On mileage and food

I think I posted something really optimistic about miles a few days ago. Well, it's probably not possible to average 70 miles a day on this route. 60 is possible, and 50 is definitely doable. But the 70 and 80 mile days are starting to take their toll.

First, it was digestive trouble. My daily diet out here is something like 5 packets of oatmeal in the morning, two big packets of easy mac for first lunch, three pitas with peanut butter and granola (like a PB sandwich but with a pita) for second lunch, and two lipton dinners, maybe with tuna, for dinner. Add in five granola bars and some other snacks during the day, and you have maybe 4000-5000 calories a day. Stomachs have a hard time with that, and I ended up with killer indigestion the other day. That indigestion cleared up for the most part yesterday, only to be replaced by a sore hamstring tendon. The tendon seems to be doing a little better today, but it still gave me some trouble.

Anyway, the bottom line is that there's a limit to how far you can push yourself before things start to go snap. Part of the problem is that without Tim here there's nothing to put the brakes on me, and I just don't know how to stop very well. So from here on out, a little shorter days will become the norm.


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