Random sudden drop in energy? What’s wrong?

Good evening, I’m currently feeling slightly concerned about my health.

I am an avid hiker, I love hiking. I generally hike a route at home - it’s about 5 miles and has a 1,300 feet elevation gain.

I tend to do this in about an hour and a half or an hour and twenty.

I live in London so can only do this periodically when I come home. When I do come home, my hiking pace slows down to an hour and fifty, so I have to bring it back up.

So after returning from London recently, I’m now back hiking. I ran around the hike and did it in an hour and 33 which is fast for me after being away for so long.

The concern I have is that about half way through I suddenly lost all energy, just out of nowhere. On the way back I was zonked, I was walking back to my car and just had no energy.

I could barely move and struggled back to my car. I ate a bit of gum and some dinner when I got home. I’m still feeling a tad drained and zonked with a red face (never happens for me).

Not sure why this would happen? The only thing I can say is that I’m tired from working and got limited sleep due to travelling.

This usually never happens to me.

in UKhikingby GooseEasy7709

62%

17d

devastating_dave

17d

You bonked. https://www.ride25.com/cycling-blog/bonking-birds-bees/

Eat more!

squirrelginger

16d

Yeah, eat more or sleep more. And if that doesn't work see a doctor and get some blood tests etc.

devastating_dave

16d

Typical Reddit where everyone is diagnosing everything under the sun before suggesting the basics of "did your body have any fuel for the exertion you placed upon it" 😂

wdwhereicome2015

17d

Hit the wall by sounds of it. How were your energy levels prior? Did you fuel prior to the hike?

Common saying is that what you eat early is the fuel for later.
So if exercising and had had much prior could use all you energy resources by time you felt lethargic. Especially if you were doing it quicker than normal.

If still feel lethargic a few days after without any intense exercise, then get to gp’s for a check up.

I started feeling lethargic day to day. Went to gp’s and had some blood tests. Turns out my liver level were over 100 (should be below 40). Usual questions about drink, which rarely do. Scan showed i have a fatty liver which can cause feeling lethargic.

GooseEasy7709

17d

I had a long day of travel the day before and only slept 7 hours. Prior to the hike I had a substantial lunch at 1pm.

I don’t generally eat much before a hike, maybe a meal an hour or two before. I tend to go out and hike without preparing as it doesn’t usually affect me.

StatisticianOne8287

17d

My wife had similar. Turned out to be low iron, so much that GP put her on supplements.

She’s back to normal from an energy standpoint now so could be worth checking with the Gp

GooseEasy7709

17d

I do have low vitamin b12 and some others which I take supplements for.

Watersmuddy

17d

bonking or possibly given that pollen is out in force some sort of asthma. asthma can also be exertion-induced. https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/conditions/asthma/asthma-triggers/when-exercise-triggers-your-asthma

squirrelginger

16d

That's almost always in elite athletes (or at least that's what a doctor told me when I suggested it)

Watersmuddy

16d

indeed that’s what my doctor said to me (middle aged, unfit) then the consultant said it was exertion induced

Realfinney

15d

My response would have been "basically, doctor says I'm training like an elite athelete."

wolf_city

17d

Go to your GP? What can Reddit do? Could be a million things.

My intuition though from the way you describe your hiking numerically is you are hyper focused on performance but probably not proper recovery and nutrition. Maybe just calm down a bit and try to enjoy the outdoors in of themselves and as somewhere for a bit of respite from London and the mania it creates in people. Can't you just walk at a normal speed and look at things sometimes?

Inevitable-Slide-104

17d

See a dr.

Hydration and blood sugar levels could have been involved. May well be nothing, but get yourself checked out if you think you need to.

spambearpig

16d

For me this happens when it’s hot. But there can be lots of reasons for this.

space_guy95

16d

Sometimes you can just have an off day, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about this as a one off incident. Also consider that the weather has suddenly got a lot warmer without the usual gradual increase that we see in Spring, so you may have got too hot, not drank enough, or just overexerted yourself without realising it. In warmer weather it can also be easier to run low on electrolytes due to the increased sweating.

Take some sports electrolyte/sugar snacks on your next hike and look out for the early symptoms of what you just experienced. If you feel the same coming on, have a big drink and your snacks and see if that resolves it.

MarrV

17d

There are a myriad of factors that affect energy levels, a full day's travel can easily do it especially if not used to it. Less sleep than normal can contribute (you don't catch up on lost sleep).

Your body could be fighting off a bug in the background, enough to need more energy but not enough to produce symptoms to make you aware of it.

You could have a muscle or nerve twinged that is bring repaired.

By all means see a doctor, but it literally could just be "one of those things".

Pushing yourself hard when you have not for a while is likely to have a recovery time greater than when you have regularly been doing the same exercise.

A big factor in exercise is recovery time, and it is something very few people take seriously enough.

GooseEasy7709

17d

I’m always surprised at how quickly my hiking speeds fall. I generally return every 5-6 weeks, for a week. Before I go back to London my hikes are about 80-90 mins, but fall quickly to 1 hour, 50.

Just worried that this is another sickness!

nemotide

17d

Electrolytes? You might be coming down with something? I am exhausted at the beginning of a virus.

Minionherder

16d

Recent tick bite?

seeriktus

15d

Lack of salt or dehydration can feel like that. I put Dioralyte in my drink to prevent that sort of thing, it's basically salt+sugar but both help your both re-hydrate.

0nrth0

17d

Do you eat regularly during exercise? Could just be a bonk. It’s good to constantly take in fuel of some sort, whether that be energy dense snacks or carbohydrate drinks.

GooseEasy7709

17d

How do I tell if this was caused by a “bonk” or vitamin deficiency etc?

WolfieTooting

17d

Just blame it on long covid