Hej Everyone!
 
The morning after double #5
 
Got up at 5.25am yesterday to get ready for the big one. We actually took buses to the first stage at 6.45am which was to bring us to an even more stunning location for the big one. Was not feeling 100% that morning and had not recovered from yesterdays race, the dehydration and diarrhea. I was even considering quitting the race before the double when I was shivering in my emergency blanket inside my sleeping bag. However, managed to down some tea and more of the granola breakfast that I cannot stand any longer, and started to feel slightly better. Sat in the back of the packed bus with the H.K american boys and the pineriver crew, Danny, Mark and WeiChao, slowly recovering while eating some of the peanut/rasin mix and listening to Byrons jokes. The sun was rising over the mountains and we drove up to about 2200m through a rock red canyon to the starting point, which was like a small hill station with the mudbrick flat houses looking out over the landscape. We got off the bus, and prepared for the long march, tightening our backpacks and filling up the semi-mandatory 1.5litre to carry until each check point where we are given another one.
 
The double marathon which started on a beautiful and red/brown huge plain km's wide with the snow capped TianShan (5000m+)  mountains as backdrop and we kept running closer to them over the plain and up another small mountain range followed by some serious range running which I powered down and got an applause of admiration from Stefan Danis who was chasing me. Passed Andrew without problems and set course down the river bed 10km until checkpoint 2. Was amazed how well it was going chasing down the dried out, very uneven river bed, keeping a pace of 10-11km/h with 160pulse and managed to pass at least 5 of the other competitors rendering a 11th position after 20.5kms!!! My right knee was killing me though, maybe because my right Asics trailrunners shoe had lost some of the sole in the mountain running the previous days. Took 600mg of ibuprofen and the doc suggested to also take 2x tylenol. Felt it was too much, and I do not like medicin, but hoped it would fix my knee. Unfortunately it did not really fix it and I started to get dizzy and sleepy, and started to lose one position after the other. Started to reconsider if I even care about the position and decided to turn on my ipod, learn some chinese from the podcasts I had downloaded, and just enjoy the beautiful scenery coming closer and closer to the TianShan range. Zombied through the next 30kms or so with a hurting knee, not able to run, limping even when walking and dropped to surely 35th position or so.... obviously I have not put in enough distance during the weeks to endure all these kms....At 50km checkpoint on a huge desert plain, in the middle of nowhere, they had some hot water and an overnight tent available for the ones going really slow. I was there at about 4pm and drank a quick chicken soup before power walking on with Danny, still having a right knee hurting, but not feeling as sleepy and dizzy as before.  When we hit the 60km checkpoint I decided to power on, not waiting for Danny who also had hurting knees and terrible feet, and got back into powerwalking at 4-5km/h but when another competitor passed me I did not want to take it anylonger and with the knee feeling better all of a sudden, I started run/limping and got up to speed and did not stop. Just wanted to get home. Was dreaming about a decent meal, but most of all just wanted to get to camp and have this over with. Ran as fast as I could for the remaining 10kms until the final check point and did not even stop there, rather just picked up the 1.5l bottle and ran with it down the desert road toward the base camp and the lovely red gobi banner at the finishline. Gave it all I could and got through the finish before night fall, and was given hugs and kisses from the volonteers and other competitors taking down number and position. YES! This felt like nothing - easy peasy. Had it not been for the hurting knee, I would run 80km any day! Got in at 24th position I believe - which I am happy with, ofcourse wondering what the timing would be if it had not been for all the walking. This renders an overall 15th position!! Not bad after 240kms and 120 competitors! Wonder how many have dropped out by now?
 
The base camp was another beautiful location, set among a group of trees and green grass in the middle of the rock desert with mountains all around. Eric, Andrew, WeiChao and John had already reached the tent, and we discussed the race while washing up and getting a bite to eat. I seemed to be feeling better than most, with WeiChao almost passed out as usual, Eric - the winner of the race having bloody diareah, and Sean, another competitor lying immobile in the medical tent with a infusion (dropp) and all having worse feet than me. So nice to have covered this almost last stage. Will have a good night rest now!
 
Woke up after a reasonably good nights sleep and saw that Byron and Luke also had arrived, sleeping heavily after coming in at around 4am. Had some breakfast around the early morning campfire with some of the others while watching competitors coming in in the wee morning hours. Mayuko from Japan came in after 23hrs having a serious limping and did not have any rest on the course at all! Eduardo from our tent came in at around 11.00 am after 26hrs looking much better, but had had a nap during the race. Interesting to see the spread from the top runners which are just unbeatable - like Rial, who is running 160kms a week - totalling 5500 miles a year! Then there is the slow walkers that just power it though on will alone, never having run a marathon or any competition at all.
 
Today is a beatiful day and we are just lazing around in the sun, taking care of our blisters and with, I promise, everyone limping around on very stiff legs. It feels like a long day to just hang around, but with everyone so shattered, I understand why they do not have a run today :) The toughest part with today is supplies and food. I have almost nothing left and skipping lunch today just to save on food, and my paper tissue is almost out also, so I am slicing mini pieces for using at the toilet etc. Hope I can run tomorrow for the final 10kms at 11am with just water and a muslibar, as I do not have any more food. It is a self sufficiency race, so sharing is not allowed, but that does not matter as everyone is super low as well. I traded some peanuts for some yummy chips from Andrew. So good to eat something different.
 
Ok - time to laze off again, thanks for all the blogs. Miss you Anna, Oscar and Alex. Cannot wait to call you and see you again on Sunday. Seems like ages still.
 
Cheers,
Ludvig
 
PS Looks like blog for race #3 did not get posted, sorry for that...spent a long time writing it!
PS2 You can also email me - but from the website only

Hi All!
 
(PS race #3 was uploaded late - the races are getting tougher and tougher - hence the delay before everyone has written their blogs)
 
Today was the best and the worst day so far, absolutely stunning scenery at heavens gate - a mountain arch at 3000m through which it seemed we could see to eternety. Then over mountain ridges at 2700m and then a long downhill to 2200m and finally reaching the destination after 6h58 - my longest race so far. Still managed to get in at 16th place, and have an overall score of 13th place. YES!!
 
Coming into basecamp I went straight after downing a recovery drink. Could not eat and just wanted to rest. I have obviously race fatigue combined with dehydration and I am feeling shivery and cold, and my tummy is not the best either.... I will go straight to bed as the double marathon tomorrow of 78.7km will start at 6.45.
 
All the best and wish me luck for tomorrow. It will be tough. Will also take some ibuprofen 600mg x 3 per 8h tomorrow to get my knees in order. Hope I can run it tomorrow - otherwise it will take aprox 20+hrs...hmm
 
Take care and thanks for all your blog entries. They make me teary eyed.

Had a pleasant evening chatting with my team mates at a riverbed yesterday night and had a long chat with Rob, one of the first in the world to climb Everest as a couple with his wife. He has done the "7 summits" - which is the tallest mountain in each continent and his wife felt it was time for a new challenge for them...otherwise Rob gets too busy with work :) Was content with my race first day (you can see the placings and some photos on the breaking news section of the 4deserts/gobi website). I came in 27th yesterday out of some 130 I believe and was happy with this, feeling it was better than expected given the heat and needing to leave some strength for the rest of the race)
 
Slept like a baby in the house of the soft oriental rugs about 7 hours! Only woke up a couple of times with the snoring of the teammates echoing against the walls :)
 
This morning, marathon #2 started at 9am with backpack not feeling any lighter, legs and shoulders aching, but with feet well wrapped at the blisterspots by the medical staff. Wow it was tough running - wanted to start walking after 500m.....but pushed through the first part of the race which was mostly uphill and then over some grasslands until first checkpoint. Found good mates to run with and soon realized that I was surprisingly doing better than yesterday and did all I could to keep my position. In fact I even found a couple of slowrunners ahead which were good targets for overtaking hehe. Second stage of the race was through a landscape of red sandy and rocky cliffs where we were running in what seemed like a dried out riverbed - found some more "fish to catch" :) - managed to pass a couple of the other runners and was almost reaching a top 10 position!!! Could not believe it! Adrenalin rush!!! Stage 3 came quicker than expected (there is normally a check point for every 10km in which we are given 1.5litre of water in which I normally add an electrolyte tablet and take either a powergel or a bar at each checkpoint) At this checkpoint I popped some almond butter (given to me earlier from Mark from Canada) and then shot off as quick as I could to keep my position (triathlons have taught me to keep the time in the checkpoints to a minimum)
 
Stage3 was a long march 11km across a rather boring plain of moving rocks, dried out ditches and some bushland. Soooo difficult to run without snapping an ankle, but pushed through as I hooked up with Stefan a 45year old executive from Canada that was strong as a horse. The last stage - stage4 was first a tough uphill and then a great downhill through another mars landscape with treacherous sliding red sandy hills - hot as an oven - apparently it hit 42 degrees, so I finished basically all my water and was too weak to keep up with Stefan who just marched ahead non-stop. However, at the very end standing high on top of the last red sandy hill, I could see our basecamp for the night some 1km away and saw Stefan not too far away....it is now or never. I gathered all the strength I could and barged down the hill and pushed through the grass/rock landscape until the finishline - came in just ahead of him - and stumbled into the finish tent and was so tired that I fell into the garden chair so hard that I broke one of the legs, but recovered fast after getting a water sprayed on my face and relaxing with my feet high until heading into out camp tent to drink some more water and prepare some freeze dried dinner. Came in today at a FANTASTIC 11th placing which gives and overall 17th placing after 2 marathons!!! A day to shine! Lets see if I have any strength left tomorrow....we will see. Need to save my muscles for the 80km "long march" which is a double marathon that is held as the 5th race. That one is going to be soooo tough......beginning to understand the real distance of what I have signed up for .....
 
The villagers have just arrived to our campsite and have brought some strange drums and long ornamented guitars that I have never seen before - they played some psychadelic tunes and the eldery men, as usual, danced as the first ones.
 
Will hit the sac early today, need to gather some strenght. Hugs and kisses to you all. Love to read your blog comments! Let me know if you see any nice pictures on the site, as I cannot unfortunately upload any and only have access to an excelsheet that summarized your blog replies. Dad - not to worry - the med tent is visited every evening...not too bad on blisters, just 3 so far + one toenail that we had to drill a hole through to let out some of the fluid. Promise you my feet are better than most. Anna - I am careful out there - monitoring my heart beat all the time, its pumpingfor you and pushing me through the race. Had an average of 160 yesterday and 165 today which is high but still in the decent range given the heat and backpack carrying. It's 20.30 in the evening but the sun is so hot, getting sunburnt on my feet here in the cybertent!
 
Take care and see you tomorrow!

First Marathon!
 
Woke up early with campfires glowing outside the tent and Zen music played by the organizers, still dark around 6.30am. What is today going to offer....? The sun was rising beautifully behind the mountains and we had communal breakfast on the wooden tables set outside our tents. There was a slight tense feeling in the air with everyone anticipating todays adventures. Race briefing was at 8am and race was started with a cheer at 9am with everyone lined up with the full gear and backpack.
 
First stage of the race was at 1800m elevation down in a canyon with a river flowing which was crossed many times. Feet wet after 500m already, but it felt quite nice with the mountain cold water cooling in the running shoes. Shortly after, leaving the stream we ran in to a valley that opened up with dramatic red cliffs hanging over us against a crystal clear dark blue sky and white capped majestic mountains towering in the background. This is among the most beautiful scenery I have seen / I think it is the view that will take me thorugh this gruelling race...! Managed to run a fair bit in the beginning with good speed despite the heavy pack and finding many racers to chat with along the way before passing them hehe :) Mid afternoon at around 11.30 and 20 some km into the race we started to understand this was a desert race. We were racing accross a 15km mountain plain with no shade whatsoever and the sun shining without mercy - making it even too hot at times to wear my white desert cap. The plain was very rocky and undulating with slippery sections making the running with the backpack quite difficult and I slowed down significantly here, exept for the end of the plain when I saw an opportunity to overtake a gang of racers and I let my heartbeat go into overdrive at 170-185 for about 5kms...with sweet victory passing some of the racers.
 
Last section of the 42km race today was through a dried out riverbed and into an oasis in the desert to a local village where we were going to sleep in a real house for the first and only time during the race! Last section was tough and I had difficulty keeping the running going without overheating and overheartbeating - but came in with a good placing among the top 30 at 5h38m with the local children holding my hands when crossing the finish line. What and ending of a beatiful race. Tears in my eyes.
 
Several of my tent mates are among the top 10 - we could be the fastest tent in the race - and they were already relaxing in the room on oriental carpets on sleeping bags. What a palace to stay in during the night! We relaxed, compared notes and had freezedried food for dinner after washing up in the afternoon sunlight.
 
As I am writing this, the local village people have gathered with the kids clad in their best clothes, loving that we take photo of them and the just now dancing started beside with oriental music and the eldery men in town showing their moves with the kids coming in to dance just now. What a party!
 
Greetings to you all, thanks for your support and see you again tomorrow! It will be a tougher 42km race with 3x more elevation - about 1000m in all. And then day 3 has double that and day 4 double this.....my feet are already taped and covering as yet small blisters. Hope for the best that it all keeps together...
 
Cheers!
 
/Ludvig
 

Wow. After day of gear checking, bag weighing, checking out the competitors, and just enjoying the pre-race atmosphere in Kashgar, we have now reached the grand canyon of kashgar 3 hours outside of town to an absolutely amazing welcome by the local Kirgi people. After hours on the bus, through beautiful rock and sand plateaus, dunes and mountains, hundreds of Kirgis clad in their best colorful outfits clapped as we marched into their land. We photographed them, they looked at us and we exchanged greetings and viewed a performance on a stage set-up with a long line of kids being the front row. The race was officially opened, and what a colorful opening! Now the dinner party in the evening sunrays begin and so did the local horse race and the "tossing of the dead goat on horseback thrown into the ring" began. The race was a great event and the betting began with great interest. I think there were many happy winners except the sheep which ended with one leg less and will be tonights mutton feast.
 
We have now had pasta dinner and I am writing this from a small "cyber tent" set up in our camping area with 6 other bloggers writing our days adventure on a mini and dusty rugged laptop in the desert wind in the middle of nowhere.
 
I am sharing a tent "the mongol" with about 8 other racers from US, Ireland, Portugal and China - most of which younger racers living in Hong Kong or ShangHai, except Wei Chao the Chinese top 100km North Face racer from Yunnan. It will be a battle...will fight for not being the last one home tomorrow ;)
 
What a day today....would not trade this day for anything. It is so beautiful. I want to take a million photos. The people are so beautiful. I want to speak Kirgi. I will race these mountains! It's an adventure and it has just started..
 
Tomorrow will be the first raceday, with about 41 easy kms without too much elevation, which will be a good start with a heavy backpack. 
 
Hugs to all friends out there, collegues and my lovely supporting family.
 
It is now 22.30 and the evening sky is red and blue with the sun setting behind the mountain ridge.
 
Take care and see you tomorrow again. 
 
PS - Sarskild kram till alskade Anna, Oscar och Alex. Kram till familjen hemma i Swe och alla vanner dar. Saknar er och onskar ni kunde vara med och dela denna otroliga upplevelse. Berattar om all nar jag kommer hem om ca 250km! Jag kan bara skicka en blog om dagen men kan lasa alla era svar pa bloggen - sa skriv pa!! Kram.
 
 

Arrived in Kashgar via

Last pre-race training - did a 28km run with full backpack this morning along the usual Airport Express way and following the river through JingshunLu and Shunyi. Had too walk/run the last 5km....but felling good tonight, so maybe another one before leaving on Friday for Kashgar!   

Lets hope it looks this good after Gobi....