On Fusion Squad training looks slightly different to other WR squads. Instead of attending training camp in October with the five other squads which are launching in January we will spend our first week together in Thailand as a squad and have our training and team selection there. In preparation for launch we have also had a number of Google Hangouts with AIM staff and other racers on the squad.
However, for me, I unintentionally put myself through my own training camp. At the beginning of December I returned to Ghana for the fifth time and was quickly reminded of many situations I may find myself in on the race.
Let’s start with some stats … because who doesn’t like stats right.
Length of trip – 11 days
Number of days spent travelling – 7 days
Number of different beds slept in – 5
Longest period without a shower – 3 days
Longest period without washing hair – 5 days
Number of flights – 4
Longest wait for a tro (bus) to fill up – 90 minutes
The visit to Ghana was short and therefore I tried to plan our itinerary before we got to Ghana to ensure we had time to visit Agnes (the woman we are working with) in Sogakope, the Child Care Centre and children in Santrokofi and have a few days of rest in Cape Coast and Accra.
Our first change happened a week before we flew, TAP Portugal changed our outbound flight from 8am on Saturday morning to 8pm Friday night, this meant that I had my last day at work and had to rush straight to the airport for my flight. Nothing like a last minute dash, this change however showed me I can never plan for everything and it also meant we had a whole extra day in Ghana because we arrived Saturday morning instead of Saturday evening.
The trip to Ghana gave me the chance to use some of the gear I have purchased for the WR. I used packing cubes for the first time ever, they are so useful and I can’t believe I haven’t used them before. I tested out the travel pillow I purchased which was surprisingly comfortable and my sleeping bag liner which worked a treat. It was great to get familiar with some of my gear.
I was also reminded of some valuable lessons:
Clothes
Because I was only going for 11 days I decided I would pack enough clothes so I didn’t have to do any washing. I packed ten t-shirts, two dresses, one pair of harems, one pair of leggings, one pair of trousers and a cardigan. I took a pair of Toms and my flip flops. The only time I wore my Toms were on the flight to Ghana and when I got home I had five clean t-shirts. I found myself re-wearing t-shirts, especially for travelling as I didn’t want to dirty clean clothes. I have always been one to over pack so for the WR I am going to pack less than I think I need.
Showers
I was actually really lucky in Ghana, I was able to have a proper, albeit cold shower, for over half of my trip. My first bucket shower was when we arrived in Cape Coast, however the lack of a smaller bucket and fading light meant washing my hair was out of the question. It had been a while since we’d even had access to water so I was just glad to get clean. Then in Accra the night before we left I washed my hair bucket style – it’s not so bad really!
‘Lights out’
A common occurrence in Ghana, you tend to only have electricity every other day. The worst time to have lights out is at night because it means no fan and in 35oC, you really need one to sleep! Most of the time I slept on top of my sleeping bag liner because it was so warm. One day we had lights out from 6am until 6pm – that was normal, you usually have day or night ‘lights out’ which last for 12 hours. However on this occasion at 7pm it was lights out again and they didn’t come back on until the middle of the night. Needless to say my new head torch came in very handy and I am sure it will be just as useful on the race.
Travel
This year I spent the most time travelling in terms of moving around a lot. I learnt patience as I spent several hours waiting for tro to fill up every time we wanted to go somewhere. I re-learnt how to try and make myself comfortable on the chairs that fold down and rediscovered how to sleep whilst travelling on a dirt track.
These are all things I have experienced before, but I was just gently reminded of them whilst in Ghana. It has made me even more excited for launch. Being the only participant from Europe I am heading to Chiang Mai on my own and will meet the rest of my squad mates when I arrive there on January 3rd.
