Hiking

[Catrin]

Second hike in my new Salomon boots today. It was supposed to be a 3.7 mile loop, turned out to be closer to 4.5 miles. I am getting used to incorrect mileage postings. THIS trail is an intermediate mountain bike trail and, unlike last weekend's hike, THIS one has no pavement. Last week the bottom of my bad foot was tender to the touch afterwards, that didn't happen today - and it was almost a half-mile further. I think my boots and pavement don't mix - but that isn't what they were designed for. While the ball of my big toe did finally start bothering me - it took 4 miles to get there rather than the usual .25 mile with my trail running shoes. VERY happy with the new boots and they worked much better for me in the muddy sections. I intend to get as much use out of them as I can before my knee surgery, and hopefully the recovery will be quick so I don't miss most of the season. Of course, they ARE appropriate for cold weather hiking

Meanwhile, here is a picture from my hike today - it is of an intermediate mountain bike trail that I once helped to build. I can't seem to get images to either upload to TE or to share that isn't too large - hence my link.

Added: I had forgotten that I have a Vaude 3-liter hydration pack. I had been considering buying an inexpensive daypack, but this is so much better! This design gets the weight off my back allowing air circulation - and it also distributes the weight much better for shoulders and waist to prevent my nagging cervical spine problems from getting aggravated. From what I can tell Vaude no longer has a hydration pack, so I count myself lucky. They DO have a "bike pack" but they don't mention a hydration pack if it has one. This means I can't replace the bladder - but I am sure a Camelbak bladder would work just fine should the need arise. This works far better than my old book backpack from grad school days, and my body likes it much better than my Camelbak hydration pack. Thankful I finally remembered I had to buy it after my MTB injury! Re-using things is much better than having to replace them

[Crankin]

Nice pic, Catrin. Glad you are enjoying the shoes. It's nice when the money spent is well worth it.
My foot is still not that great. I avoided heels last week, which helped, but it's really walking and some of the boot camp stuff that is hurting the recovery. It rarely hurts riding, there's no bruising or swelling, and I can't feel any lumps, bumps, etc. It kind of feels like it did when I had a stress fracture. Anyway, I am going to hold off on buying my trail runners and new regular running shoes until I get back from my trip. Skipping boot camp tomorrow/rest and will commute Tuesday, but that's it until I get to France. I will be doing tons of walking before the cycling part, so I hope my foot holds up. I really wanted to hike today, but I rode instead, because the motion just seems to make it all worse.
What surgery will you be having?

[Catrin]

Sounds painful Crankin, I hope you get relief soon with your foot! Frankly, I should really have my foot looked at but I am pretty sure that all that can be done involves surgical instruments - and it is far from being THAT bad. It isn't Plantar Fasciitis, I think it is probably arthritis in the ball of my big toe on that foot.

Your trip to France sounds like so much fun! I hope your foot holds out and you've an enjoyable trip. When do you arrive?

We are still working out the details on my knee surgery. At the very least they will do an arthroscopic cleaning-out procedure. My patella REALLY needs re-aligned, but I will only allow that to happen if they are at least 90% sure that the patella will stay put once it is realigned. The misaligned patella is due to how my body is built, not from trauma. He is experimenting with a one-time McConnell taping of my knee to see if that provides significant relief - apparently that mimics externally what the surgery does internally and is a good predictor of outcome. Time will tell how and when this works out. I COULD choose to not do anything at all, but I am too young to have my knee rule my life.

[Crankin]

I agree, you are too young. It sounds like a good plan.
We leave Wednesday night at 11 PM. Will be in Paris until Sunday morning, then we take the train to Avignon and meet the group around 1:00. I am quite nervous about using the electronic shifting on the bike I will be using; I went to the LBS Friday to ask if I could practice on one of their bikes, on the trainer, but it was not working, and no one there could fix it. I am going back Wednesday, when the owner of the bike will be working. It's not like I have any issues shifting normally, but when I went to try it, when I was buying my bike, I did not like it. I generally hate any changes that have to do with mechanics or body movement, and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of the group. So, my foot is the least of my worries. I don't think there's anything really wrong, just a bad bruise, maybe a chipped bone inside? Anyway, nothing but time will fix it.