Not something I wanted to take quite so quickly but it was needed as the pain in my neck was in all honesty, pretty bad. It hurt as I was skiing yesterday, and I needed to constantly stop to try and turn my head and stretch my shoulders a little to help alleviate the pain. Then after I lay down in the tent, just simple things like sitting back upright brought almost excruciating pain… it wasn’t nice. The painkillers, muscle relaxants and rest have all helped though: it’s been a few hours since I took anything and while there is discomfort, the pain isn’t anywhere near like it was.
I think it was a combination of the extreme weight of the sled, over exertion and, worse than either of these, my harness not being adjusted correctly (entirely my fault, I should have adjusted earlier). The shoulder straps were too tight and the waist strap too loose so much of the sled’s 135kg in weight was being transferred into my shoulders and neck. Hopefully the adjustments I have made today will help when I ski again tomorrow.
So today, just eating away with my rest day rations – only around 3000kcal for days like this. A slightly smaller breakfast, and fewer snacks of chocolates, nuts, dried fruit, cheese, meat, and protein and energy bars during the day, enough to keep me going, but tomorrow back to my full 6300kcal intake – more of the same just in larger quantities! I also noticed that my one of my cheeks got a little burned as had been exposed to the elements through all the gear, so put some taping on my face—more pre-emptive than anything—to help prevent any reoccurrence. So not an entirely unproductive day.
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Click on the tracker below to hear Ben’s audio diary from his overnight camp.