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Thursday Stage 5 Complete! The “Long March”. Total length 50 miles. The stage started at 8 am and I finished at 12:30 pm the next day. Approx 16 hrs 30 min. The longest day of my life. And it was very hot. We are pretty sure the heat index was around 40 to 45. If you complete this stage, you are guaranteed to complete the race. Since stage 6 is a short 10 kilometres, which is 6.2 miles. I should be getting my medal tomorrow!

Friday is a rest day. I removed all the bandage from my feet and soaked them in anti-bacterial solution. It feels so good to relax, I think I’m in heaven. I’m dreaming about hamburgers, pizza, and potato chips. Yummy!

I can’t explain how difficult it was to walk, since the ground was impossibly irregular. Or we would hit sand, which is like walking on the beach where the sand is deep and soft.

This stage was an interesting mix of difficult terrain and one giant sand dune. I had already completed 4 stages before this one. My legs were trashed and not doing well. I didn’t have enough calories when I came to the giant sand dune around mile 27. This dune looked like a 20 story building. As I approached from a distance it appeared to have these tiny dark shapes, that I assumed were rocks or crevice. As I got closer I realized these dark lines were racers. My heart dropped. I moved slowly up the face and if you have ever climbed up sand, it tends to slide down. I finally figured out I could take tiny steps and follow someone else’s footsteps in the sand. I just worked my way to the next tiny flag, that identifies the route. I would sit and let my heart rate get under control. When I topped the dune I was sure, I had used the last of my energy and couldn’t walk. On the other side of the dune, was a steam climb down to the check point. A mixture of rocks and sand. Which is very dangerous on legs that can’t support your body weight. I hobbled to the check point where they had water.

I collapsed on the floor. The checkpoint were very far apart and I the feeling it would be very easy to die here in the desert and nobody would be able to help for hours. I didn’t want to become one of the skeletons with white bleached bones lying face down in the sand. The elevation definitely makes it easier to get heat exhaustion. I stayed at the check point until I was fully hydrated and got some food into my stomach. I wasn’t going to risk another eight miles worrying about dying.

After it got dark, the next check point had hot water so we could eat dinner. I had the option to sleep or continue through the night. I decided to get this thing over with cross the stage finish. I quickly ate and headed out back into the desert. This was the night portion of the stage and it was very lonely. Very few racers and the desert dunes and rock formations would start looking like animals or other objects. Very creepy.

The last 11 miles were brutal. My neck was burning and my neck was on fire. The hips and knees were giving me strange aches and pains. My big toe and pinkie toe is destroyed. One pinkie toe is missing the skin. The big toes are white and red around the base. They are white since the have filled up with fluid below the nail. Between accidently kicking rocks to jam your toes and my toes rubbing inside my shoes. Since my feet had swollen more than I expected, not leaving enough room for the poor toes.

I can’t believe how far I could push my body and keep walking. After four previous marathons, I didn’t have much left in the legs. My body is in a stage of starvation, since you can’t carry enough calories to offset the huge distances we were covering. I’m pretty sure I lost 5-6 lbs? Maybe more?

I’m pretty sure I will be crying when I cross the finish line tomorrow. I assume no freak accidents. I’m letting my war torn feet dry today, then I have to tape them up for tomorrows short hike. The doctors doing think I have an infection, but they look terrible.

I’m so excited for the dinner banquet tomorrow night. I want to eat, drink, and take a shower. I’m now going on six days with no shower. Wearing the same socks.

This was an amazing and yet impossible physical and mental endurance feat I’ve done in my life. I can tell you I will never do anything like this again. I wish I could put into words how hard this was to complete. It’s not finished, but I’m getting very close!

Stage 4 complete! 28 miles! I woke up with very tired legs. Started off with dunes and rolling hills. Walking mostly in sand. Then went down a giant dune into a stream. Had to get the shoes wet, just perfect. Three stages have just broke me down. How can the human body keep doing this with no rest.

Then the famous salt flats. Totally uneven and hard to keep a fast pace. When it

Stage 3 complete! It was approx. 25 miles. Shorter but crazy hard. Rated as the hardest stage. It was fricken insane. Now I know why this is the hardest race on earth. Well, one of the hardest. This stage was crossing strange soft salt flats, that if you are not careful you will sink into salt water. While also dodging thorny vegetation. Then we started crossing small rolling sand dunes. Then they made us go down and climb giant dunes. One dune I almost couldn

Last night was much better. I slept better and the temperatures were warmer. Dropping in elevation is the reason for it warming up.

Stage 2 complete. This was 28 miles and very challenging. I was worried about my shins, but they were fine.

This stage started with 7km crossing streams over and over. The water was freezing! It was so cold, my feet hurt and went numb. At least we were only crossing and didn

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A bit of an adventure getting here ... diverted to alternate airport due to fog in Santiago, flight crew on duty too long to legally fly anymore, tiny airport we were at can't easily service a 777, took 6 hour bus to Santiago, still have another flight tomorrow and a short bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama. Just hope our luggage makes it! Fortunately we had our critical gear for the race with us as carry-on.

It's been a very long month. I've been struggling with Mortons Neuroma over the last ten years of racing. I had cyro surgery the beginning of the year and was doing really well. Then it came back with a vengeance. I had completely given up and was going to drop out of the race. Then the end of August, I found a youtube video about taping some pads behind the ball of your foot. I was skeptical, but had nothing to lose. It turned out to be a miracle cure. I have zero pain or inflammation. It's kind of hard to believe. The pad is spreading the bones and giving the nerve more room. Normally I couldn't run more than a few miles and my foot would hurt. Now I can hike 20 miles a day and have no problem. This was the end of August and I'm running out of time. Pardon the pun. Now it's September 1st and it's time to try and ramp up for the race. I was doing what everyone said was a very bad idea. I increased up my total mileage over four weeks. Week 1 (30 miles), Week 2 (39 miles), Week 3 (42 miles), Week 4 (70 miles). A mixture of running and hiking. Mostly hiking with my 30 lbs pack. I've felt stronger every week and the hikes are getting easier. Key word is easier, not easy. ha ha. My heart rate is very low during runs and hikes. The big question, how will I feel next week. Did I make the right decision trying to cram in the miles? Or did I just break my body down and I'll be riding the pain train. :) I'm not doing the monster runs, which seems to tear me down the most. It seems the hikes are easier on the body and much faster recovery. Their may be a lot of walking in my future and not a lot of running. But, after reading the blogs, it doesn't seem like most people are running the whole race. Let's see if all the races I've done over the years gives me a base that allows me to condense three months into one month. Get ready for the pain train, it's gonna be leaving the station. Chooo choooo.