Different kind of “Trips & Hikes” articles on Rockaholik
Intro
I’m a little hesitant to start because my original intention with Rockaholik was to create a „minerals only territory” but as I more and more feel a pull towards physical outdoor challenges I feel the need for a transition. So probably an increasing number of my blog entries will introduce you to my physical (and its related mental) challenges which I willingly undertook myself. I’m not making these to brag, that attitude is far from my intentions.
I write these entries to give you some support if you ever want to walk down a similar road. I read a number of articles about power hiking, triathlon, swim technique tricks and tips and I found many of them more than useful – once I put them into action. Hence my goal is to help you get through your supposed mental limits, strengthen you in your weakest moments via simply letting you know that there is always a chance to get through the difficulties. I’ve got a lot of mental challenges which I learned how to hide along with my vulnerabilities, so I’ll be as open as I can be to help both of us. After all this… let’s get it on!
Biggest hike challenge so far: 3x50 km
October/28/2022 - the first 50 km leg
In 2020 I started to play with the thoughts of power hiking. To the day of 10/28/2022 I completed three 50 km and one 60 km hike which were organized so not counting my personal hikes. I never trained too much for them because my egoistic part always thought that me going to mineral collecting trips every now and then kept my physicality in check. I don’t think it’s far from the truth but it’s far enough not to be able to unleash my very best. You might think that for my new challenge to finish a 3x50 km hike in 49 hours which is nothing comparable to anything I’ve done so far I got my sh*t together and started a workout regime to prepare myself mentally and physically. Well… nope.
All packed. Find the only "thing" that I didn't bring to the hike. :)
The first 50 km hike started at the outskirts of Budapest, at Normafa. My wonderful wife and our “little” dobermann escorted me to the starter group of about 15 people. We had been given the itinerary for the day onto which we had to collect stamps at 12 stops. If you lose the itinerary, miss or are late to arrive at a checkpoint you’re disqualified so we had to keep this piece of paper safe from water, sweat and loss. I dropped my gear which was then transported to the hostel by the organizers where the finish was on both nights and at 18:00 the last camera shot was taken, the last kiss was given to my wife and dog and the first steps were made. In the fog. In the dark.
Happiness before leaving for the start.
My heartbeat skyrocketed because I was not prepared for the weather conditions. I never did a practice run in a forest at night and I didn’t know the trail too much either so I was unsure if I had to expect some wildlife to safeguard myself from. I also did not think about what I’d do if fog would appear so I pretty much decided at the beginning that I’ll follow someone whose pace seems suitable. Not so fast my friend - said the itinerary. Or simply my uncontrolled focus.
As I started to jog down the first slight slope behind my fellow hikers I felt the all so familiar nervousness in my stomach. I usually have this when I’m on a new trail or I’m alone in the wilderness where I’m at for the first time. I had to stop and deal with the whirling thoughts but I didn’t want to lose time so I nervously tried to study my itinerary and search the signs on the tree trunks in the fog. As I fell to the last place I got my sh*t together and charged down to the valley to catch up. But I miscalculated where the first stop would be and I nervously searched for a stamp. Then turned back to look for it. I felt lost in the deep fog, I was anxious as hell but as I saw and heard noone around I figured that I have to move forward. That’s when I realized that I lost something - my itinerary fell out of my pocket somewhere. So once again I had to turn back and felt my stomach gurgling in anxiousness because I had to make the first stop in time. Luckily I found my itinerary a few hundred meters back and I started to all-out sprint down towards the first stop. I barely made it, it was just 1 minute till drop-dead time. Got my stamp, some encouragement and a good luck wish. They say that the start of all new things is tough, it certainly was for me this time but as I got through the toughest part of the challenge now I felt that nothing can stop me.
The trail was quite forgiving, for me though the deepening fog posed the most difficult challenge. Drops fell from the trees, in the forest areas it was as if it has been raining. I got dirty and had to be aware of the slippery slopes but there were only a few of them. I don’t go into much details because I didn’t feel that I have difficulties after my start, I just had to rely on the navigation on my phone and collect the stamps, consume some salt tablets and snacks, drinks along the way and move on which I did.
Just before the finish...
As soon as I got to the last 1-2 kms I got really tired focusing and felt the urge to finish. Usually I feel this urge when I’m close to finishing something - the burning need to stop and rest my mind/body because I know that I’m close to my goal. This is the point where I start contemplating shortcuts - how could I stop my misery immediately? My feet started to send signals to my brain that I’m about to grow my biggest blisters on my small toes - oh yes, both sides - but at least the rest of my toe protection (basically a sticky band over the critical areas) worked. As I tried to wash the urging mindset out of my head down the last slope I got nervous of the slippery trail and lost focus. I saw a house and started to move towards that but I was off-track so I had to climb up to the right trail again which helped 4-5 guys catch up to me so instead of finishing as the 2nd or 3rd I finished in the mid-pack. I felt a little dissatisfied with the ending.
The hike took me 9:17 hours. According to my application I hiked 53 km while ascending 1381m while the itinerary suggests I hiked 50 km ascending 1621m. Not too bad considering I started the hike after work that day and that I had basically no previous knowledge of the trails we had to conquer. After I got to the accommodation, I took care of my feet, quickly ate and drank something and hit the floor (literally) as soon as I could to be able to start the next ~50 km in about 6 hours.
