I am now sitting in camp after finishing the 81km day around 7 hours ago at 5:33 a.m. after 21 1/2 hours out on the course. Its taken until now t get enough energy to walk to the cybertent! I really dont know where to start so i'll just throw out a few observations...
 
- after over 200km and only 8km from the end of the stage I had my first blister which I had drained and bandaged by the medic at about 4 a.m. in the middle of the Flaming Mountains. Relatively speaking my feet aren't that bad - there are some real case studies here.
 
- I buddied up with Paul and Selam from HK and Alex from Tokyo for most of stage 5. Paul's feet are so bad he's going to buy a pair of black crocs two sizes large for work - no way he can wear normal shoes.
 
- durings sections 3 & 4 of stage 5 the temperature hit 49 degrees. I found a derilict house and caught some shade. Others came across a water hydrant which they opened and stripped down to get some respite. There were competitors sleeping on the side of the road as the evening came. The camp site is like a war zone. Never seen anything like this before! Imagine MASH!
 
- having said all that it was stage 4 that nearly caused me to collapse and not stage 5. My Maclehose experience was invaluable on the long day. I was in no rush, took a total of 5 hours in rest stops and timed the longest to avoid part of the heat of the day. I knew that I just needed to keep going and that night was the best time to make ground. Apart from the blister in the middle of the ball of my right foot and the incredible stink, I feel ok!
 
- my biggest issue has been nausea. I cant even look at an Expeditions Food bag without wanting to vomit. I cant take perpetuem or nuuns - my stomach willl reject them. I've survived the last 2 days on beef jerky (thanks to Dan), plain noodles (Adam), South African dried sausage (Lionel) and dried Apricots which I bought in Parma, Cup-a-Soups and Salt & Vinegar crisps. I've given away far more than I ate - I reckon at least 1-1 1/2 kg. Getting my food wrong has cost me energy and time but in this adventure working a way through it is the greatest and most satisfying challenge.
 
- tomorrow is an 11km hobble to the finish line. We'll carry each other if need be. I'm looking forward to some solid food and a cold drink. The value of the simple things in life is amplified here.
 
Thank you again everyone for your blogging and support. Anya, Mum, Chamonix, Carl, Vitaly. All my friends in HK and at Asia Circle. I look forward to seeing you all soon!

I’m only going to make a short blog this evening and will write more once back in HK. Today was the toughest day of my life. I was always expecting the dunes to be tough, but what ensued was nuts. It took me approx.. 11 hrs to do 37km vs 7:14 to do 44 yesterday. The temperature was rumoured somewhere between 44 and 54 degrees. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Three of my tent mates have now pulled out and these are serious guys; a top 3 Atacama finisher, a two time Marathon de Sable finisher and a 7 time Maclehoser. People on IV dris, vomiting etc.. Unbelievable.

I threw up at check point 2 which is the best thing I did all day as the nausea that started last night finally passed. I still cant get a meal down me but have consumed over 1000 cals of liquids, recoverite and soup. Whether or not to continue tomorrow for the 81km day will depend on what I can consume over the next 10 hours..

Anya, the girl whose husband I put you in touch with has dropped out so he will not be coming. I hope you’ve managed to sort the transport out. Ti’amo..

What a day! This was one incredible experience..

Last night I took a whole sleeping pill and had the best nights sleep to date, followed by my favourite breakfast; Cooked Breakfast by Backpackers Pantry –top tip for future Gobi-ers. I only wish I had more than two of them.. Today I had a strategy and for once stuck to it. The course was 44.5km with a lot of river crossings during the first 10km. My target was 8hrs and the strategy was to march the first 19km and wade straight through the rivers, stop at check point 1 and dry feet, put on loob and fresh socks and then continue. It worked a treat. By the time I got to Section 3 I felt full of energy and ran the next 19km aided by AC/DC and Pink Floyd. I could swear that AC/DC was specifically composed to extreme adventures. The first song that came up on my ipod was Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Given that I was at 2000m on a mountain in road in the Gobi surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery on the planet, the opening lines were quite apt.

The euphoria of that moment however soon came to a halt when I hit the last 6.5km which was a nightmare. The temperature was now up to 42 degrees and I was running on empty. I came in at 7 hrs 13 minutes and was absolutely knackered, however I’m very happy with the time – I just hope that I haven’t gone too hard to early. Tomorrow is the day most of us are dreading..

We have to wake up at 2:30 a.m. to eat and prepare before a 4 a.m. bus ride to the starting point. We then face 10km of 100m sand dunes with sheer faces in searing heat followed by a further 28km of dunnettes (whatever they are). I am not looking forward to this so will be hydrating as much as possible tonight.

Anya, grazie per il venti messagi! Ieri non potevo mandare un messagio perque il satellite non funzione. Non e culpo mio J. Io penso di te sempre e capito que questo e difficile per te. Non domentica que ti’amo tanto. OK? Baci..

Carina, Carl, can you please teach Mum how to send a message? I thought that by the 3^rd day I may have heard something from her..

Friends, thank you for your messages and blogs. I didn’t realize until picking them up just now how much it helps to know you guys are following this and supporting me. I really appreciate it.

Until tomorrow..

Stage 2 was not what was expected. When we woke up at 6 a.m. for an 8 a.m. start we were in the middle of clouds and close to zero visibility which meant we wouldn't be able to see the markers. Long story short we didn't get started until 12 noon and then on a drastically shortened course from 41km down to 22km. It was also windy and raining (!) with the temperature hovering between 10 and 15 degrees - so basically we had a training run something similar to the first half of the HK trail in February.
 
At the end of the stage we had to cross a river so everyone shoes are wet and it's too cold for them to dry out. Tomorrow we have a lot of river crossings so it's going to be a long wet day. I'm sure the buzz in the camp after todays 'let off' will be somewhat more mute..
 
A quick thank you here to Eddie for the jacket. It's awesome - I owe you one. We spent 4 hours this morning trapped in our tent while it bucketed down and when you can get moving to keep warm it comes down to the gear..
 
Anya, mi manci tanto a non vedo l'ora di incontrarti Sabato..
 
Chamonix, daddy misses you very much. I hope you're having a good time in London with the family and hope you have been able to find some photos of me on the website!

If today was meant to be the easiest section, then I’m in for the most challenging week of my life. I thought that 35km with 600m of ascent and no sand dunes would be quite straight forward and for the first 15km it was – I was looking at a 5 ½ - 6 hour time – which would have been great. Then reality hit – the 3rd stage was brutal. 10km took 2 ½ hours not helped by the calf cramps that started as soon as I hit the climbs – my own stupid fault because in all the excitement of going at a good pace I forgot to take my electrolytes. In the end I came in just over 7hrs. I reckon I lost an hour to cramps, just like Maclehose last year. Need to stretch it out and hydrate tonight and regulate intakes better tomorrow otherwise I’m in for an even tougher day than what’s already in store.

The winner finished in 4 hours 1 min vsa  predicted time of 3 hrs 7 mins. That shows how tough it was today. Many people who have done multiple events have said this is the hardest first day they’ve ever experienced. It’s now 5:15, over 9 hours since we started and there are still people coming in. Brutal..

Apart from that the good news is my feet are fine. There are already a lot of people walking round bandaged up. Hope I can avoid that as long as possible.. My shoulders ache thanks to the 11kg pack I carried for 7 hours. I’ll be taking that apart this evening and ditching whatever I can – especially food. Expect me to have lost some weight Anya..!

After only one day my clothes are already covered in salt from sweat and dust from the trails. My main motivation for finishing this race is now to see what sort of a state I’m in when I cross the finish line. It’s going to be quite something!

Thank you for the emails and blogs. Anya, I received both your messages just now. Carl great to hear from you, take care out there. Andrew, was that grammatical ambiguity deliberate? – wear vs where?!

I think I’ll sleep well tonight..

We are at camp 1 and the beginning is in sight - the first freeze dried meal has been consumed along with local bread from the kryzg village we're staying at. On route from the hotel we stopped at a local festival brought forward one day so the strange tight clad foreigners could see it. I got a classic photo of a todller on his dads head with his ass hanging out. Apparently by cutting the bum out of the jumper suit you can save on nappies... (diapers for those using American English).
 
My guys only tent is has 5 HK expats, an Argentinian, a Singaporean, an English guy living in Cambodia and a German who thought the St. Andrews Cross was the Slovakian flag and the St. Georges Cross was the Cambodian flag. And I thought the American's were the ones with poor geography..!
 
Stage 1 starts tomorrow at 8 a.m. - 38km so a relatively short day. From what I've been told the key is not to start too fast as there is much worse to come. Day 4 sounds like a nightmare. We have to wake up at 2:30 a.m. to get on a bus by 4 a.m. and drive 3 hours to the start where we're faced with 10km of sand dunes. The only good news is that my backback will be lighter by then. At 11kg I've got one of the heavier packs - too much food I think. May end up ditching some once I see how first few days go otherwise I'll end up putting weight on by the end of this which would be rather ironic.
 
Anyway, time to have an early night and get on with it. Enough waiting...

Well here it is, the last day in civilisation for a while at least. I would like to write that I'm ready but that would be wishful thinking. The word 'training' is a misnomer for what I have managed over the last 4 weeks. Thanks to a ridiculous work schedule I've managed only a few 25-30km outings and a few runs, and that's it. Last weekend after two cancelled attempts (due to HK's typhoon season finally arriving), I finally managed Maclehose 3, 4 and 5 (upto marker 101). A combination of 90% humidity, severe heat warnings, a full pack and lack of sleep made it one of the slowest schleps I've ever done. Thankfully Gobi wont have those climbs or the humidity, though the heat...

Anyway, the tent assignments have been announced! I could have been an antelope, horse or tiger, but the organisers with incredible insight and wisdom have put me with the donkeys. I'm serious, I'm in the donkey tent. Given last weekend effort up Ma On Shan I think that's appropriate. My objective will be to make sure the donkey keeps moving and makes it to the finish line. 

At least Anya's happy - I'm in one of very few all boys tents. Exactly what could be appealing about a member of the opposite sex who hasnt washed for a week, is wearing the same clothes and talks about foot conditions I'm not sure, but she's happy I'm in an all boys tent anyway!

Last night I packed my bag for the first time. The pack looks like it will start at about 11.5kg which is about 1.5kg heavier than I'd hoped for and trained with. This is mainly down to too much food. I'll try and shave a little off before leaving but better too much food than too little I think..?

So wish me luck! I'll be logging on at the end of each stage energy permitting and will update you on all the fun as it unfolds. Hope to hear from you during the event..

If this weekend was anything to go by, this race is going to be even harder than I thought..

Having done no training distance beyond 35km (which is shorter than all but the 7th day of the Gobi March), I started out at 7 a.m. to meet a few fellow 'Gobi-ers' on the HK trail. 50km, 7 litres of liquid and 9 hours later I stumbled into Big Wave Bay village alone, my fellow competitors having either taken alternate routes or left me in their wake, and looking as destroyed as I felt.

If there was anything good to come from the session it was that I completed the 50km and my knees gave me no trouble at all. The following day I was able to go back out again (albeit for a shorter distance), but at least I felt ok. On the negative side I was 60-90 minutes of the pace I'd like to be achieving and I had a few blisters which is something I've never had before - I put this down to the humidity. It was ridiculously humid. Within 15km my shoes squelched every step. Combine this with two pairs of socks, shoes 1 1/2 sizes too large and another 35km and you get a few blisters.  There wont be any humidity in Gobi, but the heat there will be just as bad or worse so I'm not sure how it all stacks up. Watch this space during the race.

Now here comes the intersting bit for anyone that does these sorts of races, and the part where you stop reading if you dont...

One of my fellow competitors mentioned that 'you'll get to know everything about the feet of everyone in your tent - macerations, blisters, lubricants - you name it. Still reading??

So last night while watching Nadal win the French open for the 6th time, I read that global best seller 'Fixing Your Feet' - and what a compelling read it is. Shantaram move aside. This morning when I tried to show my favourite bits of the book to my fiance over breakfast she told me it was not interesting to her and was putting her of her breakfast. I thought that at least before marriage we should share mutual interests but apparently I have found the limit..

Well that's it for today. Planning to do Maclehose 3, 4 and 5 upto marker 100 next Sunday and then that's it for hiking training prior to the event.

So here it is, the first blog of my life. I've managed to avoid blogs until 2011 which is quite a feat, but now there is no choice. Actually, I only ever kept a diary once in my life, when I worked on a kibbutz in Isael in 1989. Within a week my room mate read it, told his girlfriend what I'd written about her girlfriend, and I understood why I'd never written a diary before and hence since..!

Anyway, back to the purpose of this blog. In just over 3 weeks I shall be heading to Urumqi to compete in my first (and apparently my last according to my fiance), 250km race. I've done two 100km Maclehose's in the past two years, but nothing like this where for 7 consecutive days I'll need to deal with temperatures approaching 50 degrees and carry all my provisions. For any of you who think I must be mad, I tend to agree. I was never the sort of kid at school who liked distance. My view was 'why run 1500m to get back to where you started?', so the transition that has brought me to this stage can only be put down to some sort of 'health driven' mid-life crisis.

My training has been average at best. After a good April where I was getting in around 60-70km per week, May was a write off due to business travels which limited me to the odd 10km run which really doesn't do much for this sort of race. I returned from Europe 6 days ago and since then have done a 25km hike, two gym sessions and a half marathon so that's a decent start, but the next two weeks are key. Hope I can shake this cold...