Preparing the Body for a Hike

Days like you describe are weird…I get them sometimes too, days when things just don't click. Maybe it is sleep, but at times it seems almost random, like the body is suddenly trying to rebel, obviously telling us it doesn't want to do what the mind wills…
It honestly sounds like you were just wiped out. Maybe you shouldn't make too much of it.

I know most athletes have restless nights before a big day, even very experienced ones. I've heard countless tales…Imagine trying to run something as tough as the Western States 100 having only slept a few hours…But in the end I suppose it comes to your conditioning and knowing your body. Regardless of adverse conditions, sleep included, the body will revert to doing what it was trained to do.

But for how long?

There's the fine line, that subjective threshold we all have. I think we can get away with a lot, especially if conditioned…but night after night without adequate sleep, proper diet…

I was actually thinking about this in a different way on my Grand Canyon trip.

Not to underestimate the suffering that can exponentially unfold after 12 hours/many miles-I've been there- but I almost feel like staying the night at the North Rim made things worse than if I had just rested for an hour or two and headed back.

It certainly allowed some pain to leave the legs, helped with rehydration/calories (I was probably running a deficit as I new I would be spending the night and have time to catch up).
But it was also a fitful night with little sleep, a lot of wind, and breathing cold, dry air. I was also dreaming and thinking too much…generally a bad, restless night. Morning found me not very well rested with my sinuses feeling terrible.
It got me questioning whether a solid 1-2 hours of rest (without sleep) at the North Rim would've been better than my 7 hour fitful night.

At what point is 1-2 hours of quality rest better than a bad night?

I've noticed that my sleep needs have changed a lot over the years. In my teens, I needed 8+ hours of sleep a night to really function. In my twenties, I just didn't need to sleep much at all. I went on 3-4 hours of sleep for years. I never napped and I could do as little as 1 or 2 hours and still hike, run, swim, or whatever at my normal pace. The last few years, my sleep needs have been increasing to 5 or 6 hours a night. I wonder if in a few years I'll need 7 or 8 hours.

I suspect that different people need different levels of sleep, depending on age, their own bodies needs, ect.

I recently had the same experience under almost the same conditions.

Same hectic week with less than normal sleep, Friday eve a friend got married and got even less sleep (only 2 adult bevs in anticipation of next days hike-boo), and Saturday got up feeling fine for our hike of Mt Huron in central CO. It was approximately 4000' gain in 4 miles from where we started and my first 2 miles was fine. Rest of the day was an utter struggle but I did summit. Sore for 4-5 days afterward which is very abnormal. And to boot, I am a meter reader who logs 50-75 miles a month while working not to mention hikes on weekends for fun. Not rockstar shape but can hold my own.

I really think the cumulative sleep loss the previous week was to blame and can't explain the excessive soreness. I'm a 8 hour a night person when it comes to sleep and maybe as I'm usually walking 7-12 miles a day my body just needed a break? Still rough to have your butt handed to you and then your even tougher fiancee goes for a 16 mile run the next day.

Man did I feel like a wuss…