Long March. The organizers had a briefing in the morning and it went something like this, “The first two sections are going to be difficult and if anyone has problems doing the first 20k of today’s course, you should talk to us.” I don’t know what I was thinking at that time. The possibilities were: 1. I was not thinking; 2. I was not paying attention to the briefing on technical difficulty; 3. I did not realize how serious my tendinitis has become. The day started with a steep descent with big and small loose rocks. Every step I took I was in excruciating pain and it took me 6 hours just to get out of that nightmare. I almost wanted to give up but somehow decided to continue and made a few more cut-offs. Evening, I was going up a steep mountain again with nothing but loose rocks. Again it was another few hours of pain and it was 10 pm when I made halfway checkpoint. I then had to decide whether to continue ahead. I already had the worst pain training in my life ever and moving on would mean another 12-14 hours of extreme pain downhill. The last few stages were quite risky and dangerous, and I was also worried about the risk of further damaging my ankles and tendons. At 212k, final stage, I threw in the towel.

Tomorrow will be back to Petra. I am still trying to digest everything during the past week, including the physical and mental challenge, the fun, the pain and the disappointment. I have tried my best and had lots of fun so far. I would love to get a medal this year, but it is not as important as the journey itself. I will be back someday and attempt again. Now I can’t wait to have a shower, go back to Hong Kong, see my family and friends and have some real food.

Two third of the race done today and so glad to hit camp at 4 ish. We walked past some very spectacular rocky arches today and words cannot describe how beautiful they are! My ankle pain is pretty bad, but still had a smiling face and had so many good chats with people along the way. I also had a fantastic hiking buddy today and made time past so much quicker.

Thank you every one for your encouraging emails and blog comments. It’s very cold here at night and I feel warm at heart reading your emails and comments. My tent mates think I am the happiest person in this group and I really had a great time so far. I will try to share my thoughts and photos more when I return to Hong Kong.

Long march tomorrow and will just do my best, focus on putting one foot in front of another and do my best.

Today was about canyons and lots of sand. Next to the Long March, today is supposed to be the most difficult stage. I can only remember going up and down sand dunes which never seemed to end, and I felt like walking on snow without skis. It’s hard and I am exhausted, but I have enjoyed the breath taking scenery every moment. Came back at 3 ish, seen deserts with three different colours, past a huge salt lake and the canyons were spectacular. So I should not complain. Most people looked destroyed, so am I. Time to get as much sleep as I could and get going again tomorrow.

Finally got a chance to do my blog. The past two days have been a great contrast and I felt like having crossed two worlds. The first day was a whole day of rain from start to finish. My intention was to start with a 7.8 kg pack, but the rain made it a lot heavier. The night before the race was a whole night of rain and my whole sleeping bag was wet. Lucky I had fantastic tent mates and every person put in the effort of fixing leakages. Goes without saying that none of us was able to sleep at all. But glad to hit camp at around 3.

Today, because all of the content in my pack was still wet, I ended up carrying a heavier pack than yesterday. The consolation was that the rain had cleared the skies and we had endless blue skies all day. The rock formations were stunning as we walked along. The sand was so soft and so I had been walking most of the time. I took time to enjoy the scenery, to reflect, take pictures, chatted with and cheered other competitors along the way. I had a really enjoyable day.

One thing fairly different from Gobi March last year – because of the loose sand or other reasons I don’t know, toilets holes were bigger. Trying to stay on firm ground was quite a challenge for a petite girl. New learning.

I was reading the blogs of other participants and I must admit I haven't been training as hard as most of them. But while I was counting my race bibs, I am glad that I have at least done a minimum. In the absence of excitement or pressure in racing during this season, I have managed to do 9 trail races, totalling 340km. 

Organizing a fundraising cocktail last Friday was fun, meaningful and heartwarming. I was so happy to catch up with my friends whom I met mostly from RacingThePlanet and Action Asia events. It was really heartwarming to get their donations, support and words of encouragement. The proceeds of the cocktail were donated to two organizations - Alzheimer's Disease Assocation of Hong Kong and St. James' Settlement. 

My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease more than a decade ago and I have seen how the disease had slowly taken away her mobility and quality of life. As our population continues to age rapidly, care, support and education in this area is very important and so I have decided to dedicate donations to this cause.

I am now 18 days away from the start line and I am still feeling very relaxed about the preparation. Last Saturday at the Green Power 50k, I finished the race with no sleep, no breakfast, 1 contact lens and no watch. And yet surprisingly, I managed to finish an hour faster than last year. Not to say that I would like to put myself under such circumstances again at Jordan, but we sometimes don't realize how little we need to keep our passion going. You just have to let it flow and it will take over everything else. 

 

Early last year, I was so excited about preparing for the Gobi March. I started doing mock packing 3 months before the race, and did numerous re-packing over and over again. Now, I realize I am only 38 days away from the Sahara/Jordan race. I am so relaxed and not thinking much about it.

What changed during the past half a year or so?

The Gobi March has totally changed my perceptions. It was a tall order for somebody who never ran or hiked much. I trained for 1 year and worked really hard. I felt like there was me, on one side of the world, and the goal of finishing the race on the other. Between these two ends there was a big gap called fear and lack of confidence. After Gobi, the gap was gone. I realize I have stumbled onto a lifelong journey called ultras. Of course there could be fatique, injuries, frustrations and difficulties on any given day, but I have learnt to embrace them with a positive and grateful spirit most of the time.

There was a lot less excitement about doing races. Since the start of the racing season in October, I was literally racing every week, and even tried two races in one weekend. The racing has become the new training.

Prior to the Gobi, I was absolutely thrilled about shopping for gear. Now, I have learnt to live with less gear, less drinks, less snacks. I have learnt to appreciate the beauty of simplicity in trail running.

My purpose of doing Sahara/Jordan is the same as Gobi, 80% travelling, 10% spiritual journey of self-discovery and 10% physical challenge. It is largely a journey in search of a unique travelling experience, seeing places that are untouched, exposing to interesting cultures, interacting with people from all parts of the world and all walks of life. To be able to use my legs as the vehicle gives me a deep sense of awareness and connectivity between heaven and earth, what better way is there to enjoy a journey of a lifetime?