Another amazing day out there today.  It really is just totally gorgeous.  I actually felt like I was back in Switzerland for some stages of the day, as it looked really alpine with all the big mountains and beautiful trails.  And with mountains goes lots of climbing and descending.  Some incredibly steep climbs today, and long, long, descents.  Actually, I'm not sure some of the climbs were actual trails......they just stuck the pink flags into a mountain side and set us up it for a laugh.  Camp is stunning though, overlooking the mountains.

 

Had some long grass to run through today too.  Met a snake in there.  Luckily I didn't look like much of a meal to him, so we just looked at each other and went our separate ways.

 

We seem to have a lot of local spectators for this race.  Every time I want to stop for a pee there are about ten local Chinese standing on the side of the road cheering us on.  It's made me think that ultra running must be the worst spectator sport ever.  I mean, you sit by the side of the road for HOURS, and watch a bunch of stinky weirdos shuffling past at about 5kms/hr.  It's hardly high adrenaline!  So far I've been saving my pee stops until I'm out of sight of the spectators, but I think I might start giving them the full experience - after all, they should really know what this sport is all about!

 

My body is holding up pretty well.  Some horrendous chafing on my back from my pack, but nothing a bit of tape couldn't fix.  Some nice oedema in my legs, making my cankles look particularly fetching, and a giant unidentified bruise forming on my front shin.  It makes my tan look better though, so I'm rolling with it.

 

Ryan - You know, its funny, I was thinking about the Eiger race and Davos today as I was doing all this climbing (like, why the hell did I sign up for a race with 6000m's of climbing, this hurts! :)  Seriously though, why don't you do Eiger this year?!  And I am definitely in for Davos, but I'm pretty sure I'll run with Em, and then we can go and drink beer all afternoon while you boys run!

 

Mum - it's funny that it's raining out in the desert....just as you're about to turn up.  I am making a connection here.

Thank you again everyone for all your brilliant messages - it's really lovely to hear from you all.

 

More tomorrow!

 

B x

I saw a sticker a few months ago that said ‘Ultrarunning is like a mullet…..all business at the front, party at the back!’.  And that’s what its been like today….party at the back!  The course was fairly easy going today and the weather was mostly kind to us (apart from the freak storm with torrential rain and 40mph winds for about 20 minutes).  Had loads of fun out on the course.

 

It’s all kicking off at camp.  The Chinese have got Gangnam style rocking at full volume – might have to go for a boogie in a minute.  We’re right on the banks of a beautiful river.  When I got here, the hardcore Italians were sat in it taking a full body soak.  I thought it looked nice, until I dipped my toe in and almost lost it to frostbite.  Now everything from my waist down is numb (which may actually be an advantage on the course tomorrow!).

 

Thank you everyone for all the great messages – Steph – we’re right on the border on the other side of the mountains to you, so pop over for a cuppa and a freeze dried spag bog!  A-M – Yes, we’re in tent Flammersfeld!! J  We miss you, but you’re here with us in spirit.   And of course there will be pics!

 

Off to bed now –more tomorrow! X

 

Oh, and todays step count…55726.

Had a lovely day out on the course today.  It is incredibly beautiful out here.  Really lush and green, not like a desert at all....and loads of beautiful mountains.  I was a very happy runner today.

 

I saw loads of wildlife out on the course.  Crazy looking cows and sheep.  Wild horses.  Hairy camels.  Dung beetles rolling away a huge ball of dung.  And lots of middle aged men in lycra.  Not sure what was the weirdest thing.....

 

Had a bit of a food malfuntion earlier today....dropped half an energy bar whilst trying to eat and run.  The 5 second rule definitely applies under normal circumstances....actually its more of a 15 second rule out here.  Unfortunately though the bar fell in a pile of dung.  Took a split second to think whether to leave it or recover it.  Quickly realised it was definitely worth recovering - I mean there was at least 200 calories left in that bar, more with the added dung - but I've decided to keep it in reserves.  I picked it up and put it carefully back in its wrapper, and its back in my pack.  That could come in handy during the long stage!

 

Met some great people out on the course.  I found a couple of german guys to run with briefly, which gave me a great opportunity to practice my German.  After about 20 minutes, my poor grammer and short slow legs were too much for them, and they ran on.

 

I had my first official weigh in during the race and I lost 2.5lbs today.  Bag has only lost 800 grams, so so far I'm in the lead.

 

I'm taking part in a team challenge at work where we record our steps for the day, so I'm wearing a pedometer all week.  Moha - if you're reading this, can you update my steps please.....yesterdays count was 5947.  Todays count was 61027!

 

Not much else to report from China!

 

Thank you everyone for all the lovely messages and blog comments....keep them coming!

 

More tomorrow,

 

B x

Everything done now and ready to head out to camp. By bag had its official weigh in - 9.8 kgs (without water), which is actually light for me....might be room to throw in a few extra snacks before I go! It looks huge though! I will look like a backpack with legs for the first few days until I've eaten my way through half of its contents. I had my official weigh in too - 130lbs. I'm taking part in a study to monitor dehydration / salt levels throughout the week. My guess is that I'll lose about 5kgs from my backpack and 10lbs from my thighs by the end of the race! Watch this space for the final result! Managed to almost miss breakfast, so by the time I get there the only things left were hard boiled eggs, some steamed dumplings and chopped apple. So now I have four hard boiled eggs inside of me on top of the 3kgs of nectarines from yesterday. My poor body - it hates me already and I haven't even started the race yet. (and my poor tent mates, having to deal with that!) Just time now for my last shower and hair wash of the week, and to put the last bit of charge into my ipods........

Well, after 18 hours of travelling, I have finally completed the long journey from home to Bole. I first came to China in 1998, when I was here for a few months on a work assignment. From the brief glimpse I had of Beijing today when I first arrived, the city has changed dramatically. One thing that hasn't changed though is the smell. I can't place it, but as soon as I stepped off of the plane, the memories from 15 years ago came flooding back. It kind of smells a bit like when you leave your washing in the washing machine for too long, and eventually hang it out and it has that kind of musty smell. How is it that a whole city smells like that?! And the spitting. Boy, I had forgotten about the spitting. The Chinese are champions at it. They do it everywhere. On the street, out their car windows. And not just little delicate 'pppttts', but huge, clear your complete nasal passage of everything, snorts. I have decided to embrace it....'when in China' and all that, and have been trying to become culturally integrated and give it a go too . So far, all I've been successful in doing is giving myself a nose bleed, but I hope to have perfected the art of it by the end of the trip. On a positive note though, my nose is completely blocked now, so I'm not bothered by the old washing smell anymore. So far, everything has gone really smoothly. I had a short stop over in Beijing. Just enough time to have a quick go on the squat toilets, and buy 3kgs of nectarines?! I wanted a healthy snack, and that was the only thing on the fruit stand that I even vaguely recognised or would begin to know how to eat, and somehow ended up with 3kgs of them. I then had an 8 hour layover in Urumqi. After a quick sleep on the airport benches like a hobo, I got a little peckish and went for some food. Apparently my chinese for 'I don't eat meat' got a little lost in translation, and I ended up ordering a giant plate of fried chicken. So the nectarines came in really handy. 3 kgs later, I had a little bit of belly ache and needed another lie down on the airport bench. 3kgs of nectarines as fuel may prove for an interesting start to the race! I pity the competitors who end up behind me on the course! These races are all about learning experiences, discovering new things about yourself. Today I have learned that I am not a glamorous traveller. I always see these celebs in magazines, getting off of long haul flights looking gorgeous and groomed. Well, that is not me. I truly look like I've been travelling for 18 hours, have had my only sleep in that time for a couple of hours on an airport bench, and have eaten 3 kgs of nectarines. I definitely won't be making the cover of OK magazine! Still, the good news is that I still probably look better right now than I will all week once I get running, so I'm making the most of it. Oh, and its warm here...yay! 'Summer' in Switzerland has been kind of slow to arrive this year, and we've all been wondering where the sun is. Well, the good news is that I've found him! Here's been here the whole time. I'm basking in it right now, absolutely loving it. It may not feel so nice in a few days time when I'm trying to run in it! The mountain ranges we flew over coming into Bole were just stunning. I can't wait to get out there and start running on them. Anyway, off to get some sleep now. My last night in a bed tonight before we head out to camp tomorrow. Next installment from the desert!!

Less than 12 hours from now I'll be on a plane on the first leg of my journey to the Gobi desert.  This will be my 6^th Racing The Planet event, and one of countless ultra distance races I have participated in.  I am so excited.  Just the thought of these races fills me with so much energy.   

 

 

My journey into ultra-marathons was kind of accidental.  It all started when a friend of mine sent me a link to a 250km race in Namibia in February 2009, less than 3 months before the race start.  'Check this out!', she wrote, 'This is nuts!  250Kms in 5 stages....through Namibia....self-supported.....that's like a marathon per stage, and one stage you do over two marathons....absolute madness!'.  I checked out the website.  Yep, definitely madness.  I mean, I ran marathons, but I knew how I felt after finishing one.  To get up and run another one the next day, and the next, carrying 10+kgs on your back.  Madness.  But something intrigued me about it.  The race advertised itself as 'The worlds toughest endurance event'.  The more I thought about it, the more I figured 'how hard could it really be?!'.  Within three days I was signed up.

 

 

Let me tell you, I had absolutely NO idea what I was letting myself in for.  The first stage was around 40kms – just short of a marathon distance.  I had run a road marathon a couple of months before and comfortably run just under four hours.  The first stage in Namibia took me 12 hours.  Some people didn't even finish.  The race chewed me up and spat me out.  Every day got tougher and tougher.  I could barely sleep as I was in so much pain.  My feet were a total mess – covered in blisters and hugely swollen to a point that I could barely get them in my shoes.  My legs constantly throbbed in agony.  Then there was the long stage – 100kms in distance.  I had never gone further than a marathon before.  Here I was, body broken, energy drained, attempting 100kms through a desert.  I genuinely thought I wasn't going to make it.  I was moving so slowly I thought I would get cut off.  But I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, and somehow I got there.  I emailed my family from the desert with one simple message.....'this is horrendous!  I am totally beat!  If I EVER talk about signing up for anything like this again, then PLEASE step in and stop me (maybe even commit me to some kind of mental institution)!'.  But then the final day came.  The finish line.  It was like nothing I've ever experienced before.  A moment that marked the end of an incredible journey.  A week filled with the most phenomenal highs and lows.  For sure there was pain and suffering (a lot of it!), but that was quickly forgotten.  There was scenery that I was privileged to get to experience on foot, something not many will ever get to see.  Deep bonds forged with people who I had never met before this event, but who had shared this roller coaster journey with me and still remain friends to this day.  Moments in time that I will never forget.  I had pushed my physical and mental boundaries beyond anywhere I had ever gone before.  I accomplished things, overcome challenges, that I wouldn't have believed possible just a week earlier.  This race had made me grow so much as a person.  I had become me, but better.

 

 

You can never put in words why ultra-running is good.  I mean logically, it's ridiculous!  You suffer, I mean really suffer.  You pay good money to live in the most basic way possible for a week.  All you get is a piece of canvas over your head every night, and some water.  You have to make your own way from camp to camp every day, and everything you might need for the week has to be brought with you and carried on your back.  Whoever thought of this business model and managed to get people to sign up for it is a marketing genius!  But the basic'ness' of it all is what makes it.  It is raw.  All the BS of life completely disappears.  You get the chance for one week to live completely in the moment.  The sheer effort of the physical task is so consuming, that there is no time for your mind to think about anything else.  All that matters is one foot in front of the other.  Every race provides a new challenge.  A new adventure.  A new incredible part of the world to explore.  New people to meet, and old friends to re-connect with.

 

 

I can't wait to get out there now and get started.  Meet up with my tent mates, most of whom are friends I have made from previous races, take my last shower of the week, tape up my feet, and set off.

 

 

I will try and blog every day from the desert.  I promise that none will be as lengthy or philosophical as this post! :)  I always think of these incredibly witty and inspiring things to blog about every day while I'm out on the course, but by the time I get in to camp at the end of the day and get my few minutes on the laptop, it's usually reduced to 'it was hot....everything hurts'. 

 

 

So tune in for the next installment!  And get to hear more about how much my tent mates snore, and how the freeze dried food has given me a dodgy stomach!

 

 

It is really brilliant to receive messages out there.  It is so nice to get in at the end of the day, and hear some news from home.  So please send me messages or comments! :)  (even if you don't know me....the more the merrier! :)

 

 

That's all for now.  Next installment from China.......