Hello Everyone,
 
First and most importantly, I want to say thank you.  Thank you to my husband for your amazing support, encouragement, patience and coaching tactics to ensure that I prepared as best as I could for this amazing event.  Without you I couldn't have done this.  To Bianca, our daughter for joining me on so many runs.  You made every step I shared with you always feel like a day at the park.  Thinking of your smile carried me through this.  To my Mom, Mother in Law, Dad and Father in Law, I assure you that I am well (and safe), your love and encouragement continues to boost my spirits.  Thank you to the rest of my family and friends for reminding me to believe in myself.  And to the company I work for (www.sympatico.ca - best canadian website!) and my colleagues I sincerely appreciate all your support to see me through this journey.  This is truly a life changing experience that i attribute a great amount of gratitude to you for helping me fulfill this dream.
 
I have spent the past 3 days deep in the abyss of the Sahara Desert.  Day one was an absolute shock to the body, and yet the beauty of this place by far defeated the challenges that the day presented.  The heat and terrain are absolutely excruciating.  I had a goal for the first day of completing that stage in 6 hours... but all expectations were quickly tossed by the way side the second we started.  I brought trail poles with me thinking "just in case" but within the first kilometer I already had them out and they fast became a requirement that would see me through this.  The temperatures were up to 42 degrees and occassionally the breeze would sweep in for a brief refresh.  I finished the day with my right foot in rough shape.  After peeling the layers off my foot, first the shoe followed by two layers of socks there was not a single toe that survived the day without a blister... correction, massive blisters.  Left foot was fine, right foot took the beating.  No wonder the blister kit is a mandatory item on our list to carry with us.  So one by one I tended to them to release the fluids and relieve the pressure (yes, gross I know).  But yet what an overwhelming sense of accomplishment overshadowed the discomforts I was dealing with.
 
Day 2, up and out at 7am again.  Yesterday the terrain called for a moderate course throughout and Day 2 would see us through 3 difficult stages out of 4.  If yesterday was moderate, I couldn't really imagine anything more difficult. Sure enough the temperatures were beating down on us with 43 degree highs and much of the course was a battle of inclines.  By 12:45 I had finally made it to stage 2 where they have a check in point, refill your water and provide shade for rest if needed.  By this point I new I needed to check out my foot again.  I did my best to drain the fluids.  The challenge is that each day you're really racing against time.  The longer you are out on the course the more debilitating the day becomes.  The shade at rest stops can be very inviting.  The longer you stay, the longer it will take you to get back to camp.  It took me 40mins to eat and clean up my feet.  I managed to carry on for another 5km - another hour before myself and two of my team mates were picked up by a truck.  I could barely walk at this point. Basically what this meant was that I was no longer an official racer.  Sadly I swallowed my pride. 
 
Back at camp the medical staff cleaned me up and inspected my foot.  As luck would have it an infection was quickly breeding in my right foot and I was quickly given antibiotics.  I was advised to take today (3rd day) off.  What I didn't realize was how fortunate I would be to have a different perspective on the race.  It started off with a one hour journey 4 wheeling through the dessert to our next camp site.  Followed by an amazing day of cheering in all the racers.  Each one of these people are so amazing.  I went to the medical tent at the end of the day only to find out that my infection had worsened and that I wouldn't be back on my feet tomorrow.  They had to numb my toes to drain it and the verdict now is that if it hasn't improved by tomorrow, it will unfortunately be a hospital visit for me.  I remain optimistic however and my new ambition is that I can complete 100K of my original 250.  I especially would enjoy getting out on Day 5 to see the Valley of the Whales.  I'll keep you posted.
 
The cyber tent is in high demand so I'll do my best to update you again tomorrow.
 
With much love and gratitude,
Mariska