As the countdown starts in earnest, my head is filled with lists of things to do. I tend to make my lists according to my body … so I started with my shoes and legs this weekend. I now have the Injinji socks I want to run in – great for preventing blisters. I have also done a few runs in the new shoes that I will take, and they feel great. Once again, I am using the Salamon XT Wings 2 (the new model). Last week I had a cobbler sew on a strip of Velcro around the outer edge of the shoes, to which I will attach my gaiters. I ran in the shoes last night, just to check that the sewing hadn’t caused any puckering or tightness around my toes, but they were fine. So the shoes are good to go.
I also bought a new pair of Skins for running in. In previous events, I have run in white, but these are no longer available so I had to buy a pair of black ones. The next step is to organise for the words “New Zealand” to be attached down the front of one leg. For my first Racing the Planet event, I had the words down the side of my leg and this “leg” appeared on the front cover of a German magazine 
… I happened to be the runner just ahead of a German celebrity doing the race, and he was the subject of the cover photo.
Today I plan to purchase the pantihose that I will use as undies … I cut off the legs and then have very light, well fitting (!) support under my Skins. Not a pretty sight!
I have my top sorted, as I plan to wear the same one I wore in Namibia. It has served me well and doesn’t need to be replaced. It has long sleeves, and I am aware that they may prove to be too hot but I can always cut off the sleeves if this is the case. The top is very close to its use-by-date, so it won’t break my heart if I have to do that.
The big project over the next couple of weeks will be to organise my foods. I am very keen to lighten my backpack to the bare essentials. I have even invested in a vacuum packer … several of the competitors in previous events have reduced the weight of food items by vacuum packing them. It not only reduces the weight but also the volume … which means that space is also saved. I hope that this works out for me.
I have been anxious to prevent a recurrence of my tummy troubles on the long day … for the Gobi, the long day will be 90 km. Taking advice from the Distributor of Perpetuem, I tried using a lower strength mixture when I ran the North Face 100km last weekend, and this was definitely easier to digest. It worked very well and I am hoping this will make a big difference for me on Stage 5 of the Gobi. I have also purchased the new flavour of Perpetuem, Cafe Latte, and I like the taste too. So Perpetuem should form a good base for my nutrition during the race.
I plan to vacuum pack several mixtures to which I will add the boiling water provided. One mixture will be Cup a Soup with olive oil, another one will be a dehydrated meal with added mashed potato powder and then the third combination will be sweet : flavoured milkshake powder, milk powder and sugar. I also make up a sugar, coffee and milkpowder combination as my hot drink. Other foods will include biltong (dried meat = jerky), parmesan cheese, some crushed crisps and some lollies.
Before I pack my foods, I will be testing each combination to ensure that they taste okay and they don’t upset my stomach.
I have already got my Buff (essential gear), my cap, my warm jacket, a sleeping mat and sleeping bag. These items were ordered in for earlier events and they are incredibly light.
As you can see, my backpack is filling up and this will be on my back for the duration of the race. Hence the anxiety about getting it as light as possible.
My training is going well. I had a hiccup when I was forced to take time off because of a bad cold, but the break didn’t affect my schedule too much. I have now completed three competitive races as part of the build up … the Tarawera 100, the 42 Traverse and last weekend, the North Face 100 in Australia. Each of these events demonstrated that my legs can cope. As I always say, it is my head that will make all the difference during the Gobi March.
I want to thank Jim Robinson for the article published in the latest edition of VO2 Max. He is a very talented writer. Hopefully the added exposure will help boost my fundraising efforts. At this stage I still need all the help I can get to achieve the goal of $10,000 for Hospice EBOP.
http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/jo4hospice/
As the countdown begins, I will make more regular entries into this blog …
JO.
