Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
January 12
I'm losing a lot of weight. My body is literally consuming itself to cope
with the energy I'm expending through running and trying to keep
warm, because I simply cannot ingest the 8000 calories a day required
to maintain myself in these conditions. My clothing feels heavier the
weaker I get; it's like running in a gorilla suit and army boots. My lips
have split open again and bleed constantly. Today was the coldest it's
been down here without the wind-chill factor—about -40 degrees. My
clothes are not thawing at night, and I'm starting each day with ice in
the ruff of my jacket and my pants. I sleep with my gloves and socks on
to keep them dry. My only sanctuary from the cold is in my sleeping bag.
Despite the conditions, this place is indescribably beautiful.
Sometimes I think it's like running on a solid sea with frozen white
caps, and at others like traversing a giant lemon meringue pie with
wispy peaks of ice and snow. Then, in a flash, a blizzard or fog can
descend and things turn sinister. When in years to come people ask
me what the Antarctic is like, I'll tell them it's beautiful and it's deadly.
January 13
Today after a late start I took the wrong trail during a blizzard and hit
a crevasse field. I had to detour around it to find a different track. Eric
tells me it's more likely a runner will go through ice than a vehicle.
We are now at 2450 metres above sea level and the ice formations are
getting bigger. I'm scared that bad weather might end the run. I have
never experienced conditions as vicious as these.
I used some visualisation techniques to see myself arriving
at the South Pole just a few days from now. All that can stop me is
the weather, a crevasse or my failing body. I find myself wondering
if, for all my longing to be at home, I will be able to fit in there after
what I have endured on this epic run. Today was a bad day—only
35 kilometres.
January 14
It is becoming hard to write, because I am losing the use of my thumbs.
I am seriously concerned that I have done permanent damage to my
