I am not dead yet!

The Atacama Crossing is held each year in the Atacama Desert, located in the northern section of Chile; it is one of the four desert races hosted by Racing the Planet. The Sahara Race, in Egypt; the Gobi March, in China; and the Last Desert, in the Antarctica, comprise the other three. Each race is 150 miles (250 kilometers) in length and all are 7 days in length and are self-supported. Each participant is required to carry all the food (2000 calories/day min), clothing and a required list of other equipment they will need for the event. The only items provided by the sponsor are water (approximately 9 liters/day) and a tent (shared with seven other individuals). Essentially, competitors run 4 marathons, a double marathon and a final short leg over the course of the seven days; although, the actual distance covered each day may be a bit longer or shorter than a marathon.

I am going to attempt explain and describe, in this recount, my thoughts, fears, joys and overall experience as I participated in the 2007 crossing; as well as describe the course as I experienced it. While I do not pretend to know what everyone went through during the race, I do know that, to some extent, we all had similar emotional and physical experiences. What the race meant to each person and what they took away from it only they can know

Hello,

I am in and done.

It's 7:00ish in the morning on Saturday.

It is 1:00 pm on Friday.

Hello to all,

We made it.

Well,

Barely 10 days left before the starting gun and 4 days before I step out my front door.

Here is my pack and everything that I am taking.

Hello to all.

Only 64 days to go...hard to believe it is almost here and my feelings about being prepared are ebbing away as the time grows nearer.

Well folks, being the lazy cuss that I am, I took 5 days off from training and flew across the country to surprise my family of origin who were all gathering at my sister's house in Auburn, Alabama.

Well, we finished on our own two feet.

Well, this Saturday will be a good test on where I stand in my training.

I am going to try this for the third time as my previous two postings did not post for some reason.

Can I be any more consistent in my race results?

This post is a test and just a test of RTPs new blogging system.  Any information disseminated in this test is meant for the purpose of entertainment and should not be used as an endorsed training method.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeP!  This concludes our test.  We now return you to Greg's very serious and informative training and equipment blog. :)

March has not started out as a strong training month.  I just cannot seem to schedule any runs of meaningful length or time.  Were it not for the spinning classes I teach and my weight workouts I might pass for a Northwest slug...or worse, a Geoduck (pronounced gooeyduck.  It is a very ugly clam for those lucky enough to never have feasted your eyes on this freak of nature)!  Yikes, I had better get my proverbial arse in gear as we only have 159 days left.  Work has been a big contributor to my lack of time.  My appointments have been so helter skelter that it has been hard to find a large block of time to get the runs in.  I guess I could give up sleep...I have only been averaging 4 hours a night for the past week anyway so why not just give it up completely.

I purchased most of my food the other day.  I am now going to get all my gear together and see how it fits in my pack.  This weekend I have a 69 floor climb/race in the Columbia Tower in Seattle.  I am going to race to the top with the pack.  While it is not a long run it should be fun to see how it feels climbing all that way with the weight.

You know, they just don't make things the way they used to.  Shouldn't a person expect, nay, demand that a tire should give you at least 50,000 miles (80,000+ kilometers) out of radial tires?  Well, I have already worn completely through one of my training tires!  I arrived home the other week from a run only to find that the sidewall on one side had been completely worn through...oh well, it was free so I went and secured another one to use.

Until next time my friends.

February is always such a quick month, isn't it?