I just finished another John Muir Trail, landing safely in a nice double bed in the lovely Dow Villa, and although I've felt tired on past (JMT) trips, I'm really walking like a zombie and feeling as though I'm only half awake and never left that bed. It's been two weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xSLpM8XPRQ

I wake in the morning and it's an effort to move my limbs (funny, how I can make it to the climbing gym, though) I go to bed and don't really remember much past reclining onto my pillow.

It would have been nice to, as usual, come home to unemployment and rest, but that didn't happen this time. Aside from downing a bottle of Geritol I'm wondering if there's anything out there . . . vitamin supplements, protein shakes, diets . . . do I eat nothing but meat and beer?

Someone mentioned I might be suffering from a loss of altitude?

I'm terms of recovery I'm not sure if it should be massive amounts of either proteins or carbs, or both (which seems obvious) . . . 51 and fit, but this is a drag.

What have others, who've been on long trips, experienced and how have you dealt with it?

Done't have any solutions but I am the same age and know what you mean I get the same problem. Best to just go on another climb, I think. Rest and a good high protein plus carb diet the next day, then a couple days easy cardio we know should put us back to even, but that sometimes doesn't seem to work. I call it just "lack of motivation", and it's the enemy.........good luck man, I feel your pain.

You may down on electrolytes as well as still dehydrated.

Another thought is that you picked up some sort of bug. When Fred got Giardia, the biggest symptom he had was extreme tiredness.

How many lbs did you lose on the trek......

and are you still losing them ?

I think you're suffering from withdrawal. Any time I've taken long trips and have to go back to the "real" world I get lethargic and uninterested in my immediate surroundings and it can take at least a couple of weeks to get back in the groove. I simply want to be back out THERE.

The best and only cure is to do just that - get back out there.

Parasites.

Let's hope not.

Maybe you just need a lot of rest/sleep now. Or perhaps you need to set your sights on another inspiring project. I often get in a funk after a great outing. Hopefully it's just a natural cycle that you will soon come out of. Or maybe the JMT doesn't thrill you the way it used to, and at some level you realize that and are depressed by it. Maybe it's time to try something new.

I kind of feel like ex-Senator Frist diagnosing Terry Schiavo from the senate floor.

My two cents.

Over doing it.... Well done on another JMT but you may have burned the candle at both ends. There are so many trails and so little time it's easy to over do it. If you want to avoid this feeling you should do more training hiking and then plan your climbing/packing days on a gradient scale of increasing difficulty so your body can adjust.

On the other hand...I love that feeing... you probably do to and you are just bragging

MarthaP wrote:I think you're suffering from withdrawal. Any time I've taken long trips and have to go back to the "real" world I get lethargic and uninterested in my immediate surroundings and it can take at least a couple of weeks to get back in the groove. I simply want to be back out THERE.

The best and only cure is to do just that - get back out there.

I agree, I just start planing my next trip even if its a year away, it keeps your mind active and gives you something to think about and get you through the day. All to often, at a bad day at work, I just think about how Extreme my next vacation will be and try to look forward to it. It normally lifts my spirits and puts me in a good mood.

[quote="MarthaP"]I think you're suffering from withdrawal. Any time I've taken long trips and have to go back to the "real" world I get lethargic and uninterested in my immediate surroundings and it can take at least a couple of weeks to get back in the groove. I simply want to be back out THERE.

I have to agree with all of you, thank you . . . it is a bit of an emotional drain on me. I was talking to someone, telling them that getting into the backcountry is like (if you can follow this analogy) dumping a bucket of water––that bucket being all the shit (oops) that we deal with and once you hit the trail, you dump all that stuff out and it's just you and hills and the day to day miles and . . . but then there's coming back and it's more like a nagging drippy faucet, one little annoyance after another, slowly seeping in . . .

ASIDE from the emotional toll, I am thinking, mild case of giardia??? . . . electrolytes ( I can buy those at the hardware store, right?) needed replenishment . . .

No longer losing pounds. in fact I did pretty well this time around. I usually come back with a neck looking like E.T. . . . oh well, he just wanted to go home too––maybe I should get back out there (snow fun coming soon enough!) THANKS for the ideas.

Could either still dehydrated or have a vitamin/mineral deficiency. You might have been sweating out more than you could take in. I had a severe case of weakness/dizziness last fall - blood tests found I was very low on iron, vitamin b (not sure which) and d. Felt immediately better after loading up on these. Now I just make sure to take my vitamins before/after the strenous stuff. You'll probably need to take iron & d at different times since d usually comes w/ calcium.