I will boarding a Korean Airlines flight in Los Angeles enroute to Beijing. Although I am ready for another adventure in an ancient and far-off land, I wish I could say that I am more prepared physically than I am. It has been a brutally busy spring with me being on the road much more than normal. Lots and lots of instructing and training new aerial supervisors for the upcoming western fire season....which is already here.... Last week was the first real opportunity to get some decent heat training in the bag. And although I had planned a few trips to get in the all-important altitude training, it seems my "taper" may be committed to hitting the local 3,000 M peaks. Maybe I can get the Captain of the flight to lower the differential on the way across the Pacific, so I could run up and down the isles for a few hours. Yeah, so...what about the other passengers? I'm sure they could use a bit of sleep, right? I'm pretty sure I've got most of my food and equipment ready to go. I tried going to a Solomon Raid Revo 30 this time. And while it is a nice light pack, I didn't like the waist belt, as it hurt my back a bit. So I went back to a Gregory Z-30. I also decided to switch from my Saucony's, which served me extremely well in the Sahara, to Brook's Cascadia. I tested them on the Pacific Crest trail a couple of times, and I really like them. Nice and light, but with a bit more grip. They are back from the cobbler now, broken in and ready to go. I think I will bring two sets of clothes to Kashgar, and will then, I guess, flip a coin on which I should bring to the course. I am looking forward to seeing the friends I made in Egypt, and meeting new friends. It's kind of strange thinking about going to a place so soon (for a pleasure trip) after a major natural disaster. I know that the people that we will meet in our travels maybe weren't impacted directly. I also know seeing the distruction I have seen, it does have a national impact, and in many cases has a global impact. We can do our part by being sympathetic to those we meet, as well as think of ways to donate....something..... While the notion of spending three days in the same grimy clothes, only to take a nice hot shower....and then get right back into the same grimy clothes, doesn't really appeal to me.... ( been there), I do hope that some of these diamond companies, or multi-national financial corporations bid to get their employees a nice hot shower. I'll buy a few frisbees. Heck, frisbees are more fun than a shower or bath, right? Ask any 6 year old......or a 42 year old that would travel literally half way around the world to run in a place that means " You go in, and you don't come out." FT Peace, KCP

Hello.......

It's winter here in the high desert of California. Normally it not a real pleasant place or time to train. A biting cold wind is the norm, and up until I got back from Egypt I was never a cool weather guy. It's that medium ground cold that gets me. Having lived in Washington state and worked in Alaska, I had plenty of opportunity to run in  the"cold", and that really didn't bother me as much. When it's really cold, you can bundle up, and never really overheat. However in this type of "cool" too many clothes and you sweat too much.....and then the wind penetrates...and quite frankly, it's miserable.

This winter, however, there has been an unusual lack of wind. But I think even more important than that is the fact that since completing Sahara Race 2007, I have been eating like never before. This has added weight (read a layer of fat) and I have a bit better insulation now. I suffer from a condition called Anosmia, which is a lack of the sense of smell....and ultimately a sense of taste. So, while that is not such a bad thing........sharing a tent with 7 others for 5 days, for instance,............I have always eaten simply for fuel; to stay alive. So what changed in Egypt? I have no idea. I thought, for a while, that maybe I was eating for myself and a population of "friends" I had brought back from the camel trough at the Oasis on stage 4. Nope. I would think that a change in diet would take more than a week to be "habit" forming. But maybe that's it. I've never had to train to maintain a weight before. But I think that if I were to vegitate too long now....

Wendy (my wife) and I ran the rock n roll marathon in phoenix last weekend. Wendy cut almost 30 minutes off of her best time. Some other races I have planned...LA marathon in March, Leona Divide 50 miler in April (I'm thinking I'll use this as a final test of my gear, which I have changed significantly from Egypt)....I'm also planning some altitude training. I can do that here close to home, but I was also thinking of heading to the casa in Mexico, and doing a trip down to the Colima volcanoes....mainly cuz it would be fun.

I'm happy one of my tent-mates, Kobi, will be running the Gobi, as well. Hopefully there will be more of the great people I met in Egypt there, as well.

More on what lessons I learned from the Sahara later....and there were lots.

Peace,

KCP