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peteargriffin69420 · 6 years

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Mental Health: Quitting SSRI (week one)

Tumblr is a blogging site so how about I blog about something serious. I’ve been on 40mg Prozac for roughly 11 years, I started it in 2007 and am now quitting it. For anyone who has been on SSRI anti-depressants, we will all have different stories however I want to *sorta* explain my “Discontinuation Syndrome” (aka: Withdrawal). I am not saying that you shouldn’t go on SSRI sometimes it is something much needed but also I think at least in United States, it is over prescribed. If I knew what I would be in for 11 years ago I would totally *NOT* have opted in for it. I will say they changed my life but there has had to be other ways to help me out. So for the past few weeks I was researching as I was running out of my medication. I considered breaking my capsules into smaller ones and ‘weening’ off of it and then I considered stopping cold-turkey. I stopped cold-turkey as research I had done showed that even slowly dropping it doesn’t matter. With the aide of a doctor who agreed to help me manage only these symptoms from quitting the best we can and my own research I am working on figuring out how to get to normalcy and correct the damage that this has done. (Damage that I’m not exactly sure yet but I was reading about frontal lobe blunting and basically it makes you dumber in the frontal cortex region of the brain - I’m not an expert but this is just what I am understanding.) I had an anxiety disorder when I was younger and I think it’s mostly cleared up besides random episodes which are safer to take an ‘as needed’ medication when I start to feel the issues come on. More under the cut because it got long;;

For one; Do not quit or stop taking an SSRI or any other medication without the help of a doctor to some degree. I am only mentioning what is so far easing my symptoms and what the symptoms are as they come. It has been roughly a week since I took anything. Please note too, most SSRI take at least a month to get out of your body however some people are sites/youtube have expressed that they have had discontinuation issues for up to a year. Again: These are what I am having as issues so far. Point One: Physical Side Effects - Headaches, dull heavy ones that don’t specifically hurt buy your head feels like a bowling ball. - Tremors/Shaking uncontrollably. - Anxiety/Panic Attacks brought on with absolutely no cause whatsoever. - Flu-like symptoms like sweating and chills however there is no evidence you are actually sick (ie Fever) - I have had only a very small amount so far, Tinnitus (ringing in the ears). - Tension, especially in the neck and shoulders that I don’t really know if this is correlated or because of-- - Extreme restlessness. I am basically needing to be doing something all day physically. I have been walking at least 10km a day lately and have been starting to play rhythm games to offset some of this. I think this is because physical movement creates serotonin, something your body is now having a depletion and lack of while it was once used for it. - Insomnia - Which again I think goes with the restlessness and possibly the trembling/shaking/whatever you want to call it. - If you’re not shaking there is times you feel like your body is vibrating. - I kinda have some vision issues that have begun to occur since I started this procedure but I am not giving it too much thought YET. Point Two: Mental Side Effects (these are for me, not for others, your experience may vary, much like the physical ones) - Mood swings. - Loss of thought/train of thought. Moments where your mind literally goes blank to a degree you cannot actually (it just happened here as I was typing but it comes back more or less). You cannot actually explain things or even express an emotion both physically or in words. - Inability to focus because your brain keeps coming in and out of various states of alertness - Dissociation to some degree in different ways. - Mild Psychotic Episodes (I had a breakdown the other night basically crying about how I’m not human like everyone else (specifically some of my classmates)) - Short term memory loss. My memory is fried. This should be temporary but I have to actually put a lot of thoughts into it. Point Three: How I Am (personally) Coping - Looking at this from a Psychiatric Angle (I am not a Psychiatrist, mind you, I’m some sorta salesman who studied only Psychology for a few semesters in college);; You have a chemical in your brain called Serotonin. This is one of the chemicals that handle mood. Normally when you are depressed or anxious there are issues with Serotonin in your brain. The medical fix is usually a type of anti depressant designed to rework your brain to either produce more Serotonin or to kind of keep the chemical in there longer before it’s eventually expelled and more is created. This alters your brain structure. It actually changes the wiring in your brain. Now, my brain is going, “Hey, uhm, WTF mate, why are we not holding onto any Serotonin and like what is even going on what is happening I dunno what to do are we panicking right now or are we supposed to be doing this or that?” So first things first is doing the best to handle the physical issues this causes such as the shaking, anxiety/panic attacks, and headaches. I’ve been more or less just coping with most of these in a rather normal manner since I normally suffer from chronic pain I don’t mind some of the extra tenseness or silly pointless stuff like tinnitus since it’s not so bad. I’ve been using Xanax to handle the anxiety/panic attacks and OTC pain medication to handle the headaches although when I see my doctor I might ask for something stronger as well as bring up some other issues for suggestions. Next is actually getting your body to make more Serotonin. Your body naturally creates it when you do physical activity or physically stimulate it somehow. For this, I try to be out and walking pretty much 6-8 hours a day on the weekend and in class I use my 10 minute break to run or walk around as much as I can. Insomnia and other things can be aided by taking L-Tryptophan an amino acid that humans do not normally create (it is obtained via diet). This amino acid aides in creating Serotonin and Melatonin. Melatonin is used as a sleep aide. It’s the chemical found in dark meat of turkey (as an example) that makes you sleepy. Honestly this one has helped me a lot. Stay out of fights, drama, arguments, issues, situations. Sometimes when you are sick, your body needs to rest - Let your brain rest. Try not to think so much and just let it do what you want. DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL. Alcohol depleats your body of Amino Acids not only will it prologue your suffering (I’m assuming) but you will have a hangover you never thought even humanly possible.

Try to take a daily vitamin, one of which especially contains vitamin b6. I forget what this one does but it’s really important in anti depressant efforts. If you wake up in the middle of the night with tremors or shaking or whatever. Pretty much if you can, just flail really fast (be careful) your arms and legs if you can, until you feel your blood rushing and you will hopefully have produced a little serotonin. Find something really easy to keep your mind occupied. I’ve found Pokemon Go to be really good, not only does it encourage walking and moving around but because it’s easy to play and doesn’t require A LOT of strategy it’s good. It’s also allowed me to meet a lot of interesting people. You need support from people and friends and family. I don’t have much family and I am living in a foreign country so more or less I have to just sorta. Do my best. My classmate friends have been very supportive and a few PoGo players I have met have been super supportive too. I hope this helps, will have an update in a week or so.

#mental health #anti depressants #quitting medication #prozac #ssris

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libramonthlyhoroscope1 · 2 years

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How to get espeon pokemon go?

A psychic cat/fox like Espeon sounds kind of cool in theory, though I have to admit that my concern is that it’d take control of my thoughts and force me to rub its belly until I die. Then again, I’d probably do that without any coercion, so what the heck, let’s get ourselves a psychic cat/fox.

Espeon, just like all of the other Eevee evolutions, doesn’t occur naturally in the wild. The only way you can obtain one is by evolving an Eevee. Evolving an Eevee into an Espeon is a similar process to evolving it into an Umbreon, though with a few key differences. In both cases, the first order of business is to become close friends with your Eevee, so go ahead and make it your buddy, then take out on a long walk with you.

Once you’ve walked at least a cumulative 10km with your Eevee, then you’re on track for evolution. All you have to do is feed it the usual 25 Eevee candy, though if you want an Espeon, you specifically have to do it during daytime hours. If you’re not sure what exactly constitutes “daytime hours,” just try to do it around noon-ish. As long as you’ve walked the 10km and trigger the evolution during the day, you’re guaranteed to have a proud new get espeon pokemon go, ready and willing to probe your thoughts with its invasive psychic powers.

If you’re in a rush, you can also use the special nickname method to guarantee your Eevee evolves into an Espeon without all the walking around and bonding. All you need to do is give your Eevee the nickname “Sakura,” and then evolve it like normal with 25 candies. If it has the nickname, it’s guaranteed to be an Espeon. Remember, though, this trick only works once; one Eevee, one “Sakura,” one Espeon. No do-overs.

According to the PokéDex, the semisolid liquid shell that surrounds a Solosis’ physical body is completely airtight. This means that a Solosis could, in theory, survive in just about any environment, no matter how hostile, including the vacuum of space. If it weren’t for its impressive Psychic abilities, it wouldn’t even be able to interact with the world outside its bubble. Of course, whether you decide to interact with a Solosis yourself may depend on its coloration. On that note, can you catch shiny Solosis in Pokémon GO?

As time goes on, Niantic gradually adds more shiny variants to the Pokémon that already exist in the Pokémon GO PokéDex. Pokémon don’t usually release alongside their shiny variants; rather, those colorations are added to the game in time with special events or milestones. Solosis is due to be the star of tonight’s Spotlight Hour from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM local time, and considering it’s the first Spotlight Hour of 2022, not to mention the fact that Solosis was added to the game a good two years ago, it’d certainly be a good time to get that shiny variant on the books.

Can you Catch Shiny Solosis in Pokémon GO?

Unfortunately, it seems it’s not Solosis’ turn to be shiny just yet. Solosis’ shiny variant has not yet been added to the Pokémon GO PokéDex, and it’s a little too short notice for it to pop up during the spotlight hour, so it looks like we’re not getting shiny Solosis just yet.

As for when Solosis’ shiny variant will be added, it’s anyone’s guess. As I mentioned, Niantic doesn’t follow a hard and fast timetable for adding shiny variants to Pokémon GO; sometimes they’ll come in a couple of months, sometimes they’ll come in a couple of years. That said, Solosis was first added to the game as part of 2020’s Psychic Spectacular event, so if another Psychic type-themed event were to run in Pokémon GO, it may have a good chance of being added to the game yet. That particular event was also in March of 2020, and, well, it’ll be March again in two months, so maybe they’ll give Solosis the shiny treatment on its two-year anniversary?

Either way, keep your eyes peeled; when shiny Solosis is added to the game, you’ll be able to differentiate it by checking the little squiggly thing on top of its head.

Okay, I’m only going to go over this one more time, because people have trouble remembering it. Stalagmites are the big rocky or icy spikes that point up out of the ground, and stalactites are the big rocky or icy spikes that hang down from cave ceilings. It might help you remember the difference if you think of Bergmite; its spike faces up, and its name has “mite” in it. Stalagmite. Get it? Good. Now that the grammar lesson is out of the way, let’s focus on Bergmite. Specifically, is shiny Bergmite in Pokémon GO?

Bergmite, along with its evolved form Avalugg, were both added to the Pokémon GO PokéDex at the beginning of the Winter Holiday 2021 event that began earlier this month. Until the event ends at the end of the month, their spawn rate, along with the spawn rate of other Ice type Pokémon, is temporarily boosted, so it’s a good time to go looking for them. But of course, for some folks, hunting down new Pokémon isn’t worth it unless there’s a chance they can be shiny.

According to supplementary material, Mega Evolution arises in Pokémon who have forged an unbreakable bond with their partner trainers. This is why, based on what Zinnia says in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Rayquaza was the first Pokémon to undergo Mega Evolution, thanks to its bond with the civilization it protected. Of course, if you want your Pokémon to Mega Evolve, you gotta do a little more than hug it a few times a day. Here’s how to get Mega Energy in Pokémon GO.

Mega Evolution in Pokémon GO works not unlike regular evolution, except instead of Pokémon Candy, you need Mega Energy (which some folks also call “Mega Candy”). When you accumulate enough Mega Energy, you can visit a Pokémon’s details page and trigger their Mega Evolution, assuming it currently exists in the game’s PokéDex. They’ll remain Mega Evolved for exactly eight hours in real time, so make sure not to use your Mega Energy unless you know you have the whole day to play.

To get Mega Energy in Pokémon GO

Clear Mega Raids

Complete certain Field Research Tasks

Go for a walk with a previously Mega Evolved Pokémon as your Buddy

Much like evolution Candy, Mega Energy is classified based on the Pokémon it’s intended for. For example, if you want to Mega Evolve Venusaur, you need Venusaur Mega Energy. To obtain Mega Energy, there are a few potential avenues, but the fastest is clearing Mega Raids.

Every time you clear a Mega Raid, you’ll receive Mega Energy for the Pokémon that was battled. The faster you clear the Raid, the more energy you’ll get, so you’re incentivized to tackle it with a strong party and a group of friends.

Besides Raids, there are also certain Field Research Tasks that reward Mega Energy when completed. Tasks that specifically reward Mega Energy are usually reserved for special events, though there is one task, titled “Power up Pokémon 5 times,” that’s included in the regular Task rotation. If you clear that one, you’ll get 10 Mega Energy for Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Beedrill or Pidgeot.

Finally, once you Mega Evolve a Pokémon at least once, you can make that Pokémon your Buddy and go for a walk with them for a chance to randomly pick up some more Mega Energy. Don’t expect to get a lot from this; just a few units here and there.

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shannrussell-blog1 · 5 years

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Although it’s been around for a while now, trail running is definitely experiencing a massive surge in popularity. It’s gone from being more of a fringe, subculture sport, to a much more mainstream activity enjoyed by people all over the world.

What is trail running?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, it’s exactly what the name implies: running on trails. It’s regular road running, what off-roading is to regular driving on sealed roads. And just like off-roading, there are a few different rules, tips and tricks that apply.

I’ve been running trails for seven years now, and have completed quite a few trail ultra marathons (anything longer than 42kms) including two 100km trail races on the Ultra Trail World Tour, and have learned a few things along the way. Some of them, the hard way. So, here are my best tips for anyone considering getting into trail running.

Trail running is a natural progression if you love hiking and running. Photo: Sputnik

Top 10 Tips for Trail Running

1. Distance isn’t everything

On the roads, distance is your main measure of difficulty. 10kms is 10kms. Maybe there’s a little up and down, but generally speaking, most sealed roads are flat(ish), or perhaps gently undulating. On the trails, all bets are off.

Just because you can run 10kms on the road in an hour doesn’t mean it won’t take you up to two hours to run 10km of trails depending on the terrain, condition of the trail, ascent, and descent.

If you come from a hiking background you’ll be well aware of this. If you come from a road running background it can be a bit of a rude shock. You also use different muscles running up and down hills, then you do on the flat, so it can be exponentially more difficult. If you’re not familiar with the conditions, be sure to allow plenty of time to cover the distance.

Distance isn’t everything when you’re running on a trail. Photo: Sputnik

2. Take nutrition for the trail

Speaking of time, it’s important you also plan on taking anything you need while you’re out there. Especially on remote trails, you’re not going to find a shop to grab a drink along the way. So if you think you might need it, pack it before you head off.

Water is the obvious one, but if you’re going to be out there for longer than an hour, you may also consider some sort of nutrition. Runners often use energy gels, but if you’re not used to them, they can cause gut issues in some people, so be a little cautious.

Alternatively, take something more tried and true like a muesli or

Depending on what you prefer – gels or bars are a good option for trail runners. Photo: Sputnik

3. Find the right hydration solution

If you’re taking water with you there are any number of options you can experiment with, depending on how long you’ll be out there, and how much water you want to bring.

There are with smaller bottles that sit on a belt around your waist, larger belts that carry a full-sized bottle and possibly some extra storage, or hydration packs. All of these are good in their own way, and what’s best for you will depend on personal preference.

Some people like the extra weight of the water across their hips, while others prefer it on their back as they would with a more traditional backpack. Larger capacity hydration packs can carry two or even three litres of water, sometimes more if they have room for extra chest strap mounted flasks.

It’s also worth mentioning your regular hiking hydration pack may not be ideal for running.

Running packs are the go-to hydration system for most trail runners as they have the most stability. Photo: Sputnik

4. Storing your essentials

The final thing to consider is whether or not you’ll need extra storage for other essentials along the way. At a minimum, you’ll need somewhere safe and dry to store your car key or mobile phone.

But you may also need to carry extra food, layers of clothing, gloves, beanies or a rain jacket – in which case a hydration pack with a reasonable capacity will definitely come in handy.

5. Water purification

If you’ll be running somewhere with a reasonable water source, you may also consider packing a lightweight and compact water purifier in case you need extra water along the way.

I frequently carry a Lifestraw water filter, and it’s been a real lifesaver a couple of times – once in northern Western Australia and once in Yosemite.

Carry a simple purification system, like a Lifestraw, for emergency hydration. Photo: Lifestraw

6. Run with a mate

From a safety point of view, I can’t recommend enough that whenever possible run with a buddy. Or at the very least, take a mobile phone with you. Just keep in mind that some remote trails have minimal or no phone coverage.

Don’t go off on your own if you can – get a running buddy! Photo: Sputnik

7. Hazards to be aware of

Unlike road running, there are any number of extra hazards out there that you wouldn’t usually need to worry about. Snakes being the main one. If you’re in a snake risk area, it’s also worth carrying a good compression bandage and learning basic snake bite treatment.

But mostly, it’s the chance to trip, fall or do an ankle on technical trails which is where most people come undone. Experienced trail runners included. You’d be amazed how easy it is to take a spill as you get tired and don’t lift your foot high enough to clear even small obstacles.

Yes, I’m talking from experience here! Without passing traffic to rely on, the last thing you want to do is spend a cold night on the trails before anyone realises you’re missing and comes to the rescue.

In low light conditions or rougher terrain – it’s easy to trip so be careful! Photo: Sputnik

8. Get the right footwear

While you can definitely run trails in regular running shoes, if you think it’s something you might be doing more often, it’s well worth investing in a pair of

Trail running shoes have a better tread and offer greater protection than conventional runners. Photo: Salomon.

9. Keep your gear secure

Experienced hikers and outdoor lovers will likely be all over this one, but make sure you have some sort of waterproof bag to store your car key and mobile phone in. Even on a clear day, you can work up a serious sweat. The last thing you want is an electronic key that no longer works, or to ruin your phone.

The easiest way to solve this problem is with a snap lock sandwich bag, but they’re definitely not that durable so you might also consider a small dry sack by Sea to Summit (my personal favourite), or one of the other awesome outdoor brands who make them.

Trust me on this one. A few extra bucks on one of these now will save you a lot of tears later.

Keep your essentials such as keys and phone away from moisture while you hit the trail. Photo: Sea to Summit

10. Final piece of advice on trail running

My final piece of advice is to just start. Do a hike/trail run combo if you want. Hike a bit. Run a bit. Get used to it. Even better if you can find and join a trail running group. Generally speaking, trail runners, in particular, are a pretty friendly, inclusive bunch.

Trail runners are a friendly bunch of people – so don’t be afraid to say hello! Photo: Sputnik

Unlike many road runners who are more likely to be running at pace, on the trails we’re much more inclined to walk up the hills, and have a chat. And if there’s one thing we like to chat about, it’s trail running.

So find a group, ask questions, and you’ll no doubt get all sorts of tips and advice to help you along the way. Happy trail running!

Are you a hiker or runner that’s converted to trail running? How did you get started?

The post Trail Running Guide for Beginners appeared first on Snowys Blog.

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lalorrunningclub · 5 years

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Werribee Mansion Run - 10km Event by Shaun Blamire

Several months ago I decided to step out of my comfort zone of running 5kms at Parkrun, and to test myself against the 10kms at Werribee Mansion Run. There were plenty of other LRC members running at this event and 10km seemed to be a popular distance. I had most things organised the morning of the event - but didn’t account for the queue of traffic waiting to get into the car park - so unfortunately missed out on the group photo.

I entered the Werribee Mansion grounds and proceeded to pickup my bib from the collection point which was easy to locate and suprisingly - no queue! A quick warm-up with some leg swings and stretches and then it was off to the starting line, making sure I had a music playlist sorted, my garmin watch ready with a GPS signal active.

3… 2… 1… and we were all off and running! The start was congested but quickly found myself in some clear space to focus on the task ahead of me. 10kms seemed daunting in the weeks leading up to the event and my training wasn’t ideal, with some muscle soreness coming from my left hamstring and adductor, which in turn slowed my progression through the C210K program - some strength exercises in the future may help me to avoid any further injury!

I was already 1 mile into the run and pleasantly surprised with the distance already covered as it didn’t even feel like I had been running for long. I thought “have I used up some of my petrol tickets and gone out too hard at the start?” It would be easy to get swept up in the excitement of starting the run and getting too far ahead of myself.

Going past the first drinks station I remembered to have a small drink from my hydration vest. I was feeling great with the run so far and noticed there was a hill up ahead, which was easily navigated as it was short in distance. Once at the top there was a wonderful view of the course below with other runners making their way across the bridges below.

At about the 3kms mark I was starting to get a burning sensation on the ball of my right foot - not a great idea to run in new socks and shoes! - I’m thinking it’s the start of a blister so decided to keep running and try and ignore the discomfort.

It was great to spot other LRC runners in the distance as our red and blue colours stand out amongst all the other runners in their active wear. Michael Pratt and Vula Sheens were running so well and were going in the opposite direction - so I knew there was going to be some kind of u-turn up ahead.

Reaching the half-way mark I’m thinking “that’s one Parkrun done… only one more left… you’re halfway… keep it up…” the course was signed well and I noticed others running with a green bib who were tackling the half marathon distance - It was a relief to know that I hadn’t jumped in the deep end to run the half, but it is a goal that I’d like to achieve at the Melbourne Marathon in October later this year.

After a u-turn at the 5.5kms mark I passed by many more of the LRC crew - every LRC runner was happy to partake in a high five, be greeting me with a smile and offering words of encouragement to keep going. I was now up to 30 minutes of continuous running - the longest amount of time I’ve run for - so now into unchartered territory for my body and mind. I started to reason with myself “only 20 to 25 minutes left to go… remember to drink and keep a steady pace…”

I went past the 6km mark thinking “only 4kms to go… that’s 10 laps of the athletics track…” my pace was steady and I still felt I had enough energy left to finish the 10km. The next 2km’s were smooth at 5:00 p/km and the end was soon in sight - I was starting to slow down in the 8th kilometre and had to tackle one last hill of steps on the way back up to the mansion.

The last kilometre was tough… with around 500 metres to go I pulled the earphones out as I wanted to hear the crowd and enjoy the last few turns towards the finish - everyone was encouraging the runners and I spotted Jonty Roads from LRC taking a few photos - the finish line was now within sight and reach… so I clicked into another gear and used the last of my petrol tickets to cross the line with a time of 52:45.

Before I started the 10km event, I was aiming to finish under an hour (6 minute km’s) and when reaching the 7km mark I thought 55 minutes was well within reach - to be under 53 minutes and to complete the 10km without stopping to walk was an amazing feeling - I can’t believe that I had finished and now have a lovely mental memory of receiving my first running finishers medal.

I caught up with some LRC runners afterwards and everyone seemed to enjoy the course - Michael and Vula both achieved second placings in their respective age groups which is a fantastic achievement for both of them. The MC on the day also mentioned about the huge turn out of LRC runners and jokingly said we had all travelled a long way to be there!

It was time to get my right foot seen to at a first aid tent - the blister wasn’t as bad as I imagined, so will have to break in my new shoes or perhaps find a better pair of socks? Took a few photos and then updated Strava to make sure it wasn’t all a dream - and I had actually completed a 10km run.

Slowly made my way back to the car as I was heading into the Docklands to watch Carlton v North Melbourne in the AFL - there was no traffic control when it came time to depart, most drivers were courteous when it came time to merge through a single gate - but the bigger delay was out on K Road and the slow crawl up to Duncans Road and onto the Princes Freeway. It took an hour to reach the freeway from the car park!

From what I observed out on the course - LRC seemed to be the largest club there with our red and blue colours on display. I am already looking forward to competing in more events later in the year and feel humbled that I was asked to provide a recap of an eventful and memorable day at Werribee Mansion.

#lrc #lalorrunningclub

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thedailyducky · 6 years

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50 mile Ultra Trail Race

So this weekend I ran the Sulphur Springs Trail race 50 miler, while my boyfriend, Leo ran the 100 mile race.

The race was completed in 20km loops, 4 for me, 8 for Leo.

The First 3 Laps

My first lap, I ran with Adam, a friend of Leo’s, who was running the 100 miler as well. The pace felt very comfortable, although I knew Adam was a way better athlete than me, I figured he was running twice as far, so it was OK to roll with him for a bit since it felt more than easy. I’m not sure whether or not this was a mistake in retrospect, but in any case, I cruised in to the drop bin/supply area after the first loop a whole hour under my planned pace (about 2 hours, when I had planned on starting VERY conservatively at 3). This first lap, all the hills felt super easy, the climbing seemed negligible to me (~600m elevation gain per loop). It was all good.

The second lap, I started in still feeling great. I had a relatively fast first 7km or so. Soon though, some of my muscles started to react to the pounding and the climbing. I was in a little bit of pain, but overall though, it wasn’t too bad. I gave myself some leeway to walk a bit longer if I needed to, after the climbs. Even so, I STILL came in under 3 hours for that second lap. I mentioned to Leo’s pit crew (Kevin and Joe, they were AMAZING) that I was beginning to feel it a little bit, but hoped to have a second wind soon.

Meanwhile, the sun was getting higher, and the day was starting to really heat up. I got in to my 3rd lap feeling Ok, but not great. I’m not sure if my pace was just not sustainable, or if it was the heat, or what, but after about the 50k mark (about halfway in to lap 3), things started to go sideways.

Things Went Badly

My nutrition plan was to take in between 50-100 cals every half hour. You NEED to keep up the calorie intake to get this sort of thing done, so my plan was to trickle food, rather than bomb down 200-300 cals every hour (some people do this). At around 50km my body just started rejecting food. Everything I put in would come up shortly after. I tried waiting a little bit longer, maybe 45 mins, before trying again, and I puked almost as soon as I swallowed an electrolyte jelly candy. This had me worried, as it was hot, and I was creeping up on an hour without food. I tried drinking a little, and that was OK, but overall I was feeling very nauseous and uneasy.

When I hit 60k, I was still not back (the loops were closer to 23km, rather than exactly 20) and I became very worried about my state. I wasn’t taking in food, it was very hot, and I couldn’t get my body moving very fast. I decided around then that I would make it back and then drop out. It had been too long since I had any calories, I was feeling very nauseous, and my body was rebelling. It was smarter to just pack it in.

I arrived at the supply area after a roughly 3:30 loop. I sat in the tent while Leo’s pit crew and friends tried to convince me to go back out. I declined, as I didn’t want to wreck my body, and I was happy with my 60+km day.

I went to the race director and chip timers to let them know I was pulling out, and they said “hey you know, if you start feeling better, you can always jump back in” since the cutoff for the 50miler and the 100 miler was the same: 30hrs. I said “OK” thinking “yeah that will never happen” and went back to the tent to get an update on Leo and start helping his pit crew.

Meanwhile...Leo’s Race

Leo was doing phenomenally well. He was in the lead, ripping a ridiculous pace, and came in to the 50 mile mark at about 8 hours, which was just absurd. His pit crew got him in and out super quickly, and everyone spectating the race was excited and amazed at his time.

As the lead group was expected for the end of the 5th lap though, things changed. The previously chasing group came in, as we continued to wait for Leo. Finally he arrived, but he was not in great shape. He had hurt his foot, and he was falling behind on his nutrition. Hit pit crew did their best to sort him out, with the help of his friends and coworkers from his gym. He changed shoes and set out again.

In the meantime, I had finally started taking food in, and had gone to the hotel, picked up ducky, was walking her around back at the race area. The beating on my feet and muscles and joints was starting to catch up to me, but otherwise I was feeling a bit better once I had some energy coming back in to my body. I was happy to help Leo and chill at the drop area with my dog.

For Leo’s 6th lap we adjusted our expectations to look for him after almost 3 hours. When it came close to time to expect Leo, we went back over to the checkpoint/pit area and waited. We waited and waited... Leo was way behind pace. He came in almost an hour later (almost a 4 hour lap). It was NOT looking good. He had begun to really hurt. Nutrition plan still out of whack, muscles rebelling, ankle injured, feet hurting. He set out on his 7th lap hobbling and hurting.

At this point, Kevin and Joe (Leo’s pit crew) and I had to discuss what to do. Leo had one lap left and was falling apart hard. He was clocking much slower laps, he was having mechanical problems (problems you can’t solve by forcing food down or covering yourself in ice). Joe had to leave eventually, as he had work Sunday morning (it was the middle of the night Saturday night, at this point) and Kevin was his ride. We felt that it was inevitable that Leo would either have to drop, or head out with a pacer for safety. Kevin and Joe were each willing to go (although only one pacer was allowed), but the concern was growing that they wouldn’t have the TIME to pace Leo and still have time to get Joe back to the city for work.

Un-pulling out. Re-entering the race

I decided that I would offer to finish my last lap with Leo, to help him finish his own. I was worried about Leo’s safety, and I knew that he would not accept dropping unless he was dead or comatose. I was also worried that he would die or fall into a coma alone in the woods halfway through. So Joe drove me back to the hotel to drop off Ducky, and change back into racing clothes.

When I got back to the race site, we didn’t expect Leo for another hour.

I sat in the tent and thought about what I was planning to do. My body hurt, I was dead tired, both from the 60km I had already run, and the sleep deprivation (having woken up at 3:30 that morning, and coming up on 1 am). A part of me hoped Leo would decline my offer, drop out, or miraculously get a second wind and come charging through ready to rip the last lap.

When we thought he might be close, we headed over to the pit area, and kept a lookout. We waited and waited and waited... It wasn’t until after 2AM that Leo finally came shuffling up the hill. He was in very rough shape. I asked him what he wanted to do.

He wanted me to come with him, to get it done together.

I went over to the race director and chip timers and asked them if I could still go back out. “Yes of course” they said, I still had plenty of time, but naturally my last lap would clock the entire elapsed time since I finished my 3rd (which by then was already 12 hours!!)

I headed out with Leo, coaxing him along, trying to get him to hit at least a 12:00min/km pace. Even that proved too fast. He was slightly delirious, in pain, exhausted.

I made my focus his survival, basically. I knew it would help us both get through. I badgered him to eat and drink almost every 15 minutes. Monitored his pee, forced him to get up the numerous times he just plunked down on the ground in exhaustion and agony.

We trudged through the dead of night, and watched the sun rise. We spotted some deer, got eaten alive by mosquitos and finally

We Finished.

Almost as soon as I crossed the finish line, a dull ache in my foot that I had been feeling for at least 10km went into overdrive. Suddenly that foot could barely bear weight, and I realized it was exceptionally swollen.

It Was Not Over...

Leo went to sit down in the pit area, while I hobbled over to find our stuff which Kevin and Joe had neatly piled before heading back to the city (like I said, they were AMAZING). The pain in my foot was steadily growing, and the thought of going back and forth from the tent area to the car with all the heavy bags and crap almost made me want to cry. I genuinely didn’t know if I could do it. But I knew I had to soon, because we had to get to the hotel and get Ducky before the check out deadline at the hotel.

I hobbled back over to Leo to see how he was. As he sat, and the adrenaline wore off, he suddenly began to crash. Medics had to lift him onto a stretcher after he lost consciousness and slumped off the chair.

I gave them answers to all his identity and health questions while I internally freaked out. I sat out of the way in a chair while the pain pulsed in my foot and Leo’s head lolled about and he slurred some jokes about running another 100 tomorrow. The three medics were amazingly kind and helpful. He was in good hands.

Once it was clear Leo was stable, I knew I had to get to the car and go to the hotel and get Ducky. It would be awfully weird for the cleaning crew to find a little dog in what they thought was a vacated hotel room!

Walking to the car hurt like hell. Driving hurt like hell. When I got Ducky, I thanked the Me of the past for packing up our stuff the night before. I loaded Ducky into the car and headed back to the race site again.

The medics helped us get our stuff into the car. Then they loaded Leo in as well.

In the car, Leo was able to book us an extra day at the hotel. So we headed back there and just went back to our same room (shoutout to the staff at that Super8 for being hella nice), ordered pizza, and laid down.

Final Thoughts

Overall I give it a 6/10.

Ten points because the race was organized so well, the organizers were so incredibly nice, the trail was cool and beautiful and easy non-technical terrain, the other runners were supportive and kind and cool.

But I’ll take away points for my own experience and choices: I want to finish a 50miler the proper way (without a 12 hour break in the middle), I want to prepare my body better for the calorie management, and for the pounding my feet and legs will take (In my training, I definitely needed more time on my feet overall: longer runs, higher km weeks), AND most of all, I want LEO AND I BOTH to learn to not push just for the sake of pushing. I don’t actually think it was at all worth it for Leo to finish in the shape he was in, and to be honest, the shit my foot took at the end there was unwarranted too.

I am lucky that it seems to be improving. Advil, wrapping and rest seem to have improved the swelling and pain dramatically, but it is still swollen, and I am not sure yet if the injury is serious. The moral of the story is, its OK to pull out sometimes and save your body for next time. Things don’t always go as planned and it’s not a big deal to pack it in a try again later.

I am glad though that I was able to finish after all, and to do it while helping Leo make it through too.

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poweredbydietcoke · 7 years

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Gobi March 2017 Race Report

TL;DR this is going to be really, really long as I attempt to cover months of race prep, gear selection, travel to western China, gear replacement, the race, the people, and the lessons...so be warned. The summary is this: three of us (Mark Gilbert, Angela Zäh, and I) trained (not enough), traveled to the Gobi Desert in far western China (losing only one bag of gear in the process), and ran ~250km and 4000m of vertical in conditions varied from cold pouring rain to brutal sun and heat up to 48*C (119*F), carrying all of our supplies (except water and tents) on our backs for the 6 days. And we enjoyed it!

The event was reasonably well-run (the race organizers were in a little over their heads, I think, but also faced a ton of challenges planning a race of this scale in China, especially with the local government; the medical team was clearly A+ and seemed to bleed over into actually managing large parts of the race, which was incredibly helpful) and the 107 competitors who started were awesome and totally fun. Probably the best part of the entire event was getting to hang out in the mountains & deserts for a week with these people and become friends. It's always amazing to me how well people work together when they're faced with a big challenge, and the amount of sharing (of advice, gear, food, you name it) to make sure everyone made it was fantastic.

Origin Story

This whole idea (for us) started late on New Year's Eve of 2015, when Mark and his sister-in-law Sue were looking for a challenging event for the year (recall that the past N years, Mark and I along with various other friends have always picked something silly to do without really training enough ... Mallorca 70.3, IM Australia, etc). Sue's challenge was the Gobi March or another Ironman in Capetown (I think). Mark texted me and offered the options, and I said we'd just done an Ironman, let's do something else, so we agreed to do Gobi (neither of us had imbibed at all by this point, of course). With all that was going on at work and only a few months to train for the 2016 event, we ended up doing a 50k together in Wyoming to train (and I did my first 100mi in Arizona), and signing up for Gobi 2017. Vlad Fedorov of course agreed to join us, and he dragged poor Angela into the mix before abandoning her, as he was forced to stay back in SF to handle a couple things (in his defense, Angela ran the 400m hurdles and the 800m in college, so she clearly enjoyed pain already).

Training

Being such dedicated athletes with loads of free time, we promptly wrote out and followed extensive training plans to the T ... largely consisting of weekly red-eyes to New York (our equivalent of sleeping in an altitude chamber -- it literally is), walking 1x1s during the day, and trying lots of different hydration options (white wine, red wine, rum & coke, whiskey). By the time the race was only a few months away, we were convinced we were in peak shape, but our better halves ganged up on us and forced us to another level of training we didn't even know existed. I started running with a 20lb weight vest to simulate the pack I'd be wearing (which looks like an odd cross between a bulletproof vest, and a suicide-bomber vest ... got some very strange looks running in that + my tights on the Embarcadero in San Francisco), Mark started carrying his pack with extra weight once we finally acquired packs...and we even tried a few of the freeze-dried meals we planned to eat on the course (those turned out great). In the end I'd say our training was actually more than adequate for our goal (to finish), although not nearly enough if we'd wanted to be competitive.

Race Format

This type of race (particularly the 4 Deserts series) have an interesting format. You start in a campsite on a Saturday night, and start racing Sunday morning. The first four days are roughly a marathon each (technically it increases every day from ~35km to ~45km, but it's close), and then the fifth day is called the Long March (~80km, or 50 miles), which you have a total of 30 hours to complete (bleeding into the sixth day, which is a rest day for people who finish quickly), and the seventh day is a "victory lap" that makes up the last of the 250km (usually ~10km). Of course all of this planning goes up in smoke given the weather and the government, but more on that later.

Gear

The race organizers required every competitor to carry a fixed list of mandatory gear -- you could choose the exact item, but it had to fulfill certain requirements (a sleeping bag rated to 32*F or below, a waterproof jacket, etc), and then you could choose to carry extra gear on top of that (more food, a sleeping pad for comfort, etc)...but everything you choose to carry is on your back and added weight, and the more weight you carry, the more calories you burn, and therefore the more food you need to carry, meaning the more weight you carry again, and so on (we called this the "rocket fuel problem"). In the end the lightest pack I saw was about 7.5kg, and the heaviest were upwards of 15kg (hint, your pack weight was directly and strongly correlated to your finishing position -- the lower the weight, the lower your time). Mine ended up weighing in at 9.6kg without water, Mark's was about 10.4kg, and I think Angela's was high 8s.

If you're interested in the gear or are planning to do this race (or something like it), read this post in detail...if you don't care, skip it, because it will get boring fast. :) Food

As mentioned above, they required you to carry a minimum of 14,000 calories a day, or 2,000 calories per theoretical day you were on the course. Really, though, you're going to want more than that (at my height and weight, roughly 6' and 200lbs, I probably burn 2,500 calories a day *without* running), but the good news is, you're not really running 7 days. Saturday night and Sunday morning you're in camp 1, so you don't need to count that weight -- it's never in your pack for a run. Friday is a rest day, so you don't need that many calories; and Saturday is an easy 10km to the finish line (and it doesn't count for official results, so most people walk/jog it together rather than racing), so worst case you could do that with no food and just plan on eating a lot at the finish line. Of course cutting this too close could cause you problems if/when plans change. :)

I settled on roughly 19,000 calories for the week, broken down like this:

(Yes, everyone has pretty complex spreadsheets to manage this, including calorie distribution per day, weight-per-gram trade offs, when to eat, etc). I ended up planning on about 800 calories for breakfast each day (we were usually up by 6am for an 8am race start, so plenty of time to get warm food in), about 1200 calories on the course / right after, and another 800 calories for dinner, with more calories on the day before/of the Long March, a lot less for rest day, and 400 calories for breakfast on the last day.

Aside from United losing 6800 calories of that (which Mark & I were able to replace in Shanghai with mostly ramen and oatmeal ... happily all of my bars/gels/powders were in my carry on, as those would have been much harder to replace), I think I did pretty well on food. 800 calories turns out to be about the most I could get down for breakfast, but not too much at all...some people brought 1200 calorie breakfasts but were getting really sick of them by the end and couldn't finish them. The Mountain Home breakfast skillet was the best, and savory was much better than sweet (eg porridge-type stuff) where possible. 800-1000 calories for dinner was great, with the hits being local ramen, Mountain Home beef stroganoff (always a favorite of mine, so much so that when I first started eating freeze-dried meals backpacking 25 years ago, I was convinced I would enjoy it at home in normal circumstances...not so much!), and Mountain Home chili mac with beef (so good!). I also brought a Recoverite to add to my water bottle for every day right after I finished, which seemed to work incredibly well (maybe I just recovered easily/well, but I felt great starting each day). I also brought a desert (dark chocolate cheesecake from Backpacker's Pantry) as a surprise to share with my tent-mates on the rest day, which was nice but in the end not worth it (a couple of us split it and it was fine but not as delicious as we thought it would be given our hunger).

During the day was a little harder -- every day I took two bars (a Tram Bar from Jackson Hole, and an almond-butter-filled Clif Bar), one Perpeteum, one Heed, and an almond butter packet, and a couple Gu gels for emergency energy. The Clif Bars were great and easy to get down with the almond butter center, but only 250 calories. The Tram Bar at 370 cals was great energy but a little harder to get down, especially when thirsty, and a little too much to take at once but hard to hold onto for two hours since I didn't have a great place on my vest to stash it. In hindsight I might take more Clif and less Tram next time, same number of calories. The only Perpetuem I could find before I left was Orange Vanilla, which was mediocre at best. It has the advantage of 270 cals and 220mg sodium, so it helps with electrolytes as well (a good thing), but it tastes like garbage...so by the end of the Long March I couldn't choke it down without gagging and risking vomiting (which would make things much worse because you lose all your hydration + calories + electrolytes and start over).

Next time I'd find a better flavor (strawberry? Both my Recoverite and Heed were strawberry and great) and train with it more to make sure I could get down 3-4 packets on a long day (1 was easy, and 2 was doable, which was my training max). The Heed was a nice change, but with only 100 cal and 70mg sodium I might drop it next time for just more Perpetuem if I can stomach it. And the almond butter was unnecessary on most days (a lot of it went to Mark who had brought more meals and fewer daytime snacks), but worked well when I wanted it / used it. The gels were a lifesaver (most of them went to Mark), I'd have brought a few more next time for quick fixes especially when I bonked on the Long March (happily Angela force-fed me a Stroupwaffle since I was out of my own gels)...they turn out to be not that dense (weight-per-calorie) so not great for the bulk of your calories, but good for speed-of-absorption.

To replace electrolytes (salt++) in the heat, I was relying primarily on Perpetuem supplemented by Endurolyte salt pills (80mg per two)...these worked fine but were annoying (I was scarfing them 4 at a time during the hot days), and next time I'll switch to Nuun or Gu Hydration...they dissolve in water with 320mg per tablet, and although they make me burp occasionally (because of the carbonation they introduce, I assume) if I can find a flavor I like they are much easier. Lots of the faster guys were using Tailwind for nutrition, which was like a denser Perpetuem combining more calories with more sodium, so I plan to try that going forward.

Finally, Mark & I both brought 12x Starbucks Via instant coffee for the mornings (we each only had one per morning, leaving us lots of extras to give someone else and make them happy -- for a few grams per packet, this is so worth it). Mark specified "Italian or French, dark roast only, with powdered milk" so he lived the high life, while I just drank whatever I'd found (a medium roast Colombian) and did just fine. :) We also each threw in a few cubes of chicken bullion, which has a lot of salt but not many calories, for cold nights when we were hungry ... totally worth it, both for ourselves and to share (put these in a separate bag as they turn out to be super oily). Angela brought a small bottle of olive oil to add to food for flavor + calories (it's super calorically dense), which was an amazing idea (mine was once again United'd so I had to borrow). Mark brought a small container of salt which was also helpful.

Getting There

The race itself started in Hami, a "small" town of half a million in the rural western Chinese province of Xinjiang...this a lesser-known version of Tibet, with lots of "interesting" political situations (Mark said that when he lived in Shanghai, the internet in this province was "turned off" for two solid years). To get there, we all met up first in Shanghai (Angela & I went direct, Mark went through LA, Seoul, fourteen other places, and then to Shanghai) and spent a night at Le Royal Meridien. Thinking it would be hard to screw up a bag on a direct flight, I checked my knife, hiking poles, bottles of olive oil for us, and stupidly also put some of my food, sleeping pad, and camp clothes/shoes in there because I had space. Of course it stayed in San Francisco for an extra few days and by the time it made it to Shanghai, I was in the middle of the Gobi. Oh well -- Mark made a trip to Decathalon to get some stuff he needed anyway, Angela borrowed a mat and poles from Luke for me, and I found a grocery to stock up on ramen etc.

We then hopped on Juneyao Airlines for the flight to Urumqi (or Wulumqi, depending on how you transliterate), the capital of Xinjiang province, and all carried on / managed to make it with all our gear, and crashed at the Sheraton for a night (clearly the most happening place in this rural metropolis of 3-4M people). The next day we took the high-speed (3.5 hour) train to Hami, which included another two security screenings (everywhere has outside magnetometers + X-ray to get into the building, then the normal travel checkpoint, as well as a few passport checks to control movement of people), where people finished their sewing...leaving the train station we got detained for a while by the police who were surprised to see a bunch of gweilos in this area (to say it's an occupied province is to put it lightly, the tensions between the Han Chinese and the native Uighurs appears to be quite high), but we'd made friends with some of the other (native Chinese) competitors on the train who spoke both perfect English, Mandarin, and some of the local dialects, and they very helpfully sorted it out for us before getting us all in taxis to the hotel...thanks guys!

(photo credit Angela)

Saturday at the hotel was occupied with race briefings, gear checks, medical checks, running out to get anything you were missing in the market (Mark and I went out to buy cheap pocket knives ... it seems you’re not supposed to have knives in this province, though, as there are magnometers and X-rays at the entrance of every single shop/building ... amusingly if you walk through with your bag on your shoulder and keep going, people rarely say anything ... but in the end the helpful shopkeeper wrote us a note saying we needed the knives to cut fruit in case anyone stopped us. When in China...)

Saturday afternoon we boarded busses for the three hour drive to the start and found ourselves in a beautiful yurt campground at the base of some large mountains. We were supposed to change camps every night as we progressed along the original Silk Road, over the mountains, and out into the desert, but the government had other plans, "for our own safety." So instead for the first four days we'd pack up everything, leave the camp (which was sometimes guarded by very bored-looking local police in whatever dark clothing they could cobble together, with every group of 4-5 guys issued one shield, one baton, one vest that said SWAT, and one belt that said SWAT ... not kidding ... and they always faced inward, not outward), run a while, and then return to the same camp.

(photo credit unknown)

Anyways, we'd pack up, go run 40km, and then come right back to the same camp. At least it was, aside from the pit toilets, quite a nice place to be! Saturday night at camp we got our first chance to meet our tent-mates for the week. Beside Mark, Angela and I, we had Ben & Richard, both British ex-pats living in Hong Kong, and serious runners -- Ben would finish the race 5th, and Richard 9th. Then Aussie Mark, who also lived in HK with Ben & Richard, Michael (an American who lived in Singapore with Chevron and was just moving back to SF with Google), and Donald, a retired Scottish policeman from Edinburgh who ran everywhere in amazing Tartan shorts, and whose lovely wife was volunteering to help out with the race. We'd have a chance to spend a lot of time together, on and off the course, over the week, and we couldn't have asked for a better group -- I would happily do another week or more of racing with every single person in that tent, which is saying something given the pain and smells we endured!

We also got to start hanging out with the race's wonderful medical team, six doctors (all seemingly Stanford emergency- or trauma-affiliated, and all with wilderness/backcountry backgrounds) who would precede and follow us everywhere and help with everything from the smallest blister to people passing out on the course, always with a smile and a word of encouragement. Doc Julie led the team, along with her husband Doc Adam -- both of them live in Salt Lake City and work with a friend of mine from undergrad, Nick Kanaan (turns out that Nick had volunteered for Gobi a few years ago and all the docs knew him, which was funny). Adam had previously raced in a 4 Deserts race (the Sahara, I think) and Julie had worked a bunch of them. Avi was the other old-timer, I think this was his 8th race, and it turns out that he lived about 2 blocks from me in San Francisco; Patrick, Michael Shaheen, and Alexis (all from Stanford, some now at San Diego I think) rounded out the team on the younger side...and all were fantastic.

After our first freeze-dried meal on Saturday night (note to self, next time bring good fresh food for that first meal!) and an early bedtime, we were up at 5:30am Sunday to start getting ready. Breakfast, a race briefing at 7:30am, and onto the busses at 8:00am to head to the start line (we would start elsewhere and run back to camp on day 1, given our newly confined schedule). It was only supposed to be 35km and 600m of climbing, and given the changed plans, promised to be even shorter and less climbing that planned...so it seemed easy. Wrong attitude.

It all started out pretty easy and downhill, and we ran the first while to get ahead of the pack. The first few legs were fast and fun, and on pretty good terrain, until we hit the last aid station at the base of the Barkhol sand dune. It was a strange but gorgeous collection of dunes in the middle of the plains, the tallest one being probably 300-400m tall, and we were going up one ridge, along the top, and down the other end. But it's ok, only 12km to go and a little sand. The first approach was easy, but quickly got very steep very fast, and all of us went anaerobic just trying to make forward progress (each step slid back a good percentage of the distance you covered), wearing us out before we made the first ridge line. Our low gaiters with Velcro turned out to be no match for sand that was mid-calf, so our shoes were quickly filled, and the temps were climbing past 35*C, but we made it up and trekked along the ridge lines, up and down along the dune. Breathtaking views

(photo credit Angela)

We found the end and tumbled down, having a lot of fun on the descent until we hit the base and realized we had a lot more sand to wade through, and camp was a lot farther away than we thought! I stopped to empty my shoes and tape a toe that had started to rub in the sand (happily it would actually improve and heal entirely during the week!), and we kept pushing on. An hour or two later we were seemingly no closer to the camp, and I started to regret my decision not to keep any Endurolytes in the front of my pack...by 5km to go I was starting to get kind of out of it, but Mark stuck next to me, forced me to take some more (I kept thinking we were close enough just to tough it out), and made it home only losing a few minutes of time. That left us the rest of the day to hang out in camp and get to know people, which was consistently fun.

Day 2 started early again

with a 7:30am briefing and 8:00am departure straight from camp...4km down a gravel road before we turned up into the forest and started climbing the mountains, ultimately up to 2900m. We were supposed to continue straight through the pass and down the other side, but plans change, and we were running out-and-back...all good, at least it was pretty! We cruised out to the base of the climb pretty fast and then just dug into the switchbacks, trying not to be offended when mountain goats passed us...but we made good time together to the middle checkpoint at the pass, almost 20km and 1200m in under four hours with pretty full packs. We passed the race leaders on their way back as we were starting the final climb, stopped to refill at the top, and a torrential downpour started.

Waterproof jackets on and start hammering down...Angela started to chill so she went ahead to keep moving fast and stay warm, and I hung back a bit with Mark, and we just cruised down and back. All in all a nice day, and the rain wasn't too bad. Back in camp we took over the fires to dry everything (clothes, shoes, backpacks) and passed out early. I think this was the night that both Mark and Angela decided / were convinced that carrying deodorant was a waste of weight, and so got rid of it (the rest of us never even tried). Of course from then on we complained about Angela's lack of deodorant...

Day 3 was a bus to the start, and a bus home. Yuck. But the terrain was maybe the most consistently beautiful we had all week, a river valley up and down about 1000m, so life was good. We started in a slightly gray morning and climbed up and up and up through this valley, cresting the top a few hours in. Angela cruised ahead again to stay warm, and Mark and I started the descent...it started to warm up but Mark had hammered on the way up and seemingly didn't cool down enough on the way down, as he started to overheat. By 7km to go he was hating life and couldn't stop shivering (despite it being 27*C outside and wearing lots of layers), so we stopped by one of the roving 4x4 support vehicles, got his feet up, and got Doc Adam on the radio...he was there pretty quickly and immediately said "heat exhaustion", got him de-layered and in the shade, a cold Pepsi for a quick sugar hit, and we were back on our way down within the hour. We were pushing it closer to the cutoff times than we wanted, but made it easily and on the last bus back to camp, where the whole tent helped sort out gear, get it dry, get food ready, and generally speed up recovery.

Day 4 was another out-and-back from camp, which was nice to avoid busses and see other people on the course, despite not being as much new scenery. 1.5km on a gravel road down to the forest, 6km through the forest out into the plains, up the foothills through a lot of pasture to some lower hills, and then down a beautiful valley on the other side to the 22.5km mark, turn around and do it again. It would be about 45km with another 1200m of climbing, which suited us given SF-based hill training, and the temperatures would stay down well under 40*C for another day, which was nice. Given the cold day and our pace, Angela hammered ahead to stay warm (if you get cold it's really, really hard to get warm again) and Mark and I just took it easy on the way out...Angela would end up finishing as second woman that day, I think, and emerge as a dark-horse contender for the overall race if she wanted it).

We climbed to the first checkpoint in 2.5 hours, just under the cutoff, and then did the second leg in 3 hours out to CP2, where Adam was waiting for us to check in. The previous day's exhaustion had also hammered Mark's feet (when you get tired your form goes, and blisters start/take hold), so the climb out was torture for him, in addition to the exhaustion and not a lot of time to recover...feeling as if he was just going to repeat day 3, he sadly (but very intelligently) decided to call it at CP2 and ride back with the 4x4s. I loaded up on water and advice from Adam and left CP2 in 104th place for the return journey, 22.5km and lots of climbing to get back, and only 2.5 hours to make the cutoff for CP3. I was feeling great, though, and passed almost 30 people on the way to CP3 in 1:45 flat...I barely broke stride going through to refill my bottles and keep pushing home. I passed another 25 people on the last leg to finish 49th on the day, in a little under 3:30 for the return trip. It was a huge bummer to lose Mark but a really smart decision not to risk it, and the trip back turned out to be a lot of fun even solo. Stopped by at the end to hang out with the docs and say thanks, and ended up lucking into some sprayable painkiller for the small shin splints that had developed on my legs. Better living through chemicals!

Day 5 turned into a rest day with our new plans, so we slept in until 8 or 9am, had a leisurely breakfast, and we all tried to stay out of the sun and rest. Our yurt basically spent the day inside reading, laughing (my sister would send me a really bad running joke every day, which I would happily relay to a large chorus of groans), and napping, as we got ready for a midnight bus departure to the start line of the Long March. Most memorable quote of the race:

Donald: "does anyone have any extra salt I can put in my lunch?" Richard: "you could wring out one of my socks in there, I'm sure it has plenty of salt."

And Laura's jokes:

What's Forest Gump's password? 1forest1

What do you get if you run in front of a car? Tired What do you get it you run behind a car? Exhausted

It might be hard to picture from here, but we were having a blast. :) We had a leisurely lunch and went back to sleep, an early dinner and back to sleep, and then woke up around midnight to make more food (we were all furiously trying to recalculate our food plans to have enough calories on a pre-long-march rest day and still have enough food for the long march, and there was a lot of trading / sharing of food) and get on the busses. Our government protectors decided we couldn't leave yet, so we sat around until 1:30am or so and finally pulled out in a giant convoy of flashing lights for the slow drive to the start...finally arriving sometime around 5:30am. Quick pit stop, top off water bottles, and it was time to go. Angela & I decided to stick together for the long march, with a strategy of running as much as we could early in the morning before it got hot to put in some distance, and then just a forced march during the peak heat until it cooled off or we finished.

We pulled away early, scarily close to the leaders, and ran a lot through the first two checkpoints and 26km before it started to get hot and we backed off a bit. By the third checkpoint at 37km it was getting hot, and the next 6km through a dry, still wadi were an absolute slog (at least for me)...at some point I managed to pee and it was a dark brown-yellow, which is never a good sign, and I'd already consumed over 7L of water in 6 hours. We made it to CP4 by 12:45pm, where we were forced to stop for 3 hours (the race implemented a mandatory 3 hour rest for everyone given the heat)...which was amazing. 29 people made it to CP5 for the stop, 20 people at CP4 (we were numbers 4 and 5 to make it there), and the rest stayed back at CP3. Flat on our backs in the shade (which at this point was 45*C ... rumor had it that a thermometer in the sun read 56*C, but the highest confirmed temp I heard was 48*C), with an amazing volunteer (Katya) walking around the tent with a spray bottle in each hand for three hours, misting water on us, and trying to get in more water, electrolytes, and calories. Talked to Adam about my water consumption and tried to up it even more (by the end of the day I consumed almost 20L) and then it was time to get back to it. As each person got ready to leave, Adam would quietly go over and say "drink some of your water...ok now give me the bottle", and come back a minute later with a few ice cubes in the top. Cool water never tasted so good (most of the water on the course by this point was 40-45C at least).

Back on the trail and we were feeling pretty refreshed after a break and lots of water, so we pushed through to CP5 at a decent pace given the temperature (through all of this Angela appears basically unaffected to me and barely drinking water, although she promises it was hard). At some point in here we stopped to perform some more shoe surgery on her heel to free up the Achilles, which was a nice 2min break in the one piece of shade we saw.

Making it to CP5 I decided it was the opportune time to use Laura's latest joke, which I'd received on the satcom during the rest stop...we walked into the tent and I told the lead volunteer that I'd started hallucinating on the course. She looked concerned and called for the doctor, Avi, as I told her I'd seen a talking pig (Angela is rolling her eyes), and he told me that I needed to help him because "he was bacon out here." It took her about ten seconds to process just how bad of a joke it was and that I wasn't in fact hallucinating (which made it even funnier), just enough time for Avi to arrive and pronounce that I did in fact need treatment if I was telling jokes that were that bad...and quickly launch into his own series of bad jokes (all of which he blamed on Nick). We had a blast telling dumb jokes for 10 minutes in the shade while we nursed our surprise Pepsis from the medical team (they brought enough for every single competitor to get one at CP5!)...the best one: "What do you call someone who tells bad jokes but isn't a dad? A faux pas"

(photo credit unknown)

Before it was time to head back onto the course. The Pepsi carried us through the next 10km to CP6, where Donald's wife was waiting (we'd seen him at CP4 during the rest stop and he was doing ok, if hot, which she was happy to hear), a quick (to me, maybe 10-15min in real terms?) shade and water break and back on the trail to CP7. We saw Dirk, one of the race leaders, at CP6, where he'd unfortunately been forced to drop out due to heat exhaustion...he'd spent an hour sitting in a 4x4 with the AC running and still couldn't stop hyperventilating, so he decided to call it, and was just starting to recover by the time we arrived. :(

I tried to get my last Perpetuem down on this leg and just couldn't, so by the time we were a few km from CP7 I started to run out of gas, hard. Electrolytes and water were ok, but I just hadn't had enough to eat for the day (or at least not enough simple sugars that didn't require too much blood to digest, since it was mostly busy carrying oxygen to my legs)...I tried to push through it again to get to CP7 (because the first thing a bonk does is make you dumb), but happily Angela forced me to eat, first one of her sugar-filled waffles and then one of my Clif bars, so that by the time we crawled into CP7 I had some calories in my stomach to start digesting.

CP7 was a war zone, with at least 6 people splayed out all over the floor passed out and trying to recover from heat, electrolytes, calorie deficits, etc. I got another bar in and laid on my back for 20min to get some calories to digest before we picked up and moved again, just as the sun started to set. We had 11km along a road to go to the finish, and we just forced-marched it under headlamps. We'd long ago given up talking much, instead favoring simple "thumbs up" for "you good? I'm good", hands flat and wiggling for "I'm so-so", and happily never getting to thumbs-down, but we kept moving, I managed to get my Heed down, Angela's Achilles stayed ok, her knee didn't get much worse, and we crossed the finish line just before midnight on Friday. Ben and Richard had crossed the line together just before sunset, Michael was probably an hour ahead of us at 23rd, and we finished 26th and 27th for the day. Mark was already there having helped out at camp and the aid stations during the day, and they'd all claimed a big tent for us near the finish line. After a few minutes of catching up and joking, getting weighed and prodded for medical tests, and chugging our almost-cool finish line Pepsis and waters, we were all fast asleep by 12:30am.

Unfortunately that didn't last long, as we were rudely awakened by a huge sandstorm that started to collapse our tent around 3:15am. We traded off holding the tent in place while everyone hurriedly packed their kit, and then hung out in the tent for a bit debating what to do while the wind whipped around outside and quickly destroyed about half the camp. We decided with all the metals poles flying around we were probably safer away from the tent, so everyone loaded up and we made a run for the leeward side of a big rock formation nearby, where the winds were lower and there were fewer flying projectiles. We made our little post-apocalyptic refugee camp there and were gradually joined by more and more people from collapsed tents...at least it was cool (ish) outside!

We all had our buffs wrapped around our faces

And dozed in and out between brief sleep and chatting all night, curled up on some shared sleeping pads. The last finisher finally crossed about 9:45am (happily under a huge cloud of dust, the sun stayed slightly hidden and the temperatures stayed lower, probably under 40*C), we all got up to run the final "victory lap" (which was really just so the race organizers could get marketing photos, so it was cut down to probably under 1km) and cross the official finish line together to get soda, beer, and bowls of real food (rice, veggies, and a little unspecified meat).

(Donald at the finish line, photo credit Donald’s wife Elaine?)

30 minutes later we were all ready to get on the busses and head back to Hami, which was a solid 2+ hour drive.

And that was it. We got back to the hotel, drank beer in the hallways while we waited for our rooms to be ready, enjoyed very long showers, drank more beer while we waiting for dinner, had a great big banquet (of course our yurt all sat together...it was strange to us that most tents didn't), drank more beer in the lobby, and passed out.

(Photo credit Angela)

The travel home was less eventful, although fun to do a lot of it with these groups of people we'd gotten to know so well. The trains to Urumqi were easy, although the security checks caught some more stuff (people just cared less), we just kept walking and didn't stop. :) The airport at Urumqi was clearly on high alert, as they ran each of our carry-ons at least 4 times, and to their credit (as annoying as it was, because it was pointless), they found almost everything that we weren't supposed to have (those sewing scissors and hiking poles were clearly a threat) and ended up with a large haul of stuff for themselves. Back in Shanghai after a few-hour delay we had a day to rest, get massages, and eat, and now on the plane back to SF.

Lessons Learned

I mentioned a bunch inline above, but fundamentally this was an exercise in logistics and training more than anything else ... no individual race day was that challenging by itself (granted I finished in the mid-40s place-wise and not top-10, where I'm sure the running itself was much more challenging), and if you had a lightweight pack, managed your nutrition well, and took care of your feet every day, you seemed to have a pretty good chance of finishing well (modulo heat & exhaustion issues like Mark faced--I think he might have been sick at the same time, because he was eating and drinking well all day). Then it's just a matter of persistence, but even less of that is required here than in eg. a straight 100-miler.

I did find this race format far more enjoyable than a one-day 100-miler, I think largely because of the camaraderie on the trail and in camp. It would be cliche and dramatically exaggerated to say I made best-friends-for-life in this race, but I certainly made another 5 friends who I look forward to visiting around the world as our paths collide.

In the end I could have carried a little less food, as I think I only lost about 10 pounds over the course of the race (I wouldn't skimp on on-course food, but less weight for dinner and run a higher calorie deficit at night would have worked). This would have been less weight, and let me run less conservatively on the first few days, probably saving a lot of time. Only one toenail (so far) fell victim to the trails, and a few annoying blisters on the last day, but remarkably few given the terrain and mileage and they're already largely healed. And the hotel in Hami collected a large pile of donated/trashed gear...my beloved shoes (complete with an extra lining of velcro for the gaiters) were pushing 600 miles and didn't make the return trip, along with the gaiters themselves (wouldn't use that style again, and they were trashed), my socks (biohazard), running top (likewise), and camp clothes and shoes I'd purchased cheaply in Urumqi along with the crappy folding knife from Hami. And, of course, Luke's poles he so generously loaned me, confiscated by the crack airport security team (happily, only on the return trip!)...Luke, I still owe you a beer (or many) for those poles!

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