Saturday, June 9, 2012

Atacama Crossing Stage 1- Mar 2012



thanks for all the well wishes.  well i bet you are all wondering how i did today.. but first i will cover pre-race since the cyber tent was closed yesterday due to heavy rain... yes, rain. 

pre-race
went through gear, medical and admin with no issues.  we then boarded a bus for camp #1 which was a 2 hour trip.  Everyone waas pounding water all morning and by the time we arrived we were all jumping up and down running off the bus to go.  I met all 7 of my tentmates and they are really cool.  a good mix of talented ultra runners and first timers myself.  around 4pm rain started to really come down for a while.  my pack got a little wet but i dried it over night.  i fell asleep  after eating my awesome dehydrated meal for about 2 hours then wokie up and couldnt fall back asleep until around 11pm.  woke up for a bathroom break again at 3:30am and my throat was so dry i couldnt even swallow.  afte i that just stayed awake until the start of stage 1.  i guess sleeping at altitude is difficult.

stage#1
i kept to the plan and used my trekking poles for the first 7 miles and managed to hold a pace of 4 miles per hour.  at mile 7 i began to run and did well.  the terrain is amazing and i felt strong.  miloes 10-12 where a slight uphill over rocking terrain and it started to get really hot.  there was no shade to be had.  miles 13-16 were brutal, all up hill in a canyon to the last checkpoint for the day.  this is where the running caught up with me.  i started feeling a little sick.  i was happy to see a nice down hill for about a mile and started to run again.  way off in the distance i could see camp#2 on the horizon.  i looked close but i knew it had to be at least 2 miles more.  i still felt a little sick but decided to run/walk to the finish.  i placed 93rd, which i was happy with.  i immediatly went to my tent and had to lay down.  i tried getting up but kept getting serious calf cramps.  i realized that i havent went to the bathroom since cp#2 so started driking a lot of water.  for the rest of the day i plan to eat, stretch and drink.my feet we pretty good considering and i have no blisters YET!

my plan for stage #2 is to agaihn warm up in the begining and begin to increase my pace throughout the day.

thanks for all the comments, it makes me smile.. even though i am in a tent typing with about 12 other really smelly people (including myself).  oh, anoghter funny note, left my toothbrush and toothpaste at the hotel so it is going to be interesting.  i may have to breathe on Lebow every day to do a breath check.

until tomorrow,  i am signing off.

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