Up and Down Day Thanks for all the notes friends! It always lifts the spirit! It was an up and down day. I went real conservative as I was prewarned by the veterans it would be the toughest normal distance day. Happy I did. 46th today. 39K. The last two stages were absolute buggers. The 3rd was the most difficult I have done in five races, on terrain called crud. Yesterday’s brutal salt flat + unpredictable terrain that would hold your foot or not. Hard to describe. Like walking through broken volcanic crust, add potholes, add sharp shrubs. No one could run at all. 18 min miles for 2.5 hours. The worst. They rewarded us with a fresh orange end of that stage. So good! The last stage was a long 12km in heavy heat, in sand and up and down huge sand dunes. Breathtaking against the Andes and tough. Heat got to most of us and took a little while recover. Insert Mac and Cheese and Don Juan Ketchup! Dark now, fires going. Bed …

Thanks for all the well wishes! Day 2 went pretty well. It took awhile to get the body warmed up in the morning and the first stage was an epic canyon run and water crossing. About 20 to be exact. First thing in the morning the water was cold! After the 2,3, 19 I treated it as an ice bath for my sore feet. Over all couple minor blisters, fairing pretty well. The second stage was a huge climb up to a ridge at the edge of the Andes. Amazing views!! Going into check point two after 20km we ran down a giant vertical sand dune! Pictures on the website and I took a few. So fun!! I was slow in the morning and made up some time on the 3rd stage. Their are some amazing hikers here who move fast. Alison my walking is getting better but still slow compared to some French and Swiss. Alps training I imagine! I can make up time in the flats and typically lose in the hike and …

We started the day above 10,000 feet. It was a beautiful back drop of orange desert stone formation against the high altitude volcanoes. My motto this morning was “slow out”even wrote it on my wrist. A disciplined pace.I have blown races up on day one or two before and suffered all week. The elevation could be felt for the first couple hours and my heart rate was anywhere between 120 and 160. I moved slowly and put walk breaks in to make sure I didn’t burn out early. Ive learned a few things in the last four races. Wasn’t going to make that mistake again! Once we got down to 9000 feet I started to feel better and had a burst of energy. I resisted using all of it and continued to run conservatively and walk every few flags. Once we hit the last checkpoint we started a slow climb up an old canyon road for an hour. The heat was heavy and everyone moved slow. I didn’t really know what place I was in …

We settled up in San Pedro and got bussed out of town and into the desert this afternoon. We are camping above 10,000 feet in a beautiful rock formation and had a great sunset. Its about 7pm right now and the sun is going down. Getting windy and cold now, everyone has their down jackets on, it will be a cold sleep. Should be ok for the Canadians. Ash and I grabbed a pizza in town and brought to camp for dinner. May have some left overs for breakfast! Blake, I worked with Ash to get the pack weight down further. Will be at a good weight for race start. Tomorrow we start Day 1. Should be around 40KM heading down from 10,0000 – 9,000 feet. Strategy is to go nice and easy tomorrow and get stronger everyday. Should be epic scenery tomorrow. We have a great tent. Some vets and some new guys from Finland, US and the UK.

I’ve been fortunate to have great mentors in this sport. As I head over to Chile, I’m thinking about a few concepts they shared in the last few years. It was only five years ago I was brand new and entering my first race. Time flies! 1. Build the Routine Everyday you are more trained to get up and run another marathon than the last. Get up, rinse and repeat. You’ll be surprised how well our bodies can adapt. 2. Be unreasonable Why not me, you? Be unreasonable of yourself and what you can accomplish. What you have done in training has prepared you for everyday this week! What would happen if you dreamed big today? 3. Nutrition for Life Food is fuel. For a week you take the focus off the taste and on how it propels your motor forward. Get in the calories so you can stoke the fire to keep going! 4. Gratitude Be grateful. Cheer people in at the end of the race, it will lift their spirits and yours. Joy …

Arrived in San Pedro de Atacama and the home town for our upcoming race. It was a 10 hour flight to Santiago, hour flight to Calama and a two hour bus ride to San Pedro. We already traveled through some Mars like terrain just on the bus ride to town. Town has maybe a couple thousand people and all the houses are built with stacked boulders. It’s a very rugged landscape set back against the volcanoes and mountain range. We sit at 8,000 feet of elevation and you can already feel it in the lunges. I met a couple fellow racers on the bus ride down and spent a little time getting to know them. Mike from the Virgin Islands and Clare from London. We went for a 6 Mile training run yesterday to test out the air and landscape. We ran right out of town in 10 minutes and into the desert! Soft shale and sand that is sure to get into our shoes. Definitely was feeling the heavier air in the lungs. Good …