Trail Pain (June 12)

Being on the trail means managing and accepting pain. There is not a day without some form of pain. If you don't manage it or can't accept it, you will be off the trail soon. I often travel further in one day than if I ran a marathon, and I'm pretty sure I burn more calories on most days than if ran a marathon. Pain of some kind is pretty much a part of each day.

Over the last few days, the internal support for my pack has been warping. This is just a thin plastic sheet. It took me a long time to figure out what was happening. There were some days the pack really pulled on my shoulders, and other days it did not. It also seems to reshape itself over night. The result is severe strain on my shoulders. I kept trying to adjust the straps, but nothing works. My shoulders really hurt at the end of each day almost to the point I can not move them. I should be able to buy a new pack in Harpers Ferry.

I think I slightly sprained my ankle going up Priest Mountain. My left ankle was in a lot of pain for a few days. I have no idea what I did to sprain it. I could have rolled it on some rocks. The pain level in my ankle alternated between low and moderate pain for nearly a week. At one point I had no pain most of the day and random severe shooting pains. I had no way of knowing what to do so I zeroed and started the next day slow. I must have managed the injury well because it is no longer a problem.

It hurts to walk every morning. The bottoms of my feet get so bruised that it takes a few minutes each morning for that pain to go away. In addition, I lost a lot of feeling in my toes. Both of these are very common problems on the trail.

I've had a slight sore throat for a few days. Now, I'm starting to lose my voice. I had the high fever about a month ago. Nearly everyone gets sick at least once on the trail.

Knowing that I still have another thousand miles to go, I need to pay attention to every new pain. Most of the time, there are no clear answers to dealing with these types of injuries.