16th Marathon Des Sables April 2001 - Part 3 - Page 1

but, telling myself that this must all be terribly character-building, I valiantly continue, closely following the directions in the road-book,which highlights landmarks along the way. ”Head SW between small dunes on right and small dunes on left. ”Gosh,that narrows it down. Not likely to see many of those out here,am I?” Small dunes. Cut across track. ”Oh yes, of course,silly me, the dunes!

The sun is so strong that I am almost delirious. I sip constantly from my water bottles, one filled with tepid water and the other with lukewarm orange lucozade sport. Well, the only resemblance it has to an orange is the colour. It tastes slightly inferior to dishwater...mmm, delicious! Now that I have this navigation game cracked (?), I decide to reward myself with a little snack. The energy bar is now a semi-liquid state.Hard to beat the sensation of a warm, melted, banana-yoghurt flavour chocolate bar sticking your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Decide to up my protein levels by following this with a pepperami stick. Not a recommended combination!

The late afternoon light is beginning to fade as I reach km21 and see CP2 ahead in the distance. Hopefully one of doc trotters medical team can surgically remove the backpack straps that are now an integral feature of my shoulders. Virtually out of fluids, would sallivate if I could(!), at the thought of the 2 litres of tepid water that await me. Wondering now how wise it is to save one for a deep conditioning hair treatment?