We would wake up at 530am to the noise of overly cheerful people talking over a pre-dawn breakfast and then slumber until Dave's no noise until 6 am rule. I would take the pirate buff that I used soley as a eye mask to block out the moonlight and spend the next two hours getting ready... Some fueled kraits spine rotations to warm up the stiff back from sleeping on a mat on the hard rocky campsite, a walking shuffle to the portaloos way to far in the distance to ascertain that I was fully hydrated - the term for the week was to "pee like a racing horse". Check. Shuffle back 1 kilo lighter. Complete short form warmup to erase all stiffness of day before and night. Repack the backpack, drink perpetual which is a liquid protein and carbohydrate drink commonly known as breakfast. Sunrise was at 730 and when I would look at trimming the tape and tending to my feet. Socks on, race gear on, gaiters on, close pack, shoes on all while listening to Alasdair Morrisons course briefing. Race started each day at 8 am and it took me four days to get a rhythm. What we need to monitor is pace, hydration, electrolytes, food, sunblock, how far to the next checkpoint and how fast can I go before the sun gets too hot to run. When completed for the day the first job is to get the Recoverite energy replacement drink drunk in the optimal 15 minute window and then drink a liter of Potassium based electrolyte replacement solution and a first pee. afr the pee I had my custard and apple first meal and then the cyber tent for blogging and recording the day in absence of a camera. After blog and chatting to competitors and tent mates I would wait until dusk for my second meal. Shortly thereafter, perhaps 9 pm retire for the night. Stage 6. An almighty cheer of relief went up when Sam announced the last day was only 7 ks ( it was 8 on my gps). I ran the whole way at about an 8 k average but think I had way too big a breakfast.Stu who was 45 seconds behind me and Richard who was 5 minutes behind took off and ended up taking that time off me and then some. It did not matter as I had run as fast as I could for the whole race, can't ask more than that. I did a splits at the finish and won the most dramatic finish award. I passed on the first round of pizza but did enjoy a sprite and also had a coke. I congratulated all that I knew on completion and thank all the medical staff - whom I did not use and all the volunteers. At the hotel Altiplanico I dipped my feet in the cool pool for half and hour and then I took about an hour to shower and bath and clean up. Richard and I then met up with about 20 others and shot the breeze until the closing meal and ceremony. On our last night one of our Japanese tent ages brings out a hip flask of Ballentynes Scotch of which we then drink by bottle top capfulls and a toast until completed. Here are some of the toasts with which I have amended upon reflection. Highlight: 1. start to cp 2 on stage two crossing the river and walking along the ridge above the lush river valley with the green grass contrasting with the barren brown desert and the snow capped Andes. 2. The "two eyes" , sinkholes filled with cool water to soak in after stage 4. 3. Completing the long day before sunset and in 12 hours. 4. Completing the event averaging 6 ks an hour. Lowlight: I found stage three from cp3 to finish the most difficult as I was low on energy, hot. It is difficult to eat when both hands are occupied with a pole and I did not want to spend time at a checkpoint eating. Do better next time: get eating, drinking and electrolyte rythym earlier in week not just day 4. I would keep the gel every cp even for long day that I learnt from Peter Sexton in Sahara as they are 90 calories that get in and provide a boost within 10 mins. I would have more peanut M&ms and seek other similar sized snacks to eat along the way as they are easy to digest at most intensities. Jelly beans did not work for me or only 1 per 5 mins for an hour. It was a luxury to have some backup food items but I never felt hungry post race and perhaps could have saved 500 or so grams from my 9.8 kg backpack. Likewise I had one top too many and 2-3 pairs of socks too many because of the expected rain. Other than these small things my race went according to training and preparations. I am happy with the performance of 41 hours and know next time I could do 39 hrs. In terms of outcome I was 83rd on day one 100 and something day 2 and day for 98th so to finish 69th with a top 50th placing on the long day and in this very strong and experienced field it's okay. Immaterial really but a measure. I finished behind Richard Hewitt who was my roommate and Stuart who was my running mate for most of day 1. I met a lot of people I would not normally meet and saw that a steady pace pulls through, that monitoring your body and have the strength of mind not to keep going but to stop and make running repairs is more important in the long run. I saw the graciousness of Anne-Marie the start to finish female winner cheering on the back markers every day. I heard how the pressure of wearing the yellow leaders bib tormented her and changed her focus for the second day and made her want to give up. Anne-Marie runs to her own pace, no electronic gps - just to how she feels, she brought that back into focus with a little help from her friends on day 3 onwards and never had to look back - the universe and the law of attraction sorted that out. I wish her this focus in her endeavor to complete the grand slam in the year, I wish that she enjoys each race and the unique challenges the terrain, altitude and heat each race brings and that she lets the outcome look after itself. Lastly I wish to thank Sam, Alina, Ritta, Mary, Alasdair, Simon, volunteers and the racing the planet for the race logistics. I also would like to thank all of you who followed my adventure and those that wrote words of encouragement. Those words are welcome perspective and relief from 7 days of having my intense game face on. What next? Well I like to complete the series but unless someone wants to donate the entry fees and plane fares that won't happen this year. I have the World Dragon boat championships in July in Hong Kong and then I have my biggest Ultramarathon to complete and that is my book on fat loss to publish. Very very lastly. Once the photos are available to purchase on DVD I will give a free talk on the Atacama Crossing from the physical, lifestyle, food and mental freedom preparation and perspective. Please check my website or Facebook for details. Www.rosseathorne.com

Like Sahara day four today I got the food, electrolyte and pace right and felt strong crossing the finish line and even managed a cartwheel. What I did not get right was preparing for a water crossing at the end of CP1 and wore one pair of socks. I had planned on having a long stop at CP2 and some food (an Ostrich and beef peperoni stick and a gel), that stop extended to 25-30 mins as I had developed my first blisters from too much movement in the shoe on the loose sand. I now have more tape on my feet than a Mash unit and have a blister on left little piggy and under right and left piggy that went to market. Am contemplating some Celebrex for the long day. Start to Cp1 was 10 or so ks of undulating slate and sand with a little elevation and some fun decents and leg burning ascents up the other side of the dune. CP1-CP2 was 11 ks of flat loose sand on hard packed ground which I walked alone. I managed to have my first pees on course and they were both clear and I had no inclination to drink it ala Bear Grylls. Cp2-Cp3 was 14 ks across the salt flats and I hooked up with Freddy, Stuart for company and just to keep from pushing too hard. That lasted 7ks and then I legged it, actually I walked fast all the way to finish and cartwheel. The Camp is at the lake of two eyes which are two sinkholes in the saltflats. Inside the sinkholes is cold, refreshing water that I have had two dips in already. Grace I think it would be a good hiding place for Swiper. I think Dora the explorer is laying the adventure tomorrow 76 ks. The course has been shortened most days because of the changes in terrain the rains have brought. We don’t know if they will add the 15 or so ks onto the longest day or not. There will be no blog tomorrow. Lee Ryall who I completed most of the Sahara with has been coaching via email and Peter Sexton and tentmate also. Just thought I would mention the bonds you make on such things. Rough plan for long day is as per Lees advice of not stopping too long at CP unless the heat is too strong. I will fill my custard and apple at Cp5 and hope the sting of the sun has gone and will walk slowly until digested, I think this will be at 6pm. From there I am to push it as much as I can and make up for the  over two hours of unintended stops. I am feeling stronger  the other days. I will blog later on the rest day and would appreciate someone telling me how many people are within 10 mins or so of my overall place. Its windy here at night. (random comment). Two tentmates pulled out last night, luckily for me he gave me some noodles of which I was craving for the last couple of days. Well thanks for all the messages they bring a tear to the eye and lift the spirit. Well that’s all for me for two days.

made alot of spagetti westerns in the type of terrain we covered today. Started out with 4.5 k in what they call salt flats, of course they are not flat and they are muddy brown with armpit high shrub. Thankfully I was on the back of the speed train and a path had been beaten. A huge chance of twisting ankles in this random stuff, random in that you dont know if you will go through the surface or not. When we hit the 4wheel drive track I managed a k on k off for the next 6 ks to CP1. Sahara sand meant walking with poles, now if I was not already married I would marry those poles. We had another 10ks of these salt flats whilst heading towards the ever closer Andes. Salt flat would suck if you were the leader as the shrubs were over head height and I lost direction momentarily several times. Luckily I had a bearing from the chain of competitors ahead of me. I aim not to look behind and only really do when I am pleasantly weary (buggered). Took on 2.5l of water at cp3 and got the jump on about 6 competitors, opened up my much needed saltnvinegar chips. From there to the 11.5ks home it was a grind, hot, ridge climb on a mixture of shale type volcanic rock and soft sand following the pink flags and not very many people in the distance. We had two steep sand banks to ascend and made use of the bear and tiger crawls here. At 3ks to go I found a small rock that tempted me with shade, I accepted to finished of my crisps. A Luxemboerg couple asked about my welfare and said to join them as I should not be alone. (Fair point). We could hear the drums of home by then and we were back into the sand dunes, four of them looping devilishly, tantilising to camp and the beat of the drums. The approach to camp was up a thirty meter dune and I had to stop and rest, twice despite the cheering and encouragement of the volunteers. There is a good photo sequence of me going up. Just over 8 hours for around 40ks today and a better indication of my pace (only one stop at cp2 to tape up hot spot and I still have no blisters). Just spoke to Sam Fenshawe race director and she agrees that there is a very strong field here, mostly out of Europe. Lee am not sure that the equivilent placing from Sahara is possible, I am hitting the similar times in spite of the terrain, altitude, cold and I was going to say heat but we are 10-20 degrees cooler than Egypt. Sorry Chocolate lovers I threw it away and slightly regretting it as the hammer protein bars in the heat dont get a look in. I will eat tonight. Custard went down okay today. Alex there are a few aussies in the event and they are fast. Ken no saltos or backflips but I will manage a cartwheel at the finish line. I have just been asked if I am writing a novel from the line up waiting to blog so time to go. Grace I have not seen Dora but am sure we are following in her footsteps. Adios.

Today the snow capped Andes revealed their splendor and the course made me feel I was in Jack, Bonnie and Graces Dora the explorer cartoon. In face the signiture tune rang in my head the most of the day. For the first two ks today was a downhill and river bank technical section that I love and I was just behind eventual first = womens competitor Sandy Suckling up to the first river crossing. Then with Lizs Gobi blisters in my mind I stopped to change my socks - this took me 20 mins and I spent about 60 mins changing my socks, drying my feet, trimming my tape. My actual moving pace was probably 5.8 although I ended with an average speed of 4.8km an hour. I used the science of Garmin to keep that pace and keep me from being dispondent about being about five from the end from my sock change. The department of misinformation, misinformed us of another two crossings - with the second two about two ks apart - a grin and bear it moment for sure. Such is adventure racing. The first two check points were spectacular - river crossings, ridge trekking at 2740m with quite a steep drop into the river valley that without the rain we would have been running through. It was quite a presipice and I thought we were quite close to the lush valley below. Check point one was at the highest point of the day and Sam Fanshawe was manning the tent, it also had a backdrop of volcanoes and mountains in the distance. We then had a 200-300m in elevation sand dune to run down - that was kind of fun, actually it was fun and I let out a whoop to celebrate the adventure of it all. Past Cp2 Swiper came along and swiped all the scenery and the next 20 ks were a faily determined slog abettered by Lizs poles. Chile is 13 hours behind HK and the time difference past 11am plus the altitude plus the hotter than yesterday heat (30) 122 at cp1at not even a perpetuem caffe latte could jolt. So I dropped about 40 places and two hours today and ended up 116th . Take off 60 mins of stops for a more accurate picture of my pace - its not because that I blew myself out yesterday - although I admit not being on top of my electrolytes and food intake then. Today no cramp. Getting back to camp (which is next to a salt lake Cesar?) the mood of camp was not as exhuberant as yesterday, Stuart who finished with me yesterday stormed ahead as is paying for it now and some of my tentmates picked up a few blisters when I have none. Stage three is the toughest day and I will be walking again as terrain is not easy. It will be interesting to see the effects of people pushing above their weight. Rob Young the second of three Kiwis on the race just came in and I was able to beat the drum to rally his spirits , and he managed a trot to cross the line with the sweepers discretly behind and a loud applause from competitors. Three things of emotional note on this. 1. Rob pulled out without completing this stage last year and must have faced a few demons in the year until now and on the last two Cp today. 2. Anne-Marie the female leader from Switzerland came out to congratulate him as she did several tail enders yesterday. 3. Liz has been that person on Stage one of the Gobi in 2009.

I ate some of the chocolate last night and one coconut thingy for breakfast and then dumped them and about 300grams of excess food. I am managing the gels at cp two and three, got some solid perpetuem into me but diluted the liquid perpetuem. Day two of Custard and Apple involved some procrastination as I finished 1.5 litre of water and electrolyte and had my first pee  - today the colour resembled a Late Harvest Botryitis dessert wine yellow. I also bathed my feet in the salt lake. I might make a video blog one and a couple of photos - one where I am bending down to get water poured onto my head to help me cool down. So my body feels better than it did yesterday - 2XU socks and compression tights and using the TP massage ball and improvising the ultimate 6 protocol. The Kenisio tape has lasted two days but did not like the water. I will re-tape for tomorrow. Jack I would like to take you mummy, Bonnie and Grace to this place and visit a real life Dora the Explorer adventure. We should start with New Zealand first however.

Doing an ultramarathon is a lot like playing golf - you run the course not the competitors. We have had some exciting briefings about what sort of yoga squat asana to adopt should lightening get too close! Last night I was wide awake at 2am and dedicated my thoughts to making my pack lighter with ditching my spare luxury item foods. The 100g chocolate bar kept coming up, perhaps the 100g mixed nuts, the small m&ms, jelly beans (electrolyte ones) sadly I did not have the courage to put them in the rubbish just in case I would get hungry for the rest day. I am happy with nutrition strategy (sorry Katie I am talking nutrition) so far and the apple and custard pudding went down nicely on day 1. The race course is something like Kapai and the mountain legend just substitute Ruapehu for Taranaki and imagine running from Ohukune to Waioru to the Outdoor Pursuits centre all inside the Desert road - except hotter and less flora and fauna (I spotted one lizard). I ran to strategy that is run walk for the first two hours or almost two Checkpoints, and then walked to cp3 - I had small digestion issues and a warning of cramp so kept is slow. I have to say Jo Eades that I love poles. CP2-3 was up a gentle gradient road for 6km in a canyon. I was here about 1230 and it was I am guessing 30 degrees. Cp3 was a the apex of the hill and only 3.5 ks to camp. My energy was low at this point and my triceps quite sore so I only managed to run .5kj when I had planned to run all the way in. I think Lee Ryalls wise advice not to push to hard kicked in. The altitude went from 3128 to 2650 today and after a week with a cold and still blowing green stuff out the last 3.5k was the most challenging as it was on Sahara soft sand - out with the poles again. My time was 4.56 or close to that averaging 6.3km so am happy. It took me one recoverite, 1litre of potassium based electrolyte drink to ward of the cramps I got in the tent trying to take my 2XU compression shorts off and tights on. My feet are clear of blisters but have some walking based hotspots and the tops of my toes are sore. I will wear thinner socks for day 2 where we start off with 10ks or creek crossings. It depends on the weather but we are expecting some more rain like last night. I came into tent Isluga about 4th behind Dan and Australian, two japanese and two brits, Henry passed me in the last k. He is a Personal Trainer from Cambridge. Well day 2 according to Lee should be done slow so I might just walk it - I am thinking that my triceps may be full of lactic acid prohibiting the use of poles though.

Just got in to Hostel Don Raul via Hong Kong to Auckland, 7 hours in Qantus lounge, then onto Santiago where I only had a packet of Almond nuts confiscated by customs. Next a two hour flight to Calama which is pretty close to the Tropic of Capricorn and finally a 90 min shuttle trip. The length of travel rivals a 45 hour epic to Klapeida in Lithuania back in 2002 for a sport aerobics world championship. Most of the people on the bus were races and I have met Henry who is in my tent and a personal trainer from Cambriidge, Stu and Freddy from London a Sports Agent and Asset Manager respectively. Also a German girl who is also a personal trainer ( both of them use Trx but are not certified) and a contender to do All four deserts this year. The landscape is like driving down the Desert Road in New Zealand or Mordor if you watch Lord of the Rings. I have not gone out and had a look around yet, from what I see San Pedro is all adobe red clay brown kind of like Sante Fe. it's busy with pedestrians and cyclist on clay and dusty roads. Tomorrow I will pack and repack my backpack trying to get it light as possible, to have some luxury food items without being too spartan. Well I am resting up tomorrow instead of acclimatization as I have picked up a runny nose and cough that I need to get on top of by Sunday morning.

According to many philosophies altruism is takes our personal development to a higher level. Maslow is probably the most well known proponent of this concept.

Essentially when you give somebody something with no intent of a return you feel good. Walter Russell calls this "The Love principle"  the Indian religions call this Karma, the Christians call it the golden rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", new agers call it the "law of attraction" - all saying that what you give out you will get it back in spades.

Many people have asked if I am doing this race for charity. Well quite frankly I am doing it for myself, I geek out on the planning and enjoy the training time alone and was not quite sure if I wanted the added pressure of feeling responsible to someone else. However I am going to put this law of attraction to the test as se if the universe will reward me for raising the profile and hopefully the ability for a charity to to what they do better.

I have searched for a few years for a charity that I want to align too, one that is not too big that a small effort goes unnoticed and has a parallel value and ideas to my own. I wanted this charity to have something to do with promoting health and fitness.

I found one last week. It is called Weight Concern. http://www.weightconcern.com/
In my over 18 years of working in the fitness industry fat loss is the most common goal, it has proved to be the most difficult thing to do for many people. They promote healthy weight loss and recognise the mental side of weight loss not just the usual eat less, exercise more.

If you feel that you would like to donate money to Weight Concern and help reduce obesity and all the ill-health that goes with that please click on this link.

http://www.shape-up.org/donation.asp



I thank you personally and on their behalf in advance.

I have packed my backpack four times already. I expect I will pack another four times to everything just right and light. As it has been raining we have to get a dry bag to make sure our sleeping bags are kept dry. Its currently four degrees in San Pedro De Atacama so being warm conserves energy (lots of energy is lots when shivering). Extra gear means space in the backpack and extra weight to carry.

All my clothes are almost exclusively 2XU. I have the brand new Waterproof and windproof lightweight jacket in space-age material and blue colour. I have thermal compression tights and top for after race and quite frankly essential for recovery for any sporting endeavour let alone multistage races. I am wearing a blue top, red hat, black 2XU compression shorts, long socks and have red gaiters and red salomon S-lab4 running shoes. My number at this stage is 26.

My food although a little bland and high in hammer gels in the first four days it has been trialled and digestion is pretty good (in Hong Kong winter). Caveat here is that the unknown factors affect digestion and taste - altitude 3300m day one to 2456 day six (undulating) and temperature supposedly 10-26 degrees but reports of 0-40 are not uncommon in past blogs.

I am forgoing breakfast for several reasons. 1. Pre-event anxiety aka "the butterflies" make it hard to eat and digest, 2. it would mean getting up early to prepare, eat and digest food before race starts - I do not want to do this because it will be cold and most probably dark. 3. Research is showing that by eating higher protein just into the race you can spare the glycogen stores in the muscle and prolong the breakdown of muscle into the main fuel source. I use Hammer liquid protein called Perpetuem that provides 270 calories and takes me around 90-120 mins in cold weather to finish in a 750ml bottle - hopefully to check point one each day. Next I take a hammer gel with an injection of 90 calories at every checkpoint and a spare one for an injection of energy when I am feeling low or need to climb a 5 story sand dune. I have solid perpetuem that is like milk biscuits and has the advantage of 33 calories, chewy and does not go sour in the heat. I have a hammer chocolate chip bar which I take bite every 15 mins or so to get another 200 calories. I have a spare food bacg with some variety of calories in case I can not utilise my plan.

After the race I have hammer recoverite 170 calories, an hour or so later expedition foods custard and apple for 541 calories and anotehr two hours after this a spagetti bolognese or such for 451 calories. I bottom end my nutrition so that I have refueled each day.

Electrolytes are muy importanto and very difficult to get the balance right. I put sea salt into my water (pinch per litre) and I have taken to adding vitamin C because it tastes good, has a littel sugar and is an antioxidant. I have 1-2 hammer endurolytes per hour after two hours or when I feel a slight cramp coming on. Potassium helps draw water and calcium, magnesium and sodium into the cell and is often overlooked in the electrolyte replacement. I have a sodium free potassium based drink to have after the race and help me absorb all nutrients as best as possible. I think this equation is the most difficult to get right and only time and effort with tell.

I have decided to take poles as they help with traction in the sand. There is plenty of sand in the Atacama.

My weight is about 72.4kg. After a four hour run it is 70.2kg which means I am dehydrated by 2 litres and need to replenish. I have dropped about 4kg of muscle and fat, reduced my weight training so that I am not carrying redundant muscles mass that needs oxygen. (I no longer need to ask if my butt looks big in my jeans or trackpants now).

My resting heart rate is low to mid 50's.

I am feeling better prepared than Sahara in 2009 and am quite excited to go on this adventure.

Not me but the name of a 4 race series in Hong Kong. I completed my first one 7 days out from Atacama start as I think an ideal last big training (minus the backpack). Taking 4.44 hrs to cover the 30k course that includes 5 significant hills - it took 22 mins to climb one km up one. I had to manage cramp in my quads from all the eccentric braking going down some fun, gnarly downhills as I went up the "twins" and gave my buttocks something to do. For the last 4ks I had to manage inner thigh cramp from running down hill. I am happy with nutrition strategy but think I will substitute one of my gels for smaller hits of energy for Kelly beams, peanut m and ms and my energy bar for different flavours. Clothing. 2XU hat with ventilation, short sleeve 2XU shirt, compression sleeve, running shorts and performance socks I my first choice but will decide on compression shorts in Chile. S-Lab Salomon shoes and taping my unstable ankle with Kinesio Taping. I will use poles on the sand and uphills. In all I am happy with the performance and do not think there will so many many hills so close together in Atacama. Although it hasn't rained in some parts of the Atacama since records began an it has been raining there in the last week and is forecast to rain on 3 days of our race forcing course diversions. I am excited and am ready for this adventure.

Nothing if I can help it. Well not exactly true. I aim to be present with the terrain, being at one with the trail as per the guidelines in the famous "Born to run book". I have several mantras for when my mind begins to wander or I am getting weary. To be mind full you first have to empty it of all the crap that clutters it as distracts ones focus. This enables one to listen to the body and concentrate on pace - which is dictated by the terrain, heat and altitude (pace for me is dictated by two mantras 1. "run when I can, walk when I should and stop when I must", and 2. "easy, light, smooth" the latter has a nice rhythm and only needs to be said a few times to be effective. "Be here now" is what I say when my wanders from thought to thought without any particular contemplation. It works well when tired and let negativity and doubt creep into the mindspace ( minds pace, my pace). In training when my previous mantras are not strong enough I eventually repeat "the more I do now the easier it will be later". I use this sparingly as this can lead to danger of injury, overtraining and being on a drip flat on your back in the middle of a desert. (I can remember seeing this on stage three in Sahara when I fast runner mental ability exceeded his physical capacity) I do use the training runs as a meditation and contemplate various puzzles - maths, calculating pace, a clients programme, preparing for a lecture and seeing what I can remember with no notes, creating new lectures (the trick is to write a mind map of it you get home or otherwise the contemplation is often lost) and what I do most often is take a fat loss concept and aim to simplify it for the normal person and create a mind provoking illustration for it. My next big project is to complete this book that I have been writing for two years so far and this race has allowed me to procrastinate its progress for another 6 months - well tangible progress. I have read plenty of racing the planet blogs since 2009 and many people talk about how hard these events are - well that is reality they are. I teach my clients not to have "stinking thinkin" and will be aiming to influence my reality by using positive language in my description of my daily progress. I remember how nice it is to get inspired by the comments and emails from different family, friends, colleagues, clients and strangers during the event. So please write in, give me something to contemplate and perhaps inspire you to get out of your comfort zone, your hamster wheel, to step out of life's distractions and onto a focused path filled with purpose and passion.

I battle with "use the force Luke" Vs using my garmin GPS constanly. On one hand I like the like the running meditation where I can contemplate a subject, rehearse my lectures, write a clients programme, simplify a weight loss concept for my book/plan an illustration and the chi building being in nature brings.

On the other hand I run faster, more focused when I have data from a gps to account to. I use time/distance on one readout, average speed on another, current speed/elevation/time of day on the third and I have been experimenting with gradient on the fourth. I set my alarms to beep at 1km and every 15 mins. I like to know how far I have come and how far to the next checkpoint. I aim to drink and eat at every 15 mins. Of course I will need to recharge the garmin about three times on the course. (In Sahara I managed to eek out 17 hours on one charge life.) Interestingly to reflect how crucial the Pavlovian alarm is to my drinking, eating and motivation strategies. I did not use my garmin on Thursday and my lethargy influenced the desire to stop overiding the science need to do exactly 4 hours and push for 5 hours. I can only estimate about 27-30ks completed. Still I enjoyed the run as it was a new route for me and may repeat this next Thursday as my last big full rehearsal run. The feedback from the Garmin also helps to predict an average pace, in turn this helps predict how many calories to refuel on the course as opposed to at camp.

My latest thought of using or not using the GPS is that there is a yin and yang and that they balance themselves out. I know thereabouts what my running, shuffling, fast walk and uphill walk speed is. I enjoy running according to the terrain when I am fresh and realise the mental and physical dangers of being beholden to training data in Hong Kong Vs the unknown of Atacama can bring. The unknowns are 3300m of altitude, 10 degrees in the morning an average predicted temperature of 26 degree going up to a reported 40 degrees with no shade nor cooling wind, I have an idea of the terrain as the course is virtually the same each year but do not have any four hundred meter sand dunes to practice on in HK. What HK does have is plenty of elevation. However where I think the GPS comes into its own is when I am not fresh and it can motivate me to keep a consistent pace, measure alternate walking and running a kilometer, how far to go and keeping to goal pace. In sum, ultramarathon racing is complicated use the chi from being at one with the trail and when that is used up turn to the chi gained from the electronic dark side of the force.

In my last post I wrote my projected training plan for the week. This post is what actually happened.

Monday - 76 Mins with 8kg backpack up Hatton Road with poles (1 min to stow them away at the top) and then down Pokfulam reservoir road. On Pokfulam road I raced a non-backpack runner for about 2ks to get my lungs opened up.

Tuesday - Decided against backpack as ITBs a little sore form the side to side action of my full water bottle ballast/weight from the night before and ran for 1.45hrs.

Wednesday 76 mins or there abouts same run as Monday with backpack and no poles. Where I raced the runner on Monday I did one post run fast (note not sprint) and jog one lamp post. As on Monday felt good about the speed with a backpack on. I have to think that pushing these speeds is okay for a single stage run but not when you have to do it again the next day. The intervals also push the cardiovascular system to the predicted same levels of anxiety that exerting oneself in altitude could be.

Thursday 3.48 hrs run on new terrain. Where possible I aim to explore new routes to relieve the boredom of running on the Hong Kong trail. Running to Central from Tai Tam I took a roundabout route to the three way intersection at Boa Vista path and chose the narrow flat route. Turns out this is about 8-10s traverse to Mt Parker road and meets up with the blue dot route about half way to Sir Cecils ride. I got to that fatigued state at about 3 hours and decided four was going to be enough for the day and any more I might go over the edge to injury. Afterwards I realised that I had started but not finished my hammer bar and my lethargy could be due to poor nutrition implementation. (I had three days of back to back in the bank to allow a training and reality check)

Friday was due for repeat of Monday and Wednesday hill run. I decided to rest my quads and lessen my risk of injury at 16 days out. I did this last week also and felt the better for it.
In weight training there are many loading and unloading strategies, so much in fact I don't believe there is any "one best way" and that text books are probably conservative and also based on college to elite athletes not represented of a 43 year old who is at best a middle of the pack runner.

Saturday I am down for 20ks with backpack.

My lessons: Listen to your body. Make a plan as it gives direction but don't choke on the focus or get injured by stubbornly following it, or what the experts say.

Last week training aiming to get legs use to back to back runs with backpack. Mon 90 mins up 2 k hill with first use of poles. Downhill Tues. 25 km undulating Wed 5 k easy - calf a little tight was programmed to repeat Monday. Thursday 32 k with only 1500 elevation Fri calf tight so rested, sat ditto, sun feeling good but rested. This week. Aiming to settle on nutrition strategy inclusive of backup plans. Mon two hours poles and elevation. Tues 25 k undulating Wed 90-120 mins poles and elevation Thurs repeat 32 k run Fri 90- 120 elevation with poles Sat 22k Sun rest

Atacama is my second ultra, I am not a natural runner, nor an endurance athlete. I am a father of three under seven and I am a self-employed Personal Trainer and Lifestyle Coach. What I love is the process of learning new sports and training philosophies

90% of my training has shunned technology in favour of the Born to Run philosophy and mantra of "easy light smooth" and being zen with the trail.

Living in Hong Kong means every run involves elevation and I am trusting that will be in good stead for the climbs of Atacama.

What goes against Hong Kong is the altitude I run at is sea level to about 500m. Atacama is 2500m to 3500m. In 2000 I went to the top of the Jung Frau Joch in Switzerland (3000m) and felt dizzy after a minimal exertion - this was after a world championship so I was in peak physical condition. Hence I have a concern for stage 1 and 2. Sadly I do not have the luxury of arriving two weeks earlier and since I am not in the running to win the event I will arrive two days earlier and will investigate a) drinking lemon tea two days before arriving in San Pedro b) finding the cocoa tea c) taking a bus somewhat higher, exerting myself for 30 mins or so and then resting lower.

With 39 days to go I have dug out my garmin to risk becoming "choked" and paralised with analysis of time, distance, speed and pace.The problem with technology I have decided is that it changes the focus from enjoying the moment to the future outcome of how long it will take to finish. I did find it useful to know how many ks I had completed and how many ks to get to the next checkpoint in the Sahara so I have decided to take insurance and use it. Besides from all accounts the Atacama course is stunning at any angle.

With just over a month to go I have pretty much finished my nutrition plan and will save some Sahara pack weight with sweets, nuts, and powdered food I could not stomach. I will have most of my calories post-stage to top up my fuel stores each night.

I have been online investigating packs and pack weights and I would dearly love to have all my stuff fit into a 22-20L pack and weight 7.5kg no water weight on day 1. I see a physical visit to racing the planet this week to see which backpack can fit my stuff into.

Clothing wise I have been using 2XU compression shorts, tights and socks since 2009 and have feel great wearing them and certainly feel better the day after. With sunlight temperatures reach 30-40 degrees I have yet to decide whether I will wear the shorts and sock combo or the full tights. I will aim to find a lightweight 2XU short sleeve top for day wear and a long sleeve slightly thermal for night wear.

Overall I am happy with my training again shunning the typical periodised routine I typically put together for sport events to one where I listen to my body and stop or rest when I need to. This will avoid overtraining injuries that I got in preparing and subsequent pulling out of 2011 Gobi. With 39 days to go it time to be a bit more scientific and consistent with training.

My main goal for the event besides completing is to enjoy it more that I did the Sahara.