The Big Race is finally over. Itis now time to thank my friends and supporters and relfect upon this new chapter that I have just written.

First, to my friends out there, a very BIG thank you for your support and generous comments & donations. They kept me going. They really did. When I was out there under the hot sun, feeling the pain with every stride I made, there were really moments when I had doubts. It was my first big race afterall and I was not exactly best prepared for it. But at the end, I persevered. Not only because there was an inner voice urging me to continue, but also because your support kept me going. It was great comfort receiving those hearty emails and comments at the end of the day. And of course, on the practical side, every step, every km I complete also meant more money raised for my charity :-)

Whenever I informed my friends I was joining th race, many would gave me that incredulous look and wondered why I would pay such money to be tortured. That was by far the most common reaction. Frankly, I had no good answer. I asked myself the same question. I figured that I joined because the Sahara Race was no easy feat. It was something I was not even confident I could complete. It was something out of my comfort zone. BUT, if I could stretch myself to achieve something really out of my comfort zone, I more than achieved a task. I actually enlarged my comfort zone and redefined what was impossible to me. 

I had always thought of life as a book. As author of the book, it was really up to me how I want it to be written. Every now and then, there should be new twists and turns. Then, I badly needed a new high to be defined, a new chapter to be written, and hence the race... ... 

The race did prove to be an incredibly enriching experience. I might have sweated like I never did before or ended up with muscles aches beyond those that I ever experienced before. But when the race ended, I got back more than what I gave. I learnt the following:

(i) Every step counts - every effort in painfully lifting my legs and placing my foot a few centimetres ahead brought me closer to the finish line. Each checkpoint, each finishing line, could only be reached through each patient step taken, however small they might be.

(ii) Its all in your mind. Our mental state defines how far we can go. Keep that up and the finish line will be in sight in no time. The adrenaline rush I experienced towards the end of my race, that fully erased all signs of pain then, reminded me how much we could surprise ourselves if we set our mind to it.

(iii) Learn to stop to appreciate the beauty around us, even more so when we are in pain. In the race, just like in life, we simply dash forward, sometimes forgetting to appreciate the little things around us. When I did stop to look around, I was reminded of the beauty of the desert. I could see how each imprint on the soft sand was different; I noticed that beautiful lines of the dunes that ran perpendicular to my path (ie outside my usual line of sight), I began to appreciate the vastness of the desert that surrounded me and felt triumphant over owning the very moment in the desert. 

I once thought I just wanted to do this crazy event once. As much as I had doubts earlier why I signed up for such a race, now that the pain is gone, I strangely missed the desert experience and begin to contemplate joining possibly another race in future... 

Crazy indeed! Well, never say no, cos you never know... ...

Its been the craziest 24h ever for me. I woke up at 4am to prepare for the 94.5km stage at 6.30am and only got back from running at 4am the next day! Definitely something to remember.
 
Just like the night before, I woke up almost every hour and found my hips still in pain. I had thought about the idea of taking anti-histamine as sleeping pills as I needed my good night sleep for the long race. But since I am popping in Ibuprofen, I thought I should not mess up my kidney any further.
 
Today, the race started very well. After running a few days, I knew I had to go slightly faster initially so that I could follow an appropriate pacer at each checkpoint. There will be 9 checkpoints today, making today a total of 94.5km over 10 sections. There will be a major stopover point at Checkpoint 6 which is our 60 km mark. While my aim was just to complete the race, I did set a target time for the long day. My target was to complete my first 60km within 12 hours before night falls, cook my maggie mie which I have saved the pack for race day before moving on to the night run stretch.
 
Normally, I tended to stop at checkpoints whenever I could feel sand in my shoes or any hotspots forming. But today, I rarely stopped at checkpoints to tend to my blisters as, I felt that this was the Big Day,  I needn't bother how many blisters I would have for the last day. Hence I stopped only for topping up of water and some stretching before moving on. This helped maintained a good pace for me for the first half of the day. However, I did stop quite a fair bit between Checkpoint 2 and 3. Then, we were running through an UNESCO National Park - Valley of the Whales. It was a valley filled with rock structures and petrified sea animals (fossils) scattered all across. This was previously sea bed, million of years ago. I lost some time taking pictures and looking at fossils and rock structures. But I thought I was here to run and enjoy my time too. Hence a couple of minutes was a no-brainer to me. After Checkpoint 3, it was closer to midday, the terrain changed to soft packed sand with flat dunes. This made runnning tough for me. There were times when I thought: "Shucks, another 60km more to go...how to press on?" I did all sorts of things to stay focused: singing army tunes (yes, I dunno why. It just came instinctive), focusing on one point in horizon, shouting at myself "Move on!" in Japanese, Chinese, English.
 
I completed the first 60km in good time (for me), just slightly out of my target of 12hours. However, the lactic acid built up was far too great due to my lack of training and hence I decided to stop slightly longer of close to 45mins when I cooked Instant Noodles for dinner. It was the best
instant noodles I ever tasted. You couldnt imagine how I craved over instant noodles here. I regretted bring only two packs and too little of my comfort food. I pretty much got tired of the expensive energy bars or freeze-dried food. I stuffed them into my mouth only for practical reason that it provided the calories needed.
 
After the meal, it was night run time - another 34.5km to cover. I thought I was in target to complete everything within 20hrs. But halfway through the10km, I just got too sleepy. It was well past my bed time here in the Sahara.  I was physically exhausted - my eyes felt like shutting. Running in the dark on a moonless night aggravated my longing to sleep. You had this head torch shining on the road path ahead while watching for the road markers - after a while, it was like a boring replayed movie of sand and rocks. The movie almost became blurred at times. I felt like I was almost floating - it was kind of surreal feeling that I was jogging on a moonless night in the dunes in Sahara. Yet I had to bring myself back on focus so that I would not trip on rocks along the way. I decided to have one pack of 3-in-one coffee, donated by Wei Yong at one of the intermediate night stops. But that kept me awake only for only a brief moment. I told myself to press on for two more hours and once past the stage of sleepiness, it should be fine. The run ought to be better at night. But my poorly-trained body suddenly succumbed to yet problem shin pain on the left foot. Every step was a pain and I had slowed down considerably as painkillers didnt work at all. There was a fine line between pushing and knowing your body. Then I fear a potential shin splint that could take months to heal. In a way, I think I did the right thing.
 
Something wonderful happen towards the end though. As I ran from last checkpoint to the finish line, when I was still some 5km away, I could hear drum roll of the finish line. Somehow, that gave me the adrenaline rush. I practically dashed at high speed down, a marked change from my limpering down the hills just seconds ago. The pain was all gone. Not the slightest on my hips nor shins. I ran like I never did before. I ever saw on Discovery Channel how adrenaline rush can shut the nerve cells from triggering. But to experience personally was something really extraordinary. I really felt I pushed myself so hard for this moment and hence just ran for it.
 
Its almost 1pm now. I have to catch some sleep soon. People are still running in. Frankly I truly admire those people who came in real late. I can't imagine myself enduring the day heat another round in the same run. Many of them had worse blisters and problems. The will power they had is beyond description - its a humbling experience for me.

This morning at 2am I woke up feeling excruciating pain from my hips. Even making my way to the "long drop" 100m felt like running 10km uphill. Feeling scared, I immediately popped some anti-inflammatory painkillers and did some stretching. At that point, I almost felt I had to drop out cos I could barely take any step more than 10 cm. Luckily, the two hours of sleep and medication helped and by time I woke up the pain was more bearable.
 
The routine here is to wake up at 4am, eat our carbos and energy bars, tend to our blisters and prepare for set off at 6.30am. The run today cut through some dunes and plateaus before reaching the edge of the Valley of the Whales. Today, I tried maintain a faster pace in the beginning before it got too hot. I also ran faster on harder grounds and down slopes and walk when the sand was too soft to run. I never forgot to enjoy the scenery a little, stopping occasionally to take pictures. As we exit the dunes area, it opened up to a valley with rock structures that looked like those in the death valley. The scenery was great but  I still dreaded the hot sun when there was no wind. I was amazed how fast some competitors could walk. Their walking speed was definitely like my running speed! For me, I shuffled most of the time. Because I was slow walking and my hips hurt a lot more when I walked. Through the course, I kept telling myself to go on. Strangely, the blisters on my foot no longer bothered me. It hurt more when I sprint downhill on soft sand, otherwise, I have forgotten I had blisters even. Mentally, I felt I could push on. But the challenge was that the race was not only for Day 4. I had a  94.5km awaiting me the next day. It was not easy pushing onself to the limits while not going overboard.
 
Overall, it was a good run. I managed to shave 2hours off my time yesterday. What will happen tomorrow I do not know. I have never attempted anything longer than 42km, not to mention more than double that in the desert terrain. I just hope I will wake up feeling OK to tackle the challenge.
 
Tommorrow, there may be no blog from me. If so, thats a good sign cos it means I  not given up and am still running through the night to complete Stage 5.
 
PS:
1. Thanks to everyone again for emails & comments. Over here, they download in batch and I can only post one blog each day and cannot reply to your emails/comments .
2. If anyone wants to welcome me at finish line, that will be nice :-). Joking la: Air ticket may be ex.

Today, it will be a very short blog as I am dead tired from the toughest 41km I ever ran.
 
Had a bad start as I practically woke up every hour last night. In addition to the fatigue, my muscles around my hips were dead sore from the lactic acid built up. In the end I spent a dreadful 9h 30min running up and down dunes - or should I say, half the time walking. It didnt help that my walking stick broke and that I had 3 more blisters making it a total of 5 on my foot. It was really a mental game - every step began with soreness in the hips and quads, and ended with pain on the foot due to the blisters. Having said that, the views were wonderful as we were surrounded by dunes and impressive rock formation. 
 
One day before before the gruesome 94km on Day 5. Lets see how I fare tommorrow. I suspect I will resign to walking most of the time. Even so, have to take care that I meet the cut-off time at the designated stations.....

My foot started to blister today and it could only get worse. I had to stop at check point 2 to tape my foot to prevent it from aggravating. Many people will probably wonder why I put myself through this. Frankly, I have no answer. As I ran, there were moments when I have doubts especially when weather got hot. But there were times when I really enjoyed the freedom out here, the ability to push myself constantly to move on. Maybe thats why.... Sometimes I just sang to myself, and there were times where I simply told myself: ` No excuses. Just go on.' It was really a mental race. At the same time, it was a delicate balance to push yourself forward when you know this was only Day Two and there were some 175km more to go.
 
Overall, today was a good day. It was supposed to be tougher than yesterday but I actually found it slightly easier (except for the dunes area which was tough to climb) and managed to complete in less time compared to yesterday. I feel the weather was kinder today and I forcefully hydrate myself quite a bit at check points and that might have helped. Tomorrow is supposed to be one of the techically most challening days as we enter into dunes land. Feel kind of scared. Hopefully my muscle sore and blister will not get too much into the way.

This morning I woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep after that.  In fact, I hardly had any good sleep given the heat (yes: it was surprisingly warm at night) and the wind blowing sand into our tents. I then decided to have an energy bar every hour so as to pack up the energy for the race.
 
At 7am, the organisers declared the official start of the race. It was amazing feeling to run in the desert. I loved every minute of it. I was so glad I was finally doing this. The desert is all ours to run, with no signs of civilisation at all. We were at Wadi El Rayan protected area - as we run there is a lake on our right. The weather was kind and it didn’t feel that tough. There were some steep dunes to climb and whenever the sand is soft, everyone will  just walk slowly instead. Until the first two check points, the run was still manageable. Beyond that, it was past 10am and the temperatures shot up to 45 degrees (according to runners with thermometer). Then the roads seems endless, patches of soft sand appear more and more frequently. With the tremendous heat, I could hardly run.  My 12kg pack suddenly felt a lot heavier. I resolve to simply walking briskly and having short intervals of run when the sand is hard and long intervals of walk. At least twice, I have to stop to l tape my foot as I could feel hot spots forming. For sure I will have blisters - but I am avoiding at all costs to have it too early in the race - otherwise chances of infection could be high.
 
For the first time since I started running, I feel a slight urge to vomit. I consciously drink more water at check point three and eat more energy bars. But my mouth continue to have the lingering bitter taste. The last stretch of 7.4km was particularly tough.  When we finally saw our campsite, I was happy  a tad too early -  only to realise that it seemed like a long and never ending winding road. The minute I pass by the finish point, it was wonderful to have volunteers helping me out of my pack.
 
This is only Day One and it already felt tough. I completed the 37km in slightly below 7h. Not a great timing at all but I am satisfied nevertheless. Tomorrow will be even more challenging - we are progressing to "Dunes Land" and will be there til the end of third day. As I rested at the camp, I saw someone being carried by medical staff to the medical tent due to heat exhaustion. A reminder that the desert is mighty and we runners must  respect it and take care to hydrate ourselves.
 
PS1: Thanks to those who emailed me or left me comments. It’s a wonderful feeling to hear from you after such an exhausting day.
PS2: PJ: I don’t think I can meet the target you gave me. I am just targeting to complete it. 

Today was check in day - we went through various stations, confirming personal details, checking equipment list etc.  I was trying my best earlier to cut the weight of my pack but was told at check in to add more food to my bag so as to pack bigger calories, pushing the weight of my pack back to 10kg (before water). At the medical station, I volunteered to have one foot taped - an experiment conducted by Stanford University to measure the effectiveness of taping. No sure how this will work out. Hopefully, it will reduce the chance of blistering....
 
After travelling some 3.5hs west of Cairo, we finally reach Camp One. I am now out in the desert at Wadi El Hitan, under the starry skies, by a big lake.  Just had a taste of the 800 calorie freeze dried Beef and Potato Casserole that tasted not quite like the real thing. Hopefully, when the race starts tomorrow, the freeze dried food will taste better with the fatigue.
 
Tomorrow I shall have my first taste of the desert run. It as supposed to be a moderate course of 38km over a mix of soft and hard sand. We have been told that day 2 and 3 will be tougher as we head towards to dunes. Shall try to sleep by 9 tonight and wake up at 5am to prep for the race. Hopefully no more jet lag. Looking forward to a great day tomorrow.

Hot air was blowing on my face as I walked down the plane. Initially I thought it was the heat from the jet engine. But it was actually the hot desert winds welcoming me in Cairo. That was when reality struck. I better embraced the heat, because two days later, it would be even hotter out there in the desert.

It felt like it was only yesterday that I signed up for the race - definitely the craziest thing I had ever done. And now I am in Cairo! Emotions were mixed and intense. I felt I had so much energy now, bursting to start running yet I was not sure if I would be up to the challenge. I also fear the heat, the blisters, potential sprains etc.....

As I met my fellow competitors, I felt energised. Everyone was excited about what would come in less than 2 days time. Now and then, I would receive smses from friends who supported me and pledged generous donations. That, I know, would keep me going in the race as long as I would be fit to proceed.

Mentally I am ready. Whether I can complete the race or not, I already feel enriched by the experience so far. Indeed, I have already added an exciting new chapter to my life.