The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.
[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Wussing Out

The feet are poorly. Two of the blisters are now looking to be infected. Three conclusions have been reached:
1) They're not going to get better unless I give them rest and a chance to heal;
2) They're not going to get better whilst I'm still wearing the current shoe/footbed combination (I'm blaming the footbeds, as this is my fourth pair of the same shoes and they've never caused a problem before)
3) I'm a wuss.

So, tomorrow morning, whilst Mick heads north, I'll be hobbling down into Market Rasen to catch a train home. On Saturday night, I will catch back up with Mick, albeit with three days omitted from the walk.

That means for me this isn't going to be a 'thru-hike'. I will, of course, walk the entire distance by returning to cover the omitted section, but I won't be walking it all entirely in order. Disappointing, but due to point 3 of my conclusions above, for me it's the better option than any more days of pain on every step (not to mention the real possibility of making the feet even worse).

:-(
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
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16 comments:

  1. Martin Rye30 March 2011 at 17:39

    Sorry to hear that. Good plan to get the feet back up and running. Sorry I could not catch you guys in Norfolk.

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  2. AlanR30 March 2011 at 17:48

    Wussing out is better than Pussing out. Hope they are not infected and a good soak will get them back into action.

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  3. sally in norfolk30 March 2011 at 17:59

    sad but a good decision hope the feet are soon mended

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  4. Phreerunner30 March 2011 at 18:15

    Sorry to hear that, Gayle. You can imagine the conclusion I've arrived at! A soaking in strong alcohol should sort them?
    I hope Mick won't get too lonely...

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  5. John30 March 2011 at 18:22

    Really sorry to hear of your problem and hope they repair quickly.
    Cheers J.P.

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  6. David Cotton30 March 2011 at 18:38

    It's must've been a hard decision to make. And no, you're not a wuss. These things happen.

    Hope the blisters heal quickly and that you're soon back on the trail.

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  7. Anonymous30 March 2011 at 19:04

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery and resumption of your walk

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  8. Karen30 March 2011 at 19:12

    Sorry to hear that, but hopefully you'll have a good rest and then you'll bounce back up there. Sorry I won't be able to join you this week as I'd originally thought, but I hope we'll be able to meet again some time :)

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  9. John J30 March 2011 at 20:03

    You've made exactly the right decision, painful though it may be.

    Chin up!

    JJ

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  10. MartinB30 March 2011 at 20:35

    OK, so you aren't a Wuss!

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  11. Louise30 March 2011 at 21:33

    That's a hard decision, but the right one. You'll soon be 'back on your feet' (sorry!) and be ready to catch up with Mick and then on to the Challenge! (Excited, me?!)
    Take it easy.

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  12. Alan Sloman30 March 2011 at 22:33

    Hi Gayle (& Mick, of course)
    That's rotten luck but a sound decision to take rest.
    I would think hard though about only taking a few days off - blisters need time to heal properly - getting back on them too quickly can make things worse!
    Good luck with the recovery - and you'll soon be hitting the trail again.
    Alan

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  13. Litehiker30 March 2011 at 22:42

    I hope you've left the Blackberry with Mick to continue the excellent blog. Does he know how to use it?

    I'm sure you've made the right decision. It's hard.

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  14. Sir Hugh30 March 2011 at 23:10

    Really sorry to hear your news, but I'm sure you will be back on the trail accumulating memories and anecdotes which is what this is all about - it is not a competition, but something for your pleasure and satisfaction, and there would not be much pleasure carrying on. Knowing when to turn back is an worthy quality - you have done the right thing. It may be advisable to get some antibiotics from the doc if it is infected?
    Best wishes
    C.

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  15. Anonymous31 March 2011 at 07:53

    Sorry to hear your news, must have been a hard decision to make as I know how much you would want to complete once you had started, but a wise one. Hope you have a proper rest - dont go back too soon. Best of luck for Mick on his own, not the same walking without company especialy as you have done the last ones together.
    Carol

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  16. Gayle1 April 2011 at 15:00

    Thanks for all the kind words reassuring me that I'm doing the right thing. I'm pleased to report that the feet are looking and feeling much better (so much so that it's hard to believe, looking at them now, how painful they were). There's no more 'oozing', and just one patch of redness around one blister (and I have antibiotic cream at the ready). At the moment I'm optimistic that I'll be walking again on Sunday, albeit I'm planning to shorten a couple of the upcoming days.

    Oh, and for the avoidance of doubt, no matter how sensible my decision to sit out a few days was, I am still a wuss!

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