As I sit here in Cairo post race reflecting and trying to recover (I am exhausted and my toes are a mess), the first thing that comes to mind is - wow what an incredible experience!

What a torcherous stage.  It started off well.  Normal strategy and as I was climbing up the canyon with the whale fossels (section), I was feeling really good, making good time, and getting ahead of myself caluculating a faster finishing time.  Then just as I was about to start the run down to the valley below I blew three tires in 5 minutes!  First my right hip flexor started ceasing, then my left ITB became very painful, and then I was sick to my stomach.  WIth apx 7km to the next check point I had gone from a high to a very deep low at only 23km into 86km.  The reality of what I was doing and how the tables can turn in this type of event at any stage slapped me in the face.  It took me a very long time to hobble to check-point #3 - I arrived there at least 45 mins later than I should have.  Long enough to write my next blog in my head about how disappointed I was that I had to pull out of the race...  When I got to the check point I sat down and stretched a bit still thinking that this was the end and i was extremely disheartned.  I have always reminded myself of Lance Armstrong's quote when I have faced low points in the past, "Pain is Temporary, Quiting is Forever."  But this time was different how could I complete another 56km with two hips that were not working and being sick to my stomach?  Pain is Temporary, Quiting is Forever.  Pain is Temporary, Quiting is Forever, I was repeating to myself.  The check-point Dr. Mark, was already expecting my arrival as my tentmate, David, had pre-warned them that I was in rough shape. But then something strange happened, after 5 mins sitting there I stood up felt great and ran off into the next section.  It was was my best stage all day.  I have no idea what happened but it was the last time all day that I counted my chickens.  We had a very cool dune climb where we were close to getting blown off of it and then down the other side - very steep and very powdery - it was so much fun running down it - like pounding through champaign powder at Big White.  The next stage out to the 50km check-point was brutal.  10km across a massive plain made of golf ball size rocks with an unrelenting headwind.  Running into a headwind for that long is very demoralizing - in Australia they refer to those winds in the Outback as suicide winds which is very aptly named.  Several people chose to stop and eat at the 50km checkpoint as there was hot water available but I pushed on.  As I looked back over my shoulder when I left the check-point I experienced the most beautiful sunset.  The next 36km were very lonely as by this point in the race the field had really spread out.  With about 20km to go I stopped to get some more water and there was a Japanese competitor who had stopped for the same and he pulled out a Snickers bar - I was so jealous.  I had been saving a podcast all race - Ray Zahab being interviewed on Ultrarunnerposcast.com.  At that point in the race it was very inspirational to here Ray's passion for this sport and for his impossible2possible foundation.  For those of you that don't know about Ray checkout www.impossible2possible.com and Running the Sahara which is a brilliant movie about Ray running ACROSS the Sahara (I have done 250km in the Sahara this week - Ray and two of his friends ran over 4,000 km across the Sahara in 111 days).  At about 18km out my bad knee finally decided that it did not like what I was doing to it and became sore and unstable.  So at the last check-point I tensored it which did the trick for the short term but it is not happy with me today.  The final 9.7km was 90% a gradual downhill.  I had been running by moonlight but by now the moon had set and (very funny I just fell asleep at the keyboard mid-sentence - must be tired) so I was forced to turn my headlamp on.  There was some very tricky footing and the light from the headlamp was playing games which meant the that it was very difficult to see where to step.  The final km was across a sand wave field with hard packed waves about a foot high each and very uneven, the lighting was still playing games and there was a low layer of fog developing above the waves meaning that instead of running to the finish line I stumbled there!
 
Camp was very quite when I got there - just before 2am. I was 56th on the stage so there were not that many people in camp and those that were were pretty much wiped out.  Aryan from my tent and Mamhet were sitting around the fire so I joined them for a short time a drank some bullion (part of my post run recovery ritual).  I then went to my tent took off my socks and let my feet SCREAM at me for the next hour.  The were very unhappy - and although I have grown some pretty cool blisters (including ones that I definitely get to drill today), the screaming was just cramping.  I managed to get  1 1/2 hrs of pseudo sleep but nothing on my body felt comfortable or painless so with a bunch of others I was up at 5:30am chearing in people that were still coming in.  The last few have just come in - 8 /12 hours after me and have been in the heat of the Sahara sun again this morning!!  Two of my tent mates Geoff and Laurence came in about an hour ago.  They were in high spirits but they were physically pummelled - Geoff came across the line in his sandles in barefeet - I cannot imagine how he did that.
 
News Alert:  As I am sitting here I have just dicovered that people bought Coke and Chips at the Valley of the Whales museum at check-point #2 - how did I miss that!!
 
Today is a break day in camp before the final short run at the Pyramids tomorrow to the finish line.  People are busy, sleeping, vegging, fixing feat, vegging, vegging, fixing feet, and vegging.  We are all sitting in camp baking in the desert sun.  The tents are like Saunas and the flies have found us for the first time.  Flies love blisters by the way.
 
Well into the finally stretch.  Do I ever want to do one of these again - NO CHANCE! But that feeling will disappate I am sure. 
 
Now off to remove some tape and find some blister treasures below, thread a few blisters, and drill a few toenails.  Without yet seeing underneath the tape, I am currently estimating losing 5 or 6 toenails.

Well stage 4 is done and dusted.  And now 86.4km staring me in the face....  It was hard enough getting finished today so we might as well double the distance and add a few more km for good measure...
 
Relative to the previous days today was relatively flat.  I say relatively as we did leave the start line and  went immediately into rolling dunes, across a flat soft taffy valley and then up to a plateau on top of a canyon ridge, down to the valley floor again and into more soft taffy for about 10km, up to the top of another canyon ridge and across a plateau, then down to a different valley of rolling soft taffy for about 15km into a strong headwind to the finish line.  So what is soft taffy?  Soft taffy is when you step down on something and it is soft and cushy but it returns zero energy - all energy just goes into the taffy so every step is inefficient!
 
I kept my tortoise strategy again today and it seemed to work - steady pace throughout and I kept climbing placings through the day.  I have no idea what my overall standing is but I am consitently placing in the top 50 each stage so I am more that ecstatic about that.  Peter, I know you are trying to coach me to go out stronger but my legs just take a while to warm-up so softly softly catch the monkey is my game and I have caught alot of monkey's. 
 
Am I in a little bit of pain after 4 stages?  Not really.  I am in a lot of pain!!!  My legs are completely burnt out, my blisters are starting to grow, my back is sreaming at me from carrying the pack, and my lips are dry and cracked.  Other than that I am feeling GREAT!  Even without tightening my laces my feet can barely fit in my shoes (more on this later).  And someone shrunk all of my socks! I threaded my first blister this morning - yes I managed to figure out how to thread the needle.  My taping is holding up ok but the blisters are growing underneath it.  I am considering re-taping my toes tonight as I may need to drill the toenails on both of my big toes to release the pressure from the blisters growing below them.  Still contemplating that one.  It is a really fun experience if you have never tried it.  You can create a pretty cool fountain spray of blister fluid when you drill a nail.
 
I have a number of lessons for today's blog but the first one is the most important.  In the morning before you put your gaiters on DO NOT STEP WHERE SOMEONE ELSE HAS PEED!  Pee and the Sahara sand combine to make a deadly cement that is almost impossible to remove from your shoe 5mins before the race start....  I'll come back to more lessons later.
 
So we have a really fun lady in our tent, Luba, sho dropped out on the first day and has become our tent mother.  She is American but originally from the Ukraine.  She has completely disproved the old wives tale that Eastern European woman like their hairy legs.  We woke up yesterday morning to her asking if anyone in the tent was carrying a razor in their pack as she wanted to shave her legs.  Needless to say none of us chosen to add the weight of a razor to our pack.
 
The quote for the day from our tent came from Patricia our German representative.  Someone mentioned that she had been travelling with a New Zealander during the race by saying that "Patricia had picked up a New Zealander today."  Her response was, "Yeah but he didn't have any Kiwis!"
 
What did I see today?  Millions and millions of shell fossils and a few sea Eurchin shells.  They were everywhere in the middle of the desert nowhere near the ocean.  Chris' class you can have a project to figure that one out and how I am going to see 3 million year old whale bones in the desert tomorrow.  I also saw millions of small dark brown rocks.  Rocks that have been baking in the Sahara sun forever - from the broken ones you can see that they were not originally brown.  And I saw my first bird!  I heard some birds in the Canyon walls earlier in the day but finally saw a black one flying over camp this evening.  Too loosen up my legs I climbed to the top of the cliff above camp and had an incredible view of another fantastic sunset. 
 
Some lessons to capture for myself and share with the other insane individuals that will do these races in the future.
-Parmessan - absolutely a brilliant treat along with my small portion of beef jerkey and crackers at the end of a stage.  Great calorie to weight ratio as well.
-Beef Jerkey - what can I say it was so satisfying in the Gobi and it has not disappointed in the Sahara
-Longview Pepperoni sticks.  Mehmet brought them and they have an incredible weight to calorie count (and they are a good Alberta product to boot)
-Shoes - one size larger than normal is not big enough for the swelling of your feet in the heat of the Sahara - it was fine in the Gobi - so recommend 1 1/2 to 2 shoes sizes larger than normal.
-Toe taping - with pristinely clean feet paper tape your toes using skin prep or tincture of benzoate first to prepare the skin.  I didnt do this in the Gobi and paid for it.  I showed some guys in my tent this before day one and they felt that their injiniji socks were enough - they have paid for it!
-Heel and Forefoot Taping - use elastikon tape - brilliant stuff.  Again skin prep first.  I taped with Elastikon on the first day and have not had to touch it since.  I threaded one small blister through the elastikon and it worked fine.
-Hyropel - Use hydropel all over your feet each day including over the tape. Also use it in your crotch, crack, and arm pits - anywhere that can chafe
-Hydropel #2 - dont keep it in a zip lock bag - if the ziplock open in your pack in makes a big mess - I learned the hard way.
-Tights under shorts - WEAR THEM!
-Watch the Racing the Planet Sahara 2012 videos and work on the Stephn Danis shuffle.  The most efficient form that I have seen to move across the sand.  It looks unorthodox but it works.
-Menu Planning - What worked in other races may not work in very hot races like the Sahara - take and extra Perpteum or electroylte powder for each day.  It adds a little weight but this race is so draining from the heat and sand that you need a few more powder calories.
-Menu Planning #2 - For the rest day after the big stage consider limiting the food you bring the final day is generally very short and so there is a weight saving opportunity - this is part of what get packs of the top racers down to the 6.6kg to 7kg range.  They are still carrying the requiste 7 day calorie count but they use more efficient calorie to weight ratio meals and have very little in weight left to carry on the long day.
 
That's all of my tips for today.  Time to go eat some freeze dried sweet and sour pork with rice and then into bed by 8:30 tonight.
 
Thanks to everyone for all of the great blog messages and emails.  It is so nice to receive these when I get into camp each night.  BTW as I am expecting the next stage to be in the 18 hour range, I won't be blogging again until Friday Egypt time.  Til then send positive vibes to my feet and legs - They are going to need them!
 
P.S. #1 Jericho, to answer your question.  As of right now I have NO plans to do another one of these races again.  Why would anyone ever want to do this to themselves (other than the great contributions to Tabitha)?  But you know that in a few weeks the memories of pain will have disappeared and the exhileration will be all that remains.  (The memories of the pain will really never disappear but they will be chalked as being worth every second of it.)  Jericho, I am sure that your question is because you can't wait to do one of these races (just like Brayden has been asking about).  Just let me know when you are ready.  Love You Guys.
 
P.S. #2 Luke, Dylan, Christopher, don't forget what you and your Dad's are doing when you are 18 - Gobi 2019 - ten year anniversay from that first crazy Gennasmer, Symonds, Handcock experience.  Neal & Peter, I am really missing you guys out here.  Neal I am sure that you will feel the same when you take on the Nepal race in November.

"How did you run that long! I have never heard of anybody's dad run that long."
 
That is a comment I received from one of Christopher's grade 6 classmates.  Well after stage three today, I have absolutley no idea!
 
I didn't get alot of sleep last night.  I woke up a number of times with pain in my legs similar to growing pains.  Not a memory of my teen years that I wanted to recall.  Starting a 42.7km stage without alot of sleep is probably not recommended.  Right out of the start line this morning we were in massive rolling dunes for several km.  The scenery was incredible but it was a very hard way to start the day.  It then transitioned into running in in the bottom of a valley but this time instead of day old porridge it was on 3 hours old and so the skin was more of an illusion - there was no avoiding breaking through to the soft porridge underneath.  From there we went into more rolling dunes and depending on the angle of the dune relative to the wind it was either hardpacked or soft an pillowy.  I have no idea how many times we went up and down dunes today but it must have been at least 50 and they were not small dunes.  I had the excitement of smelling something dead and rotting and after about 5mins of the smell becoming stronger I came across a dead donkey in the middle of the dunes.  Why a donkey was up there makes no sense at all.  While I am on animals - nope no birds sited today.  Checkpoint 3 was at a small spring which had a small pool that a number of people partook in.  I avoided partaking myself as I did not want to cause any undo havoc to my feet and think that if I had climbed in I would have never gotten out.  The next section took us through several more rolling dunes and then down into another porridge valley.  Then the course director, Carlos, had a little bit of mean fun with us.  He took us out of the valley by climbing a massive dune to the top of a Canyon wall for checkpoint #4 and then immediately back down toward the valley and more rolling dunes.  We finished with the last apx 7km with a black porridge.  The black porridge is very deceiving - To look at it you would swear that it was hard like ashphalt but alas no it it just porridge in costume!
 
I really struggled through the stage today. I and had to continuolsy remind myself "keep stepping forward".  It was a true mind over body day for me today.  Most people I have talked to also struggled through parts of today.  Watching so many people limp around camp tonight it is hard to imagine that we have another 40+ km stage tomorrow followed by an 86km stage.  My time on the course today was a long hot apx 8 1/2 hours which still placed me at 42nd.  How the other 120ish people that came in over the following 3 1/2 hours can recover enough for tomorrow is beyond me.  I have heard that a number of people dropped out today.  The heat and the sand definitely make this race considerably harder than Gobi and the Gobi race was not easy in any way, shape, or form.  Apparently tomorrow's 40.4km stage is easier.  I don't think that anything from here on out is going to feel easy.      
 
Again my blister situation has held up ok.  I drained a couple of blisters this morning and have a couple of others forming under toenails but so far my foot taping is working ok.  I think that by the end of the long stage my blister situation will have changed dramatically and that is not to the better! Not sure that there is any real way around that.  Can someone remind me the next time I do this to bring a needle that has an eye big enough to put the thread in!  I tried threading my blisters this morning and ran into the smallest needle eyes that quite literally are too small for the thread!  If anyone wants to know the details behind threading a blister I will be happy to provide all of the intricate details when I get back. 
 
Tonight camp is in a valley backing on to a very large sand dune.  The sunset was incredible (sorry Peter).  There is an interesting phenomenon in camp.  Because it is dark at 6pm many people are in there tents asleep by 7:30 or 8pm.  You would think that we are all doing something to make us slightly tired.  Speaking of which I extremely tired and so signing off for tonight - 5am will come fast. 

WOW -THAT WAS A HARD DAY!!  BUT I DID SEE EVIDENCE OF A BIRD
 
41.6km across alot of dunes and soft sand.  Temperature was slightly cooler today but the terrain was tougher.  Alot of people ran hard in the first stage and I paced myself (partially because my legs take a while to warm-up).  I reached Check-point 1 in 73rd place had a very tough challenging section 2  - it was long hot, and every step forward seem to include half a step backward.  I was feeling very sluggish going into checkpoint 2 quickly refilled my water and turned to start section 3.  As I made that turn, I seemed to get some renewed energy. The section started with a long climb up a massive hard packed sand dune.  I had no idea that they made sand dunes in that size - basically went from a canyon floor all the way to the top of the canyon cliffs.  I passed a few people on this stage and guessed that I had may climbed up to 60th place or so.  Stage 4 started off flat and the field had really spread out I passed about 5 more people in this flat section and then made a turn down a very fun decline - basically straight down a cliff face in need deep powdery sand - it was an absolute blast running down that!  At the bottom I crossed a valley and tried to force myself to slow jog counting out 100 steps at a time.  Rising ominously in the distance I could see that the course ahead was going to go up another massive sand dune - I would guess 100m high.  By my calculations I figured that camp must be just over the top of the climb so I was expecting to hear the drums of the finish line but they never came.  As I came over the crest I saw in the distance at least another couple of kms camp way up on top of the next massive dune.  I was so happy when I finally crossed that line in apx 7 hours and 25mins.  I was very surprised to also learn that I had finished 39th in today's stage.  I must have been delirious for a while as I have no recollection of passing that many people from checkpoint 1 to the finish.  It was so nice to get into my tent take my socks and shoes off, down my recovery drink (boy does Recoverite taste terrible - nowhere near as good as chocolate milk which by the way research shows as being just as effective in protein replacement as the leading recovery drinks - unfortunately for me chocolate milk does not keep well in 40+ degree weather. 
 
I finally saw evidence of a bird today - I saw large bird tracks in the sand.  I figure that they must have been from the vulture that was tracking me all day.  I also so a very curious insect that looked like a cross between and scorpion and a sand crab.  There was not vegitation and no water so what the thing survives on is a big mystery. 
 
I would like to thank everyone who has been sending me messages.  The really mean alot and are very encouraging.  A special thank you to my son Christopher's class who is folowing my blog and have sent me a number of messages and questions.  Perhaps I can come to your class sometime and answer your questions in person.
 
The past 24 hours have been a good learning lesson in electrolyte management.  A really nice guy in my tent by the name of Johannes (he is German living in Zurich) had alot of leg cramping last night and wanted to take some extra electroytes.  I asked him a few questions about how much water he had drunk and how much electrolyte he had consumed.  It turned out that he had consumed a similar amount of water as me but that he had consumed about 4 times the electrolytes.  He didnt need more electrolytes he desperately needed water to balance the overdose he had given himself.  Today he ran a pretty good time and when I arrived in camp he once again had cramps and was consuming salt tablets.  I encouraged him to stop and to drink lots of water.  A couple of hours later I heard that he was not doing very well in the medical tent so I went to check on him with Louis.  He was delirious, had had a ceasure, and it took Louis plus two doctors to hold him down so that they could get an intervenous into his arm.  Arrangements are now being made to take him to a hospital in Cairo - we are in the middle of nowhere so it is going to take several hours to get him there.  He should be fine but it is a good lesson in how consuming too many electrolytes can really mess you up.
 
How am I feeling?  Pretty good considering the challenge of the past couple of days.  My feet are still in pretty good condition.  There are a couple of places where I think by tomorrow night I will have some blisters but right now nothing more than I had last night.  My feet are quite sore - just muscle cramping - and my bad knee is quite stiff and tired but overall I seem to be holding up ok so far.  I have no dillusions for grandeur though - the next few days are going to be very hard!  One of Chistopher's classmates sent me a question asking me why I am doing this - when someone figures out the answer can they let me know???
 
It is impossible to describe the setting that I am in.  We are camped high on a massive dune overkooking a valley full of smaller dunes.  It is absolsutley stunning.  I can see the course markings for tomorrow's section.  They climb up higher on the dune out the back of camp and then role over a number of large dunes heading north so it will be a challenging section 1 tomorrow.  Again it is a 5am camp wake-up time course briefing at 6:30am and then a 7am start.  I expect the time on the course tomorrow to be similar to today (probably longer) so another long hot one.  The first three sections are rated difficult so of 42.6km 32km appear to be very challenging.  Quite a few people did not finish the stage today and several are limping around camp so I expect that the field will thin out some more tomorrow.  I just heard the drums at the finish line which means that someone has just come in after 13 hours!
 
Some were asking why they were not seeing my blogs earlier in the day.  The reason is that we are in the middle of the Sahara desert and everyone's blogs get uploaded by satelite at the end of each night. 
 
Singing off for today but make sure that you check-out breaking news from the race. There just might be a quote from me in it.

REVELATION - There is alot of sand in the Sahara and it is VERY hot! 

Today was apparently the easy stage.  If that was easy I am a little concerend about the next couple of days which get harder and longer.  Today had 3 moderate and 1 difficult section.  The next two days have 1 moderate section and 3 difficult section!  The description for tomorrows stage is "After the first leg with more or less hard packed sand, we we enter dune land."  So far the definition of "hard packed sand" is like running in a bowl of day old porridge - the top has a crust but if you push down even a little bit you break through to soft heavy stuff that is hard to move in.  So to move from that to no crust soft duns on a longer stage is daunting.  Running on the old porridge requires shorter strides with higher cadence so that you don't put too much pressure down.  I am not sure that changing one's running style during a 250km race is the right time to change it but hey what's a race with out some additional twists.  We'll see how the muscles react!  So it what a little hotter than expected out there - It hit 46 degrees celcius (120 farenheit for my American friends) - which was pretty darn hot!  In the Gobi it was my heal blisters that looked like raw back bacon. Today it was the whole of my body that was sizzling back bacon!  There are apx 160 competors this year which is about 30 more than there were when I did the Gobi race.  This field definitely has some stronger competitors than in Gobi.  I finished stage 1 today in 6 hours 11 mins and finished 49th so am very happy with that result.  I finished the stage 4 hours ago and there are still competitors out on the course - I cannot imagine having to spend an extra 4 hours in that heat (I guess I don't need to imagine it as Thursday's stage is 86.4km and I am expecting to be out there for apx 16 hours).  In-fact as I write this blog I can hear the drums at the finish line welcoming one of the participants into camp.  If there are any insane people out there who want to consider participating in a race where the easy day is 6+ hours in 46 degree heat, I am happy to share my experience - Peter and Neal the Sahara is beckoning you! 
 
Camraderie continues to abound around the camp.  It is such a great part of the experience.  When I came across the finish line Eric (today's co-stage winner with Dan Parr) ran over and gave e a big high five and then Stephan gave me a big hug - its such a cool atmosphere in camp where everyone is supporting each other.  There have been lots of laughs in our tent as people come hobbling in.  I was third out of 10 in my tent to finish the stage today so it has been fun welcoming the others into camp. 
 
The taping methodology that I learned in the Gobi seems to have paid of so far - my feet are in great shape with only one pain on my baby toe where I had a banged up nail and knew coming into the race that it would be an issue.  My left knee, which I had reconstruction on a few years ago (old Canadian Football injury) held up very well today.  Other than being slightly stiffer than my right one, I hardly noticed it today - lets hope it holds up for the rest of the race.
 
One of the Canadians here, David, who has finished a number of marathons in describing this race vs the marathons he has done described it as "WOW AND THIS IS ONLY DAY ONE!  IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE THIS UNTIL YOU ARE RIGHT HERE - IMPOSSIBLE!"  I guess that sums up the challenge that we are all facing as individuals but are supporting each other as instant friends who have converged on this Sahara challenge from all over the world.

We will be shortly departing Cairo for the 3 1/2 hour bus ride to where we will camp in the desert tonight and start stage 1 in the morning. I had breakfast with Eric and Andrew from HK today. Eric is one of the race favorites but there are 4 former racing the planet winners here so it will be interesting to see the jockeying throughnthe week. The briefing and equipment check went well. My hand scale shows my pack at 8kg which was my target. The RTP scale shows my pack at 8.6. Either way my pack fills lighter than in the Gobi - so guess my race delusions are already kicking in... Discovered that the stage distances are not as originally posted and that there is some minor variation on the first 4 stages. The big change is that stage 5 is in-fact not an 80km stage but actually a 86.4 km stage. And also that the final stage to the finish line at the pyramids is only 3km. A curious change to expectations. That extra 6km on the long stage doesn't sound like much but after doing 80km, that few extra k will be challenging. The buzz and anticipation around the hotel now is fantastic! People are chomping at the bit to get going. So far the temps on the course are only peaking 40 to 42 Celsius so a little cooler than the norm but that can change and go up to 50 degrees celsius at any time. This is my last blog before arriving in camp tonight. Thanks again to all of my supporters spread across the world. And good luck to my 11 year old son Christopher who is participating in his own adventure race back in HK on Sunday morning.

It has been a great afternoon and evening in Cairo. The camaraderie among racers has already started to percolate. None of us are really racing against each other. In a race like this the race is against yourself and the elements and so the other competitors become your friends very quickly. I had a great catch-up with Louie Santaguida and Stephan Danis two fellow Canadians who did the Gobi at the same time as me in 2009. Stephan has brought a group of racers out from Toronto with him and so nine of us Canadians had dinner together tonight. The world is small was proven to me again at dinner. I met Colin Nanka for the first time and we somehow put two and two together that we are both friends of Emily Maynard (My good friend Ron Totton's wife) - yikes talk about six degrees of separation! After dinner 6 of us piled into Mehmet's room to investigate what he was putting in his pack. We were all using him as a case study as he has he previously won the Gobi race and has only a 6.6kg pack - I have always wondered how it was possible to get that light as my pack is 8kg and it is one one lightest ones. In addition to being blessed with the camaraderie I was also very blessed with a gift from Stephan. He has just published a book called "Gobi Runner - Taking a Personal and Professional CHALLENGE to the Desert" and he quotes me in it a few times. It has been really interesting to reflect on my own comments. Comments that were in-fact very insightful and I am very happy to have been reminded of. Stephan has written a very interesting book. Its not just a book about running in the desert but rather about life - it is a book that many of us can relate to. I encourage anyone reading my blog to get themselves a copy. It's 1am here and we have an early briefing in the morning so I am off to bed. My last sleep in a real bed for a week. Tomorrow we sleep in the desert. 1 last thought for the night - why are there no birds in Cairo? I have yet to see or even here one...

Its 19:45 on the night before the race start.  We are at camp 1 in the middle of the desert beside a lake at an elevation of 28 meters below sea level – what is there a lake doing in the middle of the desert??  It is absolutely stunning here.  The sand is soft and it just melts into the water like there is no edge between them.  The sunset was stunning and now there are more stars out than I have ever seen and that is a big statement for a guy who grew up in the Canadian prairies.  As I sat down in the cyber tent to write this blog a couple of random camels appeared out of the dark and wandered past.  I have a great tent representing a mini united nations.  A few South Africans, a couple of Americans, a Dutchman living in Singapore working for an Australian bank covering the Pacific Islands, a German working in Switzerland, and of course me the token Canadian.  A couple of us have done the Gobi race previously and although the rest are rookies to the Racing the Planet series a couple have done he Kalahari race.  I am going to be exploring that one them – it sounds like a pretty neat place to do a race!  It was nice having my first freeze dried meal tonight I just can’t get enough of the stuff.  Its very strange – I just looked around the cyber tent and 6 of the 9 people in the tent blogging right now are Canadian – we have taken over. I have taped my feet up and am already for my 5am wake-up.  The start of stage 1 is at 7am.  Stage 1 is 37.4km including soft sand, a river crossing – why is there a river in the Sahara – hard packed sand, and some sand dunes.  The stage is between the two lakes of the Wadi El Rayan Protected Area.  I have kept up my bird watching and have yet to see one… I am sure I will see one by the end of the race.  I look forward to blogging tomorrow after the first stage of swimming through the sand.  Til then Goodnight.

I would like give a whole hearted thank you to everyone who has contributed so generously to my Tabitha fundraising efforts. I arrived in Cairo this morning to learn that my goal of raising US $5000 for Tabitha had been exceeded. I am truly humbled by the generosity that has been shown toward this cause. If anyone still wants to contribute the giving pages will continue be open throughout the race. http://www.justgiving.com/Todd-Handcock/1 Or for Canadian contributors www.canadahelps.org and enter my name in the giving pages section. Thanks Again to Everyone for Supporting Me! You have truly given me inspiration as I prepare to dive into the sand on Sunday.

I have arrived in Cairo!!!!!! The hotel here, the Dusit Thani River View is a far cry nicer than what we had in Kashgar for the Gobi race. This is a full fledged five star with a nice pool area. I am filling up at the lunch buffet as I write this and am enjoying some great Egyptian food. Unfortunately it is one of the last real meals before a week of eating powders and freeze fired meals out of a bag :-). Eric Lehaie and a few others were on the flight with me from Dubai including several racers from Japan. It is amazing how wearing the racing the planet patches on your shirt create instant camaraderie and rapport. One of the guys on our flight, Andrew, who also did the Gobi in 2009 with me, was missing his bag when he arrived. When the airport finally found the bag with his tag on it, the bag was not his! Somewhere along the trip his tags were switched and the bag that arrived was a ratty old thing with some construction stuff and a hard hat in it! Luckily like most of us Andrew had packed all of his essentials in his carry on so the only important thing missing is his knife. At least he has a nice new construction hat to protect him from the Sahara sun! I'm heading to me room shortly to fill all of my little bags of powder. I decided to keep those in their original bulk containers so as to avoid any confusion associated with bringing little bags of fine powder through customs. I think an Egyptian jail would be even less fun than baking for seven days in the Sahara sun.

1:30am in HK and i have just finished re-checking all of my kit, food, and counted my calories. I have a couple of simple pack items to pick-up before fly but i am 99% ready to go. I am still chasing that elusive 8kg pack goal. I was 8.5 kg in the Gobi and I think i am within reach of 8 now but will have to wait until the official equipment and weight check on Saturday morning in Cairo. I was really hoping to get out for a quick bike ride now but there is a Typhoon 3 warning and the wild winds would likely get me (and my bike) to Cairo a little faster than planned. 23 hours from now I will be snuggled up all cozy in my economy class Cathay seat enroute to Dubai followed by a quick 4 hour flight on Emirates to Cairo. I can't believe that I will be having lunch in Cairo on Friday!! Do I feel ready? Yes! Do I feel ready? No!! Do i feel ready? I have no idea! How do you ever really feel ready to run 250km across a desert? I want to thank all of of my supporters for their generous contributions to Tabitha. I am well on track to reaching my target and I am very hopeful that I be close by the time i leave for camp on Saturday. You can contribute to my Tabitha fundraising at http://www.justgiving.com/Todd-Handcock.

The benefit of living in Discovery Bay in Hong Kong is that I have a beach to sand train on. The stretch is about 400m so it takes several times up and down the beach to get any KMs in but at least I am getting some semblance of sand training. My fellow DB residents probably think that I am losing my mind running past them over and over again as they laze about on the beach. Overall I am not sure that my training is where I want it to be two weeks out from the race . Today will be a cross training day of cycling, beach running and watching Canada play France in the Rugby World Cup. That last part is the recovery part of my cross training for those of you who were wondering ;-) It's hard to believe that in exactly 2 weeks from today I will be waking in a tent in the Sahara desert about to start day one of the race. The sense of once again having lost my mind is certainly rattling around in my head! ------ For the Sahara race I running in support of the Tabitha Foundation which helps that people of Cambodia help themselves out of poverty - teach a man to fish philosophy. I have two giving sites for contributions to Tabitha: Canadian/American supporters via this link and enter my name: http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPages.aspx Supporters from Asia, the UK and elsewhere: http://www.justgiving.com/Todd-Handcock

Training in Ho Chi Minh is an exhilarating and lung damaging affair. I decided to try my luck at finding a path along the Mekong River for a quiet run this morning. Path? What Path? Running down the side of the road with thousands of belching motorcycles, buses and trucks was more like it. Getting across every road was taking my life in my hands. One, Two, Three Go - Stepping into thick traffic that is streaming at 40km an hour. Stop, step forward, step back, left, left, right, watch out for that truck, dodge that bike, careful that guy is coming the wrong way, don't step in the sewage. Frogger stage one complete and all lives intact! Somehow it just works. Having lived in Jakarta I should know this but it always seems like a leap of faith. I am not sure that breathing in the diesel fumes actually contributed to my training but it was fun just the same.

Only a few weeks to go. I can't believe how fast the race is approaching. Training has been a little inconsistent but I have been using cycling as a cross training method this time and it seems to be effective. I had a great cross training weekend cycling in a charity event around the Kota Tinggi and Desaru area of Malaysia. 144km into strong head winds on Saturday and 120km with lots of climbing on Sunday. Legs held up much better than I expected. Peter Symonds won't be joining me in the Sahara. He tore some muscles a few wks back and was hoping to be able to recover in time. Unfortunately for Peter the recovery is going to be quite long. He is quite disappointed that he will not be in the Sahara this year but is already setting his sights on future races. I will miss his camaraderie in the desert.

I was lucky enough to be in San Francisco last month for work and the timing coincided with the San Francisco Marathon so my training was the marathon itself. Although I have run several ultras now and by default several marathons within those ultras, this was my first official marathon. It was a beautiful run for the first 20 or so miles. Starting from the Embarcadero, along the waterfront past Fisherman's Wharf, up and over the Golden Gate Bridge and back again, through the Presidio and Golden Gate Park. A tough run because of the hills but a beautiful one all the same. Not a bad way to get a training run in :-)

Well I have finally done it! I have signed up for another Racing the Planet Race - this time in the Sahara. What a great place to do it. Visiting Cairo, crossing the dunes of probably the most recognized desert on earth, passing through the Valley of the Whales, and finishing at the Pyramids - How Amazing!! Now I just need to get my mind past all of the blisters from the Gobi in 2009 and the arriving back in HK with a leg threatening infection. I am sure that I learned enough tricks from the other competitors last time that I can reduce the blister count considerably and this time I will recognize signs of infection early. Training has started. In a Red Rainstorm Peter Symonds (another Gobi 2009 veteran and also about to put himself through the agony of the Sahara), Neal Gemmasmer (another Gobi 2009 veteran and signed up for Nepal 2011), Charles Aurich, and myself had our first big training day on Sunday. 18km from Tung Chung up to the Big Buddha, over Lantau Peak and down to Chung Sha beach and a well deserved lunch at the Stoop. We all agreed that they had added height and steepness since we climbed last climbed it. A good start to the training and if i can keep this strange joint tightening thing that I am fighting at bay it should be a good few months of training. Til the blog, Todd