This weekend was supposed to be my last gear shakedown hike, I was all set to load up my pack and hike through High Bridge State Park with a friend. I moved my long run to Friday instead of Saturday (because, ya know, training for a marathon and planning a thru-hike at the same time was the best idea I ever had) and all my gear was ready to go. My 22.5 mile route was a beautiful one that had me winding along the river and through the parks and around downtown, but around mile 8 I tripped over absolutely nothing and came down hard on my right knee. I heard it smack the pavement over Beyonce’s voice on my iPod, and that’s saying something.
I decided to keep going after I brushed myself off and walked for a bit to make sure I was okay. It was my last long run before I started tapering! I couldn’t just stop, it would ruin everything that I’ve been working for these past few months. So I finished my route, but my knee was in some pain. No muscle or ligament pain, just external throbbing that comes with slamming one’s entire body weight on concrete and having a single body part absorb the impact. After icing it and popping some ibuprofen, it was decided that a weekend of hiking with a fully loaded pack would not be a good idea.
Day 3 after my epic tumble:
Since the most important thing for me to test was my shoes, I just loaded up my day pack with everything I’d need for the night and we headed out for what was about a 3 mile hike. The shoes I was testing were the Merrell Vapor Gloves, and they felt really great on my feet. I felt like I wasn’t even wearing shoes at all. They had zero arch support, which I love. I’m just hoping that my feet can handle 20+ mile days in them. If all else fails, I guess I’ll just jump on the Brooks Cascadia bandwagon, but I haven’t worn shoes with that much cushion in I don’t even know how long.
All that’s left now is to wait for my REI dividend so I can get some more socks and a couple odds and ends. Then I have to mail my stove out west, finish packing my resupply boxes, quit my jobs, run a marathon and get on a plane.
27 days. 
on my way on the loose 