MY ROAD TO SEVEN JOURNEY
Day 0 - Before Race Day
A girl can dream.
Today as I sat for a meal, I mulled over the journey from my hometown to the far ends of the earth. I never imagined I would get to run in all seven continents. But the thought never escaped me ever since I first caught wind of it. I just said perhaps it might happen in my lifetime. Tomorrow, a decade after, it finally will.
Day 1 - Antartica
The day starts with a wake up call from Katy. I asked them to call me in addition to the two phones I had set up with alarms. I didn’t want to miss this trip. I calmly went about my preparations as planned. I feel that I got enough sleep despite the aircon conking out at 2am. My spirits are up.
Day 2 - Cape Town
We arrived in Cape Town at 7am and were told that the new race start time is now an hour earlier at 9am. I felt a bit annoyed since I don’t like starting my day in a frantic manner. Especially coming from a long night without having proper sleep. I needed to shower and get breakfast in just an hour and a half. But I realized that this was a good decision given that running later towards the late afternoon would just be too hot.
Day 3 - Perth
“Everything you are given is material for the next move. Everything." This is what I started my day with. I was in good spirits after a relatively restful flight. I commenced my morning routine then race preparations before everyone was up so I had a calm time. After I did that, I just sat back and relaxed until we landed.
Day 4 - Dubai
I now seem to have a go-to sequence to get settled on the plane. I go through this then immediately tuck myself to sleep. Not that easy to get the sleep in but I just lay there and make myself comfortable. I wake up with four more hours of flight time so I decide to finally eat. I remembered that I need to really make sure my nutrition is prioritised so my energy level is sustained throughout the run. Then I start my preparations to get ready for race day. I still had a full two hours to relax before landing.
Day 5 - Madrid
The Madrid leg has an interesting course, the Jarama F1 Circuit. But instead of fast cars, we would be on our feet going around eleven times on the course. The number of loops seemed daunting to me. I was already imagining myself slugging through at the tail end. I wanted to shake this off. Having negative emotions and thoughts early in the game is not good. It messes with your mind and body.
Day 6 - Fortaleza
I got to sleep better on the flight to Fortaleza. Maybe because I had better recovery food that I ate immediately after the race and not wolfed down just before hopping on the plane. My legs felt better too due to the physio treatment post race. What I was worried about was my ankle that has now further swelled. It felt tender to the touch. I decided I would wear my spare running shoes to ease the tension.
Day 7 - Miami
I start off my day with low energy. I did not get to sleep well due to the short flight. I felt hungry and not nourished well. I also just wanted to be by myself and have some quiet moment. I berate myself for having these negative feelings during the last day of the race. I try to shake these off. Not good to end this epic trip with a sullen attitude. So I sidled up to the people I am most comfortable with and just stayed there with them. I also hoped there would at least be some warm food before we start the race to at least perk me up. I was hanging on by a thread.