Stage 5: Hot Dessert

Yesterday on Stage 3, just as I was finishing up the blog, fellow Singaporean and the youngest competitor Alexis, came in at about 12hrs. She dragged her little tired body across the finish and broke down. Lots of hugs for her from the race crew as she was helped back to the tent. Gave her my last cup of Milo that I had just fired up, she deserved the morale boost in the evening cold!

Stage 4 started with a cool 1000m descent from the TianShan mountain range into the desert basin. Ran my fastest on the smooth flat descent into the endless horizon under blue skies. Hit check point 1 in 1.5hrs. Continued to shuffle run for much of the day as the terrain flattened out. After 12pm, it started to really heat up and the last two hours into base camp at 1530hrs was sapping. Finished my last sip of water on the finish line.

The oven has officially fired up and there will be no more ice desserts. The past three days of cold have really been a blessing- the cold kept the aches, pains and inflammations at bay. No more. Feet can hardly fit into my sandals anymore today. Feet still in good condition though, the two blisters under my calluses from yesterday got drained and covered up nicely by Dr Becky today- she's great! Plus she's graduating Emergency Medicine grad school next month! Yay!

So, the longest march awaits us tomorrow. The heat will hit everyone hard after the cold start to this year's Gobi race. Will have to figure out a strategy for tomorrow so that I can last. The serious heat will claim a few victims yet!

Thanks for all the support so far.

Hugs, kisses and love for everyone, especially Cindy.

I will listen to all your recorded encouragement again tonite darling!

Will keep a cool head and steady heart for tomorrow.

Kraken

Iced Milo on the Rocks

In the spirit of local desserts that I miss, today's choice was Iced Milo. Halfway into the race, and we have yet to feel hot.

Last night was warm as red bean soup as we slept in local homes. It was a comfy, warm night. What warmth we had ended shortly after the race started.

Today was a long slog through difficult rocky terrain, much of it in freezing rain.

Terrain was undulating and dominated by rock fields that we traversed multiple times, to much pain, difficulty and cursing.

Worst bit was the freezing rain driven by strong winds smack in the middle of the course that lasted a few hours. Just kept moving to keep the core warm. The worst thing as I had kept my rain jacket inside my waterproof bag, not expecting rain. So I was soaked by the time I reached check point 3 and shivering & numb. The silver lining was that I became super motivated to keep running, so the cold released the kreken within. Let

Gonna miss the Ice Kachang Challenge

The night in the yurt was warm, cosy, packed and peaceful. Slept a full nite and woke up to a new pre-race routine. Lubricated and moisturized myself before I even crawled out of the sleeping bag.

So, all ready for the ascent to the mountain top temple at 2800m at 0800hr after rice with sweet & sour pork and milo.

The heavens made us pay for the peaceful night with a snowfall just in time for the start! Freezing before we even started running. Pushed abit to the forward part ofot after

The first nite on the Gobi was unforgettable -

Left hami hotel 1530hr, took a 2hr plus bus ride through fascinating mountain terrain to abt 2200+m.

It started hot in hami city, then it became a rocky ravine, then alpine forest with lush green fields and snow a few hundred metres higher.

Then it rained, our 500m long convoy was gunning through rolling green pastures and it was beautiful.

Scenary was majestic and beautiful, few are the occasions in life when the blue skies seem so blue and contrast so magnificently with the gentle green hills. The horses, flocks of sheep, herd of cow, that roam the pastures freely here must be happy critters!

One funny moment was during the pee stop by the road.

A hundred plus relatively athletic men made it to the nearest fence line in all colors, shapes and lengths and hosed the lush Xinjiang grass with our electrolyte laden holiness. That foto should be making the rounds soon!

Base camp is nestled inside a hollow of rock outcrops. Still, we are feeling the chills of the windiest desert on earth (no wonder the windmills!), especially at 2000m. But it is beyond beautiful, we're going to sleep tonight not only with the special police watching over us, but the sheep that have settled on the rocks above. All problems forgotten.

Hope to keep this spirit up each day! I love u Cindy!

CKH, heard u getting discharged soon, hooya!

YFX, hang in there brother, pull through, like I will!

Kraken

Body still aching from fever and starting to cough with phlegm. Looks like I have an upper respiratory tract infection coming on. Feel much better than yesterday though and am confident to make the start. Got into Hami on the bus from Urumqi at 0100hrs after an 8 hour, 600km bus ride through a desert highway.As the only person who spoke Chinese onboard ,became the adhoc translator all the way till check into Hami hotel. Given the usd60 per bus trip, i must say it was worth the usd10 per hour on the bus.  The scenery while bleak, was fantastic. Sand and rock seldom look so beautiful.  China has got its infrastructure quite well sorted out, to the extent that the drivers do not speed because cumulative travel speed between toll stations is used to determine speeding!! While tucked away in my bus seat, i became very conscious of every breath made  and realised that as the day wore on, the heat of my exhalation reduced -  a sign of the fever dissipating? Also realised that the stark desert scenery I saw from the bus today was  probably little changed from what it was centuries ago. The realisation was a good reminder for why I liked to be immersed in the farthest reaches of Mother Earth,to share the same wonderment at the beauty of our world with ancestors long gone.YFX, CKH, hope you two warriors are getting better each day!

Flew out of Singapore on 26 May and failed to make my connection to Urumqi