Last week I finished my longest ultramarathon so far – the 220-mile aptly named “The Mammoth”, in the Eastern Sierras (here). Held at an average altitude of about 8000 feet, this “run” passes through some of the most beautiful places in California, including two climbs to the summit of Mammoth mountain (11,053 feet), a favorite Southern California skiing destination in the winter. Since a good portion of the course is very steep (with total altitude gain of some 31,000 feet), and the rest soft and pumice covered on rolling fire roads, almost everyone (including the winners) have to hike a good 70-80% of the “run”. With my older knees, I knew I would have to power hike over 90% of the terrain, which would make covering the course very slow (~four days and nights), which in turn would mean less time to sleep, which would mean…sleep deprivation induced hallucinations. I signed up for this event earlier this year as a birthday present to myself, romanticizing the time to unplug and just think for what would become four days and four nights of non-stop forward movement.
The full note on this important topic can be downloaded at this link: LTA Thinking – Hallucinations…Real And Artificial