Wow, and Ow!
      What an amazing and bizarre experience, and now I have finished, and I am very very glad!
     Yesterday was the long day and things seemed to completely come together. I ran with different people at different stages and the time seemed to fly by. Becky - me and Tom did a stage together when he told me that Check point 9 was in fact the finish - easily the best news I think I had ever had- I thought we had an extra 6miles to go. It may not seem a lot in the great scheme of things, but it definitely did yesterday! After that our energy bursts didn`t co-inside, until eventually he hurtled past me on stage 7 and finished really well.
     I ate loads last night, and absolutely continuously during the day, so avoided energy dips. I didn`t stop for long at the check points, except to have a a bit of a freshen up in another oasis. I remembered to pour water in my hair this time. I didn`t think about that until I left the last one, and regreted it for hours! It is still minging, but it felt nice at the time.
      It was a much cooler day, which made a huge difference. I didn`t try and run until the sun had gone down, by which time I had had so much caffein in my energy gels I couldn`t stop myself! I took painkillers regularly for my feet, which felt like someone had attacked them with a sledghammer. As a result any pain in my legs didn`t get a look in! The wonderful magic tape worked and I didn`t get any tendonitis, which was absolutely amazing. It was great to take the damn stuff off though!
 It was all going great until the last stage. We knew it was deep sand with dunes, but we had done that before, and it was only 5 miles, how hard can that be?! I was determined to make the most of it and enjoy it, but after the sevenhundredth false sumit and just round the next corner moment, not to mention the epic dunes, the end coundn`t, and in fact didn`t, come soon enough! We literally finished at the top of a huge dune! Luckily I had joined Erica and Paulo, 2 of the elite runners who had set off 3 hours after me the morning. Erica was having aweful pain in her ileotibial band so we had a nice sociable last 2 stages. Thank goodness I was with them for the last stage, or my teddy would have very definitely left the pram, many many times! It was great to finish as a group as well. Team trailwinder came in when I was still at the finish line, so I got to cheer them in a give them a hug, which was lovely. The amazing Jack came in this morning at about 5.30 looking fresh as a daisy, having gone right through. Incredible! Karen is still out there, so must have had a sleep, and is hopefully doing well.
        The camp is in a beautiful spot with great views, hence why it was so hard to get to! Oddly no-one is really able to sleep for any length of time, but is lovely to have a day to relax and wind down. I am obsessing about swimming the in hotel pool, and we do a short glory leg to the pyramids and are met with medals and pizza - my kind of finish! Cleo, thanks for the tip, I don`t think anyone will be taking any prisoners when it comes to food you don`t eat out of a bag!
       Thank you all so much for your incredible messaged of support and encouragement, it has been amazing to know you have been following my progress. See you all very soon!
Loads of Love Venetia

Hi everyone, 
    Again, thanks so much for all your emails, and blog comments which i only descovered last night after I had sent my blog. Becky, if you are reading this Tom sends loads of love, they are getting on fine, Alex has continued with the race, and Tom says he would like to be at home walking the dog! When I spoke to him he was sorting out a funky looking blister, but other than that he is good.
      My blisters are not giving me too much bother so far, but I am sure will make themselves known at some stage tomorrow. I am sadly going to have to wave goodby to several toenails, so no strappy sandles for me for a while!
      Today was a good day, a wee bit shorter and cooler  - apparently it was 49degrees yesterday, so I didn`t have any long check point stops. Mostly it was a good day, but I broke out the ipod for the first time for a bit of moral. Lilly allen it turns out is the bees knees when you are waiting for a checkpoint to finally appear! It was a bit harder underfoot today which was a relief. Plently of soft sand here and there, but it was possible to get into a good rhythm for a good few miles at a time.
     The scenery was a bit more rocky and barren today, although we went up a few hills, so there were some great views. I did spend a lot of time looking at the beautiful blue sky with a few fluffy clouds, on the basis that I won`t be seeing a lot of it when I get home! Overall the scenery has been very varied each day. Huge expanses of sand, amazing rock formations, and things that look like mini volcanoes - i really should have checked my geology before I left!
       Weirdly it rained on monday night, but other than that is has been hot hot hot! The evenings are actually very warm, so my arctic sleeping bag was slight overkill.
       My bed time is likely to be arond 8   It is the 55mile day tomorrow, so all bets are off really. I am eating everything I can get my hands on, and will try and eat consistently all day. I have noticed if I am tired I tend to perk up once I`ve eaten something as well. It is reassuring that still got some energy, but I have no idea what tomorrow will be like, I suspect it may involve some sand!
       Wish me luck and hopefully I`ll give you a final update at some point in the next 48hours.
Loads of love v

Hi everyone,
       So 3 days down, 2 to go, it is flying by. Today was a nice relaxed 26.3 miles. I walked most of the day again, and there was a good breeze, so didn`t get nearly as hot as yesterday. Check point 3 was an little oasis which was wonderful. I spent a good half hour there, washing, and sorting my blisters which arrived en mass and with a vengence just after check point 2. I am now thinking shoes 2 sizes too big would have been the right decision. Having said that overall my legs and feet feel good, if rather tired, and wearing clown shoes may not have been ideal.
     Aesthetically I have a quality heat rash all over my legs. My hair is 50% sand and i am currently wearing socks with my sandals. On the bright side I don`t smell nearly as bad as I did before the oasis!
       We are going at a nice pace, roughly 2 hours between check points which is very manageable psychologically. There are still points where you can`t believe you are not there yet. Generally between 1 and 2  O clock when everyone is hot and there is not much conversation, and the final mile or so. Today in particular because there was a lot of soft sand which is absolutely energy sapping.
   Jack and Karen had to stop today, which is a shame for them, but they only got in at 11.30 last night, and as we are up at 6 it has given them no chance to rest or eat, so I think it was the right decision. I think they quite enjoyed being in the camp in daylight!
      I am off to do a bit of pre bed stretching now, thank you again for you emails.
love V

Hi Guys,
        Thanks so much for all your emails, they have made my evening! Ayo, the chaffing is indeed becoming an issue, I`m being very careful to keep sand out of important places! I had a great day today. It was over 27 miles and took just under 9 hours. The heat is a huge issue for me, strangely the bag and distance so far are not too much of a problem, and my feet and shins are holding up, I`m not sure how much longer for though. I have been adopted by a team of Canadians, suprise suprise! They have been absolutely lovely, and I feel much safer being with them, rather than drifting between people going at my pace. I walked most of today due to the outragious temperature and lack of wind, there was the odd cloud which was a life saver. By 2.00 i had to sit at a check point for half an hour to cool off and eat, then the wind picked up, it cooled down to a nice clement 35degrees and I managed to start running for a while. THere were sand dunes at the end of the day which bizarrly were fantastic. Great views, a change in muscles, and a good excuse to stop and take loads of photos.
   I have been really really hungry, which I realise won`t come as a great suprise to any of you, but I was convinced I wouldn`t feel like eating. I have been taking food off anyone trying to get rid of it, and had 2 full dinners tonight, and have a bag of bombay mix sat next to me! As a result of the donations my pack isn`t really getting much lighter.
       I am becoming something of a sand geek, cleo, there is tonns of it! Luckily a lot of it is fairly hard packed, I have also worked out to go where footprints haven`t sunk in, and if they have, then it can help to tread in them. It is very similar to walking in snow. The poles remain a godsend.
    The race this year is actually 6 marathons in 5 days, the last day that we finish at the pyramids is only 1km, not sure why, but as a result the next two days are 25 and 26 miles respectively, and the long day is 90km (about 55miles!) Pacing is everything I think, I just want to make sure I have something left for for the long day, and not getting dahydrated or too hot, a lot of people had to  pull out today because of the heat. To give a little context there are 130ish competitors, including jack who is in his 70`s and is in my tent. What a legend! He has done 3 of these, and loads of other stuff. He is accompanied by Karen, who has never done anything like this. They are getting back after dark every night, and I spent an hour last night and this morning on Karen`s impressive display of blisters, and they are both still smiling! There is a blind guy who is being escorted, and a massive selection of people of every level of fitness and nationality. It is an incredibly friendly race, you feel you know almost everyone, and it is only day 2.
       I spent a lot of today thinking of witty things to write in this, and clearly can`t remember any of them! It is so nice to know you are following my progress, Si - people keep suggesting races I think you might quite fancy! Claire - no one has suggested anything at all that you might fancy, except the pool at the hotel and cocktails obviously! There is general agreement that this is utterly insane, so thanks again for sponsoring me and giving me a way of justifying it! Load of love to you all, and I`ll have more scintilating sand chat tomorrow!

Hi everyone,
      So day 1 is done! I am currently sitting in a tent in the desert typing on a laptop, which is odd, and the further I get from finishing the better day I had! Today was 20miles in about 40degrees accross a mixture of rock, and the second half was mostly soft sand, flat terrain, and stunning rock formations, but it took AGES! This does not bode well for tomorrow which is 26miles over sand dunes, so I have decided not to think about it. I finished in 6 hours today, but I think I rushed it a bit, and plan to only walk tommorrow, particularly after 11.00 when it gets proper hot and there is not shade at all until 2.30. If I get too hot I won`t find it easy to cool down. Other than that I`m having a lovely time. There has been an outbreak of speedoes amongst the spaniards and Italians in my tent, and more lycra than you can possibly imagine, and a lot of sand.
        We stayed in a stunning hotel in Cairo, only slightly chaotic, and drove to the desert last night. Due to the inevitable mechanical issues we spent several hours in the worst truck stop I have ever seen, surrounded by a building site. (Egypt has a lot of building sites). We got to our camp at about half midnight, and were up and about for about 6, taping feet etc. Oddly I don`t feel particularly sleep deprived, yet...
        I did spend a lot of my day plotting what to write in this blog, a lot of which is very geeky stuff about gaiters (which worked pretty well), and how quickly I managed to travel - (after the first stage, not very). I have decided to restrain myself, but might inflict it on you tomorrow. The most important thing is that i am blister free, and still standing - watch this space!

Hi there,
       I have been a bit optimistic about how easy it is to get someone to stitch on the velcro for the gaiters and so far have failed to find anyone in Edinburgh who will do it. It is too late to do it by post, so if all else fails I will be glueing them on myself. Has anyone successfully attached them on without stitching in this sort of heat and if so, what type of glue would you recommend? Another thought I had was staples to reinforce the glue, has anyone ever tried that? Other than that I am nearly there, I have managed to fit my kit in my bag, which was a bit of a worry, and I can still lift it, which is encouraging. I am looking forward to getting going now, and meeting everyone. 
        I am staying at the airport hotel on thurs night as i get in very late, so if anyone is getting into Cairo airport on friday and want to share a lift into the city let me know.
See you all very soon!

Hi everyone, this is my first posting - although I did think I had done another one ages ago, which just shows how good I am with technology!
Less than 3 weeks to go, and I am tapering with enthusiasm, which mostly means doing squats in a sauna if I can overcome my embarrassment, and panicking that I haven't done enough training - is it even possible to do enough training?!
I have finally decided on my fuel for the race, so went out and bought it today. It weighs a ton, and that is without the main meals! I suspect will be weighing up the benefits of those 4 extra peanuts right up to the last minute. In case anyone is still undecided and needs yet more suggestions to add to their confusion, I have gone for High 5 4 in 1 carb protein powder mix. You can use it before, during, and after, and the protein helps with the endurance side of life, and rebuilding our poor muscles. I also highly recommend honey stinger energy chews as a variation to gells ( pomegranate passion are particularly good). I am having jordans country crisp for breakfast which contains far too many calories to be eaten by anyone not running a marathon! Japanese rice crackers and bombay mix are coming too, to add flavour to my life.
          I have also started fund raising for Help for Heroes and Marie Curie cancer care. The closer the race comes the more enthusiastic I get about raising money, on the basis that I am going to need all the motivation I can get to justify the pain! I am still having a one size or two size too big shoe debate with myself, but have hopefully found someone to attach my gaiter vecro for when i finally decide. 
          I am not going to document the details of my training, sufice to say that I have run in some beautiful places with some great people as a result of signing up for this. Having said that, I have had my less than motivated runs. During one of them, along the beautiful East Lothian coast line, while I wanted nothing more than to finish, it occured to me, that if I had that attitude in the Sahara it would be a very long week! As a result I have decided I am going to make the most of a once in a lifetime's opportunity, enjoy the scenery and the company, listen to some good tunes and audio books (for when things get rough on the long day), and have great time!
          Looking forward to seeing you there!