Not a good day today in terms of speed. Thankfully, it was rainy, which made the experience less hellish. My poor backpack, purchased only a few days ago, is already strained to the limit: I stuck 32 pounds in it today. One object was a 20-pound dumbbell; I also had two 5-pound sacks of flour, plus my 32-ounce water bottle.
Aerobically speaking, the sixteen-mile walk hasn't been a problem, especially on relatively level ground (despite a few small hills, this path is mostly level). My knees are still fine, and because I switched to a different pair of Spandex pants today, my crotch uttered a sigh of relief. But the backpack's left strap continued to bite into my shoulder (I think the problem is more with my shoulder than with the strap), so I loosened the strap and thrust my forearm back through the loop so as to remove a bit of the pressure from the shoulder. I looked as though my arm was in a splint, and after a while, the forearm began to go numb, but these were small prices to pay for the relief my shoulder experienced. (My hands are still almost comically swollen as I type this, by the way.)
I'll be purchasing my monster backpack soon (there's a sale going on until the 11th at the local REIs), and will have to take this shoulder strap problem into consideration. I expect a decent hip belt to alleviate most of the pressure, and a connecting chest strap will help tug the shoulder straps toward each other across my chest, but I'd rather that this 3000-plus-mile trek be as pain-free as possible. I might have to look into extra padding of some sort. The foam rubber rolls that are unrolled as rectangles and slipped under sleeping bags would be, I think, exactly what I need.
I took my first break today; it happened at Fort Hunt Park on the way back home. The park lies at about the 2.75-mile mark on the trail from Mount Vernon, which means I stopped after hiking about 11.25 miles (8 miles to the halfway point, then 3.25 miles to the park's entrance). It was raining, so I tromped into the park and went under the main pavilion for fifteen minutes. A few cars were parked here and there in the parking lots along the perimeter road, but the pavilion itself was empty except for yours truly. One end of the pavilion features a huge concrete stage; the open area in front of the pavilion throngs with typical picnic-style trestle tables, hunched and gray, and all of slightly different heights, as seems always to be the case at parks. The center of the pavilion features a huge brick fireplace.
Pain kept me from enjoying the rainy scenery too much, and I was still gripped by the fear of what would happen if I rested too long. My main worry has always been that my muscles will seize up if I sit too long; I therefore spent my fifteen minutes standing and walking around, gulping half of my water bottle's contents (I suppose I was, technically, still carrying that water; I didn't sweat much out). Then it was time to go; I painfully returned my pack to my shoulders, slipped my left arm back into its "sling" position, and made my way home, feet and armpits singing their arias of pain.*
Only one baby-pusher on the trail today; the other young mothers had apparently thought better of exposing their children to this morning's and afternoon's rain and wind. The Potomac river was roiling in two shades of brown this morning; it's never been a beautiful river, but it gets points for its age and stateliness. The first two miles of the trail, I saw almost no one, but as the hours crept on, bikers, dog-walkers, and runners eventually made their appearance.
The Spanish-speaking Park Service crews were out in force despite the wetness, piloting mammoth lawn mowers and trimming foliage with a variety of gas-powered and manual tools. I nod to these guys as I pass them every day; some nod back while others either ignore me or stare. Having been mistaken for Hispanic on several occasions while in DC, I keep expecting one of these guys to open up on me with full-speed Spanish. I took a single semester of Spanish at a local community college back in 1991, but the course didn't even get us to the past tense (I liked the teacher and course design, though). It wasn't an intensive course, so I didn't really expect it to take us far. Spanish isn't hard to learn if you've already studied another Romance language; my French stood me in good stead and I ended up with an easy "A" in the class. Sometimes I think it'd be neat to go back and learn Spanish in earnest, but my poor brain is already shrinking, so I fear I won't be able to retain whatever I learn (read Malcolm's interesting post on memory for one possible solution to my retention problem).
Later today, if I have time, I hope to upload the most recent photos I have-- pics from the final week in Korea, plus a long series of photos that show you the first few miles of my daily walk. I also hope to comment further on the William Lane Craig video (Charles has already left an excellent reaction). Ah, yes: today's speed, if we include my 15-minute break, was a measly 2.62mph. I shudder to think how slowly I'll be going on inclines and with 70 pounds on my back. Someone needs to pave me a path that leads straight from Vancouver to DC and always tends downhill. So what if I end up underground by the time I hit DC? I'll visit Dick Cheney in his bunker.
*The feet aren't too bad; they definitely ache, but there are no sharp pains.
_
2 comments:
Just a random thought: I wonder if dumbbells and sacks of flour are the best representation of the weight you'll be carrying. Both are very dense, and the contents of backpacks are usually more spread out, no? I'm just thinking that it may be less painful to carry twenty pounds of less dense stuff than it is to carry a twenty-pound dumbbell. If you want to get some real practice with the weight and the balance, fill your pack with the stuff you're actually going to be taking with you.
I'm just wondering, why would you be carrying 70 pounds anyway? I think most backpackers usually aim for not more than around 40-45 pounds. Can you not buy small sizes of whatever you need and just replenish as you go along?
Post a Comment