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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