21/09/2023
📷: Egle Draneviciene
Thank you so much for participating in Shanda's race in Switzerland at the Swiss Ultra. Let's let all of Canada know what a fantastic athlete we have. PLEASE SHARE THIS POST! For those of you who are just joining us, Shanda has been swimming, biking and running for the past 25 days. The Double Deca is a race equal to 20 iron equivalent triathlons. It consists of a 76 km swim, 3,600 km bike and 844 km run.
The past 24 hours have been a battle for Shanda. The torrential rain has dampened her spirits. She finds herself in constant pain. The skin on her feet has come off, and the rain and inability to stay dry have made taping her feet tricky. She said where the skin has worn away from constant friction from running, the nerve endings are rubbing on her shoes, causing immense pain. She is also dealing with an ankle still majorly injured on her heel. In addition, the injury on her glute has made any rest impossible. The damage to her glute muscle is in constant, overwhelming pain. As she runs into her last night, the loneliness on the course, enveloped in rain, has caused her to sink into a dark place in her mind. Half the athletes have completed the Double Deca and have gone home, so she is left to run alone through most of the night. The rain brings giant slugs, which in the night, if she steps on one and slips on it, could further injure herself. Through it all, she keeps going.
Shanda's goal is to beat the previous record of 633 hours set in 2019 by her competitor, Laura Knoblach and also Shanda's prior record of 646 hours. Despite the pain and suffering she is currently facing, she feels optimistic that she can push through. That gives her about 19 hours to finish the race, which is another 48 km. As of today, Shanda has swam 76 km, biked 3,600 km and ran 796 km. We all believe in your Shanda!
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