Dreams Come Alive

At the Dusit Thani and met with several other competitors. What a bunch of chamnpions. Looking at the competitor profiles, everyone seems to fall into one of three categories. There are the high achievers in business and career, with managing partners, CFO’s, venture capitalists and company directors making a presence. Then there are high achievers in the sporting arena, with past race winners, seven summiters, adventurers, Ironman triathletes and ultra endurance racers making an impact. And there are the high achievers in life: a 73-year old Badwater veteran and a blind man among the list of notable individuals.

There is an air of respect and mutual support that everyone holds here. I do suppose endurance racing is such a niche sport, and it is a sport where everyone goes through pain and suffering. Voluntarily. Which means we all have fast track entry into an asylum. But it is that pain and suffering that pulls everyone together. The true measure of a team mentality is when the mind and body is under stress, not when the team is winning. What do you do when you are being beaten? How do you think when you are being broken?

Ask me again in a week’s time. Right now I just can’t wait to get started. We had a briefing this morning and were told the temperature out there is 51 degrees centigrade. No danger of frostbite then.

Brown. Sand.

Those are my intial impressions of Cairo. There is a distinct lack in greenery in this land; not quite the Garden City that is Singapore, although this is more than made up for by the smiles and graciousness of the people.

Arrived two days ago and have been ensconced in the JW Marriott, engaing in some serious pampering in the form of room service and being sprawled out in the King-sized bed. Braved the traffic and pollution yesterday in a short walk around old Cairo but had to call it a day after about 6 hours on my feet, the dust and noise taking their toll on my senses.

Today is the day that all competitors will arrive and check in at the Dusit Thani. Tomorrow morning we go through an equipment check and then in the afternoon we get bussed out to the middle of the Sahara. After umpteen times packing and repacking, I’ve got my gear down to just over 10kg. The water will add another couple of kg’s; pretty decent weight, I reckon.

Almost showtime…

During race week (25^th to 30^th Oct) you can send an email to me by going to http://www.4deserts.com/sahararace/ and selecting “email a competitor” from the Multimedia tab. Coming in to camp with half a life left within me from a day’s trudging through the sands, I know your thoughts and words would make a world of difference in lifting my spirits and is something I dearly appreciate, so I thank you in advance.  Note that emails sent are not private; they can be seen on the spreadsheet by other competitors.

Sahara Race Website

Race organisers will be posting hourly updates to the website during each stage – these are known as “Breaking News.” You may also sign up to follow RacingThePlanet on Twitter. These updates will keep you abreast of the leaders, the middle of the pack, the back of the pack, weather conditions, etc. In addition at the end of each day, a Stage Update will be posted summarizing the day, as well as videos clips and several hundred photographs.

My head is freshly shaved, my nails are newly clipped and my clothes are crisply laundered. My nerves are also taut as the pre-race jitters return with a vengeance. I deal with it by treating this adventure as if it were any other inconsequential trip.

When I need a boost of positive energy I think of all the well wishers rooting me on and the people who find inspiration in this crazy pursuit of mine. Particularly heartening are the monetary donations that continue to stream in for the School Pocket Money Fund. And there are the several pledges of thousands of dollars that rest on my completing this race.

I spend an inordinate amount of time calculating and recalculating my nutrition. Too much food adds unnecessary weight to my pack; too little and I’ll go hungry – and I eat like a horse when I work out! Too much variety is over the top; too little makes for a painful and unappetising meal. Decisions, decisions, decisions… It is amazing how success in anything lies on the decisions that we make along the way.

I am attempting to take as much of my equipment and food as hand carry luggage on board the plane. There have been past cases where competitors arrived empty handed after the airlines misplaced their check-in baggage containing their gear. Such stress is something I can certainly do without. 

Seems like there is so much to do. Or am I simply creating work to busy my mind? 

Just need to get onto the plane… 

10 days to go; the big week looms and the final list of competitors has been released. And what an exciting star-studded field it is!

Among other superstars, I’ll be racing alongside the fastest woman to ever complete the Seven Summits; a 68 year-old female helicopter pilot who recently completed a circumnavigation of the globe via both poles; Canada’s first blind triathlete who is a two-time World Cup Triathlon Champion; a school caretaker who is the only 70-year-old to have ever completed the Badwater Ultramarathon; previous race winners and professional endurance athletes.

It is such an honour to be in the presence of such champions and to be competing (I use the term “competing” very loosely here) alongside them. Their achievements are simply awe-inspiring and I can’t wait to make their acquaintance and learn what makes them tick.

I have moved past the anxieties and worries that plagued me a couple of months back into a state of heightened anticipation. The preparation and training stage is over and what is now left is to just do the thing.

In many ways it is a huge relief to be in a position where I cannot do much anymore. The task ahead is clearly defined and I’ll be embarking on a brand new experience that will push me to my physical, mental and emotional limits, just the kind of personal exploration I relish.

9, 8, 7, ….     

The following is an excerpt from Born to Run and it tells of Scott Jurek’s first ever 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon experience in 2005.

By mile 60, Scott was vomiting and shaky. His hands dropped to his knees, then his knees dropped to the pavement. He collapsed by the side of the road, lying in his own sweat and spittle…his friends didn’t bother trying to help him up; they knew there was no voice in the world more persuasive than the one inside Scott’s own mind.

Scott lay there, thinking how hopeless it all was. He wasn’t even halfway done, and Sweeney (the race leader) was already too far ahead for him to see. And the wind! It was like running into the blast of a jet engine.

“There’s no way,” Scott told himself. “You’re done. You’d have to do something totally sick to win this thing now.”

“Like what?”

“Like starting all over again. Like pretending you just woke up from a great night’s sleep and the race hasn’t even started yet. You’d have to run the next 80 miles as fast as you’ve ever run 80 miles in your life.”

“No chance.”

“Yeah, I know.”

For ten minutes, Scott lay like a corpse. Then he got up and did it, shattering the Badwater record with a time of 24:36:08.

For the uninitiated, the infamous Badwater Ultramarathon, held in the middle of summer in Death Valley, is the ultimate in ultra running. The region is a big shimmering sea of salt ringed mountains that bottle up the heat and force it back down on your skull. The average air temperature hovers around 50 degrees Celsius and once the sun rises and begins broiling the desert floor, the ground hits a toasty 90 degrees Celsius that has the runners toeing the white lines on the road so the soles of their running shoes don’t melt.

Lovely.

Am feeling strangely calm and detached from the entire event. It’s almost as if I have surrendered to the fact that the time is now almost upon me and there is just about nothing I can physically do to prepare for it anymore. It’s an unfamiliar liberating feeling to be entirely devoid of stress. Perhaps I am in denial mode and mentally escaping from the monumental task ahead. Whatever it is, I am beginning to relax and take things in stride and this can only be good for me.

The support I am receiving from people around me is absolutely tremendous. The offers of help; self-sacrificing generosity and encouraging words of affirmation strengthen me and shore up my spirit. And it is my spirit that needs stocking up at this point.  Most of my gear has been purchased and most of the food has been tested. All that is left is to pack it all in and shed any excess weight; beef up my own body weight; try out some lunch snack combinations; and go for a few long walks.

I bend and flow with ease and all is well.

Love you all.

I ended my previous entry on listening more to my body, and boy, is it talking to me! In fact it is throwing an almighty tantrum. Physically I am feeling very tender with aches all over my body, blurred vision and plunging energy levels. Mentally I cannot string two full sentences together and just typing this entry is taking three times longer than usual as I constantly have to hit the ‘backspace’ button. It’s almost as if I am under the influence of a mind altering drug. Emotionally I am quite spent, having spent the entire last week on two empowerment workshops for youths, which took a lot out of me than I had imagined.

As a result I have had to cancel all work appointments and have spent the previous three days cooped up at home. My sole foray out of the house was this morning as I just about made it to the Egyptian Embassy to apply for my visa, only to realise that I had neglected to bring along a photo. On the upside I picked up my Platypus hydration system from the wonderful people at Campers Corner. Still need 8 Singapore flag patches to be sewn onto my clothing but can’t seem to find them anywhere even though I am sure I have chanced across numerous shops selling them in the past. But I came up empty handed even after a trip down to Peninsula Plaza. Would certainly appreciate someone pointing me in the right direction should they have any clue where I can get them.

The date for my departure to Egypt inches ever closer and I have to admit my anxiety levels are shooting up. In fact I am getting rather fearful. All sorts of questions keep popping into my head. Do I have all the right equipment? Have I missed anything? Why did I sign up for this in the first place? What if I don’t complete it? Am I ready, physically and mentally, for this? Have I trained enough? This last question, is of course, moot, since it is rather late to do anything about training, especially in my current state.

Nonetheless I have been encouraged by an anecdote from the book “Born to Run” that I recently started to read. One small section goes like this: “…this ninety-five year old man came hiking twenty-five miles over the mountain. Know why he could do it? Because no one ever told him he couldn’t. No one ever told him he oughta be off dying somewhere in an old age home. You live up to your own expectations man.” How very thought provoking… 

I am so fortunate to have so many people rooting for me and willing me on. In fact it is their constant affirmations and encouragements that lift me up and keep me moving forward. I am running to raise funds to make it possible for students from low income families to make it through school and I know it is a noble and important cause. At the same time the knowledge and reminders that I am already inspiring people – from young children to teenagers and adults – to go live their lives and have their dreams come alive is absolutely brilliant. That people are already benefitting – from those I personally know or have met, people whom I can put a face to, or who have heard of me – somehow makes a difference and is simply awesome. I know I can’t possibly let them down.

Maybe falling ill right now is actually a good thing. It is my body’s way of having me spend time with, and for, myself so that I will be in tip top shape come October.

This is the game of life. You never know how hard it will be. You never know when it will end. You can’t control it. You can only adjust.

Acceptance.

Tried out my spanking new Polar Heart Rate Monitor this afternoon and had a pretty horrendous time. The original intention was to take it out on a short 2 hour run but it took me all of 45 minutes just to figure out how the thing works and how to create my desired settings. I’m not the most technologically inclined at the best of times, so sitting in the middle of my living room with my kit on poring over the instructional manual wasn’t the least bit enjoyable.

Things didn’t quite improve once I was out on the running trail. I struggled to get into a consistent rhythm as I was continually squinting down at the watch (the proper name for it is training computer) attempting to make sense of all the numbers staring back at me from the different page views as well as the beeping sounds emanating from the instrument. And I simply wasn’t used to repeatedly adjusting my pace to keep within my heart rate training zone throughout the run.  

So, upset at a ruined run, I went out again late at night to make up. Things went a lot smoother and instead of being distressed by the monitor I chose to use it to help me. I managed to keep within my zone with less effort this time and I believe the forced slower pace will help calm me down in the long run.

Looking forward to listening more to my body.

Have completed just over half of my shopping and am in the process of testing my equipment. This includes the different packets of freeze dried food which I had shipped from Expedition Foods in the UK as well as the packets and tubs of hydration products, both from Athlete’s Circle, who so generously sponsored a great deal of PowerBar products, and ScienceinSport.

It is important to test out these nutritional products to ensure that they agree with my constitution and do not give me any stomach cramps or bowel problems. The tastiness of the products is also paramount as the last thing I want when I am shattered from a day out in the scorching sun is to force myself to tuck into foul-tasting, revolting grub.

On the whole the food was surprisingly aromatic, albeit the main courses lacked salt and the sweet courses weren’t sweet enough. A handful of salt and sugar sachets will set that right. Generally I thought they were decent, even though a tad expensive at £4.50 (about S$12) per pack. I must imagine the costs of production aren’t low, given the technology required to produce them in the first place as well as the packaging.

As for the drinks, they do take some getting used to. I experienced a fair bit of flatulence and bloatedness in the beginning and am still trying to get the dilution ratio spot on. Plus I am not a fan of the stickiness, though this is due mostly to my clumsiness; somehow when I am running and gasping I have a tendency to spill fluids down the front of my shirt with each swig.

Steady on, Thaddeus

Electrolyte and Recovery Drinks

Freeze Dried Foods