Mission Long March accomplished. 14 hours on my feet, 68km, with over 20k of long and steady climbing in the mountains up to 3000 meters. Gruelling, excruciating, dispiriting for a runner that is used to get faster and faster. But I pulled through and am almost done with the Gobi March.

My ankle held up fine thanks to strapping and Tylenol. I was even able to run the first 8k of the stage, which cost me since the climbs were brutal. Especially the first one because the landscape wasn’t that exciting.

That climb ended up with a very steep and long hill. One of those again where it is sometimes better to zigzag to save energy that going straight. Again people with trekking poles were able to pull through a lot more easily. I got lucky and found a wood stick on the way that I used. It made a huge difference.

The top of the hill had a reward for us. A beautiful view of the mountains with some kind of temple made of stone similar to the ones you see in the Himalayas. Then a long descent, sometimes steep, on a gravel road for some relief. I decided to run a little bit and caught up a French buddy and joined him for the rest of the march. I knew I had to team up to spend the rest of this instead of walking in the dark in the middle of this wilderness.

After that descent we started the second climb while the sun was setting. The landscape was so pristine and magical. Unlike other days the area wasn’t occupied by many people. We barely ran into locals. It was just nature with this magical light of the sun set over mountain tops, pine trees, very green grass and rocks. Obviously I took some pictures even though I barely had the strength to pull my camera. Pulling the camera meant having to catch up with the group.

This second climb felt like it took forever, especially when the night came. We turned our lamps on and we kept moving. We finally reached the top following the glowing sticks the race uses to show us the way. 5 kilometres were left, going down.

When you can run 3 miles in 25 minutes, 5k should be a breath. But with the cold, the lack of calories this entire day, the darkness and the terrain it tools us one hour to finish.

When we finally reached the finish line, we interestingly found energy to run and jumped in the car that brought us to the camp. Because it was too windy the camp hadn’t been set up at the finish line and its location had moved.

It was time to go to my tent join my other tent mates that had already arrived. The Spanish leader was there but it took him 10 hours to finish. This tells you a lot about the difficulty of this stage.

I am now in camp for the day, next to a big lake with mountains in the back. My ankle and foot are swollen so I have been using a Ziploc bag with freezing water from the lake and elevating it.

Not much food is left. Yesterday’s march must have used over 7000 calories and I must have barely eaten 3000.

I can’t wait for some eggs and bacon for breakfast at the Sofitel in Beijing.

Thanks again for all your comments. They helped me yesterday tremendously. I also thought about my dad and wanted to not give up to make him proud.

I don’t think I will be blogging for the last day. So thanks again for your love and support. A special thanks to my wife, Lorrie, because not many people would let me do this and support me so much.

I don’t know how I didn’t give up today. I first started feeling very strong energy and muscle wise. But then some ankle pain around 20k made me stop. I had to walk. And I walked very slowly for the remainder of the stage, around 30 miles.

It was very disheartening to see so many people pass me but I kept taking pictures of the beautiful mountain scenery to keep my spirit alive.

The deep blue sky, mixed with the green pastures, the gigantic clouds and the snow on the mountain tops were breathtaking. Add details like horses, red tractors and people, and you get awesome pictures.

I also got pictures of old people or school kids on the way to camp, the longest 10k ever. People are really excited to see westerners and weirdo like us whose basic needs have been so fulfilled that they decide to endure miles of pain to later sleep in a tent. The locals are very nice and the exchange of smiles and laughs keep you going.

It is really too bad this ankle is bothering me. The docs told me it should be tendonitis. Because I feel in pretty good shape.

Today’s course was filled with long and very steep climbs. 30-40% elevation on a couple of them. They were difficult but I handled them well. The downhill are the problem due to that ankle.

I will try to elevate and compress it. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow so I can finish this.

I am very grateful for your encouragement and kind words. It makes me tear up each time I go to the cyber tent to read the comments.

Hopefully I will be blogging after the long march.

The race was shortened today because of the snow blocking the way to the next camp. So we ended up doing around 23 km.

We encountered a storm of cold rain and then hail in higher altitude. A Swedish tentmate had to stop a little while at a checkpoint before getting warmer. The muddy roads added to the challenge because shoes get heavier.

We also had many tough climbs, especially right after leaving camp with a 500 meter elevation over one kilometer. Today I regretted not having trekking poles but my training in Topanga park got me used to this.

I felt pretty good today. My knee is doing better and I was able to run parts of the course. Mostly flats and down hills.

I took many breaks to take pictures because the rain and snow made the landscape quite dramatic. At one point the reflection of the sun on the mountain made it look like a diamond. With all the streams, the various shades of green, brown and blacks, there are so many opportunities to take great shots. I am discovering a passion for taking pictures in remote areas. I am not interested in my ranking at all. I do not check results. What matters is the framing of my pictures and capturing landscapes and people. I took a great shot of a Mongolian farmer who posed for me and that made my day.

The region is very alpine like, lush and green. It reminded me of pictures I have seen of Scotland. Again a lot of sheep and cows and I must say it is pretty cool to run or walk in the middle of those animals.

Since today got cut short, tomorrow will be another 50k. Then the long march will be 68k and instead of an easy day for the last day, we will do 20. So the hardest has yet to come.

I slept well last night and it made a huge difference. Hopefully it will be that way tonight.

Bad note of the day, my buddy Philippe with whom I laugh so much dropped. He is a bit bored and got sick of the rain. But he have me his utensils so I can now eat like a normal human being.

Thanks for reading!!!

Today was tough. My backpack hadn’t lost much weight and it is getting problematic at this point in the race when everything is about to get harder in terms of elevation. We arrived at the foothills of the mountains that separate china from Kazakhstan and we will be doing the next stages into those.

My left knee is hurting so I decided to walk the entire course and I think this will likely be the case for the rest of the course. People in front are very experienced ultra runners and I have to understand my limits. We have 4 days left and the long march will be a killer.

What made today’s course tough is the rocks. We crossed many dry river beds and ditches full of rocks. It looks like melting snow from the mountains has carried all those rocks. It was actually pretty dangerous to run unless you know what you are doing.

Landscape-wise it was a bit disappointing and tedious, which makes the day more difficult. The fun things were local farmers herding sheep by foot, horse or motorcycle. I took a pic with local policemen who are very happy to greet us and take pictures.

The camp is along a river so it is nice. Locals, Mongolians, have lent their tent to the race for the cybertent. It is pretty cool to sit in here where a whole family lives.

The dehydrated food is getting to me. My meal last night was unbearable and it took me one hour to eat it with my makeshift spoon made out of a bottle. Thank god for beef jerky and almonds. I will come back skinny for sure.

Oh I forgot to add I slept horribly last night. Maybe 2 hours which is really problematic for recovery. I have an orchestra of snorers in my tent and despite earplugs could not fall asleep. I also sweated a lot and the sweat inside a tiny sleeping bag is not a pleasant feeling.

My flags are still on my jersey, honey. The glue is working even though I had to add some more.

The major bummers are the fact I forgot my Garmin charging cable, that my gopro artery was empty and that I am a total airhead. I also lost my Tylenol.

I am very sore so I am going to go stretch and rest. Hopefully I can take a nap if the Spaniards in the tent stop chatting so much.

More later.

Hi everyone

It took me over 7 hours for the first stage which was around 50k. Not many people in camp yet. I am pretty happy because I was able to manage fatigue pretty well, making sure I stayed hydrated and walking when I had to, especially when we were on very rocky trails.

The landscapes are amazing. I took a lot of pictures for the first day. Some rock formations reminded me of Arizona.

We also encountered animals, mostly sheep and cows but I got lucky enough and ran into camels.

The locals are very nice, encouraging us in their language. I took a selfie with a local who was excited shaking everyone’s hand.

It Is now time to recover because there is 200 km to go and the first stage was fairly gentle in terms of elevation and altitude.

I am thinking of my wife a lot and am missing her, and have the voices of mu family and the santa monica running group peeps encouraging me.

Love you all

We arrived today at the camp before stage 1. The camp was moved because of the potential of heavy rain with lightning. We had a huge storm with really strong wind in Bole last night.

Instead of sleeping in tents, we are sleeping in some shacks where people actually live. It made me see what poverty is like in China after seeing luxury in Beijing.

My backpack is a lot heavier than most people. I am one of the newbie and you can really tell. Most backpacks weigh around 8-9 kilos while mine is 12. I cut some of my foods at the hotel but couldn’t  really go further. Some of my equipment is also heavier than most people’s.

The first stage will be very difficult with over 30 miles to start with. I am a bit anxious but having good laughs with people here alleviates the apprehension.  

I am thinking of my family and wife, and friends. I must say it is not easy not hear Lorrie’s voice on the phone.

Wish me luck for tomorrow because I really don’t know what I will go through.

This has been a past tough couple of weeks because I've been having minor injury issues (achilles and ankle.) So I haven't done much by fear of exacerbating things. I feel better now and may go for a short run today and tomorrow.

I have yet to finalize my backpack strategy regarding weight. It's amazing how much food weighs and I don't want to sacrifice calories, not only because I like to eat, but because I don't know how I'd react with not many calories. My friend who did Gobi a few years ago had the minimum and mentioned that many people threw away food because of the heat and lack of appetite. I'm just not convinced I could handle it like he did.

I'm flying on Monday to Beijing, arriving there on Tue, and will fly to Bole on Friday. I want to get used to the time change and do some visiting. I'll make sure to avoid food poisoning.

I can't wait to meet the various competitors and organizers, and get started.

See you in Bole!

It is 100F in L.A this week. It is very difficult to train in such condition. Add the Santa Ana wind and low humidity in my area and you have a very desert like combination.

It is hard to squeeze more time training when you have a day job and other occupations or hobbies. But I managed to run over 70 miles last week and reach my 10,000 ft climbing goal. I know that Gobi will be twice harder as this but I feel more prepared psychologically than a week ago. This week I ran 20 miles on Saturday and Sunday. The downhills are really what takes a toll on one's body. But I'm happy with how my body recovers. This week and the next I will taper and focus on strength training. My goal is to run 50 miles this week with the backpack without worrying too much about elevation.