Day: May 11, 2006

With weather that remains unstable, the terrain which varies between an altitude of 950 and 1050 meters and landscapes which don’t change, we could easily find ourselves with nothing to report in the daily log.  Luckily, the many questions you send by e-mail give us something to talk about.  Today we will start with injuries.
Here are a few questions from Bernard, a doctor in Le Havre, who is also a runner:

« You always look alert, even though your face shows tension. Is your weight stabilizing?

In spite of the care they get from Laure, are your feet letting you down?

Do you use ready made dressings for wounds of the Comfeel type or do you have your own magic preparations?  What treatment do you use when you have muscular pains or painful joints: creams or pills (analgesics or anti-inflammatory non steroid drugs AINS)? »

WEIGHT: Serge weighed 64 kilos when he started the race, that is, 2 kilos more than when he started the previous crossings (64 kilos is his ideal weight and 62 kilos his running form weight).  For your info, Serge is 1.75 meters tall.  He has gradually lost 9 kilos during the first 6000 kilometers, before stabilizing at 55 kilos. This seems to be enough weight to enable him to cover 75 kilometers per day, since it was the weight he reached by the end of each previous race.  The only time he got down to 52 kilos, was in Bolivia, when he became so badly dehydrated, due to diarrhea, that he had to be on a drip.  After that he regained the lost kilos so by the time he reached Rio he weighed 55 kilos.  Here in China and after more than 10,000 kilometers his weight has stabilized at 55 kilos.

FEET: Serge didn’t use anything special to prepare his feet.  He surely has feet which are meant to run because until today he hasn’t had any blisters and the skin of his feet is in perfect condition.  The problems come from the toes: he has lost toe nails, has some irritations between the toes because he doesn’t dry his feet carefully after his shower and due to softening caused by perspiration during a day of running, especially now that it’s hot (since Turkmenistan).  And there is the whitlow on the 4th toe of his right foot that has been bothering him since Uzbekistan.  We can’t decided if it’s a corn, a whitlow caused by a small sliver, or a wart.  For the moment the toe is red and has doubled in size compared to the left foot, which indicates inflammation.  We have tried to protect the toe with a home made bandage (hypafix) but it hasn’t changed anything.  Serge never uses Comfeel.  Whenever he needs protection or to bind two toes together we use hypafix (a very fine and micro-porous bandage).  Every morning Serge applies Nok cream which prevents overheating and blistering and if he has a bandage he gives special attention that that spot.  At the moment, every evening we apply 70% alcohol to disinfect his toes and the nails, with special attention to the area between the toes.  It’s worth mentioning that this is the first crossing where Serge has custom made running shoes.
As this has become quite long, I will wait until tomorrow to write about problems with muscles and articulations.  So, dear friends, to be continued tomorrow.