Up with the larks I was intent on setting out early...but accidentally putting too much water in my porridge put paid to that. I could have just had porridge soup but decided to spend the half hour to boil it down as the others were getting up and we had a good chat over breakfast, swapping trail stories and discussing the importance of having different gear (such as PLBs). Niko and Usea made crepes with jam and choc-hazelnut spread. They were kind enough to give me one, and with that (and slightly less soupy porridge) I was ready to hit the trail.
Niko set out ahead of me and Nathalie not far behind. She overtook me ten minutes in when I stopped to readjust the hikers wool in my socks. She keeps a quick pace and Niko is even faster so they soon disappeared off into the distant haze and I had the beach all to myself again.
Despite being left behind I set out (after sock adjustment) with the best pace I've had all trip. After laying down a quick (for me!) 4km I was foolish enough to contemplate pushing through to Ahipara like the others were intending to...if I could keep it up. Of course my poor unfit body had other ideas.
In one stride there was a twinge in my hip and in one more a shooting pain that brought me to an abrupt halt. Gingerly I went on and within ten steps the same thing happened. Uh oh. I very cautiously walked on, carefully placing my leg and foot so as not to initiate pains and twinges. After possibly the fastest 4km if the trip (excluding excitement-fueled day 1) I then had the slowest. The high tide forced me further up the beach into the soft sand: good for sore feet, bad for sore hip. About midday I suddenly felt very tired and so found a nice hollow in the dunes out of the wind and lay down for. It was nice in there, lying in the warm dry sand, with the dunes framing a little window out onto the blue-green ocean (ahem, sea). I closed my eyes for a nap and after about twenty minutes suddenly realised it was my birthday. I stupidly sang happy birthday to myself as I got ready to make off again...I got to the very last "Happy birthday to me..." and "Ow!". This time it was my left knee. I guess it had been taking up the slack from my malfunctioning hip and now my nap fad given it a chance to seize up. Come on! I thought. I'm too young for this shit!
Following a suspicion that all my problems stem from spending five days constantly walking with one foot higher than the other (due to the incline of the beach) I found some vehicle tracks and walked with my left foot in one for about 2km...and my pains dissipated, not entirely, but enough to be moving along at more than a snail's pace. For the rest of the high tide I followed depressions in the sand that kept my feet level or my left foot lower, and as the tide moved out I moved down the beach onto firmer sand, but still followed along the low runnels left by the waves to try and keep my footing as even as possible.
Happily the firmer sand and careful route choice (who knew you could choose a route on a beach?) meant I was able to up the pace and lay down another 4km almost as quick as the first...then ran out of energy. Cookies, chocolate or museli bars are good for 30 minute bursts, but they don't sustain you, and once I get tired there's no going back (apparently). I pushed on at the best pace I could maintain (with frequent stops) and finally made it to Waipapakauri. The holiday park is about a kilometre inland but happily once I got there I was able to get a room to myself (a bed with sheets and a pillow--birthday treat!) for $30. There's communal kitchen and bathroom facilities but as it was only about 3pm I had it all to myself. A lovely long hot shower later I was a new person. Now in my cleanest/least smelly clothes I managed to bully the worn out electric hob in the kitchen into boiling a pasta snack and also used the jug to boil water for cous cous (as well) and a cup of tea--I was starving!
One day out from Ahipara my thoughts are turning to the next leg of the journey--the Northland Forests. I read through the trail notes, looked over maps, booked into the Ahipara YHA for tomorrow night, and by 6:30pm was ready to hit the hay.
Your comment about uneven walking reminded me - I was super happy I had no knee problems in Ecuador and commented to the docs about it - they considered that while my strength training had helped, one cause of getting ITB problems in one knee in Iceland could have been the cambered roads (Ecuador back country roads are definitely not cambered). Interesting you're commenting on something similar!
ReplyDeleteThe tiredness definitely builds up on you if you don't have enough recovery time. I'd discussed that with Ake during Iceland, the difference between fast people in multiday races, who get more recovery time and slow people who don't and are out longer. It's definitely a different story for us slower types!
Enjoy the longer rest! Having a short day or rest day regularly might be a good idea :)
Oh, if you find One Square Meal bars, they're 347 calories per bar so they're pretty calorie dense and could help with energy for you (the chocolate ones taste like coco pops!). I use those for breakfast in my races... Also 1 packet raro + 1 L water + 1/4 tsp salt = electrolytes + about 300 ish calories... We had to have minimum 2000 calories per day on the races I've done, and even with that you still run at a massive calorie deficit. Yours will be bigger because of the heavier pack... Eat more! :) (One thing I like about doing stuff like this - gives you an excuse to have absolutely no food guilt for a while, haha!)
So true! Having always been a ahem...bigger girl...its so nice to be able to eat literally whatever the hell I want and not feel guilty about it! Still trying to get a balanced diet though of course, and I've craving fresh vege and fruit like never before so those are my new treats that I load up on when in towns :)
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