Lisa Tamati and La Ultra

July 2011

An athlete who has run the length of New Zealand, the Gobi Desert and California's Death Valley, Lisa Tamati is now struggling to draw breath just sitting still.

The ultra-marathon runner arrived near the top of the world on Monday, New Zealand time, as she prepares to acclimatise for the La Ultra race through the foothills of the Himalaya's.

La Ultra will take her 222 kilometres over 60 hours from the Indian mountain town of Leh, winding through the two highest driveable passes in the world.

"I am still struggling to breathe and its a weird feeling to be sitting doing nothing and puffing," Tamati said on her blog recently. "How am I going to run at 2000m higher than this, and not for 5 minutes but for 60 hours? Incomprehensible to my struggling body right now."

The 42-year-old will reach a peak altitude of 5334m and experience temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Celsius to -6C during the challenge.

Her preparations have started, with a walk up to one of the passes at a height of 5400m to get a feel for the altitude.

She was looking forward to getting out of the hectic Leh township, which has a constant bustle and strong military presence.

"We just visited a buddhist temple and got some footage of the Tibetan's in their place of worship - wonderful.

"Last night I even spun the prayer wheel with trillions of little bits of paper inside, with the chant 'Om mani padme hum' [a well- known mantra].

"Hope it helps, I need all the help I can get. My little lungs are in for a hard time, of that I am sure."