Jul 21 2008
A day hike might have been wiser…
Did a 12 mile overnight hike in the Allegheny Forest over the weekend. My delightful friends J and A took me with them. They are Vermonters and avid hikers, and MAN, they had that system down! So, I felt very comfortable making an expedition, even with my weak leg.
The good news—my ATR leg held up beautifully. Sure, I had very little strength, and by the end, absolutely ZERO push off with my foot, but over all, not bad at all. Had some footing issues crossing slimy rocks and creeks, but nothing slowing down and taking it easy couldn’t conquer. Overall, very happy with what my leg did for me.
The bad news—due to altered body mechanics and the humidity that made me pour sweat into my socks, I got a SPECTACULAR blister on the back of my good leg. I figure I was putting out 2/3 of the work of hiking with 30 lbs or more of gear through my good leg, and somehow this translated into serious friction in my boots and a blister the size of a coffee ring. Ouch. I now limp a little on both legs, until this monster heals and stops oozing, and no sand walking for a while. I was never so happy to see a parking lot as I was at the end of that hike!
More good news—The blister issue is forcing me to put more weight on my bad leg, where the weight should be anyway. Also, I walked 12 miles with a full backpack at 14wks. I rock.