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Atacama Crossing Blogs 2023
5
PostsAtacama Crossing (2023) blog posts from Jean Sebastien Lemieux
29 September 2023 05:01 pm (GMT-04:00) Santiago
First of all, I want to send you all so much love for all your inmails and messages on the blog. I read them and re-read them because of all the energy it gives me. THANK YOU !
So yesterday was day 5 and we had 72km on the menu for the day with higher than usual temperature. During peak hours it got to 38c …which is still much lower than day 4’s 50 celsius. Goes to say we can adapt to a lot of things.
To make sure I had enough energy for the first part of the day I had lasagna for breakfast (dried up lasagna of course !!!). A good 800+ calorie meal to get me started on the day. It tasted great and I felt bizzarely good and confident for my day ahead. We started at 8 am as always And we had until 10 am the day after to complete the course. My goal was to finish my midnight…
The first 33 km of the race went relatively well when I got to Checkpoint 3. I was starting to feel the intense heat as it was now 1pm and 38c. I was in 20th place overall which was beyond expectations for me. But then, something magical happened… Since this is a self supporting race, there’s never anything else than water offered at checkpoints. But at this CP, we had a surprise, we could have a can of cold Coke or Fanta !!!!!! I decided to take a 12 min break in the shade, eat a little bit AND have that whole can of coke. Those were extra calories that I needed and that came as a bonus. My legs felt the new given energy from the little break and the Coca-cola and over the next 11km, I passed 5 runners to arrive at CP4 in 15th position ! I couldn’t believe it.
Strangely, from km 44 to 72km I felt like I still had energy and managed to catch up with two other fast runners. By the time I reached CP5, I was in 13th position and way ahead of the expected time I was aiming for.
I ended up finishing the race in 13th position, ending strong thanks to Olaf, an American, who was always more or less 500m behind me and who kept me pushing strong to keep him from catching me !
The views and landscapes from today were some of the most amazing views we got all week. Hope you can see the pictures. From desert, to HUGE sand dunes (we had to climb !), to canyons, volcanoes, etc… Just a big WOW !
Lesson of the day: Even after a few shitty days, you just might get the most awesome day. Just keep going !
27 September 2023 10:01 pm (GMT-04:00) Santiago
Hi everyone !
Sorry for not posting day 2 and 3 but here’s a little recap of the past days:
Day 2: went much better than day 1 even if it was a little longer (37km) and much more hilly. My energy level at the end of the day was much better and we got to see amazing landscapes. Hope you can appreciate via the pictures on the site. I ended the day with good morale and exhausted legs !
DAY 3: That was a real combat for me. It was just a little longer (40km) but we had to run a lot of the day in sand nd we had to go up and down sand dunes. This is way more difficult than I had anticipated. After the week I don’t think I’ll be able to see sand for a while… Sorry my dear daughters, we’ll have to find something else than Club Med for spring break ;-)
DAY 4 (today): I adjusted a few things to my nutrition strategy and I did great, finishing 21st for the day ! But it was a scorching day… At one point, the organisation stopped everyone at checkpoint 2 because the section called the “salt flats” were too warm; It got between 45 and 50 celsius. Thing is, since I was “fast” I wasn’t stopped and more or less 50 of us got to cross the infamous salt flats at 50 celsius and do the whole day of 44km. The group of 40 that was stopped was brought back at final camp for security measure and ended doing 21 km after all. Funny to say but I’m glad I did it and wasn’t stopped eventhough I now know how a turkey feels at Christmas :-D
I read all your messages today and I have to be honest I was blown away by all the love and encouragements !!! I know it’s not my style but I started crying here in cyber tent … You have no idea how it feels to read your messages. THANK YOU ALL xxx
Now off to sleep routine before our 75km day tomorrow :-)
Comments: Total (5) comments
Lyne Demers
Posted On: 29 Sep 2023 04:05 pm
Merci de partager. On te suit avec intérêt ici. Tu es tellement inspirant. Maintenant Etienne et moi ont pu peur du big 50.
Lâche pas tu es TOP xxx
Benoit Massicotte
Posted On: 29 Sep 2023 10:41 am
Toute une aventure qui est maintenant complétée à cette heure! J'ai compris sur le tard où était le blog, alors je t'ai écris plus tôt sur le "inmail".
Incroyable ce que tu as accompli dans ces conditions! Tu as une force mentale surnaturelle! Tu es un exemple surtout pour tes proches/famille, mais aussi pour nous tous.
Le dépassement de soi est très noble. Tu peux être fier! Tu as réussi encore une fois une mission impossible! Good job!
Mary Gadams
Posted On: 29 Sep 2023 07:21 am
JS, just incredible. I have enjoyed reading your blog and glad you posted another blog after a couple day absence. Congratulations on an awesome run. This year was about as tough as I have seen the race with such high temperatures. Enjoy the wonderful last stage and beer and pizza at the finish line. Best, Mary
Crazy Mom
Posted On: 28 Sep 2023 10:32 pm
Wow JS
Une bête! Toujours aussi inspirant et fou ! Pense à ton trip au lac St-Jean de cet hiver quand tu as chaud et si tu fais la moyenne des deux , tu devrais être tout à fait confortable !
Pour la bouffe, ça pourrait être pire, je pourrais cuisiner pour toi ! Tu es presque rendu au bout de ton énièmes défis n’oublie pas que Pride is for ever et pain is temporary
Bravo mon ami tu es vraiment très fort
Danielle Boucher
Posted On: 28 Sep 2023 02:28 pm
Je te suis de l’Italie lors de mes pauses. Vraiment intéressant d’ailleurs
Ne lâche pas!
24 September 2023 07:25 pm (GMT-04:00) Santiago
Well my friends, I’ll be honest and direct…I got my a** kicked today ! It was brutal and I ended up walking a big part of the day :-(
For those who don’t know the story, I don’t like running in the heat and I’ve experienced in the past that I don’t react well to altitude. Sooooo, I signed up for this race because it had both elements !!! I like a challenge and to get outside of my comfort zone and try new things…
Well, after my first day of 6 completed, I can say that I had NO idea what I was really getting into ! Very humbling experience… Started running at 10,500 feet, the weather went up to “only” 32c but there were a lot of sections where the sand and the ground reflected heat and it went MUUUCH higher ! Don’t remember experiencing such hot weather. And, to top it up, the weight of my backpack (28 lbs officially with water) just wrecked my shoulders. Note to myself: more rucksack training next time !
I ended up finishing the race in a very slow time vs what I was expecting but very glad I did finish it because at one point my little devil voice wanted me to stop... It’s been over 2h30 that I finished and there are still a lot of runners \ walkers coming into camp. I’ll manage my energy differently tomorrow and will try to make adjustments to my pack. Never surrender :-)
Time to eat my cliff bars now and my dried up food to get some energy back for tomorrow !!!
Comments: Total (9) comments
Louise Goulet
Posted On: 27 Sep 2023 10:20 pm
Tu es inspirant et impressionnant; hope the experience meets your expectations! Je te suis chaque jour avec plaisir et admiration!
Martine Dessureault
Posted On: 27 Sep 2023 01:12 pm
Let's go JS !! On est derrière toi et en pensées avec toi !
Patricia Yanez
Posted On: 27 Sep 2023 12:50 pm
Quelle aventure!!! lâche pas JS, 1 journée à la fois et surtout profite des beaux paysages ;)
John Pyliotis
Posted On: 27 Sep 2023 09:25 am
Hey JS
You are an inspiration, not only to your daughters, but to everyone that knows you. You are not alone on this epic adventure you’re on, but rather have the support of all of us. You are creating little ripples in the water that spread far and wide. Without knowing it, you are impacting peoples lives: keep pushing forward, keep inspiring, keep showing us what is possible in the face of adversity.
Regardless of outcome, just getting to the start line is a victory in and of itself!
Don’t forget that this is a celebration of all the hard work and hours of training you’ve put in. Time to celebrate!!!
One foot in front of the other.
John
Maryana Matsek
Posted On: 26 Sep 2023 08:13 pm
Incroyable! Ça a l'air d'une épreuve surhumaine! Fais attention à toi mais lâches pas! =)
Never surrender!
Annie Huot
Posted On: 26 Sep 2023 07:38 pm
Bon courage JS, ne te mets pas de pression, tu es en vacances, c'est toi-même qui le dit! ;-)
Profites de l'expérience, du temps ave toi-même et des merveilleuses rencontres que tu as la chance de faire dans ce beau périple.
Prends le temps de profiter des paysages parce que si tu avais voulu voir juste de la route, tu aurais pu courir ici gratis donc.. VIS TON RÊVE!! :-)
On t'envoie plein d'énergie pis tiens, on te paye la traite, plein d'accents aussi (vu que ça te manque!)! ^`¨`¨^`^É^é^`¨^^ hahaha!
Annie, JP et les filles
Eric Perreault
Posted On: 25 Sep 2023 10:26 pm
Tout un défis ! Lâche pas … Edith, moi et Maeva te supportons.
Tiffany Shi
Posted On: 25 Sep 2023 08:38 pm
Tout un exploit que tu es entrain de réaliser JS ! Bravo à toi d'avoir persévéré dans de telles conditions et de ne pas avoir écouté ta petite voix ;) Tu démontres un parfait exemple de persévérance et de constance. Tu peux être fier de ta première journée de course. Lâche pas la patate, on t'envoie plein d'énergie et de belles pensées pour tes prochaines journées!
Tiffany
Patrick Boilard
Posted On: 25 Sep 2023 05:48 pm
Salut JSL - Énergie positive à toi! Ton résumé d'hier indique combien c'est exigeant et combien tu auras à puiser loin et creux dans tes ressources tout au long de la semaine! 1 étape, 1 heure, 1km, 100m et 1 pas de course à la fois! #respect à toi JSL!
23 September 2023 08:01 pm (GMT-04:00) Santiago
Nous avons quitte le village de San Pedro de Atacama vers 15h30 aujourd’hui et sommes arrives au camp de base apres une balade de 2h en bus dans des paysages spectaculaires. J’ai eu la chance de voir plusieurs troupeaux de lamas sauvages le long du trajet !
L’energie au camp est incroyable avec les 110 competiteurs, tous aussi excites les uns que les autres a commencer a courir apres l’attente des derniers jours. Nous mangeons tous ensemble et partageons nos histoires de course. On se croirait a l’ONU avec 37 pays representes pour la course !
Je viens de prendre mon premier repas de nourriture seche: une bonne lasagne ! C’etait bien…mais je sens qu’apres 2-3 jours de ce regime je vais m’ennuyer de la vraie nourriture.
Je voudrais ecrire plus et mieux…mais le mini ordi de la cybertente est en clavier “British” ET en mode auto-correction et je dois litteralement re-corriger 2 mots sur 3 et il est impossible de mettre des accents. C’est laborieux !!! Alors heads-up demain et pour le reste de la semaine je vais ecrire en anglais ;-)
Debut de la course demain matin 8am heure locale (7am Quebec) avec le dossard numero 60. Envoyez moi des ondes positives !
Comments: Total (1) comments
Fannie Lessard
Posted On: 24 Sep 2023 01:20 am
Tellement heureuse pour toi mon Chum que tu sois enfin arrivé au début de cette aventure d’une vie! Je t’accompagne en pensées et te souhaite la plus merveilleuse des semaines. Les paysages semblent incroyables. On dirait que vous avez été téléportés sur une autre planète. Amuse toi, love you xx
22 September 2023 07:00 pm (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time(US & Canada)
Ca y est, demain j'embarque dans la navette avec les autres compétiteurs pour nous diriger au camp #1, à plus de 10,000 pieds d'altitude, d'où nous commencerons la "course" dimanche matin.
Ca fait maintenant deux jours que je m'acclimate doucement dans le petit village de San Pedro de Atacama, situé en plein désert, à 8000 pieds d'altitude. Mes poumons s'habituent tout doucement, je fais connaissance de plein d'athlètes aux histoires incroyables, venus de partout dans le monde et, surtout, je me repose pour emmagasiner un maximum de force pour ce qui s'en vient. Ca fait longtemps que j'ai pas dormi autant 😄
Je ne cacherai pas que le niveau de stress augmente: ai-je oublié quelque chose ? Me suis-je assez entraîné ? Comment vais-je réagir à cette chaleur intense ? ... Les jeux sont faits, je fonce et je verrai bien ! Je fais ça pour m'amuser après tout ...et je suis en vacances 🤩
Je mettrai un petit mot ici à tous les jours de l'aventure (jusqu'à vendredi prochain). Je partagerai mes impressions de ce que j'aurai eu le privilège de voir et surtout je partagerai mon état d'esprit !
À demain les amis...
Comments: Total (2) comments
Celine francois Jacobs
Posted On: 30 Sep 2023 01:26 am
Loulou Goulet
Posted On: 29 Sep 2023 09:09 pm