Hotel room in Bhutan.
It’s been just over a year since we had our first experience with a stage race, when we completed a 250 km run through the desert in Jordan. Since then we have been debating what’s next? We quickly signed up for another Racing The Planet event like the one in Jordan but this time in a place that suits my Nordic blood a lot better, Iceland. However this race is not until August and we were craving more adventures before then. This brings us to where we are now, in a hotel room in Bhutan. Unfortunately, my luggage didn't turn up, luckily 90% of my race gear was with me as carry on, so no big inconvenience.
We only finished packing at 4AM in the morning, and had to catch a 9.40 flight, so only managed a short night’s sleep. It is always a surprise how long time it actually takes to get yourself organized for these races. All those decisions on what to wear, what to eat, which shoes, how big a backpack etc. just takes time, even though this is actually more of a luxurious race, as we don’t have to carry all our gear and food is prepared for us.
So what is it, exactly, that we are doing this time? 200 km over 6 days through the Himalayan mountains of Bhutan. To be honest we didn’t even know where Bhutan was when we signed up, however it sounded like a really good challenge. A challenge different from previously as we will be running through some fairly high mountains. We are excited to see this part of the world but also a bit nervous of how it will go with no mountain training except a single long weekend in Switzerland and a lot of climbing up and down Rigshopitalet’s 17 floors (the main hospital in Copenhagen). On top of that, Gus has had trouble putting in enough training due to crazy work hours and I have been struggling with my calf since January. I have no doubt that Gus will do well, he can always do what he puts his mind to! I am more worried about myself… I know that I will have to walk most of it to avoid a long term injury, but I also know that in my competitive mind, that I will have a hard time accepting walking when I could be running. I hope that I will have the power to enjoy the gorgeous country rather than worrying about not being able to give it my best at running. I secretly wish for lots of uphill so that I won’t be at a disadvantage to all the runners that will probably also walk when the course goes uphill.
Either way I am very excited to see this beautiful country. We are staying in tents, farm houses and monasteries around the mountains, and will be running through valleys, mountain tops, forests, rivers, waterfalls etc. One night there is even a planned soccer match between the runners and the local monks. So I will try and put my mind to enjoying the moment and taking in all the fresh mountain air and will do the best I can without hurting my leg further.
Race start is Sunday and we will not have any Internet access during the race, however you can follow along and see pictures during the race on global limits Facebook page and www.global-limits.com. We will try to see if we can give a short update once we reach the hotel in Thimphu in Bhutan.
Z