Seems my stage 4 and stage 5 updates did not get posted. The injury continued through Stage 4 and at the start of Stage 5 I was barely able to walk. The docs told me that I could continue as the injury would not cause permanent damage but that I would be in pain. Going into 80k long stage in the blistering heat was a daunting task let alone having to feel pain every step I took. I had some pain killers and decided to give it a shot. 20.5 hours later I finished the long stage. It was very challenging but I met some lovely people along the way that were able to distract me from focusing on the pain. The last 30k were extra difficult but with the help of two other American runners turned walkers, we finished to the end.

Stage 6 was cancelled due to an apocalyptic sandstorm so I didn

I will never be able to accurately describe what I went through on stage 5. On Thursday morning I woke up with a completely swollen left leg from ankle to knee. How on earth could I manage 80k on that? The pain was insane and I couldn

The mood changed a bit for me today. Got in about an hour ago and let myself be cranky and now the smile comes back on. I have developed an overuse injury after yesterday on my left ankle. It's not debilitating-but just an added pain to overcome. We did a full marathon today. It took my legs about an hour to overcome the soreness from the last two days. Then we had some technical terrain (lots of rocks). By the time I got into full running mode it was raining hard. Lots of wind also. At checkpoint 3 my gloves were soaked and the doctors told me to put on a pair of my socks as makeshift glove-a far cry from my fancy days in manhattan! Overall, it was not my best day. Barely made it into top half overall. Just found out I am ranked 11 of 46 women. Tomorrow is stage 4 and the goal is to keep it light because Thursday is stage 5 and is 80k. Still lots of kms to make up ground (we aren't even halfway there yet!). I think I have the endurance on the long distance to make up some ground. Time to rest up, fuel up and get the mind ready for tomorrow. Big shout out to the ABI GPO Team-thanks for the support and love guys!