Final Prep. Let the games begin

After a long couple of days of travel, I have settled into Bariloche, the host town for the race. A Beautiful town set on the shores of a lake with a view of the andes mountains in the background.

300 competitors from almost 50 nations have descended upon this small town with lots of chatter of war stories, race game plans and what food stores people are taking. There are lots of different personalities and everyone has their own story about why they are doing this race. There are some very serious athletes out here to prove how good they are against the other competitors and more importantly, the course. There are also some people out here just for the challenge to and to complete a bucket list item in a spectacular setting. Whatever the goal, everyone is sure to be tested out on the course.

I have decanted my food into Zip lock bags and counted each gram and calorie. I’m aiming for a 4.6:1 Calorie to gram ratio. At the moment I’m at 16200 Calories for the week with everything added. That is race food, supplements and all pre and post stage race food including snacks. The macro balance of fat, carbs and protein is relatively even with a heavy emphasis on sodium and potassium in the micro nutrient department. Treats such as Porky’s pork scratchings (5.6:1 ratio), crushed Pringles (5.08:1 ratio) and Eta dry roasted peanuts (5.91:1 ratio) will be my only saviour in satiating my food cravings. Nothing bets a pack of Maggi 2min noodles (4.15:1 ratio) in the afternoon after a solid day of racing. The salty goodness combined with a good amount of water for hydration make it the perfect post marathon treat! I’m also taking plenty of Tailwind and Stingers as my race nutrition along with energy balls due to their natural sugars. Clif shot blocks are also making an appearance on this race and I might throw in a Cliff bar or two.

A weeks worth of food.

I’m carrying more gear in this race in preparation for the cold and wet weather predictions. I’m still managing to fit everything for the week into a 25ltr backpack which is currently weighing in at 8.16kg. I’m pretty happy with that considering I was 7.4kg in the Atacama. There are certainly no luxuries packed for this adventure apart from the finish line attire which will only come out on the last day! Small luxuries along the way will be a wet wipe a day for my shower and a fresh pair of socks every 2 days or 80km!

The body is feeling good and I have been packing in the food this week in preparation for the lack of calories next week.

Saturday morning is when the action begins. Race briefing followed by a mandatory gear check. Then it’s lunch and on to the bus to head to base camp. We will sleep there for the night on Saturday and then get up Sunday morning ready to start the first day of racing. Stage one will be approximately 40km (marathon) with a strong elevation gain of 700mtrs in the first 20km. It’s the day that will sort out the pecking order and settle the nerves.

This is my last post before heading into the wild. Emma will take over posting from here as I go off the grid for the week! I will send her an email each day from a satellite link and she can then update this blog.

Keep your eyes peeled for my secret weapon to be unleashed on race day. It will be hard to miss!