Well, the race is over now! What a fantastic experience it was! Indeed, it was a difficult week where my stubbornness was tested to the limit, but I have to admit that it was a lot easier for me than it was for many of my new friends I made while in the desert. It is very hard to put in words all the feelings and good memories I bring back from this event. The organization, the competitors, the local people, the support from emails received from all over the world, the fantastic scenery, it all contributed towards a great race. When I started training for this event, my objective has always been to be able to finish. As the stages went on, I had to remind myself how fortunate I was to be able to continue on with very minor injuries, specially when compared to other runners. This allowed me to actually enjoy the desert and its many different views. There is a lot of sand in the desert (what a great conclusion right!), but I never thought there were so many different types of sand, dunes, mountains, oasis, etc. You go from the White Desert to the Black Desert and anything in between! Pictures are evidence of how nice the desert really is, but it is impossible to put in words or pictures how nice people have been. I cannot describe all the incidents and name all my new friends I met in the desert (and also by email support from people I have never met), but this is the true reason as to why this is such a great experience! People from all over the world participated in the race and no matter how tough the going was, absolutely all of them always had a great smile in their face and were ready to help you out! I have learned a lot of these races from people like Luis, Paolo, Umberto, Rafaele, Guy, I have learned about endurance and perseverance from people like Paul, Tom and James, good humor from Saurabh, Matthew and Damon. I cannot name everyone, but thanks very much for sharing with me a fantastic experience! My first attempt to an ultra marathon ended up in disappointment as after a lot of effort, I had to hitchhike my way back to civilization. This time, I am very happy to say that I successfully completed the race, and with relatively little injuries as a reminder of what I accomplished. I would like to thank everyone for the continued support! The emails I have received from you at every stage have made the difference! Hernan

Well, the long day came to an end.  it was long.... in any case, we are all back in camp and ready for more!  fortunately, all we have left is a 7 hour drive to Cairo tonight, so that we can do a quick run around the pyramids and get all those nice pictures taken! 
 
These last couple of days have been fantastic and the people around the event made the whole dfference, from the competitors, the volunteers, and all the people who have sent me emails of support!  Thanks to all of you very very much! 
 
EL DIA LARGO LLEGO A SU FIN, UN POQUITO LARGO... EN TODO CASO, YA ESTAMOS TODOS EN EL CAMPAMENTO LISTOS PARA UN VIAJE DE 7 HORAS A CAIRO, DONDE LLEGAREMOS POR LA MANIANA Y CORREREMOS ALREDEDOR DE LAS PIRAMIDES PARA LA FOTITO!
 
ESTOS ULTIMOS DIAS FUERON FANTASTICOS Y TODA LA GENTE EN TORNO AL EVENTO, DESDE COMPETIDORES, VOLUNTARIOS, Y GENTE QUE ME HA MANDADO EMAILS LO HAN HECHO INVOLVIDABLE.    GRACIAS DE VERDAD, YA QUE SIN LA AYUDA DE USTEDES, ESTON NO HUBIERA SIDO POSIBLE.
 
Hernan

Well, another day is gone.  It was a nice day today to run actually which serves us well as we have a long day tomorrow (90 kms).  Thanks for all your emails as usual since they keep me going.  I only have a couple of blisters here and there so the equipment is ready for tomorrow.
 
Thanks very much!
 
Hernan

Thanks very much for all your emails these days!  They are a motivation and allow me to keep going forward.  The race is a lot of fun so far and little by little we are getting closer to the finish line.  I wish I could write more but the keyboard is quite tiny at my eyes cant see much!  Thanks for all your support and I will answer your emails individually when I get back!
 
GRACIAS POR SUS EMAILS DE ESTOS DIAS.  ME AYUDAN MUCHA PARA SEGUIR DANDOLE ADELANTE!  LA CARRERA HASTA AHORA ES6TA MUY DIVERTIDA Y POCO A POCO ESTAMOS MAS CERCA DE LA LLEGADA.  OJALA PUDIERA ESCRIBIR MAS AHORA, PERO EL TECLADO ES MINUSCULO Y MIS OJOS NO VEN NADA.  GRACIAS A TODOS POR SU APOYO Y CUANDO VUELVA LES CONTESTARE A TODOS.
 
HERNAN

I have received many emails from you which unfortunately I cannot answer, so thank you all since these do help!  Stage 2 is over, a few blisters but all is good.  The place is magical, you would never imagine the desert being so nice.  Quite hot, but nice.
 
The people are also very nice and although we are tired at the end of the runs, we can still have time for very bad jokes!
 
I have taken a ton of pictures which I will share once this is over, in the meantime, thanks again for all your help and if you do feel like doing it, please share your good vibrations with the Ronald McDonald.
 
I will not bother you with technical details as you will be able to read them from other blogs, so thanks again and I will try to do this again tomorrow!
 
Hernan

Last week I mentioned how good it felt when I was contacted by Val

As the weeks go by and the start for the Sahara race is getting closer and closer, the usual internal dilemmas start looming. Am I in the right track in my training, is the hamstring a little too tight, did I feel a blister where I never ever had one before, is this backpack now rubbing me in my neck? I guess this is all part of the "adventure". I really can't wait any longer to jump into the plane and arrive to the hotel in Cairo. Once there, the whole event will become a reality and I am sure all of us, the rookies, will be looking around everyone else to absorb in the last couple of hours all we can from the experienced runners, and most probably, change what we thought was a solid game plan! Some of you know that I just returned from a failed attempt to run around Andorra in early July. This was a nice race around the Pyrenees (110 km) with #%$@ elevation change. The bottom line is I got lost and was not able to complete the course due to the time limits imposed between check points. This was a big disillusion for me, but.... A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Val

Well, I am back to the United States after a very long weekend of traveling and running. My adventure started last Wednesday afternoon, time at which I was to depart to Andorra, with an expected arrival to Andorra of Thursday around 5 PM. Unfortunately, my flights were re-routed through Atlanta (instead of Boston) and once I arrived to Atlanta, I was told that my flights to Paris where all over-booked hence, I had to spend the night in Atlanta. I finally managed to get on a direct flight to Barcelona leaving on Thursday afternoon. After this long ordeal, I landed in Barcelona Friday morning, thankfully met up with my checked bag, ran to catch up a bus to Andorra and 4 hours later was there. That is, I arrived at 3 PM, right on time for the runners meeting. So, from the door of my house, to the door of the hotel in Andorra it took me 42 hours! This, added to the 6 hour time zone difference was not the best way to spend the last day prior to this difficult race. In any case, at midnight on Friday, Gustavo, Sebas and me were ready to start on this 110 km (68 miles) race through the mountains. And what mountains! The course was definitely a challenge. With slopes as long as 8 kms and 30-35% slopes, this is not something you find everywhere! To put things in perspective, we were managing a pace of around 3.5 kms per hour (2.2 miles per hour) when my typical pace is around 10-11 kms per hour (6-7 miles per hour)! The hills going up were brutal, and the hills going down were just as hard. After running all night (10 hours), we managed only 35 kms (22 miles). There was not a single stretch of flat land or smoother slope to be able to at least catch a break. In any case, we were strolling along quite well. Running in the night is a unique experience and the amount and focus and concentration required also takes some energy out of you. The "fleet" of runners separated quite rapidly so very soon, after about two hours, you found yourself running alone in the vast mountains. The first long "hill" took me around 3 hours to tackle. At this time, a strong thunderstorm with frequent hail and lots of wind hit us which made everything even more "adventurous". We had to cross patches of snow which made it very difficult to even walk as the surface was quite slippery. After about 7 hours of this slow progress, we arrived to a refuge in the mountains where they kept us in for about 20 minutes as the weather was really treacherous and the organizers considered it was not safe to continue. Once the weather improved, they allowed us (we were about 10 runners there) to continue. Within one hour, we arrived to the first of 5 water/food stations, a very welcome site as in my race plan, I thought I would be here around 5 hours earlier, so my water was gone. After a quick stop, I continued tackling the mountain, this time I had a 35% slope for around 3 kms (2 miles) to look forward to. What a climb! Once on the top, we had to run down the same slope. Not too sure if you ever tried to run down this kind of slope with snow and rocks everywhere. Running is really not possible! In any case, this was a good change of pace, the sun was showing up occasionally, and the temperature was on the rise. By now I was running by myself (for the last 3 hours) as my friends and the rest of the people we stopped with at the refuge were behind. I was enjoying a good pace, legs were starting to feel the impact of the downhill work but the spirits were high. My next objective was refuge 2 which theoretically, was around 1 hour away at my pace. And this is were disaster struck. I never came across the refuge and unfortunately, made a wrong turn in the marked trails. The organizers had marked an alternative route due to the bad weather which with my luck, I found and followed. I never came across the refuge 2, and after 4 hours of running, I made a loop back to....refuge 1. My disappointment was tremendous as you can imagine as even though I realized something was wrong, I did not confirme this feeling until I made it to the wrong refuge! And all of this after around 12 hours of running. At that point the organizers told me I could not continue in the race as I would not meet the time quotas allowed, so I was disqualified from the race. I am not used to not finishing what I start so I was quite demoralized and disappointed. I suggested the organizers if I could continue on my own and they could not disallow me to do it however, they strongly recommended me not doing it due to the difficult terrain and weather conditions still to come. So, my race came to an end! I did not cry but I really wanted to. I filled up my water bottles and started walking back to civilization, another 3-4 hours away. These were the hardest hours of all as I was now walking the "wrong" way. They always say that these experiences make you stronger for future races. I certainly learned a number of lessons which will help me for the rest of the events. This will not negate my frustration and disappointment for not completing the round, but at the end of the day, I have to be satisfied with what I had accomplished as this was truly a physical challenge. Some of the important points to highlight: 1- Never plan on arriving so close to the start of the race. If you have ever flown so far and had to go through such a big time zone difference, you know what I am talking about. The body requires rest and adaptation which in my case, well, there was none! 2- Do not underestimate "hills". I should say mountains right! It is very different to run 6 miles on flat courses versus 6 miles in the mountain. When you train, it is not distance that matters but time on your feet. In my case, the same distance which takes me one hour to complete with a very normal pace, it took me 3 hours in the mountains. So a race you think will take you 15 hours, it is really more like 45 hours! 3- I am very happy with my training and preparation as my legs remained strong for the time I spent in the mountains (about 14 hours). I did not have any training in hilly terrain but the time spent at the gym was very beneficial. In the future though, I will try to find locations in the United States to run in the mountains as there is no substitute to getting your runs in the terrains you expect. 4- Realize that when you are running in such terrain, you have to have a technical skill that you have to learn and develop. It is not trivial and you have to learn it. I could not run downhill although the top runners ran without problems skillfully using their poles. In my case, I used the poles so I would not kill myself step after step! 5- Try to run with a partner. After such a long endurance event, your senses are affected. Maybe I would not have missed my turn if I was running with someone else? Maybe I would have been challenged to think about why I did not come across refuge 2 after so long? 6- The equipment I used was very good. We had a very bad storm which lasted about 4 hours with cold winds and hail. Your equipment is very important. My basic equipment consisted of: Salomon Lab Pro Shoes, Injinji Socks, CWX running tights (long), Coolmax shirt, Paclite Goretex Jacket, Hat, and Leki Carbon Ultralite Poles, a Cosmo Headlight from Black Diamond. I had a Salomon Revo 30 backpack with some warm clothes, a sleeping bag and food and nutrition supplements for 30 hours of run. I HAVE TO SPECIALLY THANK MY FRIENDS VLADI AND PABLITO FROM CAMPING CENTER IN ARGENTINA FOR FACILITATING MOST OF THIS GEAR! 7- Enjoy the run. I was very lucky that I could be in that terrain. If you manage to raise your head every now and then and observe the nature around you, this will re-fuel you for the next 15-30 minutes! Step by step! There is a lot more that I can write about the experience. Overall I am happy I did it, but very sad I did not finish. It hurts but I will learn from it. I am comfortable with my physical condition and I know that I can handle this kind of events. I just need a little more preparation and experience which I will continue gathering in the races to come. Thanks to all of you for your words of support and encouragement and I am sorry if I let you down by not finishing. I am very strong for the next two races which will be very important for me! Thanks! Hernan Blog: http://daddyultraruns.com/wordpress/?p=44

Well, the date has finally arrived and I am on my way to Andorra for the first race of my series (http://andorraultratrail.org). I think I have been training enough and that I am in good shape for the grueling 70 miles (110 kms.) of mountains and even snow! Of course, this week my legs are hurting, I see blisters where I don't have anything, and I lost a toe nail (this last part is true!). I have to admit that I am really excited about this race which not only will serve as training for my next two events later in the year, but also to appreciate how far I can push my body. I will take it very slowly as my training has been done mainly on flat terrain and sand, nothing like what it will be in Andorra. Having said this, I will pace myself at a very slow speed and get to feel comfortable. The maximum time allowed to complete the course is 38 hours, which I hope to meet. Last week I have been running in the trails in Massachusetts to catch a glimpse of what hills feel like. You can see some of my training runs by going to this website: feed://connect.garmin.com/feed/rss/activities?feedname=Garmin%20Connect%20-%20hernangorda&owner=hernangorda I would like to thank you all for the support you have given me during this last couple of months of hard training. Also, many of you have donated to support me with my costs as well as donated to the Ronald McDonald House. If you would like to learn more, please go to my web page at www.daddyultraruns.com and you will be able to learn how to donate. My next update will probably be after the race is over so thanks again and off we go! Hernan

I am pleased to be running in support of the Ronald McDonald House Charities. This organization has had a direct impact in my life and my wish is to give back. Ana, our 5 year old daughter, was born with a heart problem which required urgent surgery when she was only 3 days old. She was flown to Tampa, FL and was successfully operated on at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. During these trying days we were offered the wonderful opportunity to stay free of charge at the Ronald McDonald House of Tampa. Ronald McDonald

I would like to congratulate all the Namibia Race Participants for an incredible job! I could not wait for every update coming from the desert every day and enjoyed reading each and everyone of your stories! Thanks for being a role model to all of those who will follow you in different events. Also, and very importantly, thanks for all of you for sharing your learning lessons, such as how to prepare for each leg, how to value the camaraderie, and what to expect from the equipment being used. It is funny that most of the people who wrote at one point or another stressed that they "were not bloggers". Well, running for 12 hour days and being a blogger are not compatible! But having said this, from what I have experienced, you are not only great runners but fantastic bloggers! The one thing you will appreciate now is how comfortable those plane seats are after all! Enjoy your trips back home and hopefully I will be able to meet some of you in the future! Thanks for your help and congratulations for starting (and some of you completing) this great Namibia Race! Hernan email: [email protected] web: www.daddyultraruns.com twitter: http://twitter.com/daddyultraruns Facebook: hernangorda

I have finally registered for Sahara! This is a big day for me as I have been looking forward to this for some time now! My name is Hernan Garcia and I currently live in Cocoa, Florida. I am Argentinean and will be running for Argentina. I am currently training to take part on a couple of endurance races this year. Part of the program which I will be part of, includes: 1- Vuelta a Andorra (http://www.andorraultratrail.org): This is a 105 km (65 miles) race around Andorra. It is a non-stop event and starts on July 4th, finish within 38 hours of the start. You have to be self sufficient for this race. 2- 4 Deserts Sahara 3- La Mision Race (http://www.lamisionrace.com.ar/2009/news.php): This is a 150 km (93 miles) race in the south of Argentina which starts on November 25th and you finish as soon as you can. You have to be self sufficient for this race. I will be running on behalf of the Ronald McDonald House and hope to collect over $5,000 in donations this year to support their efforts. You can find out more information about my project on my web page, http://www.daddyultraruns.com. By following this link, you will be able to stay close to my training and I will be updating with news and cool things as we progress. I look forward to seeing you all in Egypt! Hernan