Apologies for not updating my blog during the race, this was either to me arriving too late and the cybertent had already closed or my own laziness after feeling fairly tired after completing the stage (generally the latter!).

Anyway, finished the race today and got the medal I was chasing last year - and it made it all the more sweet with Terri waiting for me at the finish line  Her support and encouragement helped me to get through this one, and to put the Gobi 2008 demons to rest - thanks Hun.

We have the celebration dinner and awards ceremony tonight so I am looking forward to that.

I fully intend to provide a full update on the race itself, what went well and what I would do differently next time, plus some general observations.

What's next? The Last Desert 2010 !

Kashgar hasn't changed much since last year - question is - have I? Well I feel better prepared having done quite a few long distance training sessions (ok, they were actually walks, but training nonetheless). I have also done some hill training with the assistance of our bulldog, Spike (pictured below in Sphinx mode). I'd get up at 0500 put on my backpack and Spike new we were off to Hampstead Heath to go up and down Parliament Hill a few times before getting to chase some sticks (him not me).


I was talking to one of the volunteers and I asked if she'd ever do one of these races and she replied "No, I know my limits". I should have asked her how she knew what her limits were (and will at some point during the race), because until you have actually gone beyond your limits and failed, how can you possibly know what your limits are? I have completed two desert races so far, but if last year's Gobi had been my first, I would have thought "I can never finish one of these races" - but here I am, back to try again. There are many cliches such as "Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" and "Try, try, try again", but I believe my failure to finish last year was the catalyst to many new things in my life. And as much as I hated withdrawing, and the benefits I gained from it, I don't want to go through that lesson again!

Terri and I looked around Kashgar yesterday and saw the standard Kashgar sights including the famous pigeon soup restaurants, the mosque and of course the impressive statue of Chairman Mao.

Terri spent most of the day doing her volunteer training, while I weighed, re-weighed and re-distributed my food. I have found previously that I take too much food and either end up leaving some of it, or giving it away - either way, its excess weight that I don't need to carry (rather like my spare tire!). This year I am taking about 7.5lbs of food which is 0.5lbs more than the mandatory 7lbs (or 2000 calories per day). 

Anyway, everything is packed and I'm ready for gear check tomorrow!

Next blog will be in 48 hours on Sunday evening at the end of Stage 1.

So here I am again - sitting in Beijing waiting for the plane to Urumqi and then onto Kashgar. Doesn't seem like twelve months since I was last here, and there have been many changes in my life since then.
My failure to complete last year's Gobi race was a nice wake-up call - too overconfident and too undertrained were the main factors. This time will be different - I have probably never trained as much for an event, but everything is relative. I have not done hundreds of miles a week as I'm just not that dedicated and I'm just an ordinary guy who wants, or should I say needs to finish the race.
My gear has been checked, re-checked, weighed and re-weighed - topping out at 17lbs. I have been training with my pack at 20lbs initially and eventually had it up to 34lbs for a few weeks, before taking it down to 24lbs. I'm hoping that the difference in weight will be noticable.
I'd like to say that I am going to finish the race without any doubt, but these races are not exactly a walk in the park and there are so many variables. I don't have any doubt though, that I am as prepared as I can be.
Last year, I had the fortune (or mis-fortune) to meet up with my old Sahara/Atacama desert buddy, James P and his wife Carolyn. When we arrived in Urumqi airport, James said that we'd have to have a drink at the Irish Pub and I was all up for that until he told me he was kidding! Not one to keep some fun to himself, I may have lead some other people to believe there was an Irish Pub in Urumqi too (sorry Helen, Sandra and Wayne) but they might have to look hard to find it :)
Terri is all ready to go - bringing twice as much food and gear as me - but then again she doesn't have to carry it. I have to admire her as I don't think I could ever volunteer at one of these events as I'd much rather be competing in it.
I do intend to keep my blog updated during the race no matter how I feel, and as usual, I will finish off the blog after the race with things that went well, or didn't go so well - as I found that very helpful when preparing for the race. See Matt Chapman's blog after Nambia to see what I mean.
Enough writing for now but will update one more time including my gear update before the race begins.

Wow - hard to believe that in two weeks, Terri and I will be in Kashgar. Doesn't seem like a year since I was last there, but I'm really looking forward to getting the Gobi monkey off my back!

I have been doing quite a bit of training with a heavier backpack (I normally train with one weighing 20lbs) but somehow managed to end up training for a while with a 34lb one - makes quite a bit of difference as you can imagine. I have also been getting my gear ready especially my drink mix which is what contributed to last year's disaster. I will be using the same drinks as I used successfully in the Sahara so it will be a selection of Cytomax and Perpetuem during each stage, with some Recoverite at the end of end stage. Still trying to find some suitable salty snacks as some of the food we had in Vancouver is not available here....BUT I think  I've got it cracked...Marmite flavoured crisps - they are delicious and not only taste better than Pringles but are better from a calorie, potassium, proten and carbs perspective.

Also been testing out my IPod nano and Garmin 305 with the Solar Monkey charger...and I have decided that the tests were inconclusive so I'll be reverting to my Garmin Foretrex 101 and Sansa mp3 player, both of which run on AAA batteries.

I have been using my trekking poles during training but I will be taking them as I found them invaluable during Atacama when I managed to get  a large blister on the ball of my foot. I think the poles actually slow you down (or they do the way I use them) but they are very handy for water crossings.

My heat training has not got underway yet, ironically because I had to go to Abu Dhabi to attend a conference in an air conditioned environment. Temperatures outside have been almost 45C which would have be great if I wasn't wearing a suit and tie :)

I'll still be able to get about 10 days of heat training in before I head of to Gobi however.

My tapering is going well (surprising really as I don't usually have much training which I need to taper from!).

See you all in Kashgar in about two weeks.

 

Got my Chinese Visa yesterday - wooohooo!
Increased backpack weight to 23lbs now! 
Walking to and from work every day which is about 7 miles, and still doing the long ones on the weekend - most training I have ever done :)

How time flies...so many excuses - moving countries, moving flats, moving wife and bulldog from Vancouver, and still found time to move my fat a$$ around London with my backpack!
I guess one of the advantages of coming to a new city (even though I was born in the UK 51 years ago) is that there are so many places to explore, and it doesn't matter if you get lost because the miles all add up. I lived in London for about 9 months, and left to move to Australia in 1979. It's great putting the Garmin 305 on and head "East" along the Regent's Canal with some vague idea of where I want to go, and then do a big loop  when I get to the Thames, following it West and taking in some of the most recognisable sights in the World and looking at the tourists looking at this crazy guy with a backpack walking though London - although come to think of it, a lot of the tourists look like that, so I don't seem quite so out of place.

Starting a new job here has had its challenges, and while I haven't been able to get any weekday exercise in, I have been doing some reasonable distances on the weekend with my longest to date being 35 miles (22miles Saturday and 13 miles Sunday). I must say that I do feel a lot more confident now after last year's failure in the Gobi.

I have also managed to catch up with a few Gobi/Atacama pals (Marty and Paul) and few weekends ago, and this weekend also met up with Helen and her friend Clive who is doing Gobi as his first 4 Desert race. One thing I do like about the 4 Desert series is that you meet and make friends with people who you would never normally come into contact with - a bit like the 7 Continents series in a way.

In a couple of weeks I'll be meeting up with some of the competitors who did this year's Atacama - Marty and I met up with Astrid, Karen and Alex before they went to impart some of are tricks and traps to avoid, so it will be interesting to see how it all went.

Last Friday, Terri, Marty and I met with George who is doing his first desert race in Gobi and is writing a story for one of the London papers. Us "veterans" gave him some good tips about doing a desert race (don't go out too hard on the first day, wear gaiters, keep hydrated, and buy shoes that are at least one size too big and break them in BEFORE the race). George also interviewed Ryan who won Gobi last year, so probably got a totally different aspect of the race than Marty and I had.

A few things I expect to be doing differently this year (and still subject to field testing) is that I will be taking an 8GB Apple Nano, Garmin 305 and a Solar Monkey recharger instead of the Sansa mp3 player and Foretrex 101 and 9 AAA batteries. I have seen people unsuccessfully use the Garmin in previous races so want to make sure it all works before I take it to Gobi.

So to summarise, training is going well, heat training will be starting in about a week although I expect it will be harder to do in London than Vancouver as I don't have a sauna anymore, and then weighing and examining each bit of kit over the next four weeks with the age old question "Do I REALLY need to take this"? 

 

Blog has been postponed during the Atacama Crossing (plus I've been helping my wife and our bulldog, Spike move to London from Vancouver).
I loved doing Atacama in 2007 and wish I was there now so I could do the race all over again!
Gobi blog will resume next weekend.

List of my gear so far - selection based on experience in Sahara, Atacama and Gobi:

Backpack: Raidlight Evolution Light incl RTP patch
Sleeping bag: Montbell UL Superstretch Alpine Hugger #5
Headlamp (primary): Petzl Tikka XP
Headlamp (back-up): Princeton Tec Pulsar
Safety pins: Steel 10 large, 10 medium
Knife: Spyderco Ladybug
Whistle: Stormproof
Aluminum survival blanket
Red flashing light: Princeton Tec Pulsar LED Light
Food (details later)
Electrolytes Hammer Endurolytes (9 per day)
Spork: Titanium (plastic one broke last time)
Windproof jacket: Go-Lite Wisp 
Spare running shorts Saucony
2 pair Nike Ultralight liner socks
3 pair Running Room Double layer Silver Elite socks
1 pair Injinji Tetratsok Mini Crew Socks
1 pair Flight Compression Socks
Spare short sleeve Tech shirt Hind short sleeve incl RTP and country patches 

Electronics
MP3 player Sandisk m260 (4GB) and Sports headphones
Batteries for MP3 and GPS Energizer Lithium e2 AAA
Batteries for headlight ONLY Energiser Titanium E2
Camera Pentax Optio W30 with 2GB card
Watch Timex Trialthlon slimline

Hygeine and comfort
2 x Hygiene Tissues Charmin To Go (roll of 55 sheets)
1 x Hygiene Wet Wipes Nice'n clean antibacterial wipes
1 x Hygiene for washing Camp Suds
1 x Hygiene for washing MSR PackTowl UltraLite Towel - Medium
1 x Spritzer 
Sleeping Pad Thermorest Prolite 3
1 pair N2S gloves
1 pair hotel slippers for around camp
2 pairs Earplugs
Sunscreen AloeGator total sunblock gel (SPF 40+) 
6 days supply pain mitigation: Extra strength Tylenol, Ibuprofen and Robaxacet

Main stuff I'll be wearing
Running / Trail shoes New Balance 873
2 x Raidlight large water bottle "with straws" attached to should straps
Buff Racing the Planet - Gobi 2008 (sentimental reasons) 
Trekking poles Raidlight hiking poles
GPS Foretrex 101 
CW-X shorts
Running undies CW-X LifeFit Box-Cut Brief
1 pr Running Room Double layer Silver Elite socks
Sunglasses Julbo Colorado Glacier Glasses
White short sleeve UPF50 Tech shirt UPF50
Sun Precautions Shade Cap-Cross
Gaiters Raidlight of RTP

First Aid Kit
20 x Alcohol wipes
20 x 1" 2nd Skin patches
Sewing needle and cotton thread (for blister drainage)
2 metres Nexcare water proof tape 
1 metre Ductape
Tincture of Benzoin
2 Immodium tablets
6 Iodione wipes
Sportslick /Body Glide
20 cotton buds (cut in half)
4 sachets of Enos
Foot powder

Despite all my best efforts, the blog has fallen by the wayside since my last one. I could blame this on my work commitments, moving to London and many other things - so now that's out of the way, let me give you an update.

Things are a bit different from a training perspective compared to last year's miserable attempt to complete the Gobi - I am actually training! It's also a bit different training in London compared to Vancouver. Back there, I had a treadmill, sauna, multigym and exercise bike...I used to put on my backpack, set the treadmill on a comfortable pace, switch on the TV and watch DVDs of my favourite 60s and 70s TV shows (yes, still trapped in a time warp!) - it was great - I could stop the treadmill when I wanted to go to the bathroom, change the DVD, mop my brow, the dogs are barking - better investigate, get another beer (kidding!), and find all sorts of excuses why I needed to get off the treadmill. Ah, training, or lack thereof was so easy.

Here in London, things are very different - the only training equipment if have are my backpack, my Garmin 305 and the streets and parks of London. One of the great things about moving here, is that there are so many places around here that I have never been. Combine that we our need to find a decent place to live provides endless opportunities to get in some good amount of  walking with the backpack to various locations, and getting lost in the process (and of course, only wimps ask for directions!!!).

In Vancouver, I had 8kgs of rice in my Salomon backpack (the one I used to train for, and compete in Sahara 2006) - I even did the Victoria marathon wearing it - and it is still going strong, which is either a testament to how good the backpack is, or how pitiful my excuse for training is :)

In London, I was going to but some rice but couldn't find any I liked, so as I mentioned in my last blog, I ended up filling 2 litre bottles with water and putting them in my backpack. They are filled to the top, so there is no sloshing effect - and the real bonus is that if you are out on a long training run/hike, you can always either drink the water, or tip it out. Last weekend, I was out with my wife Terri (Gobi 2009 volunteer) and she decided to but two bottles of wine, which I kindly allowed her to put in my backpack. It wasn't long until I noticed the additional weight, and we ended up taking a cab home after doing 13 miles (I know for sure they don't have those in the Gobi).
My training has been limited to about 14 miles with my 20lb backpack, though I will be building that up over the next few months to a high of about 25 miles - I find doing the longer distances just take too long to complete, and additonal time to recover...and of course, I am lazy when it comes to training.

I do intend to provide my equipment list for my next blog update.

For you "first timers", if you are looking for a great source of information about the race, you can always check out previous competitor's blogs, the forum, or even buy a DVD of last year's race (this is very useful if you have never done this type of race before - it also shows you what sort of terrain to expect).

If you have any questions, please either ask it in the forum, or send me a private message through the forum. Also for any UK/London based Gobi racers, we should try and hook up in the coming months.

That's all for now.

Yes, I can barely believe it myself - it's official, my training for Gobi 2009 began last Saturday! Wearing my trusty Salomon backpack that I wore for all my training for the Sahara, and for the actual race itself, and the training for Atacama is stil going strong. My biggest problem was deciding how best to weigh it with my target 20lbs. I have previously used a big bag a rice plus a few extra weights...but due to the credit squeeze in the economy, I decided to fill up four 2 litre plastic bottles and when I check the weight, it was exactly 20lbs!

Having got the weight right, I strapped on my Garmin 305 and set off for my jaunt around London. We are in the process of moving from Vancouver to London so I have been checking out a few areas we are thinking about living. Before I knew it, I was back home after covering 14.2 miles - not too bad for my first real training. I won't be using the Garmin in Gobi as you have to carry one of those solar recharges, so I have used the Garmin Foretrex 101 which uses AAA batterries - the same as my headlamp and MP3 player. The 101 allows you to download your trip data onto the computer which is a bonus. I find having the GPS very useful in the desert, especially  on the long day.

Other events of interest was catching up with Marty, one of my tent mates in Atacama and Gobi (although he did manage to finish Gobi). We had also arranged to meet with some people who are doing Atacama 2009 - we met them for dinner at Covent Garden, and shared our experiences from Atacama 2007 as well as answering various questions. It amazing how interests in these desert races brings people together and breaks down any social and age barriers. We promised to keep in touch and answer any last minute questions, and if we didn't get chance to meet again before they headed off to Atacama, we would catch up with them a few weeks after they got back.

I'm travelling at the moment, so am finding it a challenge to do any training, but will get back into it when I get back to London. More to follow in two weeks time.

Just over 7 months ago, I somehow found myself laying flat on my back in the medical tent at the end of the first stage of Gobi 2008. It's a bit of a blur now, and come to think of it, it was even a blur back then - I had let myself become very dehydrated throughout the day and ended up in the medical staff asking me if I knew where I was.

I sort of knew I was in trouble after passing the 2nd checkpoint where I had stopped briefly to fill up my water bottles. I was drinking Clif Shot mixed with water but for some reason, I could feel it just sloshing around in my belly. I continued on to checkpoint 3 where I sat down for what seemed like 30 minutes - very unusual for me as I normally just grab the water and move on but today was different. As I was waiting, I looked around and saw some people vomiting their water, another guy had passed out a few miles back and fortunately someone had seen him. When he arrived at Checkpoint 3 he was delirious and thought he was back in Vietnam or somewhere.

Anyway, after resting for a while, I continued on, and on, and on. I had completed two deserts before this and was at a loss to understand why I was feeling so disorientated. On reflection, complacency and my own stupidity through lack of any sensible training regime were the primary causes. 

I was hoping the end of the stage would be just around the corner. I was finding it hard walking in a straight line which I thought that it wasn’t a very good sign and was basically an automatic for the rest of the stage until I neared the finish line when one of the volunteers came running out to walk the final few metres to the line (thanks mate!). Overcome with emotion, I burst into tears (yes, grown men DO cry!) as I was pretty sure that the race was over for me.

They helped me to the medical tent and I just lay there with some weird spasm thing going on in my lower back. Thanks again to the medical staff and volunteers who helped me - I know I must have seemed like a big baby!

Anyway, the long and short of it was that after thinking about whether I should continue Stage 2, I decided that as I was a dehydrated fat, out of shape 50 year old, that my wife, Terri, would never forgive me if I died during the race (and I'm pretty sure Mary G wouldn't have been too impressed), I would chalk this one up to experience and withdraw.

That was just over 7 months ago, so what have I done since then? Stay tuned for my next blog to find out!