Well that went poorly...

I don't feel the sickness yet, but it's in the post. That's for sure. I'm in the junkie limbo at the moment. Too ill to sleep. Too tired to stay awake, but the sickness is on its way. Sweat, chills, nausea. Pain and craving. A need like nothing else I've ever known will soon take hold of me. It's on its way. ~ Mark Renton

Headed down to Boulder early this morning to join Bob, Thomas and Zack for a 12-mile circumnavigation of South Boulder and Bear Peaks. This was supposed to be about a 3 hour adventure but ended up being more like 5 hours (for me). Yuck. Not even sure how long we were out or how far we went but I do know I ran out of water and ended up with heat exhaustion or something. Not the best run of my career.

From the onset, I was sweating profusely (as I am known to do) but felt I had packed enough food and water to make the full loop. We bushwhacked up to the Bastille trail then down into Eldorado Canyon. If you have never been to Eldo, it is worth the trip. Lots of spectacular cliffs and people climbing and whatnot.

Once we reached the canyon floor, we headed up, up, up to Walker Ranch then up some more to the north trailhead. From there we started up a "private" road (thinking this would lead us to our ultimate destination more quickly given our experience the last time we tried this route) and were about a half mile from where we needed to be when confronted by homeowners who explained that we needed to head back the way we came. Ugh. So back we went.

Surprisingly, a few minutes later we were offered a ride by the same person who had turned us back. We gladly accepted and were driven to the top of Flagstaff to jump on a trail that would eventually lead us to near where we intended to go in the first place.

By this point, I was rationing water fairly aggressively and started not feeling particularly well but soldiered on down Bear Canyon to Mesa Trail. Once we hit Mesa, all hell broke loose with my body and its ability to keep anything resembling a steady pace. I told the other guys to go on and quickly feel behind as I walked the majority of the way back down to the trailhead.

In a word, I felt pretty shitty and quickly grabbed some spare water from my truck and then plopped down in the creek to try to cool off and soak. I wasn't particularly hungry (not a good sign) but thought a Jamba Juice might do the trick so I drove to Superior (the nearest Jamba location) and checked movie times since that was going to be my next goal. The closer I got to the store, the less I felt going to a movie was going to be a good idea so I decided to head straight home after getting my fix.

While placing my order, I started feeling REALLY sick and woozy so rushed over to some seats they have in the store to sit down. I put my had down on the counter and tried to not get sick. The woman who took my order brought my card over to me (I had abandoned it in my rush to sit down) and I suspect she thought I was wickedly hungover or a junkie or something then just a short time later, one of the other staff members came over to bring me my order, ask if I was okay and offer to bring me a damp towel. Super cool. I had broken out in a crazy sweat and had goosebumps at this point. Then my hands went numb. Oh joy.

After drinking some of the cold, tasty beverage, I started to feel a bit better and decided it was time to hit the road. I asked for some water then started driving back home up Coal Creek Canyon. After awhile, I decided that I probably should pull over because I was just feeling worse and worse. Once I started seeing double, I immediately pulled over to take a nap. I rolled down the windows and climbed into the back seat to see if a little rest would help things out. Then I started puking.

So I threw up a little, then a lot, then rested for at least an hour. Not even sure. I didn't call Rach to tell her what was going on because I didn't have a signal when I pulled over but she called after awhile to see if everything was okay. She had offered to come get me when I was down in Superior but at that point I was feeling okay so I didn't take her up on it. In retrospect, that would have been prudent.

I rested for a bit longer and was feeling better so I headed on up the hill. After about a mile, I started feeling sick again but there wasn't anywhere to pull over. So I fought it for as long as I could and then fortunately a pull out appeared and I took it. I threw up a few more times and then called Rach to meet me in Pinecliffe which was only a couple of miles up the road. By the time I made it to Pinecliffe, I was feeling much better and so I just kept driving. I passed Rach going the other way at the end of our road and she turned around to see if I needed help. At this point, I felt well enough to make it the remaining 3 miles to our house. Rach is so awesome to come help me out.

Once I got home, I took a shower, drank a bunch of water and rested for a bit. I am feeling a lot better now but am pretty sure my temp is still up a bit. I have been whacking down popsicles and water and am now starting to feel a bit hungry. May try some actual food in a bit.

So the moral of this story (or lesson anyway) is to always bring more than you think you will need and start your runs that have the potential to get warm early, early in the morning. Especially if you are a Stu who is inclined toward excessive temperatures and requiring way more water than your average bear.

I think I'll take tomorrow off. And probably Tuesday as well.

~stubert.

[edit]: And my back is killing me after moving 2-tons of pellets twice on Thursday.