Having never raced in the desert before, I've little to no experience with racing in the sand. Sure, the creeks around Atlanta are filled with sand, and I've run through plenty of those, but there's a big difference between running for an hour, and going for a couple days.

Going on advice we received, we're trying out these top secret shoe covers in our quest to keep the sand out and our feet blister free. As for the fungal infection, that was a pre-existing condition.