And so i made a decision to go see a sports doctor to have my knees examined. It looks like it's going to be after Christmas. Nearing the holidays, can't say it's best timing with getting an appointment. I felt this warm sensation confined to my right kneecap, sitting on a bus a few days ago. 

I think a big part of me is in denial, hoping the pain around my knee joints would go away so i don't have to deal with it. But I know I have to adjust my training... don't particularly wanna aggravate the injury before i get to the Atacama. Although it is rather frustrating, not being able to train alongside what I had in mind. I had planned to do 30km on Saturday so as to clock a week's mileage close to 100km by Sunday. Because of the pain, I didn't train yesterday and did just an hour of gym work this morning. Fingers crossed with the trip to the sports doc and no surprises.

Earlier this month, I met Marilena Wilkinson who was here in Singapore for a few days. It was really nice to have met you Marilena. I'll see you at the Atacama! Nice work with the Oxfam Trailwalker!

To my colleagues at Argus Media (Singapore bureau) - thank you for the donation drive and your great support. You guys kick butt. To Wan Ling, you do a mean rah-rah! And Mel, thank you for being here.

I've started to train with ankle weights, while reducing the load of my backpack to around 6kg. This way I distribute the weight as I ease the strain around my left shoulder and focus on strengthening my legs.

I did gym work yesterday. I felt tiny in the presence of the big muscle boys, powering it at 9pm. I pushed and focused on my lifts. There are days I feel weak and my drive takes a slide. Like how I sometimes have a little conversation with myself. There's this voice in me that asks, "What makes you think you can withstand doing the equivalent of a marathon for six days in extreme desert heat, blisters and quite possibly, the most brutal of terrains pushing altitude?" It's still daunting what lies ahead. And then I kill that thought and try not to go there. I tell myself that it's for a good cause and to keep training. Cancer patients go through even more pain and suffering while holding on to the hope of surviving. 

Oli, I love the spiderman push-ups idea even though it is rather remote for me at this moment! Your strength is motivating. Michele and Chris, thank you for scoring me the Raidlight desert cap as a gift. And your time in talking me through (in different time zones) the equipment stuff - from hydration to sleeping gear, thermal insulation, backpack issues (a few inches make a difference with my small body frame, this is where it's probably more of a disadvantage), walking poles... to bring or not to bring?!



Pretty cool 4 Deserts towel tablets I got from the store. Wet them with a small amount of water and voila - moist towelettes! Functionality made simple that helped with training in the heat.

Just like my cause with this race, I hope to make a difference in my own small way.

It was quite a challenge to keep to training four times this week - some week in the office! I did 10-12km each day Tuesday to Friday. There's this pain that's developed around the area of my left shoulder. It creeps up on me when i'm training with my backpack, rather frustrating. Hopefully a couple more rounds of sports massages will sort that out. There's a slight soreness on my right knee as well. I did some gym work today which was nice for a change. I enjoyed it actually. Think it's not a bad plan to break away from my routine. Either that or before training ground gets a wee bit too boring.

This race is teaching me a lot of things as i go along, almost like managing one's life. Did i mention my connecting flights and transit times total some 30 odd hours from Singapore to Chile? Then again I think my legs would appreciate all that idleness sitting on a plane cuz they'll be real busy when I'm in the desert! Packing my backpack is almost like a science. Being petite, carrying a 9.5kg load for 3 hours would make more of a difference physically compared to an average-built guy trudging around with the same load. I guess that's also probably why there are more men who do this.

The Straits Times ran a story yesterday, "Crossing driest place on earth for cancer". It's surreal to see myself in the papers. But this is not about me. For the first time in my life, i'm doing something worthy and I hope that my cause with this challenge would inspire people to contribute some funds to help make a difference to needy cancer patients inhibited by costly medical treatment. 

Thank you Ryan and Eileen the wakeboarding peeps at Maxout Hydrosports for your great support and help in raising funds on your side. I miss the waters and my board! To Ashley Morrison, host of Not the Footy Show for helping to extend my message to Australia 
http://notthefootyshow.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/melanies-desert-run-for-a-cause/

A friend I call Iceman said, "keep believing, because we believe in you". That did something to me inside and one that I'll take with me to the Atacama.

So I did a 21km half-marathon with the army guys mostly. A couple of them looked at me almost in disbelief... petite me with a 9kg backpack. I was somewhat shy to reveal my extra load as everyone assembled at the start point.

Prepping for this race has made me instil discipline in myself, in ways i never thought i could. I train with my backpack almost everyday, waking up extra early some mornings before i get to the office. Prior to this, it was almost impossible to get my ass out of bed before 6am, or getting used to increasing mileage training 3-5 hours on weekends and taking a raincheck on a Friday night out with drinks. Quite a few people i've told have called me crazy and we are still counting! When i first started to train and did 18km with a backpack, I failed miserably - my ankles felt like they were gonna give and i wondered if i could walk properly the next day. I suffered a swollen bruised toe that's now just plain ugly.

As much as I wanna get out of my own comfort zone, I am rather nervous about the race. But i'd like to see how far I can go. And I know I won't know unless I try.

So here I am about to push the boundaries of my physical and mental abilities. And for charity - I hope to raise funds for the Singapore Cancer Society.

PJ, thank you for sharing your experience and encouraging me in your own way. Heather, your perseverance was inspiring. And Oli, thanks for the bits on sports nutrition!

It was a good run that morning. There were some people who wished me well for the Atacama Crossing (Chile). Somewhere along 17km, I met Steven Wong who did the Gobi race in 2008. He was cool and helped adjust my backpack. Training for the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, he was going strong despite the humidity and a bad knee.

As i looked at the thousands of others running that day, I realised my journey had begun.