Bonking
An expression used by athletes to
describe exercise induced low blood sugar levels; being a feeling of
light-headedness and weakness in all limb.
After my recent trip to Scotland i found myself in a bit of a mess, i had a crash for 3 days and felt ill, chesty cough, nausea and plenty of the usual aches and pains.
So i rested for a few days and midweek had a gentle walk/run of 20 miles and felt pretty good, so decided to go ahead with supporting a Paddy Buckley Round for a friend (Mark). The attempt had a planned start time of 7pm so just to be sure i went to Wales in the morning to reccie a small section i was not 100% about, 3 hours, a nice gentle walk/run including a couple of good ascents, i felt strong and ready for a run.
I only had one section to navigate/support (about 4 hours) and the pace was set to be within my abilities (just). The attempt started a little late but i was ready for the run and initially felt good, unfortunately i was not fully recovered from my illness and quickly began to feel weak and light headed. I pushed on to the 3rd ascent but half way up i bonked, i managed to get to the top by which time i was in a right mess. I was disorientated, completely exhausted and couldn't get enough air in my lungs.
I was in such a mess that i started to ascend in the wrong direction, even when asked if i was ok i said yes? It was obvious i was not all there so Mark took over his own navigation. Boy had i screwed up. I decided to bail out while i still felt able to get off the hills safely, leaving Mark and the remaining support member to negotiate the final 3 tops with out their navigator, me.
I was in such a mess that i started to ascend in the wrong direction, even when asked if i was ok i said yes? It was obvious i was not all there so Mark took over his own navigation. Boy had i screwed up. I decided to bail out while i still felt able to get off the hills safely, leaving Mark and the remaining support member to negotiate the final 3 tops with out their navigator, me.
In fell running it is very common to offer help for friend on a very important challenge, this was one of those challenges. However we some times forget about ourselves, the desire to help out friends can cloud our vision or make us forget we are only human. However, lesson learnt, time to move on.
This human needs a rest so the next few weeks will be spent doing the things other bored humans do, eating, sleeping and DIY.
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