Hi All,

We

Good Evening All!

Well what to say about today...bloody miserable! 42kms through rough terrain and driving rain, we haven't had the weather I would usually associate with a desert. I started today slowly due to ankles and knees playing up, but managed to run all of stage 2 and 4, overall got in just over 7 hours. Really tough going, had plenty of low points, but every race does - so I'm glad I got through today. Fingers crossed the weather improves over the next few days. Dad came in about 20 mins after me, so he is placing well too.

Outside the race, we have been staying in yurts and local villages, however we are back in tents tonight, hopefully the rain stays away so we can dry our clothes overnight!

The people here have been awesome, really friendly and have been a source of comfort towards the end of the day.

Thanks for all your comments, it keeps me entertained when I'm reading them in a hut at the end of the day!

Xx

After a 3 hour bus tip we arrived at camp 1; we were greeted by the local villagers singing and dancing, which was great to see! We met the rest of our tent mates and had a social round the fires before heading off for a disturbed night due to the wind and rain.

Stage 1 started through a valley and then we popped out onto some rolling grass plains. At this point the gods decided it would be a little more interesting and challenging to cast us into a snow blizzard! We have obviously signed up for the wrong race, with memories of Iceland rushing back! It dramatically changed the scenery and we were now faced with white sand dunes and frozen over/muddy fields. The last 10kms were tough going into camp but we made it in good times, 5 and 6 hours respectively.

Camp 2 is a little different, we are sharing a large, traditional 'yurt'with roughly 40 people in total, so it's pretty cozy! Getting in early has given us another chance to meet some other competitors, and it seems like a good crowd.

Tomorrow brings an early climb into the mountains followed by a long descent, so we are told! So fingers crossed it should be a relatively 'easy'stage, hopefully the weather will hold this time around.

More news will follow on one of our blogs tomorrow.

Sam and Chris

After 2 days of on/off travel we have arrived in the host town of Hami! It took a 4 hour coach ride, 10 hours on a plane, another 4 on a different plane and 8 hours in a car-safe to say we've enjoyed the rest day prior to the race. We had a quick wander around Hami, which is a 'small' Chinese town of 600,000 people! In the evening we had kit check and went for a last supper with some fellow competitors. There seems to be a good mix of people, who I'm sure I'll meet and get to know a little better of the next few days. Our bus leaves for Camp 1 at 1500, then we camp out and kick things off tomorrow morning at 0800, I can't wait!

Will keep you posted over the coming days, if anyone could send through the weekend rugby scores that would be great, and for the Welsh contingent; sorry to hear about JD!

The days are flying by! Last check on the countdown shows a mere 19 days remaining!

Food

Training has been a bit more structured over the last few weeks. It has mainly consisted of a medium run in the week, followed by three consecutive longer runs over the weekend. I managed to get away with the rest of my family which provided a great change of scenery for training. Since I have got back to Cardiff, I have managed to track down some beautiful trails, those plus the increasing temperatures are making the longer runs much more pleasant!

I have refined my food situation and have finally decided on; porridge for breakfast, gels, bars and nuts as snacks, with an 800kcal meal and recovery supplement in the evening. That way it is keeping the pack light, but also making sure I am over the recommended 2000kcals/day.

Forty

Before I begin, it's probably best to give a brief background on me!

I'm 23, English-man living in Cardiff, Wales. I'm a full-time MSK physiotherapist, and have previously completed 2 RTP events (Atacama Crossing 2010, Iceland 2013).

I will be competing in the Gobi with my dad, Chris, however we will be racing separately after having completed Iceland in 2013 as part of a team. After having completed a few events I feel I know areas of improvement and how to train specifically related to me. I have started the New Year will multiple short distance runs of 5-6 miles throughout the week with minimal weight, with a longer 10 miler at the weekend. Obviously work makes it tough to squeeze in long distances during the week, therefore the weekend is where I accomplish some more time on my feet, social life depending! The plan is to gradually increase weekend distances and enter some races prior to the Gobi to keep myself motivated.

Kit-wise I already own the majority: therefore it is a case of fine tuning and trying to shed as much weight as possible. I think last time my pack weighed just shy of 10kgs, so there are a few kilos to be shed there! For the last few races I have packed too much food and with that comes the increase in weight, so I will be sampling combinations of powders, gels, bars and snacks throughout training to see what I get on best with. By all means if anyone has any tops tips please get in touch - the more advice the better!

If anyone is based near Cardiff, by all means get in touch and we can organise a couple of training before the event. That's all for now, time to eat up some more miles - happy training all!