I got back on the trail yesterday after an amazing 10 days in Washington D.C. with Lisa. Spent the majority of yesterday's hiking thinking how great it was to back on the trail again and covering miles. However, around 18 miles in to my 22 mile hike I began to get some severe pain in the outside of my right knee - a recurrence of the problem that I had in the months leading up to the start of the trip (but this time in the other leg). I hobbled the last few miles to a shelter where I did all of the exercises and massage routines that the physio taught me during my treatment prior to my hike. I felt good this morning, but over the first section of rocky ground, the pain returned meaning that I have managed to hike only 8.1 miles today, a pretty poor effort. What makes this injury so much more worrying than my shins is that my prior treatment to resolve this problem took 3 months - clearly I don't have that time now. I feel awful as the idea of being forced to quit the trail has entered my head for the first time - when I think about it, it makes me feel physically sick.
The plan for now is to reduce the mileage to around 10 a day and do all of the stretching and strength exercises from my earlier treatment. Having left Washington with a head full of positive thoughts, I now feel very low, a feeling that is compounded by the fact that, having taken 10 days off, I now don't know any of the thru-hikers around me on the trail. Also feel that since Waynesboro I have lost any real rhythm to my hiking - I would love so much to have a period of 2 or 3 weeks where I hike 18-22 miles a day.
Turns out this thru-hiking lark really is a difficult business. I just hope that with some T.L.C. my knee will be up to the job.
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