Team Silver is done with the graveyard shift, at least for the next nine days. We woke around midnight to drive back out through the massive potholes. I was first runner at 3am, in the dark with a cold rain. It was rugged not being able to make out the terrain features and being cold. At about eight miles I encountered deep mud and finished off with about 20 extra pounds under foot. Alexey made us tea and coffee by the roadside between rain storms until the mosquitoes chased us back into our van haven. It'€™s a cloudy day and we will drive to Tulun for our day off before starting the golden shift, 9am to 3pm, in the morning.

I had my first bout with stomach distress. The three ice creme sundaes Shiri and I shared last night came back to haunt me. The police escort figured out fairly quickly when I waved them by that I was looking for some privacy. But then I guess I took longer than they thought was right. One of them opened his door and started to come looking for me. It took a barrage of no's in Russian to keep him away.

The train is becoming my friend. It runs often through the countryside and is quiet compared to U.S. trains. They rarely blast their horns or whistles.

It'€™s a tired day and we are looking forward to a hotel with a shower, and maybe a beer to celebrate the close of another shift. We are so close to Mongolia we can smell it and a full moon will be lighting the way. We've suffered a disconnect here in Siberia between the teams because of the distances and the need for sleep. It will be great to get back to more civilization where it will be easier to meet up and spend more time together. Since there'€™s not much happening, I'€™ll send greetings again from Irkutsk.

Water is life. Pass it on!