[at-l] Kinda trip report and hip pain is less!

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 08:20 AM 8/31/2003 -0700, Kelly Whitman wrote:
>I did another 7 miler yesterday.  This town has something against 
>sidewalks (and garages, go figure) so I walked the vast majority of it on 
>uneven natural ground.  It was 100F with 80% humidity.

Congratulations. In that heat and humidity, that's very good. I hope you 
carried water.

>The recent floods left plenty of ankle-turning debris all over the place, 
>and I walked the last three miles in complete darkness (few streetlights 
>around here, but that's because of the nearby astronomy research), so 
>every step was an act of faith.  I was hoping for rain but there was just 
>some rumbly thunder and a light dribble for a few seconds, and that was 
>it.  Had a lovely lightning display in the clouds in the eastern night sky 
>as I was headed home.
>
>I used a slightly newer pair of NBs and my hip pain was somewhat 
>less.  The other pair wasn't old, though; am I going to need a new pair of 
>shoes every month on the trail?!

The rule of thumb for runners is that a pair of shies last 500 miles. After 
that you retire them to lawn mowing. If your NB trail shoes last the same 
(a reasonable assumption) you'll go through 4 pair. The fact that your hip 
hurt less with newer shoes suggests that the support in the shoe is at 
least partially at issue. When I first started running I ran 1000+ miles in 
my first pair of shoes. I didn't know any better until my hips and knees 
started to hurt. I asked a co-worker who had been running for years and he 
wised me up to changing shoes regularly.

>   That's going to be hella expensive, but I suppose it's preferable to 
> sucking down ibuoprfen.  I also got my first blister!  Woohoo!  (That'll 
> learn me to walk that far without hiking socks.)  After a hike, I usually 
> shave down callouses and punice my feet, then apply a nice oil (I like 
> soft feets).  Would it be better to stop doing that, since I won't be 
> doing it on the trail, and let my feet toughen up a bit?

I'd choose the expense of new shoes, when necessary, over more pain 
anytime. Yes, let your feet toughen up.


>I'll do two more 7 milers this weekend, finding a good way to deal with 
>that blister, making three back-to-back, and see how my hips do with all that.

Many runners train with a hard/easy alternation. They will alternate 
distance and speed work days so they get training every day but work 
different muscles or at least work them in different ways. The 'rest' days 
are important to allow time for the muscles to recuperate and strengthen 
between workouts. You might try that for hiking training by alternating 
walking long miles (endurance) with shorter days carrying a loaded pack 
(strength).

An important lesson I learned from 7 years of running was to listen to my 
body and to distinguish between discomfort (body complaining about doing 
something it isn't accustomed to) and pain (body telling you that what you 
are doing is damaging the body). The difference can be subtle but is well 
worth learning to sense. Don't be too hard on yourself with your training 
regimen. You are training your body to something new, you aren't trying to 
beat it into submission.

Saunterer