering the pain slowly dulled and I was able to get a little better footing on the jagged hard salt flats. I hate salt flats with a passion! When we made it to check point 1 I was able to redo my tape job on my toes with the better adhesive the medical team had and from that point on chose never to look at my feet again. Blisters no matter how big or small were the least of my concerns now and I couldn't care less about them.

The heat was intense but a cooler 100+ degrees. Check points became more important as an opportunity to stop and elevate my feet, drink plenty of water, and cool ourselves before going back into the sun. The checkpoints were much much further apart now...15k, 14k and so on. Kevin the dog was at checkpoint 2 and looking pretty bad. He still managed to pick himself up and run with another competitor. Worried, we decided to carry his make-shift water bowl on my pack in case we saw the little pooch dehydrated out on the course.

Getting to checkpoint 3 was depressing and pretty awful. We were dealt with more salt flats which made me want to cry. I kept ignoring the pain in my feet anyhow just because I knew I just needed to get through the long day. But ust when we were off the salt flats (another "3k" of them) we see this monster sand dune ahead of us and notice tiny ant size people making their way up it. It was huge and I couldn't believe how steep it was. The wind had started to blow fiercely and you could feel your face getting grinded by sand like sand paper. When we made our way to the top it was the weirdest landscape that I hadn't expected. It was clear that the top of this mountain was once at the bottom of the ocean. It was creepy. At this point the winds had become hurricane force winds. Easily going over 60+ mph. It made it extremely difficult to see where we were going and we had to fight to move forward. Coming down the other side of the mountain was extremely reckless. You couldn't tell where you should step and the sheer steepness of the descent made it challenging. We made it to checkpoint 3 (Kevin was there resting already!) and were disappointed to learn that there was no hot water. We'd have to wait till checkpoint 5 more than 22k away. Hungry, cold, and with no food except for a freeze-dried meal, we rested for about 40 minutes before moving on with 3 other competitors. It was about 7:45pm.

It was dark, windy, and cold, but we kept our pace steady. Eventually our little group split up and it was just Billy, me, and Mara. We made the decision to pass through checkpoint 4 just to get water, but not rest. Along the way we ran into Paolo from Italy so that was cool. What a great person. I would say between checkpoint 4 and checkpoint 5 things started getting ugly. Mara's toes were blistered and painful, my feet had swelled to the point that my toes were beginning to jam into the toe box and the sides of my feet were getting squished against the shoe. My feet felt like they were literally going to explode. I also starting becoming incredibly fatigued and lethargic. If I had the energy to lift my arms out in front of me I would've looked like a zombie stumbling down the road. I was beginning to feel like I was going to collapse along the road, but managed to still find the will to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It was 2am before we made it to checkpoint 5. I sat down and my feet felt like they were cement blocks. We were all still torn with whether to stay and rest a few hours or keep going after eating. OMG eating. I had one last freeze-dried meal left and the moment it touched my mouth I wanted to hurl. Billy seemed to love it, but it tasted like the most foul thing I had ever tasted. I managed to get it down, but I would later in the night find myself on the verge of barfing it back up. After about 45 minutes the 4 of us mustered the energy to go the last "10k" of stage 5 and make our way to camp. Kevin the dog also joined us.

It was a long 10k. More sand dunes, more rocky surfaces, more sand, and then a hard road to camp. We finally made it in at 5:15am. Kevin the dog followed me to my tent and passed out. I covered the shivering dog with my emergency bivvy to keep him warm and finally got to bed about 6am. Billy let me use his sleeping pad so I wouldn't have to sleep another night on rocks since my sleeping pad got a hole in it (I slept on rocks the night before the long day...sucked bad).

I woke up about an hour later at 7am and was pleased to see daylight. It dawned on me that I was going to finish this race. I could feel the tears coming. If my tendons tore or ruptured, I could still make it to the finish. I could relax finally. I had to untie my shoe laces completely leaving hardly any lace left to tie with in order to fit my feet into them. The tape on my feet were thrashed, but I still didn't want to take them off. Why bother when there's only 10k left. I chose to drain one very large blister through the tape and then started practicing wearing my shoes around camp (also because I lost one of my sandals) to get used to the pain in my feet so I'd be warmed up for the last 10k.

We figured the race officials made every last bit of 10k difficult, and we were right. The first 5k was through trails climbing up narrow paths through loose rock. One mistake with stepping and you'd fall down a steep drop and that would be the end of you. I hobbled for about 10 minutes before the pain subsided. I could hear all the moaning and sometimes yelling from people in pain trying their best to make it through. Once we were off the trail I just couldn't slow myself down. I felt nothing in my feet. My shoulders didn't hurt, and I was hungry. I started thinking about the week and how incredibly hard it had been. My emotions were building up and I couldn't believe it was almost over.

When we came around the corner and could see the finish line, I grabbed Billy's hand and made a run for it. We ran the best we could till we crossed that final finish line. We both started hugging and crying. We both held a lot of pain in through the week and now it was hard to hold back. I thought about those animals at Animal Acres. How that collage helped get me through some really difficult times. I thought about how we were saving lives and that made me bawl. I was saving animals...a dream come true. I saw the friends I had made during the week getting their medals and crying and laughing for joy. I was so proud of them. We had all gone through an emotional roller coaster and fought battle after battle to get to where we were standing. We all had different stories, different backgrounds, different reasons for doing this race, but this moment we all shared together.

I look back on this experience with happiness, misery, joy, sorrow, calmness, and a HUGE sense of accomplishment. My feet have over 30 blisters. I'm losing a few toenails. One toe has an infection. I still can't feel my right shoulder. My feet may have fractures (heading to the doctor in an hour). My knees ache. My lower lip is severely burned. I look like I have hobbit feet and cankles. And I look like skin and bones. But I'm already thinking about the next time :) I hope to see some of my friends at another race (RTP Nepal you guys?!).

I want to tell my husband Billy thank you for sharing this experience with me. We're going to have these memories for the rest of our lives. Marilena, thanks for always smiling...your positive attitude was infectious. Trig, your story is powerful and moves me. I look forward to supporting you in your journey this year and doing what I can to help make Carla's name last forever. Owen and Mel, you guys did an amazing race out there and I'm amazed by your efforts to push to the very end. Paolo, I am so proud of you for getting through stage 2 and crossing that finish line. Laurie, there is so much to be said about you...you were an inspiration to every one. It was such an honor to participate in this race with you and I wish you luck at the London Marathon.

Wow. What a week. I am so thankful for being able to have gone through this experience and can't wait to do another one. Perhaps a little faster next time :)

Yes, Billy and I made it another day! It was once again nothing short of hell. The heat is so brutal out here...it has been reaching 120 degrees just about every day. It was especially roasting at the salt flats and the sun would reflect off the ground burning your face. The salt flats were also viscious on the feet. I accidentally stepped into salt water and it went through my shoes and onto my blistered feet. Burned like hell! But I got over it.
 
There is this Japanese woman that amazes me. She looks like one of the little women you would see walking around the burbs outside of Tokyo with their canvas grocery bag in one hand and sun umbrella in the other. She`s adorable and beats everyday (except today!). She walks the entire time and seriously makes it look easy. She walks with a pack as big as her, sometimes you`ll see her carrying her reusable grocery bag full of goodies, and she never stops at check points to sit down. I don`t know what her secret is, but she must have amazing feet.
 
My feet are throbbing pretty bad and my posterior tibial tendonitis was giving me trouble during the salt flats. It`s amazing how you can still somehow find the ability to push through no matter how much pain you`re in. I notice if I keep going that the pain typically subsides. My left knee has started to give me pain, but most of all my feet just hurt really bad. Elevating them is the only thing that helps which is what I do every night (I put my feet on my pack). I counted 20 blisters today so I haven`t acquired more...yay! A few have gotten worse, a few are under control. I`m working hard to keep those pinky toenails for as long as possible so I`m continually draining them and taping them back onto the nail bed. Besides looking purple and swollen they`re getting better. Oh yeah I`ve also lost feeling in some of my toes. It`s weird.
 
Well time to go back to the tent to hopefully have my knee taped for the long day tomorrow (77k).
 
 
Today`s stage is for all the sheep, lambs, and goats out there. I saw some of your buddies in a valley today and it really made my day!

Billy and I survived yet another day. Man what a tough stage it was. One of the course markers described it as ''awful'' and it was nothing short of that. We didn`t get in till around 730pm so I have very little downtime tonight. I can`t really even begin to describe how insanely hard it was. Sand, rocks, climbing up rocky jagged mountains, gravel sand, ugly sand dunes and then one last monster climb to the finish. This isn`t the 2nd hardest endurace race in the world for nothing. And everyone says this is the hardest of the 4 deserts series. The lack of sleep definitely caught up with me today.
 
My feet also look like they`ve gone through a meat grinder. I have over 20 blisters on my toes, ball of my feet, and heels. My pinky toenails are floating so I had to spend some time draining them. The medical team doesn`t do much for blisters. You`re pretty much on your own so I`m glad I studied before I got here.
 
It`s a struggle to walk sometimes but in all honesty you start becoming numb to the pain. It feels like different body parts are competing to see who can hurt worse. But all you can do is continue on.
 
Tomorrow is the infamous salt flat stage. I need to go eat and get some rest if possible. I will try to blog tomorrow.
 
 
I forgot to dedicate yesterdays stage. I want to dedicate it to all the kind and intelligent pigs in the world. I`m doing this for you guys. And today`s stage is for all the chickens, turkeys and their chicks. This one was for you Pumpkin!

Wow what a day. Billy and I completed Stage 2 but not with the usual up and downs. I once again managed to not get any sleep whatsoever. I woke up with the stomach flu again so began my first dose of cipro. I`m amazed how quickly it kicked in. Or maybe it was the large amounts of almond butter I`ve been eating. I don`t want anymore almond butter.
 
The day started beautiful. We did some climbing then descended into a canyon and began our river crossings. I lost count how many times we crossed the same river. At first it was a little nerve racking because the current was so strong. But then we all started having a great time navigating the thigh high freezing water. My feet went completely numb but it made my sore feet and blisters feel wonderful. I think the slot canyons were my favorite part of the day.
 
We then climbed 3000 plus feet up a mountain and had spectacular views of the salt mountains, volcanoes and Atacama Desert. I was so glad we spent so much time doing hill training on the trails. We had no problems climbing this huge mountain.
 
The funnest part of the day was running down a monster sand dune. I fell a couple times and couldn`t stop laughing. It was awesome!
 
After that things started to get ugly again. It was 2 oclock and the heat had jumped up to 40 degrees celsius (yesterday it was 45 degrees celsius). We made it through Death Valley and were struggling with the distance and intense heat. Everyone was having a hard time. Especially when we ran out of water.
 
The winds became relentless and were blowing sand in our faces. My dry eyes were suffering and burning terribly. I had to walk and close my eyes for about 3 miles. I was getting really pissed off and ready to see the campsite. Then finally we did!
 
I went straight away to the medical tent to have more blisters drained and betadine applied. My little pinky toes look like they`re in casts. I`m definitely going to lose my pinky toe nails. I had 5 blisters yesterday. I now have 15. All but 1 on my toes. I`m not worried though and honestly blisters aren`t so bad yet. It`s carnage out on the course already. People with jacked up knees, one guy blacked out, dehydration, blisters, banged up shoulders, torn tendons. It`s already ugly and we still have 4 more stages to go. I can`t begin to even describe how unforgiving the course has been. It`s the hardest race I could`ve ever imagined.
 
Well I`m getting kicked out so I`ll write again tomorrow. Wish us luck and many prayers we make it another day!

We got to the campsite yesterday and the views were amazing. Not much later when the sun went down the temperature dropped to near freezing. We were at 10,600 plus altitude. I was freezing my ass off and because the race was shortened one day (still the same mileage) I was trying to lighten my pack load by eating my extra food.

 

The tents are spacious and my 7 tentmates are awesome (including Billy). We were on an incline so I spent the night sliding down in my sleeping bag. Got so cold that I had to pull out my emergency bivy for more warmth. I fell asleep around 11 and woke up at 2am wide awake and not feeling good but did NOT want to go outside in the freezing dark. By the time it was six I was feeling worse. I spent the next two hours scrambling to get ready for the race start, but I was a total mess. I was still trying to get my bib on and put my pack on when the race started. It was so cold that my whole body felt like it had been dipped in a frozen lake.

 

But where do I even begin about stage 1? Ummm the good news is that Billy and I finished today after 9 hours and 15 minutes.

 

The bad news? Holy shit what an awful day. Im sorry to sound so depressing but really it was such a long hard day. Stage 1 is called Navigation by Rock, which in my mind I pictured large boulders that would act like course markers to a degree. I was very wrong. Navigation by Rock meant the entire terrain under our feet would be rocks. Deep sand mixed with gravel, small rocks, large rocks, slippery unstable rocks...rocks, rocks, rocks, lots of rocks. My feet got destroyed with the amount of twisting, turning, slipping. I took an ugly fall in the first 20 minutes of the race which totally broke me down mentally right from the start. I fell again on slippery gravel and landed on my ass which made me feel more idiotic. I got scratched up by these dried out thorny cactus bushes.

 

The morning temperatures were fantastic until just on time at 2 oclock it became sweltering hot. I started really slowing down because my feet hurt so bad. Throw in the high altitude and you get winded from just drinking water. My pack weighs about 8.7 kilos but started to feel like a pile of bricks. I`d stop frequently to bend over and get the weight off my shoulders. OMG the heat is bad here. At one point I felt scared that I wouldn`t be able to go on I was so miserable.

 

The views were breathtaking, but I spent most of the time looking down at my feet trying not to sprain or twist either ankle. My eyes feel like they`re on fire from the dry air. They even started to water which never happens. My ears are burnt and the backs of my knees got a little toasty. My hips and knees are sore and I acquired 5 blisters. I had one drained in the medical tent. Apparently I have signs of trench foot but because I`m not standing in cold water I won`t get that. They`re just incredibly soggy and nasty. My taping strategy has gone out the window and I have to attempt something else for tomorrow otherwise they`ll get worse.

 

 

I guess I should try to end this more positively though.

Billy is doing great out here so far. His feet are in immaculate condition and his attitude during the day was much better than mine even after one of his gaitors broke. I`m so happy we crossed the finish line together. 

I have met some wonderful people so far and all in all I know I`m going to look back at this experience and be amazed that I survived it and pushed through. Laurie the 78 year old Welsh man made it too...he is such an inspiration. 

 

Stage 1 makes Avalon 50 look like it`s for babies and wussies.

 

And I want to dedicate today`s stage to cows...for all the pain and suffering they experience for their entire shortened lives. I can`t even begin to fathom what they go through. This one was for all you beautiful soulful cows!

We just got to our racing the planet hotel, Hotel Altiplanico. What a beautiful hotel! Getting to this hotel from our other hotel was interesting. I dont recommend pulling heavy luggage through sand while carrying a 20 pound pack on your back in hot weather. 

So tomorrow we go to  Hotel Don Tomas to have our kits checked and packs weighed. Im hoping my pack weighs under 20 pounds/9 kilos. On paper my pack should weigh around 8.7-8.8 kilos. Ive already dropped a few more items from my kit and some food items to get the weight down. No matter what the first day will be really hard. I actually just got word that we will in fact lose our rest day. So our "rest" day is officially gone and will have to go 56 miles between Friday and Saturday. Just when I thought it couldnt possibly get any harder, it somehow did.  This new development has just upped the anty a bit! Time to adjust my meals. I also plan to go into town to get vaseline for my nose. My nose has literally been bleeding almost non-stop since I got here due to the severely dry air. Its brutal!

I will try to write one more time before we head out tomorrow afternoon. I have butterflies in my stomach!

billy and i took our first tour on tuesday and i must say that this part of chile is spectacular! i´ll have lots of pix to share from our fun excursion yesterday (valley of the moon, death valley, and running down sand dunes). unfortunately our camera battery died from the severe cold so i got absolutely no pix from our day trip yesterday. i´m bummed about that since we saw some of the most beautiful country i had ever seen...vicunas grazing in a green grassland river with the andes mountains in the background. it was breathtaking. 

an interesting challenge this week has been diet. i´m sure most of you could´´ve guessed that. we did find a place with vegetarian food. however, chileans love cheese as much as americans do. it´s hard to find substantial food that has no cheese in it. And the fact that I speak no spanish has not helped, but i´m learning quickly! the local bread looks fantastic and that´s what i wish i could bit into more than anything. we also discovered a local market with tons of fresh fruit and vegetables so that´s great for us!

on a side note we felt our first earthquake yesterday while hanging outside enjoying local music. i have no idea how strong it was but i at first just thought it was my vertigo messing with me. no damage and everyone continued enjoying the music as soon as it was over.

with regards to the race, i hear it may start on monday instead of sunday to allow competitors who were affected by the earthquake more time to get here. what that means is that we may end up having no rest day and doubling the mileage on the last day. what would´ve been 10 miles may end up being 20 miles. we´ll see what happens. 

i will write again hopefully tomorrow!

hi friends and family,

wanting to let everyone know that by miracle we´ve made it to san pedro. we managed to avoid going through santiago but instead we´re able to get off at antofagasta. we´re staying at hosteria san pedro room 37 if anyone would like to reach us. please be mindful of the time difference of 5 hours from san diego time.

off to look for some food to eat.

To let all our friends and family know, Billy and I have not flown out through Santiago yet. We are currently tied over in LA and the airline has put us up in a hotel. We will know more from the airline about the status of our flight tomorrow around 8am. Word is that the Santiago airport will be closed between 24-72 hours. Hopefully we will be able to continue on our way by tomorrow. RTP also plans to give us an update at 1pm tomorrow. 

Our prayers go out to the people of Chile and fellow competitors currently in Santiago.

I'm happy to say that I have pretty much everything Billy and I need now. Just need one more jug of Sustained Energy from the local bike shop, and pick up some cipro antibiotics (thanks Dr. for fulfilling another last minute request). Oh and need to stock up on Skittles!

I can honestly say I feel more comfortable running/walking with a pack on than without one (at least at sea level). I found myself reading the manual that came with my pack, taking their advice on how to pack stuff into it, and noticed a huge difference in comfort. Who would've known that there was a system for packing a kit? Not me. I DO wish I was a better runner at this point or maybe even more "buff", but given I had to ease into the training gently because of my hips I feel proud that I can at least go 50 miles with no problem. I think it's safe to say that my hips are "cured". I'm trying to gain a little more weight, but struggle with eating excess calories without feeling some guilt the next day. I guess it's a self-esteem thing haha. At the same time, I can't afford my spandex going baggy. So I must plan to eat, eat, eat.

My main focus at the race will be my feet. They're my #1 priority. Hydrating and electrolytes are the next big thing for me, which I know will help my feet as well. I do fine with minimal calorie intake based on local So Cal conditions, but crash when I don't keep up with my water/electrolytes. I love salt. My body loves salt. Mmmmm salt.

Best of all I'm really looking forward to getting to San Pedro and having time to hang out with my husband. I have hardly seen him the last few months. I'm going to soak in every moment with him...especially when we cross the finish line.

Wow so Billy and I leave in just over a week to head down to San Pedro! I'm really excited. I bought most of our food (just waiting for my almond butter to arrive in the mail and need to purchase some Skittles). I got my Kinesio tape today, waiting for my tincture of benzoin to arrive in the mail, I made a collage for the front of my pack's pouch to cheer me up when things get ugly (see below) and our shirts are at the seamstress getting patched. The sleeves on my short sleeve are a little short so my patches will be pretty tight together, which I think is not allowed, but I have no choice! Sorry RTP.

I got my orthotics today and they feel GREAT! The heel is a little squishy, but the doc said once my feet break into them in a couple weeks that my heels should fit better. They're so soft. I can tell the difference between over the counter insoles and these orthotics. They fit my arches PERFECT.

The other thing I'm working on and I'm excited about is rigging my Raidlight pack so that I can attach my sleeping bag on top rather than inside or the bottom. I was playing around with all my gear and my sleeping bag simply takes up too much room right now. I swapped the sleeping mat with the sleeping bag and put it on the bottom, but it kept hitting my butt. I'm just too short. I made a demo of my idea and the sleeping bag worked great on top of the bag. The straps I used for my demo would probably not survive the whole week so I found the same size width backpack straps at REI that I can have our seamstress switch out for the original shorter ones. The weight of the sleeping bag on top of the bag felt significantly more comfortable than having it inside or on the bottom of the bag. If all goes well with the setup during the race, I just may have to make the suggestion to Raidlight.


Left to right clockwise: Kissing Bruno, Mary the friendly sheep, Regina the baby cow, Paolo smiling, my girls Nana, Kaba, and Ushi, Kaba again, Macy the pig, my boy Kobuta, me sharing a hug with Pumpkin the turkey and her friend.

Billy and I did our first "long" day since Avalon 50. Actually, it wasn't even close to being long haha...a measly 16k at just over 1,200 meters and I must not have taken it very seriously. I forgot to bring my electrolytes with me and I don't think I took in enough calories (although I found unflavored Hammer Sustained to be quite likeable over flavored Perpetuem). I also was wearing new flat feet insoles to help me prepare for my orthotics I get next week. I feel like I got my butt kicked, which is kinda pathetic.

My tibial tendonitis in both feet are irritated and I got two more blisters on my toes :( The flat feet insoles worked in getting my "problem" toes (the first and second toes) lifted and not squeezing together. However, they seemed to have put more weight onto the last two toes instead. Especially the number 4 toe. I guess I wanted to see one last time if I'd have to plan on pre-taping. The verdict: YES. A couple old blisters on my heels (from back in November) were peeling again so I'll probably pre-tape my heels as well. Hopefully the custom orthotics will relieve some of the pressure off my toes. At least I'm learning how to tape! The other thing that was confirmed during this hike. I'll definitely need eye drops. Even at 1,200 meters the dry air was killing my eyes!

On a side note I was wondering about something (since the straps on Billy's Raidlight gaiters are minutes from breaking). Is it practical to wear gaiters during the salt flat stage? I would think that they would get thrashed or just become a nuisance when one's foot falls into the muddy goop below the crust. Was curious what others thought.

On an even better note...I chopped all my hair off. No need to bring a brush or hair thingies anymore! Woohoo!

I just found out today that my custom orthotics are covered 100% by my insurance! Yay! I felt sick thinking of dishing out $350 for insoles so I'm happy that I only have to pay for them to be rush ordered. I get them next Tuesday so all I need to do now is get them fitted and start getting used to them. I've been walking around in another pair of flat feet insoles to help me transition to the orthotics. My feet are definitely recovering.

Besides that lovely news, I'm still working on my kit. I have my meals picked out, but am still twiddling my fingers on selecting some calorie dense snacks. I really want to bring some nuts but because there's a high probability they could be confiscated I'm trying to think of something else I can bring as a back up plan. Anyone know if peanut butter/almond butter can be brought in? I found some individual packages of peanut butter at REI. My kit is hypothetically at 8.9 kg right now and trying to get it down to 8.1 kg. It's all going to be in the food.

Gosh I feel like all I talk about is my feet. Not my knees. Not even my hips which I honestly thought would be giving me the most worry! Going gluten free was an easy fix for my hips compared to the rollercoaster ride with my feet. I went to another running store to get my feet analyzed. Just glad that they weren't being jerks to me I was more open to hear what they had to say. At the end though I was confused as to how I could have high arches and flexible feet at the same time. It appeared that I didn't pronate when running with my Mizuno's but it was obvious I have very pronated feet when standing. Very confusing. And contradictory to what the foot people at a different store told me. Then again, they're not doctors and most of them don't look like they've ever ran in their lives.

I also got to go see a podiatrist today (yay for someone else cancelling their appt!). He took one look at my feet and said they're flat and overpronate (a third and different analysis from the first two). But, I was happy someone finally LOOKED at my feet rather than relying on all that fancy software that supposedly tells you what kind of feet you have. I was amazed when they scanned my feet for orthotics to see the image of my feet COMPLETELY flat. It looked nothing like the images from either running store. So...I will likely be getting custom orthotics in the next couple weeks to help with my ankles and foot pain (Posterior Tibial Tendonitis and Achilles Tendonitis). As for the blister issues? I may not figure out the cause (maybe I'm just prone to blisters?) until after Atacama.

I know my sock sponsor is going above and beyond trying to help me resolve my toe blisters (thanks for EVERYTHING DryMax!!), but I just might not have enough time to resolve that aspect of my feet this time around. I think as long as I can protect my ankles, knees, and hips...I'll deal with toe blisters as they come (I've been reading the Fixing Your Feet book and learning all about taping!). Besides the socks are very comfy, keep my feet dry, and did great job going through water. I have no doubts that these are the socks for me. They've protected my feet much better than Injinji socks (got toe blisters less than 10 miles into a run versus getting a minor blister in DryMax socks after 33 miles). So this is all progress, but there's only so much you can do with the time that you have left to prepare.

I have to say blisters have come second to getting help with my tendonitis. My biggest worry now is the custom orthotics messing with the way my shoes fit. I was told that they can fit them until my shoes feel right to me again. I don't want to mess with the way the heel counter fits in these shoes. They feel perfect in the heel!

Meanwhile I'm getting lots of help from Hamish in getting my pack weight down. I've managed to shed almost 2 kg off! Getting my pack weight down will help my feet greatly too.

I'm amazed at how often I've had to change my strategy for foot care and training throughout the last 6 months. It'll hopefully be good practice for Atacama where I know I'll have to adjust things again once I'm out there.

I've been further thrown off with my training due to foot issues :( My appointment with the first doctor I had gotten help with for my hips in the past went terrible. It involved mostly him telling me how insulted he was that I got advice from another source (even though the advice I had received was re my blisters) and didn't know if he could work with me. And that I needed to decide whether to get advice from him or go somewhere else, on top of questioning my motives for returning a pair of shoes and humiliating me in front of one of his employees. We never even got around to talking about additional foot pain I've been having on the insides of my feet that I suspect are tendon related. I hate myself for wussing out and paying for that appointment. Grrrr!

Needless to say, I have decided to go else where for help. The drawback of going through my health insurance means it'll be another two weeks before I can get in to see a podiatrist, which will leave me 10 days to get orthotics if I end up needing them...sigh. But what can you do?

Meanwhile, to make up for the lost running and pack training, I plan to take up spin class beginning tomorrow (now that my cycling knees have recovered from injury), start up swimming again, and continue strength training with more weights. I think that's about all I feel comfortable doing until I find out more about my feet.

On the flipside, after buying, returning, buying, returning...I finally found a pair of sunglasses that feel comfortable and fit my face! Woohoo! I went with the Bombers by Native. They're awesome and they're light.

I made an excel spreadsheet showing the weight of all my gear and food to help me figure out where changes can be made. Mostly it's to help me manage the weight of my food and make sure I reach the calorie minimum, which at this point will NOT be an issue haha. I just have to go purchase my freeze dried food (options are limited with my food allergies, but I'll make do), a shirt, and some other items and my kit should be done. In theory my kit weighs about 10 kilos.

It's a gorgeous day out so I think I'll go over to the cliffs, feed the Rock Doves, and not worry about anything. I love those birds...but not as much as I love my pet rats. They're awesome.


Nana, Kaba, and Ushi. Kobuta not pictured.

I do not regret doing the 50 mile race a couple weekends ago, but must confess that my sore ankle has me worried. After much googling and finally emailing my sports doc, it sounds like I got the satisfaction of finishing my big race in exchange for achilles tendon issues.

I first noticed the back of my left ankle was a little swollen the day after the race. I RICE'd and then within a couple days after the race started feeling a friction, creaky, bubbly feeling whenever I would flex my foot . This was a totally new sensation to me and I wasn't sure what to make of it, but figured not pushing through it and running again would be wise.

I tried putting on my running shoes yesterday to go to the gym to get some sort of training in and it made my ankle hurt enough that I couldn't walk without limping. When I generously loosened the laces in the ankles that seemed to take some pressure off the back of my ankle and allow me to at least walk.

After taking some pix of my feet and sending them to DryMax, they're sending me some insoles specifically for my kind of feet. I had no idea that I had flexible flat feet and moderately to severely overpronate. I can only imagine the beating my ankles took running with such overpronated feet and not having the proper footwear to help correct the issue. The insoles will hopefully help with my blister issues I've been having on my big toe and second toe as well. Lost another toe nail :(

I see my doc this Wednesday and I'm hoping he's able to come up with a game plan for a speedy recovery for my ankle. I doubt I'll be able to do any running in the next couple weeks which won't be a confidence booster. But I guess if walking the entire Atacama Crossing betters my chances of getting across that finish line, then that's just what I'll do.

The flip side of having done the 50 miler is that I wouldn't have known about my overpronating feet and it being the possible cause of my blister issues. I'd rather figure all this out 6 weeks before the Atacama Crossing than during the Atacama Crossing.

I will keep you posted.

Billy and I drove up with some friends to Dana Point and took the ferry to Avalon on Saturday for the hilly Avalon 50 Benefit Run. It would be our first 50 and neither of us really had any concept of just how far that was...we just knew it was far. His furthest running distance to date was 13 miles and mine was 18 back in November.

 

Billy was really sick so I decided to carry my pack so we would have enough nutrition and stuff for the two of us. Plus I had gotten so used to running with my pack that it felt almost like a security blanket. Knowing I would have my blister kit, jacket, and other essentials made me feel more comfortable.  My pack ended up weighing between 7-9 kilos.

 

The race officially began at 5am, but to get an early start we began at 3am on less than two hours of sleep. The first couple hours going up a mountain flew by due to another competitor talking to us the entire time. Normally I probably would've tuned them out, but he was an experienced ultra runner with a lot of advice so I took it all in like a sponge.  It also got my mind off the fact that I was in an unknown place in the dark. I hate being in the dark. The dark of the countryside scares me! Not much later the other competitor went ahead and Billy and I were on our own to figure out how to navigate the course (there were no course markers yet). And of course to freak me out some pterodactyl bird from Jurassic Park began screeching right at the time Billy and I felt lost (I figured out it was the Laughing Kookaburra). It added on to the feeling of being lost in the middle of no where. I was so glad I wasn't out there alone otherwise I would've took off running like a spooked horse.

 

Billy and I were feeling great till about mile 22. At that point we started feeling a little restless and had to make an effort to think of happy thoughts. Things went up quickly when we saw the turn around a few miles ahead and we realized we had just done our first marathon!

 

Town of Two Harbor. The turn around is at the end of the dirt trail along the side of the mt.

 

 

By mile 32 things started getting really boring for us. The miles were feeling further and further apart and even running the flats was getting hard. Our morale was definitely on the decline. The sight of a hill made us cringe and I really had to focus on every step and not think more than a few feet ahead.

When we finally made it to the aid station at mile 39 our feet were tired and our leg muscles were sore. The thought that we “only” had 11 more miles to go was awesome, but the fact that we were now averaging just over 3 miles an hour made us realize we had almost 4 more hours to be on our feet left to go. That was totally a morale breaker. By mile 43 Billy and I decided it was time for him to end his adventure and for me to move on. As soon as he handed me more stuff from his camelbak I took off running in hopes of getting our of the canyons before dark. I did NOT want to be in there by myself in the dark.

 

Then as luck would have it, I caught up with the girl Billy and I had been leap frogging with. I was determined to pass her for good. I opted out on stopping at the last aid station and in doing so got ahead of the girl and ironman athlete/4 time Avalon 50 finisher! I hauled myself down the side of the mountain going to Avalon. It felt like the longest leg of the race and seemed to take an eternity to get down.  By far the worst part of the race and the longest 3 miles ever. At one point I got a glimpse of someone’s headlamp not far behind me and I decided to shuffle down the hill for a few minutes (since I couldn’t get my legs to run anymore) and try to put more distance between me and who I assumed was the ironman. I was going to be near last in finishing this race, but I was damned if I was going to come in dead last. I could feel my eyelids drooping and getting heavy. I could hear myself muttering obscenities about the hill, and I still couldn’t see Avalon.

 

Then all of a sudden I came around a bend and there was Avalon! It was so close I could touch it. I took off running down the rest of the mountain as fast as my tired legs could carry me and whimpering almost to tears. I could feel myself “smoking” the ironman now (who I thought was in his 30s, but found out later was in his 60s)! The best part was running through town and then hearing Billy and my friends cheering me on. I made it to the finish line with nothing left in me, but just enough energy to fall into Billy’s hug and give a 15 second interview.

 

My ankles felt beat up and I could no longer rotate them. My lungs felt strained (waking up in the night and finding deep breathing to hurt and still does), my feet were tired, my quads and knees were extremely fatigued but thankful that I protected them with compression tights. I couldn't sit down without getting help back up, and I no longer took handrails next to stairs and toilets for granted. It took me 15.5 hours to finish. A good 1.5 hours spent on checking on my feet, not being efficient at aid stations, and the 100s of times I had to take potty breaks. But, what all that discomfort and pain told me was that I had given it my all to the finish. That kind of pain is worth the satisfaction and medal in the end.

 

Finishing the race made me feel overwhelmed and a little terrified about Atacama (and still does). But, I do feel like I’ve come away from that race with a little more of a confidence boost as well. I’m going to have to remember the stubbornness and determination I felt during Avalon and apply it during Atacama. I hate to quit. Come on Atacama!

 

When asking a friend about options for refilling water on a trail he mentioned it's iffy during the winter. I didn't know what he was talking about until it downed on me that it's still technically winter. I actually forgot. It seems the rest of the country is dealing with a freeze while our tiny enclave still gets to enjoy the typical year round weather. Check out the weather map below!

Did about 15 miles of trail running in Mission Trails on Saturday with beautiful sunny weather around 24 centigrade. I got a pair of Mizuno Ascend Wave 4 trail shoes last Thursday and so far they haven't been giving me any trouble and I didn't get any new blisters with the new shoes! It helped going down to a smaller size shoe. I have another pair of trail shoes on order that I will try out as well to compare with the Mizunos.

I tried out the Max Pro Dry Max socks under wet conditions by walking through a rocky stream and they were wonderful! After wringing them out before putting them back on, my feet felt pretty comfortable. They were a little damp of course, but my feet stayed comfy. I did a foot check some miles later and within a minute of taking the socks off my feet dried up and had this just-tossed-on-some-baby-powder feel to them. No new blisters were forming. The only trouble spots I had were from previous blisters and even those looked good. When it's reasonable, I will probably try to switch to a dry pair of socks before continuing on. But, if that isn't possible I feel these socks won't cause me any issues. I also noticed that not a single bit of debris got into my socks. I was wearing gaiters, but the double layer of the socks seemed to give me added protection. I tried the Hot Weather socks yesterday and noticed sand got in between my toes. I don't know if I just went through more sand or if it's because the hot weather socks are a little thinner that stuff was able to sneak in. Either way, I think I'll end up running in the Max Pro socks for the race. They're a little heavier, but they feel incredibly comfortable and my feet feel very protected. My feet felt happy for once. Now if I can just keep them happy this Saturday during my 80k run!

I was running yesterday and besides my husband tripping and spraining his ankle .8 miles into our run, I had already begun to get a blister on my heel from the second pair of shoes I'm trying out. Basically, the size I got is STILL too big. I am now searching for a size 5 running shoe.

The problem? Only a couple companies make a size 5 running shoe and none of the stores here carry that size. If I'm lucky to find a size 5 online, it means I will not be able to return them since you can't return worn shoes to an online retailer. I'm hoping one of the local running stores will be kind enough to try and order some size 5s for me. Otherwise I'm just going to have to risk blowing a couple hundred bucks in trying to find the right shoe.

Wish me luck!

Hope
everyone's holiday was great! Mine was good and went relatively smoothly. Asked for warmer weather, but in the end I had to settle for low 60s fahrenheit.

Training

Apart from the holidays I've been a little stressed out since I lost an entire week of training due to a real nasty cold. It just doesn't want to go away and typically when and if I get a cold it lasts 1-3 days tops so I'm
totally not used to this. I'm hoping at the latest I'll be back at the gym by Tuesday. What I was planning to do last couple weekends will have to wait until next weekend and that's to get in some good mileage. I'm aiming to do at least 32k and another 24k back to back, which should be doable considering it's another long holiday weekend. Then repeat the following weekend. The 50 mile race is in just 3 weeks and I'm already finding myself struggling to sleep from thinking about it too much.

Equipment

A couple equipment items I'll be shopping for this week...shoes and sunglasses. I've decided that I need to see what other options I have with regards to shoes. I want to check out Montrail's Hardrock '09 trail shoe. It sounds like a great shoe.

After speaking with my opthamologist, I'm going to check out 7Eye. They specialize in sunglasses for motorcyclists, but also have a line of sunglasses designed specifically for people with chronic dry eye. I have chronic dry eye and recently my eyes have started to act up again feeling worse than usual. In case a second round of restasis (prescription eye drops) doesn't help, it'll be important that I have sunglasses that can help minimize wind, dust and sand from getting in my eyes and more importantly help my eyes retain moisture. San Diego is a very dry place, but it won't be anything compared to the dry elements of the Atacama. I will have only so much room for extra bottles of eye drops!

Nutrition

My husband and I are already "health nuts" but it's amazing how you can always find room for improvement. I've been focusing more carefully about what I eat. "Garbage in, Garbage out" right? So less garbage like sugar. I'm juicing more heavily now too. You can't eat that many vegetables in one sitting, but you can definitely drink it.

My biggest problem is getting my fluids. I rarely feel thirsty so I struggle to drink my water. The only thing that seems to help is if I remember that I'm supposed to be getting 5000mg of vitamin C a day and the only way that happens is if I have it with water...particularly with Emergen-C. Plain water just doesn't appeal to me lately.


Back to resting and hopefully my body will be up and running this week.

I went out and did a 16k hike this weekend and thought I'd give my 6.5 shoe/hydropel/injinji sock combo a try again. It is not working out for me. The spots on my heels where I had severe blistering a couple months ago got all soggy and the left side started blistering again. My toes were all soggy and peeling as well. I have a few more combinations I'm wanting to try so I'm hoping one of those will work out. One things for sure...hydropel and Injinji socks together does NOT work well for me. So far...

1. Injinji socks + 6.5 size trail shoes (1.5 sizes up) = severe blistering on heels, blistering on toes

2. Injinji socks + 6.5 size trail shoes + hydropel = moist skin, soggy blisters, bruising in arch, feet slide a lot

3. Injinji socks + 6 size road shoes = sore toes under the nail, one black toenail

4. Injinji socks + 6 size road shoes + trislide + tape = friction from tape, moist feet

5. Injinji socks + 6 size road shoes + trislide = relative comfort

I think I prefer trislide over hydropel. Unfortunately, trislide comes in such a large bottle that there is NO way I'm carrying that with me. I have barely enough room for food in my kit.

Fortunately, DryMax socks has offered me some socks to try out that don't require lubricants (thanks DryMax!). I hear these socks are amazing and I was impressed by their informative video on their website. I'll be trying their Max Pro socks and the Hot Weather socks in the upcoming weeks. The combinations I plan to try in the next couple weeks:

6. DryMax Max Pro + 6.5 trail shoes = ?

7. DryMax Hot Weather + 6.5 trail shoes = ?

8. DryMax Max Pro + 6 road shoes = ?

9. DryMax Hot Weather + 6 road shoes = ?

I think the biggest pitfall may have been my choice of going 1.5 sizes up. I'm going to see how the thicker MaxPro socks feel in my bigger shoes, but if my feet continue to feel like they're sliding around I will not hesitate to order another pair of trail shoes a half size smaller.

The only problem with going smaller with my shoes is that I will definitely have to jerry rig the gaiters to fit. Right now the Raidlight gaiters I have are very loose on me and my 6.5 size shoes are not long enough to stretch out the gaiters. The clip sometimes comes undone because it's loose. But, if that ends up being the biggest of my worries then I'll take it.

The other thing is that I have found taping my feet to be really annoying. Where I seem to get hot spots, I can't get the tape smooth so there are wrinkles in the tape that just end up rubbing against my shoe. It also tends to make my feet feel hotter. Next I'll try Mole Skins. I do think getting pedicures will help and I try to buff my feet every night then put lotion on them to keep them soft.

I definitely have more work to do in figuring all this out. I just ordered the Fixing Your Feet book so I'm sure I'll find helpful information in there.

For now, I can't wait to get my DryMax socks and also get over this cold that I just got kicked in the face with.

Seriously...I'm carrying a quarter of my weight on my back! Men who weigh 80 pounds more than me will be carrying the same load and that makes me feel like I have to work so much harder than they do. It's a little unfair haha but no one asked me to do this 250k race so...

With less than 3 months left to go the nerves are kicking in. I try to deal with them by going out running and walking more as an attempt to boost my confidence. I'm actually training simultaneously for two different races...the Atacama Crossing and the Avalon 50. The only difference between Atacama and Avalon is that I have only 12 hours to complete the 50 miles, which basically means I have to do a lot of running. It's also ALL hills so that will be interesting. I can't even believe I call this a "practice" race. Most people would consider racing 50 miles an accomplishment in itself. I think I'd be ecstatic if I finished a marathon. I MUST be crazy. Seriously. I better see some bison while I'm out there.

I'm having doubts about choosing a shoe 1.5 sizes up...a monster 6.5. I'm doing 25 miles this Saturday and another 10-15 on Sunday and I plan to try out my trail shoes again with the intention of bringing my smaller running shoes with me as a backup. Tearing up my feet is not an option at this point as I don't have the time to let things heal. Worst case scenario is I went too big and my mom gets a free pair of trail shoes!

In any case, I'm getting there slowly and more importantly getting there injury free. My right hip gives me a little discomfort every once in a while, but no where near what I was dealing with just a few months ago. With the compression tights my right knee feels excellent too. Taking a break from cycling is helping my knee as well.

My newest challenge...meal planning. It was one thing when I had to learn how to cook. Then another when I had to learn how to cook vegan AND gluten free. Now I'm trying to figure out how to cook "scientifically" when I'm used to just eating whatever I want. The good thing is that I'm already an obsessive label reader and am always aware of how much protein, fat, and sugar I'm eating. I know what I put in my body. But, now I have to approach cooking from an athlete's standpoint. It's different when you're training for an ultra and have to start eating a certain way in order to help improve your performance. I ate about 98% for my body and 2% for my stomach :) Now it's about eating 100% for my body.

Thanksgiving (might I add the weather was 26 degrees celsius...woohoo I love my town) came and went. We had lots of delicious meat-free cuisine. My husband and I are vegan and one of the charities we're raising money for is Animal Acres (www.animalacres.org), a sanctuary for rescued, abused, and neglected farmed animals. And I have to say that when I went to visit the farm for the first time, I really bonded with the turkeys. They were remarkable, inquisitive, and craved love and affection from their people friends. They also were my bodyguards against some of the geese who were tormenting me, chasing them away, then coming back to sit by me and get their backs scratched :)

So yeah, besides not having turkey because I'm vegan, I really have no desire to ever eat turkey now that I've met a few characters at the sanctuary. I couldn't possibly eat my friends! :)

I did a little training on Thanksgiving though. I played on our wii for over 4 hours until I was wiped out. Nothing like a good training session on the wii ^^)

I've been off my feet since last Tuesday when I jacked up my feet from making several rookie mistakes. I skipped my half marathon on Sunday since my blisters still felt tender and raw under the heel (plus the advise from several runners). Today I thought I'd give it a try and go walking/running for 13 miles in my running shoes and my pack weighing around 9 kg. I wanted to experiment with walking 3 minutes and running for 2 minutes for as long as I could. I handled it better than I thought, but for a couple miles my right hip was feeling inflamed so I slowed down for a while and resisted the temptation to run more.

As for the blisters on my heels they're doing much better, but it looks as though I'll need to stick with weight/strength training until they fully heal. One filled back up and the other just has an incredible amount of loose soggy skin. My toe blisters all came back as well. I also noticed another toenail beginning to feel sore. I really don't feel like losing another toenail! But, that seems inevitable.

I used TriSlide on my feet and I honestly think my blisters would've been worse off had I not used that stuff. I still don't quite understand how TriSlide and Hydropel manage to stay on your feet without wiping off! Amazing.

The good news is that I've come a long way from when I first started my training. I shaved more than 20 minutes off my time today and I wasn't even carrying a heavy pack last time. The first time I went 11 miles I nearly crawled home! My hips are able to handle so much more high impact workouts. I never thought I'd be able to walk more than a couple miles again. As long as I continue my hip strengthening exercises and have ibuprofen on hand, my training will improve! I'm going to experiment with cherry juice in the upcoming weeks. I hear it does wonders as an anti-inflammatory when you drink it 5 days before a race and 2 days after. It's worth trying :)

Yesterday I decided it would be good for me to walk from my place to my parent's home about 13 miles away with about 12-14 kg of weight in my pack. My first mistake was doing this with my new 1.5 sizes bigger trail shoes on concrete. Second mistake was not taping my feet. And third mistake was not wearing two socks! I really have no idea about proper shoe fit especially with running/trail shoes. I kept thinking all I needed to do was tighten the laces around the ankle and that would make everything better. Well, it kept my heels from slipping as much but definitely didn't help with circulation!

By the time I got to around 3.5 miles (and taking a 2 mile detour) I had to stop in the Sea World parking lot and take off one my shoes to see what damage I had done to my foot. I already had a blister! And not just a little blister, but the biggest blister I had ever had on my foot. I put on the hydropel gel not really understanding how that stuff works, but figured I'd try it out. My husband told me not to overdo it, but I couldn't imagine not finishing what I had intended to do that day. I kept going and less than ten miles in my feet felt like total crap. A couple more detours (sidewalks abruptly ending and having to backtrack to find another sidewalk) and I found myself going a pitiful 22 minute mile pace. My hips were holding up surprisingly well and I feel like I owe that a lot to the CW-X pro tights I was wearing. By mile 10 I had to take an ibuprofen to help with feet pain and try to keep hip inflammation to a minimum.

By mile 13 I was feeling better and was able to speed up my mile pace. I eventually made it to my parent's house in one piece after 18 miles and 6 hours of walking minus 1 monstrous heel blister on each foot, 2 toe blisters, and one less toenail. I'd probably feel less sore today had I worn my tights to sleep. My question is how do people find it comfortable to sleep in CW-X tights? The super high waist is terribly uncomfortable for lounging around in! Do Skins offer the same excellent support with more comfiness? I don't quite understand how their tights work without the bands wrapping around certain muscle groups.

I enjoyed testing out my husband's pack, the Raidlight. I found the front pouch weight distribution concept to be ingenious. I'm curious if I'd like it even better if I could get the pouch higher up on my chest perhaps closer to my waist. It sat closer to my hips even after I had tighten every strap as tight as they could go. But I'll take that over having all the weight on my back.

So today I'm laying low and asking my heel blisters to please get better quickly in time for my half marathon this weekend. I'm also banning myself from playing the Wii today as I got carried away playing swordplay and challenging my trainer to pushups. I can barely move my arms which made getting the CW-X tights on nearly impossible haha.

Hope everyone else's training is going well and blister free! Btw, if anyone has any further knowledge of blister prevention please let me know!

There are days when I struggle to want to go train. I lose sight of the big picture and ask myself if this is something I can realistically do. Then I have to remind myself the reasons for doing this. There's a lot of pain and suffering in the world for people AND animals and for many the outcome is bleak.

Children in Africa who lose both parents to AIDS, abused and tortured farmed animals destined for fast food that make our kids obese, and the homeless women, men and children, among many other things is what I think about when I'm complaining about getting out of bed to literally just exercise. I learned that a friend I worked with was diagnosed with liver cancer and found out today that it has spread. It's hard to imagine the emotions she felt when she received such news.

These are the things that I keep very fresh in my mind and it puts perspective in my life. Going through a desert by foot for 6 days and dealing with monster blisters and sores is no where near the often uninvited pain that others must endure. I will tolerate a horrible blister and temporary discomfort for my friend's emotional and physical pain. I will deal with the pain my legs and hips will undoubtedly experience for all the abused and needlessly tortured animals in the world. I will not complain about the heat or cold for the street livers that combat with it everyday. And I will not fuss about how boring or awful the freeze dried meals are for those who never know when their next meal will be.

I'm blessed with the life I have and I'm thankful for being able to see and not just look. Being able to participate in 4 Deserts is a privilege, an opportunity to be humbled and open our eyes to the world we live in, and discovering the endless possibilities where we can help others in need of compassion. A compassion that does not discriminate, is not judgmental...and has no boundaries.

I've been sharing with friends and family the fact that my husband and I have signed up for this event and it's starting to get old to me when I get the same response...."are you insane?!...that's just crazy." Maybe I am :) but perhaps my mind is just so hard focused on putting myself through what I imagine will be some of the most horrible pain I have yet to experience all for the sake of advocating compassion for animals AND people.  I don't think that's so insane. Also...why not? I'm having a harder time understanding why someone WOULDN'T want to try something like this? It's good to take yourself out of your comfort zone everyone once in a while!

I am still sort of in disbelief that I'm actually going to be doing it. I felt sick to my stomach when I saw my name on the official competitor list because it meant that I now have no way out of it! Not only is the landscape unlike anything I've ever seen, but I'll have to try and get there early to acclimate myself to the altitude. Being from San Diego and literally 100 steps from the water, I'm as close as one can get to sea level. Does anyone have any idea what the highest elevation will be?


Well, no more time to blog for today...time to get back to my training!

Maya