I woke up this morning feeling simultaneously excited and worried about my upcoming hike. Excited because I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do. Worried about whether or not I can do it. A classic battle for me.
This morning’s internal debate began on yesterday’s hike. The hike began wet, muddy and cool. I was nervous about hiking alone (annie and buster took the weekend off). Initially I was worried about crazy forest preserve murderers (I think this is a common fear among urban/suburban folks who spend little time in nature – not afraid of wild animals, afraid of wild nature-people). I can balance my crazy enough to go into nature anyway, but you can be sure I had worked out all types of ‘escape plans’ should I need one.
Yesterday’s plan included a whistle, kicks in the shins and shortcuts through the forest screaming.
Despite the rain there were actually lots of people out running and cycling. There is a camaraderie among people out exercising in inclement weather. Remember that guy who gave me a high-five? So my nervousness about murderers dwindled and I began enjoying the hike. The plan was to hike 3 different trails totaling just around 5.5 miles. I originally was going to add on another mile, but that trail was on pavement and too rough on my knees and back.
So I felt great on the hike. I was walking at a pretty quick clip, stopping only to snap a few shots. My legs felt great, my lungs felt great…I was feeling pretty proud of my damn self. At just about 3.5 miles in I started feeling really hot in the face. I doubt I’ve ever shared this little fact, but my face doesn’t sweat. I can probably credit this to why I rarely ever had blemishes as a teen. That obvious plus aside, my face gets REALLY hot and REALLY red when I exercise. And also really salty. You could lick my cheeks at the end of a hike and replenish your own salt loss. And my cheeks are really soft..perhaps all that salt is exfoliating! But now I’m just bragging.
Before making the obvious choice to take off a few layers to cool down, my mind had to go through the motions of entertaining every worst-case-scenario that could happen as a result of a too-hot-face. All anxious roads lead to the fear of passing out (for me at least). It took me way too long to take off enough layers to properly cool down my hot, hot face and I spent way too much of the last 2 miles worrying. As soon as the final layer was removed I felt great again. I need to remember that
As soon as you cooled down, you felt great.
The worry that I woke up with this morning was whether my too-hot-face was going to be a real problem in the too-hot grand canyon and what was I going to do to keep myself cool.
This is where I ask for advice…what should I do to make sure I keep cool enough on this hike?
I also didn’t eat enough on this hike – I’d had breakfast on the road towards the hike and forgot to bring any snacks for the hike. I think that might have helped as well. I keep thinking that 5-6 miles isn’t really such a great distance, but I forget how long it takes. There’s a big difference in what your body needs for a 5-6 mile run which might take 1-1.5 hours and hiking the same distance which takes me over 2 hours.
Advice again: what should I bring to eat on this hike?
So my day began with worry, but as I got out of bed, made breakfast and puttered around my house…thoughts of excitement began to bubble.
- I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do, but wasn’t sure I ever would!
- I’m headed to the Southwest which is an area of inspiration for me
- I have aspirations of being an athlete and pushing myself to take on physical challenges (despite my anxieties!) This counts!
- I want to do more
The rest of the morning I’ve spent looking into other adventures I might decide to partake in over the next year. I think it’s going to be a fun year for my hot little face!
love and salt,
Erin
And now for the photos…
::Not enough to eat, I guess. but yum.
::The start of the windy trail
:: Wildlife! No crazy murderers, but this guy gave me a menacing stare as I passed by, eyes averted.
::I spotted 2 trees that had single christmas ornaments hanging from the. Probably a drug drop-off spot for santa’s elves
::Can you see the highway off to the right? why would anyone swim in this pond? But just in case, the life preserve is ready. And looks like it’s been used…?
::Technicolor lichen! (lichen? speak up nature-lovers, enlighten me on what this is)
Next week I’ll be blogging and hiking from a top secret locale.
And I”m serious about the tips on keeping cool and what to eat…please share your knowledge!
