Day 2- 44km
Day 2 started off with a better prep, dry shoes and kit (had a spare set so I didn't have to run in wet gear) and some Myprodol in my stomach and a Transact patch on my foot (sore hoof).
We were bussed out to Elim Dune in the Naukluft National Park about 10km from our camp for stage 2. A 44km stage awaited us with varying terrain and our good friend, the rain, to accompany us. Thankfully, the rain that did fall was actually very low cloud and we ran, albeit very slowly to start with, through the clouds on a rising terrain with magnificent scenery. We transitioned into rocky and muddy ground (yes it is possible to have both) and arrived at CP1 at 15km. A quick drink, refill of the water bottles, and a bite to eat (oranges went down a treat) and we were off.
Water awaited us about 8km down the road. A plateau had flooded and we were in for some serious wading, almost impossible to run through this 'pond'.
Saturday, 21 April 2012
The Race (part 2)
And the rain came down.... What started as a light drizzle turned into a downpour that was the equivalent to an hour of water pouring down Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia.
This amount of rain was not supposed to be falling in the desert and we were in for a very wet run the next day. Now anyone who has run a marathon can justify that it is hard enough in decent weather. We started day 1, 42.2km ahead of us, with the rain absolutely chucking down and very muddy terrain to contend with. A race that was hard enough to think about suddenly become a helluva lot more interesting and tougher. I for one was so nervous I got my preparation completely messed up. I forgot to loob and plaster up (essential in any weather, more so in rain), packed a whole day of food (an additional 1.2kg, so effectively ran day 1 with approx 8kg!) and more importantly, forgot to take any pain medication for my stress fracture. EISH! What was I thinking? (Range of expletives here.....). We lined up, a quick pre-stage briefing on the route, and we were off to an applause from Lodge staff and family that had come out to see their family member run.
Hard to imagine that the above pics were taken at 7am.
And off we went, at 5min20/km pace- what the hell? I was running with a Capetonian, James Frazer, whom I had met the day previously on the bus and I suppose we both just got carried away by the adrenalin rush. We chatted for a while and I simply had this nagging sense of overexerting myself too early on in the stage/race. I said 'Cheers' to Jim and pulled off the track to take my rain-jacket off.
The route was pretty flat for about 15km, however, the rutted jeep tracks played havoc with my stress fracture. Every time I landed my right foot on top of one of the ruts it pushed the stress fracture open ever so slightly and I was in some pain until we got to the flatter sections. Eating and drinking were going to plan and I felt great. We crossed a small pass between two hills, down the other side through some flatter land, met the first Check Point (CP) at 17km and proceeded to follow the route around the base of the mountain range to the next CP at about 30km. We ran through a dried river bed, which at this stage was becoming more of a mud bath but it was superb fun none the less. Clocking in a CP2 at approx 30km was very much welcomed and I proceeded to walk with the Poms, Mike and Glen, for about 4km's as we had all made good time and wanted to pace ourselves for the next four days. At the end of our fast paced walk we proceeded to hit a decent that you simply had to crawl down, definitely no running here.....
The dirt road down the bottom is where we were headed and it runs all the way for 7-8km to the stage finish. I pulled out a 7 minute lead over the Poms coming down the pass. This road was simply mind-numbing and mentally it broke me. I finished the first stage in 5hr15min, a couple of minutes behind the Poms. I was glad I had got through the first day and off we went to the race camp, sore, soaking wet and tired. Day one done, four to go. Happy days.
This amount of rain was not supposed to be falling in the desert and we were in for a very wet run the next day. Now anyone who has run a marathon can justify that it is hard enough in decent weather. We started day 1, 42.2km ahead of us, with the rain absolutely chucking down and very muddy terrain to contend with. A race that was hard enough to think about suddenly become a helluva lot more interesting and tougher. I for one was so nervous I got my preparation completely messed up. I forgot to loob and plaster up (essential in any weather, more so in rain), packed a whole day of food (an additional 1.2kg, so effectively ran day 1 with approx 8kg!) and more importantly, forgot to take any pain medication for my stress fracture. EISH! What was I thinking? (Range of expletives here.....). We lined up, a quick pre-stage briefing on the route, and we were off to an applause from Lodge staff and family that had come out to see their family member run.
Hard to imagine that the above pics were taken at 7am.
And off we went, at 5min20/km pace- what the hell? I was running with a Capetonian, James Frazer, whom I had met the day previously on the bus and I suppose we both just got carried away by the adrenalin rush. We chatted for a while and I simply had this nagging sense of overexerting myself too early on in the stage/race. I said 'Cheers' to Jim and pulled off the track to take my rain-jacket off.
The route was pretty flat for about 15km, however, the rutted jeep tracks played havoc with my stress fracture. Every time I landed my right foot on top of one of the ruts it pushed the stress fracture open ever so slightly and I was in some pain until we got to the flatter sections. Eating and drinking were going to plan and I felt great. We crossed a small pass between two hills, down the other side through some flatter land, met the first Check Point (CP) at 17km and proceeded to follow the route around the base of the mountain range to the next CP at about 30km. We ran through a dried river bed, which at this stage was becoming more of a mud bath but it was superb fun none the less. Clocking in a CP2 at approx 30km was very much welcomed and I proceeded to walk with the Poms, Mike and Glen, for about 4km's as we had all made good time and wanted to pace ourselves for the next four days. At the end of our fast paced walk we proceeded to hit a decent that you simply had to crawl down, definitely no running here.....
The dirt road down the bottom is where we were headed and it runs all the way for 7-8km to the stage finish. I pulled out a 7 minute lead over the Poms coming down the pass. This road was simply mind-numbing and mentally it broke me. I finished the first stage in 5hr15min, a couple of minutes behind the Poms. I was glad I had got through the first day and off we went to the race camp, sore, soaking wet and tired. Day one done, four to go. Happy days.
The Race (part 1)
Hi ladies and gents,
Its been a while since I last posted and it will probably be the last on this blog spot. I'll create another to keep you all up to date with my future running adventures. Yes, there will be many more :)
Well, the good news is- I AM STILL ALIVE ;). I didn't get lost in the Namib Desert and I'm still in one piece. Ha!
My last blog post focused on the food I would have to take with me on the stage race and I am glad to report that I used about 80% of what I tested. I amended my food list to cut down on weight and thankfully obtained a kit list from my good mate Wayde Kennedy who finished last year's race in 3rd in a very quick time. The new munchy products I included were in packets rather than tins/cans as I thought we would be lugging this with us throughout the race (I'll get to this a little later).
That important issue put to bed and it was supposed to be smooth sailing to the race date. Maybe not. A little bit of drama showed up to make my wee adventure even more testing and exciting... I managed to pick up a stress fracture in my 3rd metatarsal in my right foot during the first week of March. Hurt like a bugger and probably came about with me running on pavements, in a variety of running shoes (road and trail) and lacking a massive amount of sleep. The sleep bit- I'm studying part-time at Wits Business School and lecture prep and assignments had been chewing away at the time I had available to actually recover from my daily running sessions. So, if there is any advice I can give to someone planning to do this race: Make sure you don't travel every other week, don't bother enrolling in any education courses, make sure your relationship with your partner is healthy and can take the stress of little quality time together, and make sure you get lots of sleep. Rather skip running sessions for a couple of hours more sleep (rather run later in the day if you can).
I can honestly say that I have glass feet so you may call me Shaun Glassfoot if it pleases you. Two stress fractures in two years- um, I probably need to do something about it and I should do something about it but I know what every specialist will say. Just saying it annoys me so I won't say it.
On to the race... Being unable to string 5k's together without feeling a proper amount of pain from the stress fracture two weeks before the race had me slightly worried. Well, you may ask Andrea, I was crapping myself. Here I was, sitting with a less than perfect foot (I could think of a range of expletives to describe my gammy foot), signed up for a +200k stage race, and heavily invested money and time-wise, and I couldn't even run properly. What the hell! Please could something just go right like everything else had so far.
We went to Cape Town for Andrea's cousin's wedding and somewhere along the line in that week and the following week back in Joburg, the foot started feeling better. Now it could be my mental stubbornness and my nerves but I honestly felt that three weeks of no running had actually done me the world of good. The 24th of March arrived and it was time to set off on my adventure, off to the airport and an afternoon in Windhoek prepping my kit.
25th of March
Having met some Poms and another Saffa at the airport on the way to Namibia, we met up in the morning and chatted about the race. Interesting to note that one of the Poms, Mike, had run the famous MDS (Marathon des Sables) and another, Glen, had completed the GUCR (Grand Union Canal Race) that I was training for last year before I picked up a stress fracture in my 2nd metatarsal and had to withdraw. I was in some good company here with runners of serious pedigree. Now I was nervous. Was everyone running with a list of accomplishments the length of their arms? Thankfully there were quite a few accomplished desert and extreme ultramarathoners but not all were so I felt at peace with that. The bus arrived (late as usual- same as last year apparently) and off we set for our 5 hour journey to the Sossusvlei, 3 hours of which are on graded dirt road. The scenery made up for it- magnificent!
Arriving at the Sossusvlei Lodge, we had a quick briefing, kit check (medical and compulsory items) and we were bussed off across the road to the Desert Camp where we partnered up and were allocated a tent for the week. My food choice needn't have changed- I was under the impression that we would be carting all our kit through the desert so that was my reason for cutting down on weight. Due to logistical reasons, the race organisers, Kinetic Events, decided to have a static camp. Each site (4 tents per site) would have running water, a shower, flushing toilet and wash-up facilities and we could leave our non-essential items at camp. Even still, my race pack was close to 7kg per day (compulsory items, a small medical kit and liquid comprising the weight). A last supper at the lodge (!) that night with an all-you-can-eat-buffet, and an early night were on the cards.
And then the fun and games started later that night.... part 2 to continue....
Ciao,
Me
Its been a while since I last posted and it will probably be the last on this blog spot. I'll create another to keep you all up to date with my future running adventures. Yes, there will be many more :)
Well, the good news is- I AM STILL ALIVE ;). I didn't get lost in the Namib Desert and I'm still in one piece. Ha!
My last blog post focused on the food I would have to take with me on the stage race and I am glad to report that I used about 80% of what I tested. I amended my food list to cut down on weight and thankfully obtained a kit list from my good mate Wayde Kennedy who finished last year's race in 3rd in a very quick time. The new munchy products I included were in packets rather than tins/cans as I thought we would be lugging this with us throughout the race (I'll get to this a little later).
That important issue put to bed and it was supposed to be smooth sailing to the race date. Maybe not. A little bit of drama showed up to make my wee adventure even more testing and exciting... I managed to pick up a stress fracture in my 3rd metatarsal in my right foot during the first week of March. Hurt like a bugger and probably came about with me running on pavements, in a variety of running shoes (road and trail) and lacking a massive amount of sleep. The sleep bit- I'm studying part-time at Wits Business School and lecture prep and assignments had been chewing away at the time I had available to actually recover from my daily running sessions. So, if there is any advice I can give to someone planning to do this race: Make sure you don't travel every other week, don't bother enrolling in any education courses, make sure your relationship with your partner is healthy and can take the stress of little quality time together, and make sure you get lots of sleep. Rather skip running sessions for a couple of hours more sleep (rather run later in the day if you can).
I can honestly say that I have glass feet so you may call me Shaun Glassfoot if it pleases you. Two stress fractures in two years- um, I probably need to do something about it and I should do something about it but I know what every specialist will say. Just saying it annoys me so I won't say it.
On to the race... Being unable to string 5k's together without feeling a proper amount of pain from the stress fracture two weeks before the race had me slightly worried. Well, you may ask Andrea, I was crapping myself. Here I was, sitting with a less than perfect foot (I could think of a range of expletives to describe my gammy foot), signed up for a +200k stage race, and heavily invested money and time-wise, and I couldn't even run properly. What the hell! Please could something just go right like everything else had so far.
We went to Cape Town for Andrea's cousin's wedding and somewhere along the line in that week and the following week back in Joburg, the foot started feeling better. Now it could be my mental stubbornness and my nerves but I honestly felt that three weeks of no running had actually done me the world of good. The 24th of March arrived and it was time to set off on my adventure, off to the airport and an afternoon in Windhoek prepping my kit.
25th of March
Having met some Poms and another Saffa at the airport on the way to Namibia, we met up in the morning and chatted about the race. Interesting to note that one of the Poms, Mike, had run the famous MDS (Marathon des Sables) and another, Glen, had completed the GUCR (Grand Union Canal Race) that I was training for last year before I picked up a stress fracture in my 2nd metatarsal and had to withdraw. I was in some good company here with runners of serious pedigree. Now I was nervous. Was everyone running with a list of accomplishments the length of their arms? Thankfully there were quite a few accomplished desert and extreme ultramarathoners but not all were so I felt at peace with that. The bus arrived (late as usual- same as last year apparently) and off we set for our 5 hour journey to the Sossusvlei, 3 hours of which are on graded dirt road. The scenery made up for it- magnificent!
Arriving at the Sossusvlei Lodge, we had a quick briefing, kit check (medical and compulsory items) and we were bussed off across the road to the Desert Camp where we partnered up and were allocated a tent for the week. My food choice needn't have changed- I was under the impression that we would be carting all our kit through the desert so that was my reason for cutting down on weight. Due to logistical reasons, the race organisers, Kinetic Events, decided to have a static camp. Each site (4 tents per site) would have running water, a shower, flushing toilet and wash-up facilities and we could leave our non-essential items at camp. Even still, my race pack was close to 7kg per day (compulsory items, a small medical kit and liquid comprising the weight). A last supper at the lodge (!) that night with an all-you-can-eat-buffet, and an early night were on the cards.
And then the fun and games started later that night.... part 2 to continue....
Ciao,
Me
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