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Day 19 – Livigno
Day Nineteen: 26/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 80bpm
Blood Saturation: 92
This morning I felt a lot of residual fatigue so I had decided to give my body a rest however, my brother wanted to go quad bike riding and you know what that means? RACE. I already had very sore muscles between my shoulder blades so even though I knew my arms, shoulders and back would get a work-out…. I justified it by thinking my legs would still get a bit of recovery. Um no. In order to maintain speed and traction on the ice/snow, a lot of body weight shifting is required so, on the very tight circuit, it felt like squat after squat, using my quads to raise and transfer my weight. OUCH. My body was completely fatigued after a 30min circuit race. Arm pump, burning quads and a sore thumb muscle. Did I mention it was minus 13 degrees and snowing?
Day 18 – Snow Hike
Day Eighteen: 25/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 80bpm
Blood Saturation: 92
I got up early and climbed 500m elevation in -10 degrees. The temperatures here are dropping. I felt like I could keep climbing for 1000m elevation but I thought it was more important to keep activating my muscles on the descents – which I struggle with. My quads were burning and I went lactic and started to wobble towards the bottom, it’s quite dangerous on the super steep descents because I started to lose my balance and trip quite a bit – that could have ended badly as I didn’t have my ice axe and could have slid for 2-300m before hitting something.
I went out for a nice lunch, came back to the hotel and watched some Netflix – during this time my chest got tight and my throat was sore, I was worried I was getting sick however after dinner and an excruciating deep tissue massage, I concluded it must have been an allergic reaction to something.
Day 17 – Livigno
Day Seventeen: 24/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 80bpm
Blood Saturation: 93
I woke up with a plan to hike up the slopes this morning however, after taking my washing to a laundry mat, being distracted by some cool sports stores and taking my boots in for repair… it had started to snow and the day had gotten away from me! I decided to sit in a nice café, drink a hot chocolate and be social. I normally feel guilty for skipping a day of training however today – I didn’t. I was super relaxed. After lunch I punched out some emails and then went to a late meeting with a potential sponsor…. returned to have some dinner, collect my washing, shower and jump into bed for an early night. Motivated to have a nice hike in below zero temperatures tomorrow.
Day 16 – Pushing Limits
Day Sixteen: 23/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 65bpm
Blood Saturation: 92
Today I went out for a more solid snow hike from the bottom of the Carosello 3000 lift to the top, lots of very steep sections. My ambition was not to take any small stops when my legs started to burn, I achieved that. My backpack was a little heavier as I took extra clothes, it had been scheduled to snow in the afternoon. Whilst we didn’t get any snow, I was watching some dark clouds roll in as I was approaching the top. Once I was on a flatter section near the top, I managed to get my Dynafit puffer jacket out and on without actually stopping. My chest and hands were super cold but as soon as I got that jacket on, I started to warm up. It was only minus one however some lower temperatures are on the way.
Day 15 – Reflection
Day Fifteen: 22/02/23
Resting Heart Rate: 70bpm
Blood Saturation: 93
I’ve woken up feeling a little smashed. I had a very unsettled sleep. I’m still coming to grips with losing a close friend and constantly find myself thinking about his family. I don’t think there’s a minute during the day when I’m not thinking about this shocking loss, reflecting on all the goodness in this man and, feeling useless in terms of helping his family through such a traumatic period of their lives. I’m still feeling a mix of anger and sadness.