Stage 6 was completed yesterday, the race is officially over, and I have arrived back home in the States.  My official time for the race was clocked in at just over 63 hours, and I placed #77 overall.  Matt and Damon did considerably better (#28 and mid-forties, respectively).  Stage 6 was not used for the overall time and was simply a 2 km run around the Sphinx and Pyramids, which was nice because I had wanted to see these sights prior to my departure.  After a pizza party with beer & soda (where I consumed 5 pieces of pizza, one Fanta, one bottle of water, and one Stella) at the finish line, we made our way to the buses one final time to return to the hotel.  When we arrived, it was a bit chaotic because everyone was desperate to get their luggage and a key so we could get into the shower.  I lost a crucial game of rock-paper-scissors to Matt (best of seven, 4-0!), so he was allowed to bathe first.  Fortunately, there was still hot water when I entered the shower, and after shampooing and soaping up four separate times, I felt clean enough to come out.  I packed up my things (since I had to fly out later that same evening) and headed down to the awards banquet.  After a nice dinner, awards presentations with speeches, and a brief video of all 6 stages, I had to run back to my room to get my luggage and meet Damon and my tentmate James for our 10:00 PM taxi to the airport.  I had wanted to stick around a bit longer to say a proper goodbye to everybody, but I had heard that the  Cairo airport could be a difficult place to get through, so I made the wise decision to leave two hours prior to my flight.  We were lucky that we arrived at a decent time because they had oversold coach, and Damon and I were both upgraded to business class!  The flight back was wonderful, and Damon and I slept a considerable number of hours before arriving feeling decently refreshed at JFK.  I easily made my connection to DC, and now I am happily writing this blog in the comfort of my apartment.  Well, somewhat happily: I wasn't going to mention this, but I actually have had a miserable past 8 hours.  As soon as I got home, I called my family and ordered Thai food (3 out of 4 starts spiciness, which is my usual level).  For the past 8 hours, I have had considerable diarrhea, and I can only attribute it to the Thai food because I felt fine the entire flight home.  I don't think my body was ready to handle spicy food after this past week of culinary simplicity (i.e. relatively bland freeze-dried products).  I even feel slightly feverish and my body aches, but Tylenol and Ibuprofen have helped considerably. I used the bathroom so many times that I actually consumed my last package of electrolytes because I started cramping up.  I am just glad that this gastrointestinal illness happened here rather than .  So advice to future runners: when you return home, talk it easy with what you first eat!  I have a very tolerant stomach so this is quite surprising.  Well, before I sign off, I wanted to leave a few helpful hints of advice to future competitors who may read this blog prior to next year's race.  These are things that I wish I had known prior to entering the race:
1) Pack as light as possible!  My bag weighed 23 pounds at the outset, and this weight was performed prior to placing 1.5L-2L of water in the side pockets!  There is no reason your bag should weigh over 20 pounds.  I know many of you have probably trekked around with heavier backpacks, but you really don't want to be trudging superfluous items 150 miles across the desert.  One top competitor told me he didn't even carry a toothbrush & toothpaste, and he works as a freakin' dentist!   Do you have to carry deodorant (I did but everybody stinks)?  Did I need a watch that I never looked at or cards that we only played on the second day of Stage 5?  Could I have brought a lighter sleeping bag, smaller headlamps, etc?  I think the biggest difficulty when it comes to weight is the food.  I used a company called Natural High whereas everybody else used Backpacker's Pantry, Expedition Foods (which for some reason takes forever to get shipped to the States), or Mountain House.  I brought a few extra breakfasts, dinners, and desserts, which I basically had to give away to the staff.  It is very defeating discarding items that you worked so hard to carry around.  Instead of getting the required number of calories through extra freeze-dried meals, bring crushed bags of potato chips, packets of beef jerky, or Cliff bars, which can serve as lunch.  I enjoyed these last few items much more than my actual meals.  You'll notice that you don't feel hungry at breakfast and dinner, but it is important to force down that food.  The one day I threw my breakfast out early, I felt that I got very tired much earlier in the course.
2) Be careful about not consuming too many electrolytes.  Many people felt nauseous because they overdid it.  The medical staff will talk about this, but you don't need to add electrolytes to every bottle of water.  What I did was just drink plain water from the beginning to Checkpoint 1, then used a 1/2 packet of electrolytes for my water until Checkpoint 2, had a snack at Checkpoint 2 and drank normal water until Checkpoint 3, and then used the rest of the electrolyte packet for the last stage.  This method worked great for me, and I did not get nauseous a single time during the whole race.  I was lucky because I didn’t even try the electrolytes I brought prior to entering the race.  They were flavored and ended up tasting relatively good compared to plain water.  I guess all of this depends on what electrolytes you decide to bring, but I would not go with Gatorade.  I used Vitalyte electrolyte replacement solution. 
3) Do some kind of training, possibly with a backpack.  This advice sounds simplistic, but I will sadly admit that I barely trained for this race.  I had climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with Matt a few years ago with minimal training, and I greatly prefer tennis to running.  So if I had someone to play tennis with, I would do that instead of going for a run or long walk.  I honestly feel idiotic admitting this because who in their right mind would come to this thing without adequate training, but I am one of those morons.  I had decided very early on that I would fast-walk 95% of the race, so I felt that as long as I was staying fit, I should be okay.  Fortunately, I made it to the end, but it is definitely emasculating seeing men & women who are easily double your age fly right by you.  But as one of the older competitors stated at the banquet, age is just a number.  You need to worry about yourself and keep yourself mentally strong.  If you are in okay shape and are mentally prepared, the odds are definitely in your favor that you are going to make it to the finish line.  
4) Stay hydrated, keep positive, and try to walk/run the course with a friend.  You will inevitably meet people who are at your level but sometimes it will just be you and your Ipod (which is an absolute must!) for long stretches of desert.  It can get a bit lonely but if you are listening to upbeat music, you will find yourself naturally walking to the beat.  Whenever I was alone, I would belt out songs and one time a passing jeep of staff & volunteers passed me without my knowing.  For the rest of time, I was called the singing dermatologist at every checkpoint, but I didn't really mind the moniker. 
5) I would strongly consider gaiters.  Three New Zealanders and I were the only people in the entire race who did not wear gaiters.  I would just get used to the sand in my shoe and empty it out at the end.  However, you carry extra weight with every step and the sand can be quite bothersome.  I don't know how I managed to deal with excessive sand but it fortunately didn't hold me back too much.  The best gaiters are silk parachute ones that you can have a cobbler sew onto your shoes, which should be at least 1 size bigger. 

 

6) The staff & volunteers are fantastic.  Eric, who manages the Running the Planet store, will happily answer any questions you have via email.  Sam Fanshawe, who runs the daily logistics, is the best, and she coordinated an impeccable event.  And I can’t forget to thank the medical staff.  I didn’t need to use them but they saved a lot of the other competitors, who probably would not have finished without their help. 
7) Finally, feel free to email me ([email protected]) with any questions.  My tips apply mainly to novices--"the back of the pack"--rather than experienced competitors, but I would be happy to field any questions for next year's race.  Good luck!  It is a fantastic experience (now that I am done!).  Would I ever do another one?  Well, Atacama Crossing in 2011 sounds alluring…wait, what the hell am I thinking?  I am just going to enjoy my medal for now. 

 

The long day is over!  It took me almost 25 1/2 hours to go a little over 54 miles.  We had 8 checkpoints before the end, which served as the 9th and final checkpoint of the race.  I was so exhausted at the 6th checkpoint that I had to stop and take a quick 3-hour nap before continuing on.  Many people (including Matt) completed the entire distance without taking a long break at any of the checkpoints.  I am not exactly sure what tomorrow entails except that we will have a short run around the pyramids in Giza in the morning and then an awards banquet in Cairo that same night.  I am just happy to report that I finished all 150 miles without dropping out, and I finished ahead of a few people!  Other than that, I am very dirty and greasy and tired.  Will write more later; just wanted you guys to know that I finished the race. My left pinky toe finally developed a large blister around the nail, and I had to stick a needle into the naiplate to drain it (which was kind of cool).  The nail is still hanging on for dear life.  Hope all is well back home.        

Fourth day complete!  It took me a little over ten hours again to finish the race.  The weather was a bit cooler (we had a record high temperature yesterday!) and there was a nice breeze for part of the race.  I am really getting sick of sand, especially soft sand, which is a real pain to walk/hike/run through.  I met up with a young Japanese guy early in the first part of the race, and we hung out until the very end.  I didn't have to listen to my Ipod a single time, but I talked that poor guy's ear off.  It was nice having company because when I was struggling, he helped motivate me to go faster and vice-versa.  I think we are going to meet up again tomorrow though I have no idea what we are going to talk about.  I asked him every single question I could think of.  Some of my questions got a bit ridiculous, but what else are you going to do on a 10-hour hike in the middle of nowhere?  Tomorrow (Day 5) is called the long day, which is a ridiculous name since every day so far has felt long as shit.  We have to complete a crazy number of miles (a little over 50) and we have to finish it by Friday afternoon or evening, so I won't have email access until then.  There are more checkpoints and other rules (like where to sleep, where to eat) but I haven't heard the briefing yet so I don't know all the details.  So don't worry if there isn't a posting tomorrow.  Once Stage 5 is done, I basically finished the race because Stage 6 on Saturday is just a short run around the pyramids.  This is my last and final test so, hopefully, I can get through it.  They interviewed me for a video and possibly a written article, so look out for it on the website.  Puja, just tell Dad that I emailed you.  It isn't rocket science: just make something up so he isn't stressed out.  We start at 6AM so I am off to bed.        

I am halfway done with this race!  Today was relatively "easier" terrain and slightly less distance but I still was struggling after checkpoint 2.  The heat was unbearable; supposedly it was over 50 degrees Celsius.  I definitely felt it after checkpoint 2 as I slowly made my way to the 3rd chekpoint, which amazingly was an oasis.  I hung out in the shade of a tree--the only tree i have seen thus far in the desert--for at least 30 minutes before I could muster up the strength to go on.  At a snail-pace, I made my way to the end and finished just over 10 hours.  I think today was also tough because I didn't really walk with anybody for the majority of the time.  It was just me and my Ipod, which was a bit sad.  I definitely chatted with a few people along the way but I was walking at a weird pace--very fast walking for the first half and very slow crawling for the second half--so it wasn't very conducible for a partner.  I caught Japanese guy smoking at the oasis but after his cigarette, he was gone and I never saw those green shoes again.  No blisters yet but my pinky toenail is a goner.  The left looks worse than the right but I think I should say goodbye to both of them.  Sorry to keep this short but I am very tired.  I hurt all over and I need to finish dinner.  For once, I am actually hungry which I think is a good sign.  Let's hope I can do a little better tomorrow.

I somehow made it through stage 2.  It took me 10 hours and 13 minutes.  I felt like quitting when I got to the second checkpoint, but luckily after a 30-minute rest at the checkpoint station, I was able to move on.  Kimono man was nowhere to be found--he has these crazy green shoes that are easy to see from a distance.  I think he was behind me, so I had to find somebody new.  Instead, I met up with a British army guy who was sick and dehydrated.  It was sad but the pace of the ill army guy was the exact same pace as mine even though I didn't feel bad (just ass-tired).  So army guy and I trudged through checkpoint 3 and most of the last stage.  We had these crazy high sand dunes that we had to climb before the finish.  Army guy was vomiting so I left him behind at the end so I could finish.  I know it was kind of an asshole move to do but I had to get to the finish line.  (British guy came in a few minutes later.)  It was getting very dark and I had an unexpected adrenaline surge. Luckily, no blisters yet but my left pinky toe has turned black.  I'll have to wrap it before tomorrow's stage.  I have to eat dinner and get to bed.  Surprisingly, I am not hungry but I know I need the calories.  Thanks for the posts.  Hopefully, I'll do better tomorrow.

Day 1 is complete!  I made it in 7 hours and 5 minutes, and 7 hours of it was tough.  I was doing great for the first 5 minutes but then things got harder.  The intense heat was rough but I think the soft sand and my backpack were the hardest things to deal with. My shoulders kill from my heavy-ass backpack.  I think I am going to throw a bunch of stuff away tonight to lighten my bag.  My Ipod was essential for the last half of the course.  I walked by myself for a lot of the course but that was okay because I didn't want to strain myself trying to keep up with Matt or Damon.  My unofficial buddy was this Japanese guy.  I don't know his name but he is wearing what I would call a dark blue kimono (however, I am sure that is not the appropriate terminology).  This guy is hilarious: he smoked right before the race started and would dance around whenever he got near a checkpoint.  We would continually pass each other but somehow at the end we finished together.  He lifted my hand and made me run the last 100 meters.  Surprisingly, I had enough energy to make the brief dash.  Now I am going to lie down in my tent and rest up for tomorrow.  Supposedly, tomorrow's course is harder.  I am hoping I heard wrong.  I'll try to post again tomorrow night.  

Day 1 of the race is about to begin!  Yesterday was a bit of an ordeal.  After checking in with the medical team and making sure that everybody had the correct mandatory equipment, we headed out for a 7-hour bus ride to our first campsite.  Our bus broke down two hours into the ride forcing everybody to hang out at a random truck stop while we awaited another bus.  Our back-up bus finally arrived and we reached camp late last night (not sure exactly what time but it was very dark).  I have always prided myself on being able to sleep anywhere, but I realized the importance of a sleeping pad last night after having a difficult time trying to sleep on the hard sand.  I managed to get a few hours in and just finished a surprisingly good breakfast: freeze-dried granola with raspberries was a great choice.  I am not sure what to expect today.  The first course is supposed to have the easiest terrain.  We have our course briefing in a few minutes so I will end this early so I can finish packing.  Will write when I reach camp, hopefully in 6-8 hours rather than 12.  It was somewhat cool this morning when I got up but the sun is already starting to beat down...got to get that sunscreen on!     

Lounging by the Red Sea in Sharm el-Sheik was quite nice yesterday.  It is nice to know that Americans aren't the only morbidly obese people on this planet.  I saw a guy with psoriasis sitting in the shade at the beach, and I wanted to give him a quick dermatology consultation about the benefits of sun (phototherapy) for large-plaque psoriasis.  Matt said I was being a nerd and to leave the poor guy alone.  I also wanted to dole out some of my extra sunscreen to all of the people who were turning red but I was too lazy to get out of my chair.  Later that evening, we had an excellent seafood dinner and we did a little shopping.  The salespeople in Egypt are very persistent but they somehow come across pleasant and friendly.  Matt said I was like an injured gazelle and these shop owners knew to pray on me; however, I didn't buy anything so I guess I am not that weak.  One salesman kept rubbing these weird Egyptian oils on my hands and forearms, and I was stressed out that I would develop a contact dermatitis (another lame dermatology joke but it could have happened!).  Fortunately, I had no unusual rashes this morning.  We arrived in Cairo this morning and got to our hotel.  After rushing off to the Egyptian museum to see some creepy mummies and tour downtown Cairo, we returned a few hours ago to pack.  I thought it was a hopeless cause but Matt came to my rescue, and I finally managed to stuff everything in.  My pack weighs 10.5 kilograms so I think I am doing okay.  I will probably turn in early tonight.  Day 1 of the race is on Sunday!

It's been awhile since I last wrote.  After leaving the Dead Sea, Matt and I drove down to Petra, which is considered to be one of the new seven wonders of the world (and also, more importantly, the place where the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is filmed).  Matt got tired of driving, so he let me take over for the last 2.5 hours.  It was my first time driving in a foreign country.  The roads in Jordan are well-paved and the signs for Petra are all in English.  The taxis & buses still drive fast & crazy, but I didn't have any problems (except that Jordan has an insane number of speed bumps, which forced me to repeatedly slam on the brakes whenever I came upon one of them [which, in turn, woke Matt up causing him to freak out and then that would make me laugh]).  This cycle repeated for awhile to my amusement until we finally arrived in Petra.  We made it in time for a night tour, which seemed like a great idea (and the Lonely Planet recommended it).  The organizers basically light candles along the long pathway that leads to the main building in Petra, called the Treasury.  It kind of reminded me of a lame Halloween.  We were told to walk in silence and they touted this as a spiritual experience (which should have been my first clue that this was going to suck).  Then we sat in front of the Treasury while our guide told some stupid story and a few people played random instruments.  Matt fell asleep and I just sat there hoping that this misery would come to an end and feeling jealous that Matt was softly snoring right next to me.  After that farce was done, we searched around town for a hotel, which was a bit difficult.  The high season for Petra just started and a lot of places were booked.  We were debating sleeping in the car but we found a place on our seventh or eighth attempt. Early the next morning, we went to Petra, and the ruins were much more impressive in the daylight.  After a long day of hiking and baking in the sun, we returned home for dinner and Movenpick ice cream, which as an aside is the best ice cream I ever had.  I think my day in Petra served as low-key training for the race (or at least I like to think so).  Comparing all the major ruins I have seen, Angkor Wat in Cambodia is still the most impressive but Petra is better than Machu Picchu in Peru.  The next morning, we left for Aqaba, which is Jordan's port city on the Red Sea.  Arriving into Egypt was a clusterf*ck.  After boarding this big boat/ferry to cross the Red Sea and having our passports confiscated (which is required), we finally arrived on the Egyptian side.  After waiting an hour for some unknown reason to be able to disembark, we boarded a bus and drove about 500 meters.  It took us to an empty building.  We walked through it, and boarded another different bus to the arrival lobby.  We went through security and were about to exit the front gate when we realized that there was no place to pick up our passports.  We went back through security and found a random unmarked building that supposedly had our passports.  When we got there, we were told to get a visa so we had to find another random place to get a visa (which turned out to be a bank doubling as a visa issuer).  After obtaining the visa, we were able to get our passports and then had to go back through security.  Once we crossed the front gates passports in-hand, we looked upon the ghost town of Nuweiba.  Seriously, there was nothing in this shitty place except for a camel riffling through garbage.  We somehow managed to find a bus station.  After awhile, the bus to Sharm el-Sheik arrived and we were able to get the hell out of town.  The 4-hour journey on bus was also a bit of an ordeal.  The bus was dirty and we had to stop at a crazy number of checkpoints.  We got to Sharm and found our hotel and showered before walking around town.  A lot of people compare Sharm to Las Vegas because it is very toursity and there are a lot of lights.  Many foreigners remark that they don't even feel like they left their home country since it is so commercialized and has lost any remnants of its culture.  After sheesa and beer, Matt and I returned home for bed.  Matt commented that it felt more like Fort Lauderdale than Las Vegas.  So basically, I flew halfway around the world to go to the shitty counterpart of Miami.  We were supposed to go scuba diving today but Matt and I decided to sit by the Red Sea and then the pool at our hotel.  So there you have it--I have caught you up to today.  The race is quickly approaching.  We fly into Cairo tomorrow.  Should I be worried? 

Matt and I made it to Petra this evening. When I last wrote, we were about to head out from Amman for the Dead Sea. On the way, we stopped at Mount Nebo, which is where Moses was shown the promised land but God then told him that he could go no further (or God might have said that Moses had to die on that mountain). I was only partially paying attention. Moses was getting pretty old (in his 120s) and I guess his job was done. So we looked out where Moses supposedly gazed. I have to say it didn't show much promise: it was dusty, arid, pretty much hostile to plant life. If I was Moses, I would have asked for a pass, but I think it looked a lot better back then. After Mount Nebo, we went to Bethany beyond the Jordan, which is where John the Baptist allegedly baptized Jesus. The place where Jesus got baptized is all dried up, but Matt and I self-baptized ourselves at another nearby location on the Jordan River. The Jordan River separates Israel and Jordan. The river kind of struggles today. I could have easily swam across. I asked the guide if we could go to the Israeli side. He said I could go if I wanted to get shot. I said, "No, thank you." Then he laughed. I asked later if he was lying about me getting shot, and he said no very seriously. After Bethany, Matt and I headed to the Dead Sea, which was pretty amazing. I know everybody says you can float and I shouldn't have been so surprised, but it is weird actually experiencing it. The only bad thing about the Dead Sea is that the salinity of the water is so high that if you get it in your eyes, it hurts like shit. I was almost crying it hurt so bad. Finally, Matt and I made the long drive down to Petra. We made it in time for a night tour but we are doing the real exploring all day tomorrow. I have to get up early tomorrow so I am off to bed. Saurabh

I arrived in Amman yesterday, and thankfully all of my baggage (with my gear and food for the race) all made it.  A friend of a friend picked me up and toured me around the city.  We had dinner at a traditional Jordanian restaurant where I had sheep, rice, and a "yogurt soup" for dinner.  I commented that I had lamb and goat before but never sheep and that I thought it tasted pretty good.  My new friend looked at me like I was an idiot and said that sheep and lamb were the same thing.  I felt pretty dumb but I still think sheep and lamb taste differently; maybe it's like how veal tastes differently than beef?  We got back late last night, and I thanked Omar for his extreme kindness.  It is definitely much better to have a local take you around a new city than doing it on your own.  Amman is quite different than other country capitals I have been to: the cars don't honk at each other, I didn't see a single homeless person, the people were very friendly, it was very safe at night, and it was pretty clean.  In short, nothing like Washington, DC (except for the clean part, I guess).  Well, I am heading off to drive down to the Dead Sea with Matt.     

I am done packing!  I crammed and stuffed and fought with my 30L backpack, and finally got everything I needed into it (except for my jacket but I'll worry about that later).  I don't know why I was under the delusion that packing would be a relatively simple task.  A week's worth of food takes up a lot of damn space!  Matt--the one who convinced me to do this race--and I are leaving for Amman (Jordan) in a few hours.  We plan on spending a few days at the Dead Sea, Petra, & the Red Sea before coming into Cairo next Friday night.  As always, I am down to the wire trying to get everything done.  I am not sure why I am such a procrastinator.  After work yesterday, I had to enlist a friend to help me get the patches sewn onto my shirts.  I went on a mad search around town for safety pins.  I literally went to 7 stores and they were sold out.  Are safety pins a hot Halloween commodity?  Luckily, Matt has extra pins and is bringing my final item for me.  In return, I have sunscreen for him, which was easy for me since I am a dermatology resident and basically have a lifetime supply.  I have checked the equipment list hundreds of times and should have everything I need.  I finally put the list away because I got sick of looking at it.  I have been up the majority of the night packing, but I was able to get 2 1/2 hours of sleep.  This posting (my first-ever blog, by the way) was the last thing to complete on my to-do list.  Well, I will try to post more while in Jordan.  Matt wants to go for a few runs this week.  I am looking forward to a few days of relaxation before this race starts.  My only planned exercises are exploring Petra and lounging at the pool (in the shade, of course).  Thanks to everybody for the phone calls and texts of support.  I know that I have taken a bit of a laissez-faire approach to training, but I am as ready as I'll ever be.   

Saurabh