Plotting and Planning!

The post Sahara depression comes and goes. Today it is one of the 'goes' days. Why? Because there are stuff happening....and I want to be part of it.
And I'm GOING to be part of it.

2012 was a fantastic racing year. From NDC in March to Sahara Race in October. But what's next....can't wait for life to happen. I'm going to make it happen.

OK, so now I have to decide what race/races I'll be doing next year. Like everything in life, unfortunately, money talks. Money makes the world go round. Can't some money come round my way. All I want to do is run in deserts. That's not to much to ask for. Anyway.

Plotting and planning for 2013.

China??

Cameroon??

Namibia??

Watch this space for my 2013 adventures!

A very important part of training, is resting! and that is what I'll be doing until the end of the year.
and trying out that thing called 'a social life'! hahahaha. When I start my training again in 2013, it will be all systems go. There is a desert out there with my name on it!

the west

Sahara Race 2012

a Year and a half ago I did my first desert race - The Namib Desert Challenge. I went into the race, with no idea what to expect. I left the race with a feeling of belonging. I belong in the desert. The vast open spaces, the silence, the heat and the sand.

And so the addiction started.

Warren Muldoon, an American competitor, convinced me to enter the Sahara Race in Egypt.
Game on! Why not.

250km through the Sahara Desert, me and my 8.5kg backpack. One set of clothing, and alot of food!

The NDC Crew

October 2012......the wait.....and then finally the time came. On my way to Egypt for the Sahara Race 2012.
I got on the plane, super excited and super nervous. I had absolutely no idea of the adventure that awaits!!!

Hello Egypt!

I'm going to fast forward to the day we left for the desert.

4 busses with 134 competitors hit the dodgy Cairo roads.....don't think I'll go back to Egypt for a holiday(hahahah).
4 hours later we were in the desert, WOW - POWERFULLLLLLLL

The first campsite was next to a lake, that's one thing I can give to the Racing the planet team. Every campsite was on the most amazing spots. As for the CP's.....lets go with hide and seek...

Our village in the middle of nowhere

Khonsu - my home for the next 7 days. We were such a crazy cool bunch in that tent. Out tent was quite messy, hahahha - 2 Korean boys, 2 Japanese boys, 2 Japanese girls, me, Timo, Warren and Willem. It was a rather tight fit, very cosy! My sleeping partners on my left and right, was Timo and Juni.

Khonsu Fleamarket - Miki, Yoko, Timo and Willem

I love those kids to bits! Juni, was my favourite. He called me his ' Sahara mommy ', because I was always looking after them. Making sure that they eat etc. They only finished between 5 and 7pm everyday. And they finished and started every day with bit fat smiles. Juni is doing the 4 deserts grand Slam this year!!!! So super cool!

My kids

The day started any time from 4am!!! I got up at 5am ish, coffee, breakfast and then getting ready for the day. Every morning Juni will ask me "What time is it?" I will reply "5am" Juni "see you tomorrow" Covering his head, and back to sleep.  And suddenly it was 6:30 and time for the race breefing. Alina with her load speaker, explaining what is waiting for us in the desert.....the stages was described as moderate, difficult, moderate/difficult.....well my idea of moderate was definitaly not her idea of moderate.

The type of sand varied the whole time, so you keep on adjusting your running style. Or shall I say, shuffle style. And when tired. Walk. There were alot of walking involved.
The whole course where mark with pink flags, running one flag, walk one flag. "Just move forward Westie"

From 9am that thing, called the sun aka the one eyed devil, had no mercy. Like N.O.
All you can do is to try and block out the heat. And now and then there would be a bit of a breeze, heaven!

I couldn't do any heat training for the race, because the Cape Town winter was wet and cold.
But I knew I would be able to handle the heat, I grew up in the Northern Cape. And believe me, December in the Kalahari is no joke. My sister said to me before I left 'You will be OK, you've got Kalahari sand in your blood'

I ran my own race everyday. Just me, myself and I. When I started running everyday, I felt good. The legs took about and hour just to keep going again, and then I was fine. Flag to Flag. Checkpoint to Checkpoint.

Between every checkpoint there was a halfway marker, that really helped alot. Check check, water fine. Go.

At every CP you were greeted by the friendly voluteers. Cheering you on and filling up water bottles.
I didn't dare sit down for a bit of a rest, I was to scared I won't be able to get up again. hahahaha.

and then, suddenly - HOME! I was rather relieved everyday to see the campsite.

first things first. Back to the tent. Recovery Time!

My recovery consisted of the following:
Getting a camp chair.
Shoes off.
Socks off.
Feet on chair.
Hammer Recoverite with Pepto Pro
BCAA's
60g Parmesan cheese.
and Bob's your uncle.

Dinner time.....anytime from 4:30 was a good time to have dinner. But then madam still had to make her bowl...you cut a 1.5l water bottle in half. A cup and a bowl!
The one evening Timo asked me "when shall we go for dinner", and his next question was "have you made your bowl yet" Now that's what I call a wingman!

Lunch is served, desert style!

Dinner time

Next time I will definitaly take a bigger variety of food. I had Cottage Pie EVERY evening. At least it tasted good. Adding some olive oil for extra Calories. the Italian style!

Khonsu Fleamarket.....the best flea market in the Sahara.
Warren got rid of food on a daily bases....he's pack was to heavy.
We didn't mind at all.....cliff bars, freeze dried meals, gels! I'll take it!!
But you have to be quick - I was quick! very quick.
Left over chicken and rice. Thank you Warren!

The long march - 12h46 of running/walking/crawling. It's all about the long march, and I still had some energy left. The previous day I ran a bit to hard, so I could feel that the legs were not to happy. But its the last day, and I knew I would finish this race. Come hell of high water.
The day feel like of a bit of a blur at the moment. I had no idea how long the 87km will take to complete.
At CP6 - the over night and hot water point - I had some tea and marched on. Liz was manning the CP, and it was so nice to see her face! She had to pull out of the race, doctors orders....Liz, there are still alot of deserts out there. And I can hear them calling us....Liiiiizzzzzzz.....Kriiiissssss.

At CP7 I got the good news.....only 28km's left. I had to fight back the tears. Can't start crying now, still 28k's to go girl.

only 28km to go!!

Tony did a quick kit check - red flashing light + head lamp. Tick. Right ready for the running in the dark. I've never ran in the dark before, it was not as scary as I thought it would be. I could see red flashing lights in front of me, and the route was marked with glow sticks. So all good, no need for a panick atttack!

The last CP before camp, I saw my favourite Frenchie....Max! It was so good to see his face. Max was the man in charge of the Cybertent. He did not sleep alot!

Wow, the finish line.....there are no words. That feeling of accomplishment is what make us come back for more. Tears of joy was streaming down my face. Fuckit, I did it!


I miss the desert and its people. ALOT.

New friends for life!

until next time!

Thanks Eqypt!

Greg, me, Liz

 

my wingman

the beginning

It's been a rather long road to get to the Sahara 2012.

Hours and hours of training. Weekends were no longer for socialising, but for running.
But I don't regret a single minute of it. There is nothing like spending hours on the trails, running, walking, crawling and climbing.
And now it's showtime!

I see the Sahara Race as the beginning. The beginning of fantastic things to come.
Everyone says that the race will be life changing.....maybe that's why I'm doing these kind of races.
Constantly looking for something, and deep down hoping I will never find it.

Everything is set for the Sahara. My bags are pack and ready to go.

my pack weighs 8kg......so much for 7kg.
the only way I can get to 7kg, is if I get rid of some food.
I'm sure I'll do some repacking in Egypt with the help of my fellow runners.

I'm so SO looking forward to this adventure and seeing my two friends Warren and Timo again.

Ok, one or 2 loose ends to tie up......chat soon via the 4 Deserts website.

I'll be back. With my medal.

Kriss West, Queen of the desert

11384 KJ's

or +/-2600 Cal...........

and this my dear friends, is what I will be consuming per day....give or take a few Cal's.

It is so difficult to pack food for a day, when I have NO idea how much time I will spend running.
When I look at last years times, day 1 is the fastest, day 2 longer, and then day 3 and 4 sort of the same. And then the infamous LONG day.

My packing list for the long day will be a bit different for the other days.
I will have to eat some proper food somewhere during the day, because only living on energy gels for 15hours will not do the trick.

the whole eating and carry on running bit I don't really like. Its going to be HOT and I will have to do my best of best to keep the food down. So, smash and biltong it will be. And its been tried and tested by myself - Delicious!
Not sure how delicious its going to be in 50C......I will let you know afterwards.

I've got this mental block against packing my bag for the race, but this weekend is D-day.
If I can check in under 8kgs it will be FANTASTIC!

In the not to distant future.......this will replace

this in my pack!

Today are one of those days, where I am SO SUPER EXCITED about the race.

only 18 days to go till showtime!!!!!

a bit of sand training

with less than 50 days to go......the stress levels are increasing day by day. but going hand in hand with stress is excitement. I've been looking forward to the Sahara Race for a very long time. and now it's almost here.

this past weekend was a recovery weekend, with only a few hours of running. I love to run, but I must say I quite enjoy recovery weekends.....then I can fit in a bit of social and family time!

my raidlight trekking poles, ie. Javier and Jorge Rodrigues Rodrigues, joined me on my beach run this weekend. Seeing that we will be spending alot of quality time together, I figured that it is only appropriate to name them. and i must say, they made the few hours on the beach an absolute JOY! they are SO going with me to the Sahara.
The poles only weight 120g each, fabulous little numbers from Raidlight. a must have for the desert.

Javier and Jorge Rodrigues Rodrigues

After a recovery week, comes a heavy training week - but I'm looking forward to spending some serious time on the legs this week. Speed work, hill work and some sand!!!! BRING IT ON!

Ok, training does not only exist of spending hours on the trails and in the gym, but also sorting out what food to take with on my race.

Do you have any idea how quickly a few grams turn into a kilogram? shocking!
I made up a potential food packet for one day.......820gram. and believe you me, there is not alot in that ziplock bag!
and I have to take 7 of those for the race....crap. when push comes to shove, i'm gonna go with a bottle of olive oil and a few blocks of parmesan cheese. sounds appetising hey! delicious!!

food update and some pics to follow later this week.

the serious countdown to the race has started.

a corner thing

Life doesn't always go the way we want it to go.
In a perfect world the runner never gets injured. Never!
Especially not 10 weeks before the race.

and not just any race.....the biggest race of my life to date.

....the story...
...10 days ago I went for a normal training run. Nothing funny, just a bit of sand and a bit of single track. I spend about 4hrs out on the trail. I was a bit tired afterwards. Back sore from the heavy backpack. Just a normal day at the office.

but then the next day..........O MY WORD. PAIN. Severe pain in my left leg. And it's my good leg for f" sakes.
It felt like shin splints, and I figured - rest for a few days and then everything will be back to normal.
or not.

After resting for  a few days, I was back on the mountain............20mins later I was in tears.

Self diagnosis 101. Stress fracture. That's the only thing that makes sense. Shin splints cannot be this painful.

anyway, Today I had a MRI done. good and bad news.
Good news - IT IS NOT A STRESS FRACTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but very bad shin splints. the reason for the shin splints? Really don't know.

Some people might say it's overtraining....but I don't think so.

Bad news - no running for at least 4 weeks!!! HUGE F"up

NOBODY PUTS BABY IN THE CORNER!

GAME PLAN!
Shock wave therapy.
Aqua jogging.
Spinning.
Gym.
and maybe walking with the backpack.

Because, I am going to the Sahara. and I am going to have a fabulous race. even if I have to walk it.

Now I will just have to try not to over-do it with all these alternatives to running. Don't want to end up with some other weird injury.

Who gets shin splints for no apparent reason?

well, ME.

all pretty in pink.....going nowhere slowly

Just going to take it one day at a time!

a constant state of tiredness

Training for any race, takes alot of time + energy + commitment.
Some days it takes alot of bribing to put on those running shoes and hitting the road.
Especialy if have to hit the road/mountain/sand with a backpack that weighs about 8kgs.

BBM does not stand for BlackBerryMessenger......but for BrokeBackMountain!

After a heavy weekend of training, my shoulders are shot! I'm actually thinking of walking around with my pack everyday. People might look at me funny, but who cares! Me and my pack need to become the best of best of friend. BestFriendsForever.

So on Friday I received my new pack.......the start of a new love/hate relationship. But I truly believe that this love affair will last a while.

My new boyfriend.......Raidlight Runner R-light 30l!!!!!!

Isn't he just gorgeous!

Ok, so now I've got all my KIT for the Sahara. My credit card will be so relieved......phew! There is nothing like a bit of online shopping for gear for the Sahara.

Next on the menu.....is food. FOOD. Time to finalise what food to take with. A block of Parmesan cheese and a bottle of olive oil can only be appetising up to a certain point!

Seeing that I have no social life at the moment, evenings can be spend weighing little plastic bags of food!!!!!!!! What can be more fun than that!