How do you eat an elephant?
24-Jun-2007 05:41:36 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
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Update:
Day 4 - Desert Slog:
It was a bit surprising how little today's 28 miles played on my mind. Not because it wasn't difficult but more perhaps because the big bad daddy of days lies tomorrow. Today's course was highlighted by a run through a Tajik village where all of the towns people came out and lined the streets for our race. There were a lot of "hello's" being practiced by the little ones as we ran through. The day, like all of the others, ran us up ever hill and through every river available. The leg culminated with a 7 mile run up a hot as hades desert canyon. I was really glad to get the day done and instantly began to think about how in the world I was going to tackle the next day's leg. In typical racing the planet fashion the latrines at the camp were placed some 300 to 400 yards away from the tents. We would sit every night and see if in fact there was any available space that was in fact farther away. Each night we failed in our attempt. I understand the merits of being sanitary, but running another 5k just to use the bathroom is a bit outrageous. The silver lining was that we had a longer look at the stars when we had to get up at 3:00 am to use the facilities.
Day 5: The long march through the pits of hell and back.
The day has come. It has been looming on the horizon since I signed up some three months ago. It has dominated my exertion levels in the prior days races and has been a fixture in everyone's minds from the get go. The race organizers were kind enough to let us know that there would be a 1500 ft climb in the first 2 miles of the leg. It is a straight up kick your toes in the side of mountain type of climb. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. Not the exact way I was hoping we would start a 50 mile run particularly after already having run 100 miles in the previous 4 days. They staggered the start with the bottom 50 participants starting at 7:00 a.m. and the remaining group starting at 9:00 a.m.. We had a couple of people in our tent in the first group so our days preparation started at 5:30 a.m.. Two oatmeals plus a dash of ensure and I was fueled for the start. I appreciated the two hour time gap between starts as it gave me a little more time to develop a racing strategy. All of a sudden there we were standing at the starting line. The time had come! One foot in front of the other... I have found that It is absolutely imperative that you run check point to check point - roughly 10k apart, because if you start doing the math on how much farther you have to run you will mentally melt down. No matter how much you try to stay in that mode it is really easy to pass the mile 21 marker and know that you have 29 miles left. I just kept focusing on knocking off each checkpoint and tried to stay away from the reality of what I was pursuing. Brutal head games. It was about mile 20, after crossing my 9th river crossing, that I felt a pop in the front of my shin. At first it was just a bit annoying but soon grew into what has been affectionately labeled "Gobi ankle" by the medical staff. I developed what so many of the other competitors had - tendinitis in the front of my ankle. The thought is that heavy mud, combined with the constant river crossing and the heavy sands, wore out the front tendon on a lot of peoples ankles. The pain level was pretty high but there was no turning back. There were clearly a lot of people who were in much worse off than myself that were pushing through their pain thresholds. Fortunately for me I ran into one of my tent mates and we hobbled on together. All competitors, due to the increasing heat, were given a one hour mandatory holding period at the 3rd to last checkpoint. To me this was clearly the turning point. The pain level had become significant, my energy was depleting and I still had 12 miles to go. The medical staff at RTP is top notch and after getting over the fact that I was whining like a 3 year old in want of an ice cream, they taped me up and gave me some Tylenol. We used that hour to change out of wet socks, retape our feet, hydrate, and eat. By the time we were slated to go back on the course it was dark and the route was now marked by glow sticks. Feeling 1000 times better we took off for the days finish. We stumbled and grumbled through the next check points trying to remember to just keep moving. Your mind plays some serious tricks on you during these periods. I gained a new respect for the distance, the terrain, and the challenge. It was pretty massive. Finally some 16 hours and 53 minutes after starting the day we were in fact crossing the finish line (which ironically were placed right by the above mentioned bathrooms some 300 yards from the tents). It was 3:53 am and we were very ready to get into our bags and catch some sleep. Looking back now it was a great day that presented more physical and mental challenges than I had ever faced before.
The Parade:
The last day had us waking up at 3:30 a.m. for a 5 hour bus ride into the city of Kashgar. We set off in three staggered groups for the final 10k ceremonial run. They closed down roads for us and albeit I felt a bit guilty for the inconvenience to the local population, I felt like royalty running through the old town of Kashgar. Despite what now has turned into a bit of elephantitis I with the the help of modern pharmaceuticals was able to run on my tree trunk of an ankle for the remaining 10k. The raced culminated in front of the local mosque and a great deal of satisfaction was enjoyed by all. It was really nice to know that I was not going to have to run tomorrow.
End Notes:
You quickly understand running an event like this that there absolutely no way you would have been able to make it without an incredible amount of support and sacrifice from those at home. I want to thank everyone, particularly Kelly, for the immense amount of commitment, time, and sacrifice that was put forth on my behalf. It is humbling that so many people were so giving so that I could achieve a goal. I am forever indebted. The support via emails was overwhelming. I am very grateful and feel incredibly fortunate. I'd also like to give a shout out to the RTP volunteers who gave up there vacations so that they could come and be the back bone of the race. It was certainly no walk in the park as they had to endure 17 hour truck rides and 24 hour race sweeps in snowstorms. I know for sure that I got a whole lot more sleep than they did.
I will see you all at home - the first round is on me - Mike

Surviving
22-Jun-2007 04:44:50 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
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First off I’d like to thank everyone for the flood of emails. It has been absolutely incredible to wake up each morning to the unbelievable words of encouragement.
It has been a great way to start off the day.

Day 3 – run up big hill until you puke and then run up some more until you fall over and pass out, then collapse at the top only to have to run another 12 miles out of the canyon. I am still not sure of the total altitude gain but it was huge and never ending. It is after all a race so there is no stopping on the way up. You just keep going up for 12 miles – which by the way took me 5 hours. It was the most physically challenging event of my life. People were dropping left and right. Once on the summit I seemed to find myself and get down in under 3 hours. Luckily for me I missed the snow storm, however, I was greeted by torrential rain as I ran out of the valley. In addition the route out crossed countless streams which made the running that much more difficult. Running in wet shoes blows!! The course designer for this race is a sadist. All my best – thanks again for all of the support. I can’t thank you all enough. Next update – 48 miles of hell - Mike


WOW!!
19-Jun-2007 08:10:36 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
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Perhaps the most unbelievable place I have ever been. It was absolutely incredible. Words will not do it justice. I am hoping my pictures will. We drove 9 hours yesterday from Kashgar to our camp – well we were going to our camp but it got blown away so we stayed instead at a small school. Today’s run totaled 25 miles and was much harder than I expected. I attribute a bit of that to the altitude. We have some very big days ahead of us including a 4,000 ft climb and a subsequent 4-5,000 ft descent and of course the 50 mile day. It is a bit intimidating to say the least. I have some great guys in my tent which is a huge plus. Thanks for the well wishes - Mike


Live from the Thirsty Camel Convenience Store!!
15-Jun-2007 01:47:44 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
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Well I made it here. 36 hours door to door. It could not have gone more smoothly. I did have to chuckle on my last flight as the in flight emergency card was labeled - 737 "just in case". Just in case to me means a parachute!! I arrived at the hotel last night around 10:30. Met up with a couple of the race volunteers, had a walk about Kashgar, enjoyed a cold budweiser, and went to bed around 1:00 a.m.. I spent the day today walking around the old city of Kashgar and eating kabobs. We have a gear check in at 7:00 tonight and then we are off tomorrow morning to our first camp. We will head up toward the town of Tashkurgan and then veer off 60 miles into no man's land for our first camp. I spent some time speaking with the race coordinators last night and it sounds like it will be an incredibly challenging course. I just read Rob Roy's blog and it made me want to curl up and cry. If it is in fact that brutal then all the prayers will most definitely be needed. I try not to get caught up in all the rumor mongering beforehand as all it does is cause a great deal more anxiety. A flat 150 miles is challenging enough.
It has been a real luxury to be able to speak to Kelly via my cell phone. It is amazing how the world has changed in the six short years since I was last here. Thank you to everyone for the nice thoughts and prayers. Dean enjoy that in and out....I think there is a good chance the kaboob I ate for lunch was dog. It was quite tasty though.
All the best - Mike

Gobi'ng Away
12-Jun-2007 10:34:27 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
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I am quite literally making the final preparations for the race. I am set for a good 24 hours of flight time here at 7:30 tonight and that is not counting the layovers. I am very excited to get over and visit Kashgar again. I will have a day to kick around the old city and entertain some of the world's most fantastic street food.
I am amazed at not only the number of people who are running the race but more so the athletic resume's. It is a wee bit intimidating to say the least. People have run races that I can not even pronounce. I am really looking forward to meeting such a diverse group of people and basking in the unbelievable beauty of the Xinjiang province.
I am fairly confident that the training schedule that included runs up to 30 miles will have prepared me for the upcoming adventure. The key word being fairly. Having not run a race of this magnitude I am a bit flying blind and that is not always the most comforting feeling. Plus I have been told now after the fact that tapering does not mean seating on your rear and drinking beer for week - whoops! Live and learn.
Thanks to everyone for the unbelievable support and encouragement. I greatly appreciate it. Time to run and play "trains" one more time before I leave. Next stop Kashgar!!