:: zone3 ::

The climb and hike on the second day was harder than I expected. I made the mistake of not having food throughout the morning. Knowing the rate I burn through food, I should have realised by the two hour mark my glycogen levels would be low.
2.5 hours in and I was shattered due the lack of food, for the next 30min I could feel my vision beginning to tunnel a little. I've pushed through this feeling before during hard excise session so kept going. I was beginning to wonder, am I am to this hike...

As I sat quietly for lunch, feeling crappy and with a headache, I realised what was wrong, with the lack of fuel, I'd run my body into a hypoglycemic state.
The altitude makes a difference to how the body performs. Although I was only at 2600-2800m because I'm use to sea level I'd been burning fuel at a much higher rate than usual.

Lunch was eaten slowly, as the sugars started to hit the blood, my mind began to clear. From then at each of the frequent water breaks, I made a point of eating a few nuts, etc.

For the first hours of the afternoon walk I continued to perk up.

The next two hours of the hike was a long climb, 600m vertical over about 1.5km. At home, I think I'd run up it (slow run), but at 3000m+ when not acclimatised with a pack and in the sun, it was slow, hard work.

Hitting Namche for the night was a welcome break. I was tired, but not as bad as lunch time. Once a the lodge, had a coffee and as had a 90min break before dinner headed to my room for a rest.
Being now at 3400m, took some Diamox for the first time to help with the acclimatisation. Diamox helps the body acclimatise to altitude quicker by inducing a state of mild hyperventilation.

Eating dinner, I didn't feel that well, intended to finish it then head for an early night. Near the end of dinner, stood to go to the bathroom, got about 3/4 of the way to the door and felt like I was about to faint. Reached for the door handle to steady myself and scraped at thin air, most likely still too far away to reach it.
I woke on the floor with people around me asking 'are you ok?', 'do you know where you are?'. Even though I was in a dazed state, my first thought was 'bloody hell, I just fainted give me a sec'.

I was helped to a bench seat, the guide and everyone else checked I was ok and then was left to rest for a bit. After a short rest, the guide came to check on me again, saying that he wanted to take me to a doctor, etc. As I sat and he talked, I promptly fainted again. At least this time I could aim myself to flop back in the cushioned bench seat unlike the hard floor before. After I came to, decided lying down for awhile longer would be a smart thing.

After awhile, the guide came over, as he described it was 'being a hard guide' and said I needed to head down to Lukla and fly back to Kathmandu. One of the Asst. guides was going to take me in the morning.
Although I knew it was not altitude related and I'd be fine with a good nights rest, I understood the decision from his point of view as he has to ensure the safety of his pax (fainting on a steep part of the trail would not end pretty). As he told me, my thoughts were of disappointment, but also that if I was in his position, I'd make the same decision.

Running my body to hypoglycemic state in the morning was not the smartest. The snacking over the rest of the day kept me going, but my glycogen stores would not have built back up. Along with general tiredness, mild hyperventilation (from Diamox), a little dehydration (including my electrolyte being low) and a warm room, it's not surprising I ended up fainting.

With a good 9-10 hour sleep, the next morning I felt great, like I could jog to the summit or something...