(Mile 2185 to 2210, Race Track Trail = 25 miles)
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| It is fall in the Pacific Northwest! |
Well, at mid-morning today, I desperately wanted
to lay down in the trail and cry. My feet hurt. Non-stop. I
did not, however, do this. Mostly because I realized that you can go
ahead and lay down in the trail and cry all you want; but, eventually, you have
to get up, pick your pack up, and walk. So why bother? The trail
doesn't care, no one is coming anytime soon, and the longer you stop the
farther you get behind Gumby. I walked on. And thought about my
options.
Here are my options, as far as I can tell.
1. Continue to at least White Pass.
Take it from there.
2. Get off the trail ASAP.
3. Take a section off, rest, hitch, and
catch up with Gumby. Finish the section later.
4. Wait for my dad to come out and hike
with him at a reduced pace until it snows.
5. Slow down, but keep going.
6. Find friends to hike with me and
share/carry gear. And/or slack pack.
7. Finish come hell or high snow.
8. Do everything I can think of to heal,
up the ibuprofen, and take it one day at a time.
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| 2200 miles down, 465-ish to go. |
I am leaning towards 1 and 8. I don't know
that slowing down or taking a few days off will make any difference. I
cannot see myself NOT finishing. I do not want to hike in as much pain as
I was this morning either. I'll reevaluate at our next resupply.
Meanwhile...Washington is all right so
far! More climbs and woods, less views for now, but it feels pretty
comfortable. We like it. Washington, so far, you are okay in our
book!
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| Adams? |
We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of trail
friends. It seems most people we know are behind us (we checked the trail
register--we know almost no one who is ahead!) Which means that everyone
we know should be catching up. Hooray. Sometimes it's nice to be a
tortoise.
I just sent you an e-mail with four things to do for your foot pain after a call to my friend Joan who has suffered through this. The Ibuprofen is one out of four suggestions. These should help you, especially the inner soles she talks about. Lou
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lou!
Deletecan you possibly have someone bring you some arch supports.. They helped my PF within 3 days.
ReplyDeleteHey Dorothy! Go for some stiff inserts, the wrapping of the arch will help also. Heavier/stiffer boots? Tylenol? PF is very common, overcome it. Keep going. You know you can.
ReplyDeleteRemember, Winston Churchill said "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"
Sincere regards,
Preson
Thanks, Preson! I am walking on. Tylenol, inserts, braces, and tape.
DeleteDorothy! It's Katie Niemeyer (daughter of your biggest fans :)). I've been following your superb adventure and I'm truly enjoying reading about your experiences. Reading the above post I couldn't resist - I had PF a couple years ago and thought I could chime in with what I learned from the podiatrist I saw (it was also some of the worst pain I ever experienced so my empathy meter goes off the charts when I hear that someone else is suffering!). Anyway, the podiatrist explained to me that the problem began with my IT band and hips; since those were tight, they pulled on my achilles tendon, which became tight, and ultimately pulls on the fascia on the bottom of your foot. When you sleep at night, your toes naturally point downward and when all of the aforementioned anatomy is tight, the fascia can't loosen or relax as fast as it normally would once you wake up and try to walk. So, I found it to be super important to stretch and massage my IT band, achilles, calf, and arch in the morning before getting out of bed to loosen them up. During the day it helps to stand facing a tree, put your hands on it, and swing your leg back and forth parallel to the ground 20 or so times to stretch out the IT band. Hopefully you've already heard all of this and have found comfort in whatever methods of healing you've encountered, but if not, I hope your muscles are on their way to feeling a bit more loose and relaxed so your fascia can be free!!! Love, Katie
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katie! I did NOT hear about the hips/IT band connection. And have not been stretching them or probably my calves enough. Thanks for passing this along!
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