Finished stage 4 reasonable well but feet were in pretty bad shape. Essentially my right heel peeled off, which caused the doctors to excitedly take pictures and then tape me all back together. Truly, the volunteer doctors are amazing! Who would volunteer to look at hundreds of disgusting feet day after day?! Stage 4 and stage 5 both had long stretches of around 10 miles where the sun was just baking you from all sides. The white salt flats, which are incredibly rugged, reflect much of the sun back at you so it’s like hiking through an oven in the middle of the day. A part of the sole of my right shoe actually tore off due to the ruggedness of the terrain but wasn’t bad enough to cause any major issues. Whomever said the Atacama isn’t a sandy desert is probably not exactly accurate – we climbed some enormous sand dunes that where 40-50 meters high and very very steep. Of course, these huge climbs tended to be at the end of a stage when you are already exhausted. Part of stage 4 also passed through a gorgeous oasis and it was really hard not to just stop and sleep in the cool shade of the trees and listen to the water fall. So, about my feet? Well, I started stage 5 and was already in quite a bit of pain but wanted to give it a go. I made it through about 28 miles of the approximately 48 miles of stage 5 before the pain just became too much physically and mentally. Every step was like walking on broken glass for mile after mile. I rested at checkpoint 4 knowing I had already completed 200K of the 255K race but I just couldn’t find the mental fortitude to push through the pain nor was I sure what it would do to my feet if I tried to go on. So, I pulled the plug. It was certainly a bit demoralizing and I was second guessing my decision all night and this morning. But after seeing the state of my feet this morning, it was the right call. I’m disappointed with not finishing but I’m in high spirits. The other competitors, the staff, and volunteers are fantastic – lots of new friends from all over the world. My feet were impressive enough that I had journalists and the doctors taking quite a few pictures that are apparently going to get published – my only claim to fame for this race. So, what about the blisters? I’ve not been blister prone while training but this terrain is like nothing most people have ever seen. My shoes where a size bigger, but I think 2 sizes and extra wide would be a better choice to accommodate both the normal foot swelling and the tape wrapping. Taping your feet takes quite a bit of space in your shoe but if you don’t have room in your shoe, it could create other problems with rubbing. Also, based on talking to some of the veteran racers, I could have probably used something better than Body Glide to lubricate my feet. My team mates also noticed that my steps tend to lean inward, which might explain why most of the painful blisters are on the inward side of my foot. I’ll have to get that checked out if I do another race like the Atacama Crossing. That brings me to the big question that all the competitors ask themselves about this time, would I do it again? I think the answer is “yes”. It’s hard to describe the emotions and sense of accomplishment after completing each stage and doing something so uniquely difficult. I am in camp today and will be at the finish line tomorrow cheering on my team mates as they complete the final stage, which is supposedly a 5-10K “fun run”. After that we are going to eat everything in sight … burning 4,000 calories a day makes you very hungry :) I suspect I’ve lost 7-10 lbs this week.

The morning briefing described stage three as the hardest. They weren

Unofficial time 27.9 miles / 10:35 min. The day started with a slight climb and then quickly descended into a slot canyon where we traversed water for about 6 km. The water was at most knee deep but must have been 45-50 degrees F and numbingly cold. Felt good on my feet. The rest of the day had various terrains, including an enormous winding hike to the top of a ridge than along the ridge and down a giant sand dune. By mid-day, our team was already pretty tired and the pack was becoming insufferably heavy. I

Wow! That was tough. We don

Made it to camp 1 and got situated in tent 13 with our team (CME Trail Trekkers) and 7 other competitors (10 people to a tent). The scenery is amazing and looks tough! The altitude does not seem to be causing me any issues yet but once we start the race, we

Well, we finally made it to San Pedro de Atacama after more than 48 hours of traveling. Our flight into Santiago was diverted due to fog and after 6 hour bus ride, and unplanned overnight stay in Santiago and waiting for many hours in Calama to track down our checked luggage we finally made to San Pedro late Friday. On a positive note, we've already met some really cool people that will be racing with us on Sunday. San Pedro is at about 8,000 feet and you most definitely notice the thinner air but the most noticeable thing is how incredibly dry it is

Well, our team departs for the airport tomorrow -- one leaving from Belfast, Northern Ireland and the other two of us from Chicago. We meet up in Santiago and if the flights go as scheduled, we

Well, this is it

This past weekend was a 5 hour hike with a fully loaded pack (about 27 lbs right now) followed by a 4 hour run on Sunday. I don't know what I was thinking when it came to the 4 hour run but I was not prepared. I've sort of gotten into the habit of not thinking too much about the runs but a 4 hour run is no laughing matter. I did not bring any salt tablets and only had a about a litre of water, which was far from sufficient. I'm not someone who generally needs a lot of salt tablets, but on a four hour run I definitely need about one an hour if I'm sweating (which is most of the time). I felt really good on the Saturday hike and felt fine as I edged into the 4 hour run on Sunday but started to feel my legs cramp up at around the 3 hour mark. Mind you, I'm not running any sort of marathon pace -- just a nice easy run. At about the 3 1/2 hour mark I had to call it quits as I could feel my thighs and calves on the verge of cramping hard. This week is a relatively low milage week but the following week it ramps back up for the last time and I plan to be much better prepared. This week has also been a bit of a scramble to make sure I and my teammates have all the required patches and gear. I still need to go through my stuff and try to trim a few ounces. I'd love to get it down to about 25 lbs with 2.5 litres of water. At some point I'll list out all the gear I have -- trying to learn from those that have gone before me but it's really hard to know what is really needed and what to skip when it comes to optional gear. The expedition food I bought takes up a ton of space in my 32L OMM backpack. I'd like to repack it into ziplock bags but I'm a little worried that Customs in Chile will make me throw it out if it's not in the original packaging material. So one thought I have is to bring a box of zip locks and then repack it after we arrive. I also still need to go visit the Cobbler (when does anyone actually get to use the word Cobbler these days?) and get the velcro sewn onto my shows for the gaiters. That seems important based on some of the blogs from former competitors. I'm also thinking about getting the little socks with toes -- haven't tried those yet but also seem like a good idea. Of course, I don't really want to try anything new at this stage but I desperately want to avoid as many blisters as possible!

I had hoped I would keep up with this blog while training but mostly due to my own laziness, it just didn't happen. Here we are 40 days until race day and I don't mind saying I'm a little nervous! Have I trained enough? Will I finish? What have I signed myself up to do?! All thoughts roaming through my head as the clock ticks down. As of today, I can honestly say that I now either possess or have ordered all of the required gear with the exception of a few sundries that I can pickup at any local grocery store. This week is a 40 mile+ week of training, with a 5 hour hike (full pack) on Saturday followed by a 3 hour run on Sunday morning. I find it odd now that I don't think of the 3 hour run as "long". Mind you, my pace is not breaking any land speed records but am able to get through the week without feeling like my body is falling apart -- no injuries and generally feeling strong. That said, I'd love to drop another 10 lbs before now and the start of the race (I'm not a particularly lean person). Something else that I've done in recent weeks, which wasn't part of the training plan, is standing at work. In my industry (technology), it's not uncommon to spend 8 hours or more in front of a computer screen each day. I now have a standing desk in my office and I have to say that I'm really enjoying it. With all of the training I've done over the past 12 months, I can say that I do not find it difficult to stand most of the day nor do my feet hurt. I'm desperately hoping that's a sign my training is paying off :) Anyway, my hope is to start blogging a bit more now that we are getting down to the wire -- and we still have a long way to go in our fundraising efforts. Speaking of which, we are raising funds for the Simon Community -- a great organization that works hard to help prevent and support those who have become homeless. If you are so inclined to donate to our cause, here's a link to our fundraising page: http://www.justgiving.com/cmeteam Until the next blog entry, keep training, keep safe, and be happy! Mark @ITRetrospective

Ok, let

A huge thanks to Sam for putting this on and coordinating the get together this past Thursday. It was great to hear the stories from competitors who have done the Atacama Crossing and many of the other races. Everyone's enthusiasm is absolutely contagious! I big shout out to Michael Gray, who spent the better part of his evening talking to our team with loads of stories and awesome advice!

Well, here we go! I