Day: July 1, 2006

Sweat and run

The alarm went off at 5H50.  At 6H00 breakfast was ready, as usual.  We ate in our rooms because the breakfast schedules in the hotels don’t correspond to Serge’s departure time and it would also mean having a Chinese breakfast (rice soup, salted vegetables and tea), which is far from being to our western taste.  For the past few days Serge has eaten little and he has even lost his taste for the Petit Beurres, nothing tempts him.  He had a bowl of coffee, muesli with yogurt, and a glass of orange juice.  For the past two days he has been taking vitamin C, the third time in 6 months.

At 6H30, it was departure from marker 703, a few kilometers from the city of Gushi.  When we stay in hotels we lose time in the morning and evening  but it does mean we all sleep well.  Last night, 3 night owls got up at 3H00 AM to watch the France-Brazil match. Serge, who normally follows the world cup seriously, hasn’t seen one.  When we asked him if he missed it he replied that you can’t do everything.  We haven’t turned on the TV since December 18 and we don’t miss it one bit.

Serge doesn’t remember ever perspiring so much.  Now he is urinating 3 times during the day’s running, instead of 3 times per hour.  It’s significant to note how much his body can eliminate through the pores of his skin

At the 63rd kilometer, we left the Henan Province to enter the Anhui Province.  At each change of province there is a difference in distance posting.  Serge made a detour around the city of Yeji, where we will sleep tonight, to continue to the end of the stage on an unpleasant, double two lane road.

Once his daily objective reached, Serge arrived in Yeji.  He had trouble getting out of the passenger seat and walked as if he were treading on thin ice.  There was one flight of stairs to climb before we found the coolness of the room.  Serge’s Achilles tendon has been hurting for the past three days and this evening it’s painful to the touch and even at rest.  It looks like tendonitis.  These inflammations are often present at the beginning of a race so Serge is worried.  It’s true that after 14,500 kilometers, Serge is heading into unknown territory and making an effort he hasn’t experienced before.

We said good-bye to François, who left us this morning.  A second video should be on line the second week of July. You should find the pictures interesting.