Day 2 seems to have been a great deal more challenging than Day 1. Even though we started at 7am, the sun was soon burning down its relentless heat on each and every competitor. Following a restless night’s sleep and yesterday’s upset stomach caused by extreme heat and exhaustion, I started the race slowly and planned to pace myself.
After yesterday’s discovery of the success of using poles, I decided to start using them early on today in order to make the most of the great support they offer. Keeping suitably nourished is a little more tricky. I’ve found that even with my continued intake of salt tablets and electrolytes, it doesn’t seem to be enough to keep me out of trouble in the heat. At the first checkpoint I really enjoyed a small sample of my favourite Vege Chips, but I didn’t eat much else for the rest of the day.
I kept towards the back end of the field from the start of the race today. It’s not really an issue for me as long as I keep going. Many competitors have withdrawn from the event because of the extreme conditions, so I want to ensure I keep my pace consistent to allow me to finish.
It was a tough course today, and it crossed my mind quite a few times that it must have been designed by some kind of sadist. The first half of the race was difficult enough: we had to travel over sand dunes, soft sand and rocks. After that it got even tougher as we moved out onto rolling sand dunes. The views across the Sahara were breathtaking. However, the scenery was somewhat difficult to appreciate under such conditions. I’m looking forward to re-visiting the views through photos when I am in the comfort of my own home.
At Checkpoint 3 we were told there was only 8.7km remaining, with most of it being easy flat or downhill. Geed up by this news, I headed out after only a short break. Unfortunately, the information was quite far from correct. I traversed a large area of rocks, and then came to a huge down-hill made up of soft sand, which was great fun to get down. After about 6km I was totally ready for the finish line. But the hills kept coming – including one of the world’s largest sand dunes, which had an almost vertical incline.
In a state of exhaustion, it was all I could do to keep plugging away, one foot in front of the other until I finally spotted the finish line. I crossed it in 88th position in under ten hours. I am definitely pleased with the result, considering I wasn’t feeling 100%.
After taking on some water and still not feeling too great, I alerted the medical team and they gave me a nausea tablet. I returned to the tent and after a few minutes could feel that I was about to be sick. Again, it was a great relief, and after another nausea tablet and a magic can of cold Coke from the medical team, my stomach started to settle.
It was then I spotted a huge blister on my right heel. It was popped and taped by the doctor, so I just hope that it will be okay over the coming days.
This is certainly one of the toughest challenges I have faced. The high dropout rate in itself attests to the extreme nature of this event. I will be more than happy to simply make it through the event, and I know that tomorrow will bring even tougher challenges than today. My overall plan is to make sure I pace myself and to look after my health in the heat.
Thank you so much for all your incredible messages of support. It sincerely means so much to me and I look forward to hearing from you over the coming days. There is no turning back now, but I believe that I can get through this challenge and return to tell the tale.
Now it is time for some much needed rest. I am looking forward to having a good night’s sleep before the next chapter starts tomorrow at 7am.
