“ It was 6:30 in the morning in Korea . My weight was 49.5kg . The competition was the next day and I had 1.5kg to lose . 25 hours were enough for this mission . I skipped breakfast and started getting dressed . First came the sweat suit , followed by two long , warm shirts over it , a sweatshirt , two pairs of long pants , gloves , warm hat , two pairs of socks and a coat . It was a little chilly outside , but I was wearing plenty of layers . I started running . One hour later I stepped back into my room , exhausted . I lay down on the floor and waited for my heartbeat to slow down . When I could stand again , I made hot tea with lots of sugar . The hot liquid would make my body sweat a little more , the sugar would bring back some energy , and I was so very thirsty . I only allowed myself a few sips before I poured all the rest into the sink so I wouldn ’ t regret drinking too much . That was the only thing I drank that day . I undressed slowly , layer by layer , hoping to see dampness on the cuffs of my sleeves , droplets of sweat inside the sweat suit .
I ’ d already lost about 3kg in the preceding few days . Usually I weighed less than 49kg at this point , but I had had a long flight , and yesterday when I ran my weight didn ’ t drop . I didn ’ t know why . I wasn ’ t stressed yet , but when I stepped on the scale my heart sank . I weighed 49.4 kg . I had lost a mere 100 grams .
I had only one thing in mind : this weight has to go . At 11:00 I started running again . This time inside the hotel , back and forth in a short narrow corridor . It was terribly boring , but it was a bit warmer . I sang songs to myself , counted the times I passed by my room . Every time I got tired I burst into a short sprint . This time I ran for an hour and a half . My weight was 48.9 when I was done . I can ’ t explain how happy I was when I saw the number 48 on the scale .
It was almost 13:00 and there were still 900 grams to go . There was no sauna in the hotel , so I prepared a hot bath in my room . I knew I wasn ’ t going to lose much weight in the bath , but I didn ’ t know what else to