100-mile Finish Line ~

Wildflowers in Michigan City
with Mt Superior ~

I've been thinking lately about how tired I've been.  I mean, I know I've been doing a lot of miles, but really not that many compared to a lot of people who run ultras.  I only really run about 50 miles a week at the most.  I started Optygen HP supplement a little over a month ago, and I don't know that it is really helping.  It's supposed to help your body produce more ATP and recover more quickly, so maybe it's working and I would be even more tired without it.  I ran Bighorn 100 in June and did a 100-miles in 5 days challenge on my own a couple of weeks ago, just for the heck of it.

Sol-Bright Trail ~

I'm about 6 days into my "no dairy" week.  Some people think that dairy causes more fatigue.  I think I just miss dairy.  My coffee just doesn't taste as good in the morning with soy or coconut milk added.  And no, I'm not going to try almond milk.  I hate it.  So next week it's going to be back to good ol' moo juice.  Yum.

My sleep hasn't been as good for the past couple of weeks, which is probably the real culprit of my fatigue.  I'm still getting about 8 hours (or more) of sleep per night, but I've been reading these LAPD cop crime novels, and I really just can't put them down.  I go to bed at 9:30, but before I know it, it's 11:30 and I'm still wide awake and reading, wondering what Harry Bosch is going to do next to solve the case or who is going to get in his way.  It's a healthy addiction.  Problem is, it hits 11pm and I want a snack, so I usually turn to Nutella on toast.  Which has a small amount of dairy in it, so I guess I haven't been completely dairy-free this week.  Oh well.

Mount Millicent overlooks Lake Martha ~

Then yesterday I was actually working (I've had a limited schedule this month because it's Summer Semester, and the clinic is not as busy.  Since I'm the low man on the totem pole, I'm the first provider to drop off the schedule when things are not busy) and I was counseling a patient.  We started talking about how long it would be before he got his fitness back after an unexpected orthopedic surgery that he was going to have to have.  It could be close to a year.  He started to get very depressed and got tears in his eyes.

Wildflowers at Catherine's Pass

I spoke from experience and told him that in all honesty, surgery sucks, but it's temporary.  Here I am, 6 years after my ACL reconstruction, and I've run three 100-mile races.  I started thinking more about it:  when I was "young and fit", I couldn't finish a 100-mile race.  I DNF'd from Wasatch a couple of times, probably because I went out too fast and put too much pressure on myself.  Now that I've got the "experience of age" (yeah, I'm old), I can really draw from "what pain really is" and how much I can tolerate and not give up.  I can see something through to the finish line and endure a lot of adversity along the way.

Ann overlooks Devil's Castle ~

I know my patient is in shock over what has happened to him.  I hope that he can remember my words as he is dealing with his situation over the next few months.  His appointment ran over into my lunch hour yesterday and I could tell he didn't want to leave and honestly, I didn't want to be one of those providers who is like, "Shit happens, tough luck fella.  Go see the surgeon and good luck with your surgery.  See ya.  I gotta eat my lunch."  I wanted to make sure he had his questions answered and knew that it was going to be ok in time so I stayed and talked with him.  I hope he becomes a stronger athlete because of his situation like I feel that I have.  I'm not the fastest one out there, but hell, at least I'm getting to the finish line like I never did before.