This morning was a slow wake-up. There were no Berber's running around tearing down the camp down and everyone seemed to be voicing some frustration regarding the mandatory UNICEF t-shirt to be worn during this stage. The t-shirt was bright blue and seemed to be fit fairly large on everyone. We've run for nearly 6 days and the last stage boiled down to running 11.5 km in cotton t-shirt. Awesome!
I'm feeling slightly depressed knowing that in the next 48 hours I'll be on a plane heading home and what I've experienced as a runner and tent-mate will be a distant memory in the near future. There is no doubt I'll be back next year and I've already started crafting my goals.
The Road book for Stage 6
The route is pretty straight forward for this stage. There stage is not timed and does not count toward our overall MdS rankings. So it's a light jog for us to the finish line. We'll leave B5 and run a pretty straight line toward the Merzouga dunes. Once in the line, we will run through the dunes to the finish line. Simple as that!
The Start for Stage 6
Mosi, Martin, and I decided that we were going to run/jog the first half of the stage. Once we hit the dune, we would walk through the dunes to the finish line. Once we hit the dunes, we caught up with Meghan, Liza, Dave, Sarah, Marrissa, and Jay. We covered the dunes in no time and had a ton of laughs! It was great to be with the group and finish together.
From Left to Right: Martin, Mosi, Liza, Meghan, and Jay. Sarah and Marissa in the background.
This is right before the dunes.
This is pretty much the entire course. Flat desert floor to the Merzouga dunes.
Bedouin camp.
OG MdS Runner from back in the day!
Capturing the Finish Line
Aja and Jenn managed to find the finish location and stage super early to watch all of us cross the MdS finish line one last time. Here's a couple of pictures from her perspective:
Left to Right: Meghan, Marissa, Martin, ME, Liza, Jay, and Dave
All of us crossing the finish line
Catching a breather and looking for Mosi
The last Sultan Tea of the race.
MdS Transport back to Ouarzazate which is about 5 hours away from the finish line.
Post MdS Dinner
After a super-long bus ride, all of us grabbed our bags and boarded another bus that took us to our hotel. We checked into the hotel and then grabbed dinner. Huge buffet of food!
The wind howled and whipped through our tent like no other last night. I'm not sure whether the I was cold because the temperatures were low or because my calorie depletion has finally caught up to last night. With the last stage before me, I fall asleep struggling with my commitment to running. I've been pretty competitive my entire life but I've never experienced a sport that has provided opportunities to explore my soul, my commitment, and my endurance than running ultras. Just in the training alone, I have learned so much about myself and the few races that I've run have all been a means to see if I could even complete such a feat. For the least few years, I've ran with my grandfather along my side and I've run in memory of others. Running was my time to search, sort of, my way of going to church. Last night, I struggled with the idea of re-dedicating my efforts to compete or to continue to just simply run. The question I'm trying to answer is: Can you do both? What does it mean...to be a runner? I close my eyes, feel the wind, take a few deep breathes and quickly fall asleep.
The morning was different compared to the other mornings. This time, the Berbers came a later in the day which meant that we were able to stay under the tent a little while longer than before. As usual, most of the morning is spent getting kit squared away and working on my toes. I'm still feeling a serious pain in my left toe and I can't figure out why it hurts so bad when I run.
This morning I get to spend a little more time preparing my feet since I get to start with the second group. As usual, we take a group photo and we wish each of us good luck. Liza comes by as she is walking toward to finish and helps to reassure me on the run. I'm surprised that she was running in the first group even with her time. Needless to say, she'll have a good run as will everyone else.
The Road book for Stage 5
Bivouac 4 is of the left side of this map.
Todays route is pretty straight forward for this stage. We'll be running the classic marathon distance of 26.2 miles. The first leg of this stage will have us running mixed terrain. We'll run through dry river beds, across small dunes, a stony plateaus into CP1. After CP1, we'll run through a small pass, passed some small dwellings, and run along a plateau through some crop fields into CP2. As the plateau comes to an end, we'll run for roughly 10KM in and out of small dunes and rocky terrain to CP3. With only 10KM left, the rest of the marathon distance will be a slight downhill with some sand mounds and then a 5KM run slightly uphill to Bivouac-5.
The Start for Stage 5
With the first group cleared out, I'm left alone tending to my feet. I've gotten used to a pretty standard routine by now. My first steps were to clean the area around the blisters and drain them as much as possible. Once that was accomplished, I would cut thin pieces of tape and then tape the toes trying not to make the tape job too bulky. The once the toes were taped up, I would then take a sanitation wipe and clean the whole foot. After that, I'd put my socks on and, finally, lace up my shoes.
Once I got my shoes on, I grabbed my kit and went over to be with the other U.S. runners. Dave, Meghan, and Garth were hanging out where tent 177 used to be. We had small chit chat as we looked on the first group at the starting line. In no time, the music of AC/DC, Highway to Hell, was qued and the runners were off. We could Liza in the front pack and we all smiled and commented on how she was still in it win it. We had roughly an hour and a half before the second group would line and spent most of that time in conversation or silence as we prepared for the run.
Once it was time, we head over to the starting line. I always loved the walk to the starting line. For some reason, the pain in my toe would temporary go away. All the aches and pains would be gone and I would be at my clearest state of mind.
Starting with the top 200 was surreal moment. I haven't seen most of these runners as they would have all mostly started in the front and not played the catch up game like I was doing. There were tons of people that I recognized that I have read about or heard about through my preparation research of MdS. Here I was standing in line with them thinking "holy crap" these people are here to race. There was a different vide when I got the starting the line. Every one was still laughing but when the music came on and the countdown began those 5 seconds became a couple of deep breathes and a locked in focus that would stay with you the entire 26.2 miles. I've never felt that kind of intense focus before and there was literally wavering from it.
As you can see in the video, this was the closest that I'll have ever been positioned on the starting line and with that came a different mindset. When the count down stop, the whole group took off like it was a marathon and we hadn't been running for the last few days. The pace wasn't too fast and was definitely manageable. My locked-on focus would carry me for most of the race. There wasn't much that I remember of the actual stage other than constantly reminding myself to keep moving, hydrate, your doing fine, and how do you want to remember the last of MdS. I remember passing folks but I don't remember when I did. For most of the first half of the race, there were 3-4 of us that ran in a group and we would trade out the lead position. All of us moving in unison with no talking just a lot of concentration and focus to keep the group together. There was no decision or chit chat to run together; we just naturally found ourselves running the speed and taking the same amount of time through the first checkpoint. We averaged around a 9:30 mile pace for the first 13ish miles. We kept together through most of the second leg but I finally lost them going through CP2.
It was CP2 where I ran into Martin and we had a quick chat and then I was on my way. From miles 14-20, I ran on my own. The top 200 was pretty much spread out at this point and everyone was running their own pace. I rarely saw anyone packed together as we ran through the dunes and rocky terrain. We were running on a slight uphill grade and I could feel my effort starting to slow. I would go back to reciting my focus phrases and just kept running through the dunes. I thought about Mosi in the first group and I was pretty sure he was going to be running this stage hard which ultimately motivated me to run this section hard as well.
As CP3 came within sight, I began to second guess where I was at on the course. For some reason, I kept thinking there were only two checkpoints so I was a little surprised to see a third. My road book was in the back of my pack and I wasn't about to get it out. I also stuffed my watch away and stopped looking at the data. I promised I wouldn't do so until I crossed the finish line. So now, the mind begins to wonder.
I clear through CP3 just as fast as I did the CP's except this time I turn back around and ask one of the ladies how far it was to the finish line. She thought about it for a second and said that I had about 8 or 9 kilometers to go. For some reason, I didn't believe her. I thank her and then set off toward the finish line. We were out of the dunes and running on pretty good trail. With less than 10KM to run, I decided to pick up the pace again to what I felt to be about a 9 minute pace. It was fairly difficult but I felt I could hold this pace to the finish. What I didn't realize was we would be running a series of heartbreak hills that hid the finish line from us until we were about a 1/4 mile out. Around mile 24 I was feeling pretty tuckered out and decided that I needed to slow up a bit. I jogged until I reached the top of that heartbreak hill and then started to pickup the pace again. The last couple miles had a few small rollercoaster hills to overcome. I once topped the second rollercoaster hill, the finish was in sight.
As I picked up the pace, I pulled my phone out and took a quick shot of the finish line.
It took no time to cover the distance in this picture.
Stage 5 finish line after stepping over the time keeper.
As MdS tradition has it, all runners cross the finish line, are draped with their medal, and personally congratulated by the race director, Patrick Bauer. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time and as I walk toward the lady giving out the medals, I think back to that very first moment as a young kid completely wide-eyed about this race as I read about it in a magazine. I would have never thought I was be crossing the finish line of that very race many years later. Now it's my time to get that famous photo with Patrick Bauer.
Here's my awesome photo with Patrick:
Major fail!
After the photo opportunity I cruised over to the webcam and did a fist pump to the folks watching the live feed and the went to go get my fine Sultan tea. Mosi and Mark had already crossed the finish line and was waiting for people to cross and gave me a shout out. It was fun to see them again and in good spirits. After the tea, I got hosed down with some cool water which got sweat into my eyes which felt great and painful at the same time. I grabbed the rest of my water rations for the day and went back to the tent. There I met Liza, Dave and a few others that made it in. We all congratulated each other and then I went over the tent that Mosi squared up this time and started into recovery mode.
About an hour or so after I arrived, Martin showed up and was also in good spirits. All three of us was sitting there when a race official arrived at our tent. She something in french and none of us understood what she said. As she tried to get out words in English, all three of us got a little closer to try and make out what she was saying. At first we thought she asked for who was 878, which was Mosi, and then she said that a female was asking for him, which we all busted out laughing. Then we made out wife and that made us laugh even more. We shook our heads implying "no". Then she got on the radio and I heard my number which I volunteered that the number was me. She replied with "Your wife is here", to which, I shook my head and said "no" and she shook her head and said "yes". She went on to explain that I needed to go with her so I could see my wife. I was in disbelief because my wife as I was just telling Mosi and Martin was in Krakow, Poland getting ready to watch the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Poland. Surely, this lady is mistaken. So I ended up going with her. Once I arrived at the control tent, I was met by another race official who spoke better english and she relayed to me that I am not to take my wife to the tent and we are only allowed to be near the control tent. At this point, I see Aja and our friend Jenn come out from under the Berber tent. I cant believe my eye's! Turns out she ditched the UFC event to come out and watch me cross the finish line. They were late on that day but would be there to watch us finish the charity stage.
Here's some pictures from Stage 5.
Dean Patterson just coming in from the finish line.
Alissa talking about her day.
Last night to be under the Berber tent
U.S. Crew first in line to get a surprise which was either a beer or coke.
The beer has arrived!
Liza and I with our beer in hand
Awards ceremony, MdS 2015 montage, and live music concluded the evening.
Mosi and I managed to be in bed by 11pm yesterday. We slept pretty good aside from the painful aspect of trying to get comfortable. There were rocks under the carpet but we didn't care. Our bodies were screaming for rest and the Berber tent was a warm welcome to a grueling day on the course. As Mosi and I slept, there were still other runners out on the course that would continue to push themselves through the night and into the early morning. Most would cross the finish while Mosi and I were sawing logs. Waking up the next morning was like a scene from a battle movie after everyone has returned from fighting. The bivouac was quiet and there was no major movements going on in the morning other than people waking up, Berbers fixing tents, and runners still coming off the course. Runners looked exhausted. As we did the previous night, runners would course the finish line almost 24 hours after they started and grab their water rations and make their way to the tents. Most spent little time chatting and simply wanted to sleep.
Mosi and I woke up around 5:30am to Berbers working on our tent. I woke up completely delirious because I couldn't remember what day it was and I thought I woke up late for another stage. With our tent now back up, Mosi and I decided to get the tent prepared for our tent mates. We got up and slowly packed our stuff. We then pulled the carpet out from under the tent and began to get our sleeping area nice and level. We would spend an entire day and night under this tent so we made extra sure that we had a comfortable sleeping area. After that was accomplished, we gathered our clothes from yesterday and did some laundry as well as washed ourselves. We managed to have all this completed by 6:30. During this time, I rolled next door to talk to Liza and see how her stage run went. To my surprise, she was not back yet. I thought I heard her roll in last night about an hour after we went to bed. I got a little concerned because that meant she was either at the medical tent getting something worked on or was still out on the course. I knew that she wouldn't be pulled from the course, Liza is one that knows how to take care of herself regardless of the circumstances. This worried me a little. After a quick tent visit, we got ourselves pretty well put back together and went back to resting. We would watch several folks we know walk past our tent and we would send out huge congratulation shout outs to each of them.
We watched Douglas Deny, Chris Tidmore, and Mark Lattanzi finish and head straight to bed. Around 7:30, Mosi and I saw Liza walking from the finish line to her tent which was right next to ours. She was carrying her water rations and looked pretty tired but still in the game. We cheered her on and she smiled and shook her head. You could tell she went through a battle overnight. She went on tell the group that she had some stomach issues that kept her at CP5 and then at CP6 for a few hours. She's a trooper, a mentor/coach, and one amazing friend that still manages to smile even when things get rough.
The third person back to our tent was Alissa Larson. She ran all day and night and finished the stage in just a little over 24 hours. We cheered her on as she came to the tent and she had a huge smile on her face. She got under the tent and we chatted a bit as Mosi and I helped her sort her kit and get her recovery drink going. Before going to sleep, Alissa would tell us a hilarious story about how she was accidentally intruded on by other runners while trying to urinate. Turns out she forgot her chem-light was on her back and when she stepped off the trail to use the restroom, other runners looking for the trail spotted her chem-light and walk/jogged straight onto her. She had Mosi and I in tears as she was telling this story. Within 20-30 minutes, Alissa would be sleeping like a rock.
Alissa fast asleep within a few minutes of getting off of Stage 4.
About an hour later, both Martin and Patrick would cross the finish line. Martin chatted with us for a few minutes and before we knew it, he was out like a rock too.
There are no pictures of Patrick (aka Dad) because the only thing we saw of Patrick all day was his pack on the side of the tent and his zip-lock bag of food out in the sun. If I'm not mistaken, this would be Patrick's 15th Marathon Des Sables and he new every facet of the race and organization. Rumor has it that Patrick was out on course and was spotted walking with Patrick Bauer, the head honcho of MdS, on course around CP5. He was respected amongst all the race officials and the treatment was as if he had some real mafia ties into the organization. Everyday we would wake up with Patrick in our tent, he would get dressed and be gone and we wouldn't see him until it was time to go to bed. He was a true man of mystery. One morning he woke up and started shouting something to the Berbers and before we knew it, roughly 5-8 Berbers were running frantically around our tent and getting the tent squared away. It was amazing! He was a few words but when he spoke you listened. Both Patrick and Martin would finish around the 25:20 mark.
Up next to arrive was Dean who crossed the finish line at 26:20. Dean was an awesome tent mate who would have us cracking up late into the night almost every night. Dean's feet were pretty messed from day 1 but continued to push hard during every stage. His motivation to keep going was very inspiring! Dean had his daily routine down pat. He would cross the finish line and immediately go to the medical tent and pull a number. After that, he would walk over to our tent and drop his gear and settle down for about 30 minutes or so. He would set out his dinner into the sun, get his recovery meal and drink ready and then would chill out for a minutes. During this time, he would tell us about his stage experience and the people we would hang with. Every story was extremely comical and it was truly a great experience with him in our tent. Each time Dean needed to get up he would ask Mosi to brace his arm out. Dean would then use it as a crutch to hoist himself up. Dean would spend the better part of the morning and early afternoon getting his feet doctored up for recovery and the next stage. Truly inspirational on all levels!
Dean giving the thumbs up within a few minutes after his arrival.
At this point, I was feeling pretty tired again and beginning to dose off. I was trying to stay awake to welcome Felicia back in once she arrived. As I started to dose off, I started to dream that I was for some reason listening to the song Footloose. The more I concentrated on it, the more predominate the song would be. As I started to wake up back up, I took a look toward the finish line and saw Felicia about 50 meters from the tent. She was in a slow trot and had her phone playing music and the song she rolled in with was Footloose. I tried to wake up out of the coma I was in quickly to help her out but for some reason I couldn't get up. Felicia would come to the tent and drop her water bottles and kit. She looked pretty tuckered out like everyone else. Mosi would help get her pack off and we worked to get her recovery drink mixed into one of her water bottles. She would then go on to tell us about her stage experience and what checkpoint 5 was like as the evening went on.
Checkpoint 5 apparently was the place to be once it got dark out. As runners would check-in, there would be a band playing music, tents to sleep in, tea to drink, and chairs to sit in. It was like an oasis out in the desert specific to MdS runners. Those that stayed the night at CP5 had a descent experience out on the trail.
With everyone in, our tent focused most of our efforts on recovering from Stage 4. All of our runners were back before noon on this day and all were as healthy as one could be during the long stage. My focus was to eat as much as possible, take care of any injuries that came up, help others, and get rehydrated. We had one more stage left to MdS.
Today, we also managed to get a little surprise in the afternoon which was a nice and cold Coca-cola. Words can not describe how good this tasted. I was like a little kid with cake and popped the top and guzzled the drink down. Others like Alissa, were more conservative on their consumption and actually saved the drink to be consumed the following day.
Coca-Cola does the body good! Fueling my addiction in so many ways!!!
Here's a couple more pictures from rest day:
Lost in MdS dreamland...
Catching a quick mid-morning breakfast
Lentil, Quinoa, and Onion soup for dinner while reading our daily emails and letting the feet air out.
Feet carnage after days of running. The left toe is causing the biggest issues for me.
Team WAA getting a photo shoot on the horizon.
Dudes straight-up naked and washing themselves in the middle and far right.
At this point, I never paid attention to rankings with MdS as this wasn't a 100% goal of mine. My focus for this race was to gain a ton of running experience while in competition and finish MdS. I never considered myself to be in the top 200. I figured that I was somewhere in the 200-300 range. Mosi and I decided that it would probably be best to check out the rankings prior to the last stage. Come to find out, I was in the top 200 which meant that I would start in the second group on the last stage. I didn't realize what this would mean until I would toe the line the next day with tons of runners that I look up to. Almost everyone I would see on the list of 200 would be names that I've come to know about while researching MdS. Tomorrow is going to be a great honor to run and I'm pretty excited about this opportunity. I'll get to start with the following U.S. runners: Dave Mackey, Meghan Hicks, and Garth Reader. All of which are very cool and inspirational runners.
For some reason, MdS now becomes a competition. I'm currently ranked around 150th and only a couple hours separates me from the top 100. My plan is to run as hard as I can manageably run the last stage and see how far I can climb up the rankings. To do this, I know I need to eat, rehydrate and rest as much as possible.
The wind blew the hardest of all nights last night and our tent was the first victim of these harsh winds. Just like every night, we would tighten the guylines as well as adjust the shelter piece to better protect from the wind. Throughout the night, the wind would slowly beat our tent down to the desert floor. Our group was so tired that we could care less about the tent and by morning time the tent was completely down. Each time a ridge pole would fall, I would hear Alissa giggle a little and then go back to sleep. The downing of our tent was somewhat of a blessing in disguise because the shelter piece was much needed added warmth.
Most of the morning was spent getting my kit situated to run 92 kilometers. The majority of the weight in our packs consisted of food and my pack only has about four pounds left of food in it. This means that I've got a ton of space and I need to reorganize the pack so I don't flop all over the place.
Road book for Stage 4 - It's so long it's in two parts!
From Bivouac 3 to Checkpoint 4 we'll run sandy and rocky terrain back towards El Otfal Jebel. We'll climb back up to the summit of El Otfal Jebel and then head down the summit by using the long sand dune. After this awesome sandy descent, we'll run some super flat terrain and small sand dunes, pass the Ba Hallou ruins, a cemetery, and climb a small hill to checkpoint 4 (50.2KM).
From checkpoint 4 we continue to run stony terrain for a few kilometers and then enter large dunes and run those for about 6 kilometers. Checkpoint 5 will be just beyond those dunes on the edge of a dry lake bed. After CP5 we'll continue to run sandy rolling terrain into CP6. The running from CP6 is going to consist lots of sandy and rocky terrain and pretty much be the same all the way to Bivouac 4 (91.7KM).
The Start for Stage 4
"The Long Stage"---I've had my sights set on this day for a very long time. This will be the second farthest distance I'll have ever completed in a race. I'm pretty nervous and there are so many thoughts racing through my mind. I try to keep busy by working down the mental checklist I made the night before to better organize my day. The most important part of this morning is to make sure that my pack is organized and balanced and my toe blisters are drained and bandaged to perfection. It's going to be a long day and I don't plan on stopping until I reach bivouac 4. Based on my previous times for stages 1-3, I figure it will take me about 15:30-16:00 hours to complete this stage. This is barring that I don't have any environmental or medical issues happen while out on course.
Mosi and I have come to know each other over the past couple of days. He's planning on running this stage as well and we decide to stick together for this stage. He's got a lot of experience in ultras and I'm really honored to be running with him during this stage.
Today, there will be two official starts for the stage. At 8am, the general field will start and at 11am, the super elite field will start. This places a three hour gap between the general and super elite field. As I do the math, I realize that Liza (my coach) should be on par to run this course around 11:30-12:30 hours. Which means that she'll most likely finish when Mosi and I are finishing or slightly before. So I set a mini-goal to try and finish this stage before she does or at least run with her for the remaining distance of this stage.
As usual, our tent-mates gather for a picture and I chat with Liza real quick and then we head to the starting line for more announcements, happy birthdays, and the start of the general field. The wind is absolutely ridiculous this morning!!!!
As luck would have it, we are running roughly the first 13km head on into the wind. The wind is hard and whipping sand and micro dust all over the place. Most runners are wearing their buffs and sunglasses to ensure they can breathe without choking on the sand and dust. Mosi and I are jogging a relaxed pace for the first few kilometers. All of the 13km seem to be running a gradual uphill with sand. It's good to have someone to run with because you can chat about all kinds of stuff. We kept pretty good time cruising the flats. Being on freeze dried foods for the past few days has got me all messed up. From about 15-20km I am struggling to find a place to "drop trough". Mosi and I began to joke about it but I know the seriousness of not going #2 for the past couple of days. These next few photos demonstrate the seriousness of the situation.
Obviously someone is having a better time than me at the moment...lol.
Just gotta get passed this oasis and I'm in the clear
There better be shrubs up on the next flat!
Finally, around 20 km into our run, I spot a small shrub and make a fast break for it. Mosi keeps running and the plan is to catch up. It's been a few days since dropping trough and this session takes longer than expected. After running for four days, it's fairly difficult to hold a squat. Finally, with everything out and a few pounds lighter I get back on the trail and try to catch up with Mosi. I hit CP2 after about 6 kilometers of running and also find Mosi chilling at the checkpoint. We joke about my situation back on the trail and continue to chip away at the distance.
For the most part, the running in the morning went fairly easy and before we knew it we were staring at the base of El Otfal Jebel. We do pretty well working through the dunes and the stony ground prior to El Otfal Jebel. Once inside the gorge, we are still passing other competitors and we are moving at a good fast-pack pace. Within an hour, we are at the summit. It's starting to get hot and not feeling any breeze in the gorge has got me overheated and not feeling too well. We take a quick break at the summit and make some adjustments to our packs. Mosi offers me some Sirachi flavored bacon from his pack and I take a few pieces. Ironically, I could barely taste the sirachi which normally would have had my mouth on fire. After a few minutes we take off from the summit and begin to plunge step the entire way down the sand dune. This was by far some of the best running on the course. We are running down an approximately 30% slope and having an absolute blast!
The iconic sand dune of El Otfal Jebel
After El Otfal Jebel, we run a couple kilometers through the Rheris Oued which is basically a flood plain. There's nothing major about running this flat other than the small up's and down's that are created by the water current when this valley is flooded. We'll run a small set of tracks through the Rheris Oued until we reach CP4. Slightly before CP4, I started to not feel so good again and this time I was having a hard time eating any of the food that I brought for the racing part of this stage. Once at CP4, Mosi suggested that I maybe eat a meal instead of the race food. He helped me get out a meal and some candy that I had in my pack. We shared the candy and I got my dinner out and added water to the pack and then we set off for another round in the dunes. It was between CP4-CP5 that we are finally caught by the super elite runners. All of the runners looked pretty tuckered out but were literally floating across the sand dunes. As Mosi and I cleared out of the dunes we were caught by Danny Kendall. As soon as we recognized who it was, we gave a massive shout out and he acknowledged with both hands in the air. We are in awe at how fast they were still moving.
The flat after El Oftal Jebel
GI JOE-Storm Shadow was out on course.
Mosi and I were pretty tuckered out as we moved into CP5 but we seemed to be back on the upswing since the temperatures were a little cooler and the sun was starting to tuck away behind a ridge that we were paralleling. If I'm not mistaken, this is where we received our chem-light that was to be used when it got dark (it may have been at CP4). CP5 was pretty interesting. As you arrive into CP5 there were a lot more berber tents and a set of chairs in the middle of the CP. It was pretty inviting and as if they were trying to get you to stay longer. I wanted to sit for a few minutes but Mosi suggested that we keep moving and so we were back to running again.
CP5 to CP6 was fairly straight forward. We were tired and both just tried to keep positive and push each other when the other person was down. Over the last few miles, we would leap frog with other runners going roughly the same pace. One Japanese runner in particular kept leap frogging with us and we ended up turning our link-up into small conversation and jokes. He was awesome to help break up the monotony. This was also the about the time when the sun went down and we were finally under headlamps. This area was nothing but rolling hills and every now and then you would catch a glimpse of glow lights off in the distance. The transition to headlamps was pretty easy with the exception of jamming your toe every now and then when you hit rocks. CP6 was hidden by two small hills and that made for some pretty tough mental games. At this point, we were roughly 20km from finishing and the going was a little slow. To try and stay at a solid pace, Mosi and I defined what was runnable terrain at our current condition and what wasn't. Whenever we would hit runnable terrain, one or both of us would start running. If the other person was running then the other person had to run as well. This worked fairly well and we made some pretty good time through CP6.
The running was pretty much the same heading toward CP7. The one major excitement during this leg was watching Dave Mackey run by us about 3km from CP7. It was pretty funny because we watched Dave for awhile and we couldn't figure out who it was. He was slightly behind us as we shouted the usual "good job" to those who passed us and we heard him reply with the Dave Mackey chill voice "thanks guys". After that we exploded with cheers and told him he's not far from the finish and to keep pushing. He replied that he was about 20km, Mosi and I were both carrying GPS watches and shouted out to him that he was much closer than that he think and it's about 10km from the finish line. We smiled and watched as his headlamp and chem-light disappeared into the desert night.
At this point, Mosi and I are pretty tired and we want nothing more than to be finished with this stage. As we roll into this stage, we are doing a quick inventory of what we have left for food and other nutrition for that day. We are literally tapped on food and nutrition and looking for anything to help us out. Mosi tells me that he has a surprise for me when we get into the CP7. We cross over the timing gate and walk through our cattle run to get stamped and our water ration. Both of us pour water on ourselves to wash the sweat and we start to split what we have left of our food. I can't muster anymore Tailwind so Mosi takes that and we split what's left of a small bag of sunflower seeds and cashews. I try to eat my portion of seeds and nuts and my mouth instantly dries up to the point where I can't even chew the seeds/nuts or else I'll choke. I scrape the nastiness off of my tongue and Mosi and I laugh about the situation. He tells me that I should've saved it because he's so hungry that he would have eaten it. As we leave CP7, we know that there is only seven-ish kilometers left of this stage and we are psyched. We are slowly jogging away from CP7 when Mosi gives me the surprise which was six jelly bellies from the packet that I gave him earlier in the day. If I could have cried tears of happiness I probably would have. We ate what was left of the food and moved on to finish this stage.
CP7 to Bivouac 4 was the most mind-twisted I've ever been in a race. I was starting to feel real fatigued as was Mosi. We've heard stories of how the finish line was normally lit up with lasers as far as the eye could see. That would have been awesome and, of course, this year it was not. We ran through what seemed to be a sandy riverbed, then through some small sand dunes and then some strange mounds of sand grass. At roughly 1.5 km away from the finish, I was pretty gassed. We could see the lights of the finish but we could never seem to reach the finish. It was literally the never ending stage. At one point, Mosi said he could see the inflatable gate and we were probably like 400meters out which turned into more like 900 meters. We slightly laughed about it and kept plugging away. What was killer on this little stretch was the constant switch between rocky terrain and small sand drifts. It literally zapped your energy as you ran from one to the other. Mosi was awesome and kept pushing me to run (since it was runnable) that few hundred meters to the finish.
Crossing the finish line of stage 4 was pretty surreal. I was completely exhausted and really had nothing left in me at the pace we were running toward the end. Mosi and I congratulated each other and waved to the camera. We then went and got a warm cup of tea and our water ration. After that we walked over to the tent and found Dave and Meghan getting settled in. We chatted with them real quick and then we went over to our tent. The wind was still pounding pretty good and our tent was pretty much halfway down again. We were too tired to do anything so we cleared a small sleeping area, got out and drank what recovery drinks and food we had left and then went to sleep.
Throughout the night, we tossed and turned trying to get comfortable and keeping our legs raised on our backpacks. It was pretty hilarious because we would wake each other up due to the moaning we made while trying to get to our side or adjust. There's not much I remember of the rest of the night. It wouldn't be another 10 hours before we would see our next tent mate roll in. Pardon the cussing in this reflection post.
Stage 4 Statistics
Elevation Profile minus the last 5 miles or so. Ran out of battery in watch.
Lot's of wind last night! Right before we went to sleep we decided to drop one side of the tent and seal off the windward side of the tent as much as possible. As luck would have it, I slept in the spot where the wind was finding it's way up the ridgepole. I woke up the next morning completely covered in sand. The carpet had a mini sand dune between Felicia and I which was pretty hilarious because all of our kit was completely covered or dusted with sand. I was up pretty early trying to assess my left toe.
Roadbook for Stage 3
Stage 3 is looking to be a fairly speedy stage which makes things a little tricky because it's the stage before the long stage. From the start to checkpoint 1, we'll run through some soft small dune type terrain. We'll run this terrain through a small pass and then start to make our way to CP1. The terrain after the pass is golfball size stones with a couple trails that we use to run on. After CP1, we run through a dry lake over to another sandy pass where begin to ascend a small sandy jebel. CP2 will be just beyond this ascent. After CP2, we'll climb through another pass and up to another jebel. Once on the summit, we'll have a sandy descent all the way into Bivouac-3.
The Start for Stage 3
My toes took a beating yesterday due to doing a lot of running and hiking off the trail to try and get around folks. The toe pinching I was experiencing had caused large blister to form on the backside of my big toenail. The blister was halfway off the nail-bed and the other half was causing my toenail to lift up which was rubbing on my shoe. I drained the blister last night and by morning time the blister was already filled back up. Alissa took a look at the blister and recommended that I put two holes in the blister to ensure the blister continues to drain. We did that and we taped up the toe. Fixing my toe took some time so I was pretty much in rush mode from here on out. I get my kit on, grab my breakfast, and we take a group photo and we are off to the starting line!
Here's a couple pictures from the starting line:
Alissa Larson (888) - Awesome runner and the one who helped me with my toe.
Patrick Tomada in the background with his hands crossed.
Morning announcements and once again lined up in the back...LOL.
Last night I went to sleep a little frustrated at my performance on stage 2. Now, I struggled with what to do in relation to my goals for MdS. There is no doubt in my mind that I'm going to finish this race barring any injury. What I went to sleep struggling with is how do I finish this race. Do I step my game up today and finish with a good time or do I cruise this stage and make sure that I have energy and motivation to complete the long stage. Each stage I continue to gain confidence but racing is still new to me and I am learning that I'll crutch to the conservative decision before taking on any risk. By not taking on risk, I can finish but I won't be finishing with any kind of solid time.
So here I am, I'm once again at the back of the pack and I've turned my focus on how I'm going to run this stage. As usual, I take the conservative decision and decide that I'm going to just chill out this stage and run relaxed with no pressure in terms of rankings. So now we're off onto stage 3 with no pressure other than to just finish the stage.
I run the first few kilometers relatively slow. Partially because I'm in "chill" mode and partially because I'm getting some very sharp pain in my left toe. Running in the soft sand/gravel requires that I use my toes to push off more than usual. With each push off, I can a sharp cutting pain and it's quite annoying. After a few kilometers the pain numbs and I'm back to running in my groove. At this point, I'm through the pass and running towards CP1. There's a bunch of runners that pretty much take up the only trails that move toward CP1. Even with my toe as muffed up as it is, I decide that I need to make a pass on a bunch of the runners and move off the trail. I pick up the pace heading into CP1. The transition through CP1 is very quick and I'm off. Moving through the dry lake bed, the running got a lot easier and I began to struggle once again with the what my goals are for MdS. I keep reminding myself that I'm here to finish but I was am here to see what I'm made of and push myself which up to this point has been mediocre at best. I've been conservative for the last two stages and now I struggle whether I'm going to be happy with that for the rest of the stages. I end up decided that I'm going to pick up the pace and go pretty hard for the rest of this stage. So I pickup up the pace to a comfortable and put myself back in cruise. After all the terrain is pretty flat and I'm not feeling any pressure from my toe.
At some point, I'm running and I'm feeling fairly descent and I have in my head that I need to make up some time for yesterday. My head is down and I'm in my own world when all of a sudden I hear a females voice yell "Go, Ricky, GO". I look up and don't see anyone and then turn back and see Meghan. I slowed down and we ran together for a few kilometers. I was pretty happy to run into her because I'm almost positive that I would have run myself into the ground if it wasn't for her yelling my name. I got in this nice groove and didn't realize how fast I was actually going. After running just a few minutes with her I could tell that I was pretty fatigued. I've told her that she saved my bacon that day because she seriously woke me out of something that could have been disastrous.
Me cruising across the dry lake bed
Meghan and I are running at a good comfortable pace and we are around 19km when we run into Garth and now the three of us are running as a group. Running with Meghan and Garth was a great honor and I learned so much just by watching them move through the terrain. I slide behind them and watch there every move. I quickly observe and learn how they pick the lines they are running and how to transition from running to hiking and still keep a good pace. I'm quickly reminded how I used to pay attention to my Grandfather in the same fashion. I was always intrigued by his charisma and positive outlook regardless of the circumstances. This one thought literally causes me to start unraveling a serious of emotions that for some reason I can not stop. Regardless of what I do, I'm thinking about my grandfather. The death of my grandfather is what got me back to running again and it was the running that helped me through so many other tribulations in my life. Now, I'm in a race that would have blown his mind and he would have been proud to watch me run.
In no time, I went from smiling and being happy listening to Meghan talk to completely silent and down in the dumps. At some point we lost Garth and I am right behind Meghan. I don't want to her to go so I solely begin to focus on putting my feet where she just stepped. This helped my thinking processes but my negative thoughts were still there. As we begin to climb another small jebel, Meghan asks I want lead and I move in front of her. Damn, now I have nothing to anchor too. I try to keep my thoughts focused but I continue to unravel. Meghan cracked a joke that made me laugh and in that moment I began to cry (thank God I was in front). I'm cruising up this hill and I have tears just pouring down my face. I tell myself that once I get off this hill the pity party needs to stop. I just let the tears fly and try to keep it together when Meghan and chat. We crest the top of the jebel and begin to descend. I'm still in front and have full-on let myself go. I hear Meghan run by me and ask if I was good and through my chattering teeth I tell her something to the effect of "yep...just toe pinch". I don't know why I said that but that's all that could think of. Before I know it, she's gone!
I can still see Meghan as get closer to CP2. Once we are here, we had roughly 10k left and most of it was a gradual downhill into Bivouac 3. After passing through the CP2, I was feeling better and began to focus on getting through the last 10k of stage 3. I needed a little motivation so I pulled out my headphones for the first time and put on some jams. I was beginning to feel much better and cruised the rest of the way into CP3.
After crossing the finish line, I headed toward our tents with the usual water ration. Crossing that finish line was one of the most symbolic moments of the race for me. As I walked to the tents, I was reflecting on the day and my dark moment and I realized that it's time to close that those chapters. No longer do I need to feel sad about my grandfather death, instead, I should use these moments to celebrate his life and if running is my way of being close to him than it's going to be about generating the positive memories versus his last few days on these earth. At that moment, I felt a huge burden lift and I began to smile just as I got to the tent. Meghan and Garth were just a few minutes ahead of me and they were still settling in. Liza and Dave were pretty much there hours head of me and they were already sipping mai thai's and getting a tan...LOL. I thanked Meghan for giving me a moment of clarity when I passed her. She seemed to think it was no big deal but I certainly did. I swear that lollipop leadership moment saved my MdS.
As usual, after a quick chat, I head over to my tent and begin to make adjustments to the tent. This time is was some work. There were lots of big rocks to pick out and a ton of weeds that I need to pull from our sleeping area. The good thing about our spot was the fact that we finally were going to get to sleep on actual soil versus a rock hard desert floor. Today's reflection on stage 3:
Today, I can't wait for our runners to get back because I need to stay as positive as possible. Today, the runners came in the following order: Martin, Mosi, Alissa, Felicia, Patrick, and Dean. Dean has been battling some serious feet issues since stage 1 and he has been very inspirational. Each day he comes in with always something funny that cracks the entire group for a few minutes. He was such a trooper!
