Life's little adventures, accompanied by a running watch

Thursday, September 13, 2012

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!




10 comments:

  1. Great job on your 22 miler but the hills and heat - ugh! No wonder you were flattened after it. Glad you had a great time camping. My dog, Ruby, loves a good tuck in at the end of the day, too. :)

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    1. Thanks Kathy! I'm just today feeling my mojo again :)

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  2. Very impressive training! I can't imagine running 10 miles the day after 22! It is amazing what our bodies can do.
    I love Bella's camping photos! Our pup (harold) went to bed at 6 after our hike last weekend!

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    1. I too remain astonished at the back-to-back long runs. In the past, I'd never consider running that distance the day after. Go figure!

      "Harold" is a great puppy name!! What kind of dog?

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  3. Wow that's awesome! I love the hiking pictures! I kinda wish we had a camper so we could just pick up and go places like that. Although we would need a Prevost motor home to accomodate my 3 kids and dog. lol

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    1. Sadly, it was only trip this season, but I'll take even just the one! Yes, I imagine 3 kids and a dog would mean a little bit cramped quarters in our camper :)

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  4. Looks like you guys had an awesome time!! :) All three of you look so happy. Have an AWESOME run tomorrow!! xoxoxo

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    1. We did :) Thanks....I'll be glad to be on the other side of 24 by this time tomorrow!!

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  5. Congrats on both of your runs...but be careful that first one sounds a bit scary. But way to push through the next day! The hiking looks gorgeous and that hill, ugh!! My dog would have been totally exhausted for a week!

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    1. THanks! Our dog was totally exhausted. We joked that she was ruined (not really...we watch her cuz she won't stop herself). She slept so much after that weekend - happy dog AND happy humans :)

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