The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

It is difficult to remember, let alone process all of the events, emotions and physical experiences in a race like this. In a 145 hour period of mostly non stop movement, we climbed over 30 high mountain peaks, visited over 45 transition points filled with volunteers and covered an inconceivable distance of 200 miles - much of which was on steep, committing mountain terrain. Here is a snapshot of some moments I can remember - the good, the bad and ugly.

The Good
We stopped in at a local cafe enroute when we saw apple strudel through the window. We were sweaty, stinky and exhausted. The owners and locals in the shop were so excited that we stopped and thrilled to hear we came from Canada to do the race. The owner carefully packed our strudel in a bag and the locals were thrilled to help us with our Italian. It was a very warm and intimate interaction given the short time we spent there. Very heart warming.

We had a baby sheep start following us and a friend Carlos we were trekking with at the time. The baby sheep bucked like a small rodeo horse and kept running up behind Carlos and nudging him to play. Carlos stopped to rub the sheeps chin and the relationship soon took on a love affair. Nothing we could do would persuade the sheep not to follow us - so for 20 minutes we yelled, tossed rocks and tried to keep him from following until finally we came across the shepherd and his son and had a nice visit with them. The son spoke english. They were very curious and interested that we came from Canada to race and explore their region. Their sheep dogs cuddled up under our arms and begged for some attention, and all around us goats and cattle wandered. It was a wonderful snapshot into their peaceful but hardworking life in the mountains of Italy.

At one point Delena and I were starving but unable to eat any more race food - we decided to stop into a refugio and order some real food. We were disgustingly stinky, sweaty and dirtly - but were welcomed in with big smiles and ordered 2 double cappuccinos each, along with a huge bowl of cheese and bread soup. A group of Spanish followed our lead and we ate in silence with the occasional knowing glance of joy exchanged.

Along one particularly scenic section we named the Roman Wall - which was a high trail made of large flat boulders arranged into a makeshift road - we heard someone yelling. We quickly identified our Japanese friend running along the wall with yelp of joy and excitement - it was quite a site to see, and we found ourselves joining him and an exchange of yelps as we ran along behind.

The Bad
The cold dry mountain air took it's toll on my lungs early in the race. I developed a form of Bronchitis which quickly progressed to the point where I was coughing up hard yellow phlegm from deep within my lungs. My sinuses became impossibly plugged and sleep became impossible. I tried lying down at one point and Delena became quite concerned as the air moving in and out of my lungs produced a squeeling noise that sounded like someone talking to you in a squeaky whisper. I took a double dose of nasal decongestant to clear my sinuses and for the next 30 hours had to deal with an extremely sore throat and fits of nearly non stop coughing. I finally found a pharmacy and bought some throat lozenges with pain killers and took some cough medicine to help control the coughing. I had some serious concerns about my lungs but decided to rest for 2 hours and monitor how they felt. Once again - 2 hours rest resulted in an incredible improvement to my lungs, my phlegm became clear once again and I increased my fluids to compensate for the enormous amount of mucous my body was producting and expelling. It seems that may people on the course suffered from the exact same symptoms and the further along in the race we got - the more similar cases we witnessed. It reminded me again of the value of simple precautions such as placing a bandana over your mouth to help reduce the impact of the harsh dry, cold air on the lungs.

The Ugly
Transition stations began to look like MASH units later in the race. Racers were getting surgery on their feet to remove toe nails, large sections of skin were missing on the heals, large blisters formed between the toes and all over the feet - including deep within the feet - and needed to be drained, the most painful of which were under the toe nails themselves. Many people had their entire feet bandaged and dozens had their knees taped and a dozen different variations of taping to provide support for torn hamstrings, quads, ankles and anywhere else that needed some support.

Friction sores begin to appear on both Men and Women in the crotch area, scrotum, anus and between the cheeks of the bum.Toes that have been rubbing together break the skin and form sores that need to be taped shut.

Body maintenance is something that requires constant attention. Delena and I take exceptional precautions and were able to complete this race with virtually no foot damage aside from a couple of very minor blisters - which is truly incredible a testament to our careful foot maintenance we did throughout the race. Tight shoes, PrimaLoft Merino socks and plenty of foot lubrication were key to keeping our feet healthy throughout the race.