Tired!

This ultra training is intense.  It’s also exciting.  It’s a great feeling to feel so fit, to see how resilient my body is, and to celebrate each set of back-to-back long runs I never thought were possible.  But man, I’m tired.

On Saturday, Scott and I ran a hilly, hot, and humid 22 miles at ~9:30 pace.  It was probably a little faster than it should have been and it was definitely a lot hotter than it should have been.  We killed that run, but that run ultimately kicked my butt.  For the remainder of the day, I couldn’t get rid of the post-run-brain-fuzz.   I felt dizzy and nauseous at times and had that terrible dehydration headache that plagued me through my hair appointment late that afternoon.  Though I thought it was perfect timing to schedule a “take care of Lisa” appointment, it was actually pretty miserable!  I spent much of that appointment trying to quiet the pounding in my head and not throw up.  I made it.  And I like my hair.  Success!



What a combination!

I felt quite a bit better on Sunday morning after a good 10+ hours of sleep.  With 10 miles on the docket, I took a deep breath and got my head on straight about it.  Here’s where Scott’s role as “coach” was clouded by his role of “caring husband”, so he encouraged me to lower my mileage or not run at all.  I had felt pretty rough Saturday, so my guess is I had looked the part as well.  I promised that I would pay attention to my head and would shorten my run if I needed to.  He knows I’m good that way so he went off and ran with the guys; I went off and ran my first couple of miles with Bella.  After those puppy miles, I felt better so continued on.  The more miles I covered, the better I felt.  10.5 miles later @ 9:04 pace, I felt like a new person.  Scott felt the same after his run and admitted, “I’m glad neither of us listened to my advice”.

No rest for the weary as we packed up to head towards the White Mountains for a couple days of hiking and camping at our favorite getaway!  Since we were heading up on a Sunday and returning home on a Tuesday, there were more chipmunks than people on the trails and at the camp areas.  Perfect.  We got our site setup quickly and Bella quickly went chipmunk hunting –

Home sweet home :)

Our hike was to include ascending Little Haystack (~4700 ft), crossing the amazing ridge to Mt. Lincoln (~5000 ft), and then another incredible ridge to the big kahuna, Mt. Lafayette (~5300 ft).  We’ve done this hike a number of times and, on a clear day, we’ve been able to see for hundreds of miles.  Monday, however, would not be that day.  We got just shy of the summit of Little Haystack and decided to turn back.  The mountains were completely socked in.  Of course, you’d never have known this from the bottom, but as we climbed higher and higher, the weather grew worse and worse.  We were dressed for it and well prepared for changing weather, but still decided it was in our best interest to turn around.  I was already tired and definitely hiking at a slower than normal pace, so the weather was the icing on the cake.

We still got a good 4+ mile hike in, thanks to Little Haystack.  Glad I wore my Garmin so I could capture the spike which was Little Haystack –

And got some great pictures along the way –

Scott & Bella at Cloudland Falls

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one dog tired.  At about 7pm, Bella stood at the camper door, apparently ready for bed.

It’s all good, but I can’t remember ever feeling so tired!  I did once post about wanting to leave this world exhausted…..so I guess I’m right on track!