During Saturday's long run, I ran up to Boise Peak for the first time. This led to some minor navigation to find the high point, which is tree-covered and not an obvious peak. Using my app of choice, Backcountry Navigator, I found the peak and began looking for the quickest way down. It was at this point that I realized I was losing my mind. Because the app orients the map North to the top by default (can be changed), I kept getting confused about which way to turn based on the pointer. My brain could not process the extra step needed to convert the map orientation. It was extremely frustrating and could have been a bigger problem on a more complicated outing. Fortunately, I found my way. I realized while this was happening that something was wrong, since I normally don't have this issue. The problem was my glucose had crashed.
So, fueling. Usually I don't do a good job staying ahead of this. I get excited early in a run and don't fuel every 30 minutes. Then the inevitable crash. Saturday was an example of the problems other than extreme fatigue that come with crappy fueling. I did have major fatigue after the confusion episode, but the weird thought process stuff came first. One contributing factor was colder weather. I've noticed I don't absorb much water as the temperature drops and it sloshes around, not making me real excited to eat. Eventually, my digestion started up again, my blood sugar evened out, and I felt the black brain cloud lift itself.
Robie Creek is my next planned race, so I have some time to adjust to the cold fueling dilemma. My training routes have been well matched to that course, now it's a matter of building speed, getting used to the weather, and forcing myself to eat so I don't run off a cliff.
So, fueling. Usually I don't do a good job staying ahead of this. I get excited early in a run and don't fuel every 30 minutes. Then the inevitable crash. Saturday was an example of the problems other than extreme fatigue that come with crappy fueling. I did have major fatigue after the confusion episode, but the weird thought process stuff came first. One contributing factor was colder weather. I've noticed I don't absorb much water as the temperature drops and it sloshes around, not making me real excited to eat. Eventually, my digestion started up again, my blood sugar evened out, and I felt the black brain cloud lift itself.
Robie Creek is my next planned race, so I have some time to adjust to the cold fueling dilemma. My training routes have been well matched to that course, now it's a matter of building speed, getting used to the weather, and forcing myself to eat so I don't run off a cliff.
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