Seriously, I did.  It was last Wednesday and I was having a typical day, although I went into Dalton and ate a veggie burger and had 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk.  Mental note, don't ever do that again, it was the hardest hour of hiking afterwards, I was in between wanting to throw up and just lay down and wonder if I'd wake up again.
But that's not the main point.  I stopped at a shelter to let my stomach settle and met a woman named saftey pins and had a wonderful conversation for almost an hour, it was really good and I was feeling much better.  When I left, I got about 1/4 mile down the trail and my achilles tendon on my left foot started really bothering me.  I tried to walk it off, but it just kept bothering me.  I ended up limping into the cookie lady's house and asked to sleep on their lawn and honestly wondered if I would even be able to walk the next morning.  
It's funny how the mind works, I was already processing what to tell people, how to get home, what my options were, etc.  it was crazy, I really thought that the trip was over, although in the back of my head, I thought the big decider would be the next morning.  Well, the next morning came and I was able to walk and I didn't have nearly the same amount of pain, I couldn't believe it, I really think it was a miracle.  I definitely prayed, but i'm wondering if someone else out there prayed not knowing why and the prayer was answered.  I'm not trying to over spiritualize it, but I literally limped into their place and was in quite a bit of pain.  I was thinking how many zero days do I take before I just call it off, I can't hike through this much pain.
I started out the next morning very cautiously and by the afternoon, I was back at full stride.  It was incredible and I'm just so grateful to be able to hike.  Its a new outlook on the trip, that's for su
7/18/2011 01:44:12 am

Way to fight through it Bro! The human body is an amazing gift and machine. If it ain't broken or bleeding you have a great chance that it will "Right" itself. Your best resource is staying Positive and keeping a strong mind just like you have been.


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