The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly About My Recent Section Hike on the Horse Shoe Trail

Now that I've had time to wrap my head around it, it's time to come clean about last Friday's hike. It's not that I didn't want to tell what happened, it's that when I first tried (the day it happened) all I could think about was the Ugly and the post I started to write felt like a whiny mess. I'm better now so here it is... 

The Good - I finished 7 miles

The Bad - I had planned 10 miles

The Ugly - the reason for coming up short is something I should have figured out BEFORE I attempted the hike. It was a bonehead move to attempt a this hike 4 days after a blood donation. My red blood cells were nowhere near replenished in such a short time. I was fine for 5 miles. Then I started to struggle. Physically I felt fine but breathing was becoming more labored and I felt a tad dizzy at times. So when I reached the road crossing at the 7 mile mark I knew it was time to quit. I called Dave who was waiting for me at the 10 mile mark. As I waited for him to circle back to me, I assessed how I was feeling and that's when I realized what I'd done. 

I'm lucky to have Dave out there on the trail with me for these hikes. I get great company for the early miles and a pick up at the end. Or in this case, an emergency pick up before the end. 

In the end there are more good things than bad about this hike. First, I did finish 7 miles and that's 7 more miles on my way to completing the trail. I've completed just over 75 miles now. I'm past the halfway mark!! 💖Barely but I'm past it. 

Also, I really did feel great for 5 miles and except for having trouble catching my breath at mile 7, the rest of me felt good enough to keep going. 

We've reserved a date in May on our calendar (far enough out to be recovered) to attempt another 8-10 miles. Stay tuned. 

Meanwhile, please keep smiling and keep moving. 

-Paula 

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Today I learned two new things. Well, one of them I learned a few days ago, but I learned it because of what we were doing today. 

Thing #1 - Ridley Park has a lake. We calculated today that I've lived in Delaware County all but 5 years of my life. Yet, I did not know that Ridley Park has a lake. I am a tad embarrassed. This feels like something I should have known. 😞

I discovered this due to our blood donation today. We had appointments at Ridley Park Presbyterian Church. Hiking was off the table then so I went looking for a route to take a post donation walk instead. I located the church on Google maps and there it was -- Ridley Park Lake. Who knew? As already established I did not. 

The lake was built with the founding of Ridley Park in the 1870s. The borough was the brainchild of Isaac Hinkley, president of the  Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. Mr. Hinckley hired architect Robert Morris Copeland to design the town. The design included the 20 acre man made lake. 

There is a walking path around the lake. On the path you'll pass two original buildings, a pumphouse built in 1890 and a boathouse built in 1935. There are lots of benches including what appears to be original ones made of stone. Similar to many of the towns built on or near rail lines in this area, Ridley Park was a summer resort destination for wealthy Philadelphia. 

If you'd like to learn more here is the Wikipedia entry and a history page from the borough. 

BTW, in case you are wondering (we were), the creek that feeds the lake is Crum Creek not Ridley Creek. 

On our walk, we encountered people walking, fishing and meeting in the park. It was lovely. 

Thing #2 - Veins have valves. My donation experience was going very well. Michelle, the phlebotomist was pleasant and kind. The needle stick was amazing. I felt nothing beyond the initial prick and there was no pressure while it was in. Strangely though I could feel vibration in the tube which was draped over my forearm. I never felt that before. It felt funny but not concerning. Michelle, however was concerned. 

The  blood flow was very slow. In fact, as she watched she was confused that it would flow fine one second and slow down the next. She calmly called for help. I wasn't worried. I just chalked it up to my notoriously low blood pressure. Every time I donate, the check in person asks "Is it always this low?"

The senior phlebotomist looked everything over and said, "I'd like to move the needle a little bit. Ok?" I reluctantly said ok. The last time they tried to move a needle while I was donating, it hurt A LOT. But I figured it was either let her move it or the donation attempt would likely be stopped short. Fortunately, she was equally good with a needle. Although I braced for pain I didn't feel a thing. And with the move, the vibration stopped and the flow returned to steadily normal. 

That's when I learned that veins have valves. The original placement of the needle was too close to a valve. As best as I could understand the opening and closing of the valve was causing the blood to flow over the needle. This caused the vibration and the blood to miss the needle opening off and on. Senior blood taker said she could feel the vibration in the tube and that's how she knew. 

And in case you were wondering (I was) the valves keep the blood flowing in the right direction. Makes perfect sense. I just never had reason to think about it before. 

So there you have it. Thing 1 and Thing 2. 

Lessons in Patience

Shortly after the injury I tried to resign myself to considering the recovery time as a lesson in patience and staying in the here and now. 

Truthfully it's not so much a lesson as a ''you-have-no-choice" state of being. I have always had the luxury of deciding I want to go and just going. In the past 8 weeks, however, many steps have had to be carefully planned. 

As I weaned myself out of the boot, I had to think about each outing with regard to needing the boot or not. Answer: I wore it in high traffic areas or in situations where I needed to move a lot or quickly. In situations where I shed the boot (mostly at home and around the office) I adopted a crossing the street mentality when leaving a room. At the doorway, I'd stop and look both ways before stepping out to avoid running into anyone and risk getting stepped on. 

I've had lots of time to think about how privileged I was (and will be again) to just move when and where I want to. 

On Monday (6-24), the doc removed all restrictions on the use off my foot. She warned me that it would be slow going to return to my previous distances. I'm supposed to build back slowly and let pain be my guide. I know she's right even if I don't want her to be. 

Today (Friday), I walked to and back from the dentist and then to and back from the library. Total for both walks 2.4 miles. My foot is achy and my ankle - inside and outside - is sore. 

However, the dentist did not find any cavities and I did find a book I wanted at the library so life is good. 

Tomorrow we are heading back to an unpaved surface for the first time in 8 weeks. I'm hoping that hiking poles and an ankle wrap will get me through to 3 miles. For now I'll put my foot up and check in to my books. I'm going to leave this post in draft mode until after tomorrow's outing. See you then. 

Hello again. 3.06 miles total out and back on the River Trail from Pawlings Road. 

I think the compression sleeve on the ankle helped serve as a reminder that's it's ok (and time) to put my weight on all of my foot. At the end my ankle was not nearly as sore as it had been after yesterday's walk. Some of the relief could have been the softer surface too. 

In other good news, while it was obvious at the end that 3 was enough, 30 minutes off the foot for the car ride home did bring a lot of relief. It's only mildly stiff and cranky right now. 

I do think I'll have to shorten this year's Freedom Walk. It's doubtful I'll be ready for 6 pavement miles in just 5 days. And that's ok. 

Keep Smiling and Keep Moving

-Paula 

Hike Interrupted

So this happened..... 

I stepped on a snake. To be clear it was not on purpose. I didn't see it. Regardless of my intention, the snake was not happy about that and wriggled to get free at about the same time that my hiking partner said "Snake". I spooked. I jumped to get out of the way and came down hard on my right foot. 

With Dave's help, I hobbled the half mile back to our car. A couple, younger than us but not by a lot, commented "You guys are doing great!!" I'm sure they did not intend it as it sounded to me. But when they passed us again on their way back, I made sure to tell them why I was moving so slowly. 

I twist and sprain my ankles a lot. Especially the right. So first we went home and I kept it elevated and iced. But by the next morning I knew it was more than an ankle sprain. So off we went to Urgent Care.  

Diagnosis, non displaced fracture of the 5th metarsal. The non displaced part is key because it means no surgery. But I will be off the trail for awhile. I'll know more after I visit the ortho doc on Friday but estimate from the Urgent Care doc is 6-8 weeks to heal. Never having broken a bone, let alone one in the foot, I don't know what kind of rehab might be needed after the boot comes off. I hope the Ortho Doc is prepared. I have LOTS of questions. 

I am concerned about losing my momentun on the trail. I will likely have to work back up to 8-10 miles. It's frustrating. I'm trying hard to take this as a lesson in patience and staying in the here and now. I can't do anything until the ordeal is over so there is no use worrying about it. Right? If you know me, that's easier said than done. 

Keep Smling and Keep Moving.

-Paula 

HST Section 7 Rt 10 to Rt 625

 

I was so looking forward to today's hike and it did not disappoint. Truth be told, few of them do. All week the weather called for bright sunshine with temps in the low 40s to start and low 50s by the end. And that is exactly what we got. 

We left Dave's car at Brecknock Police Station where an Eagle Scout project resulted in an access trail to the HST. We then drove together to drop my car at Plow Farms and began hiking west together. The trail starts on a downhill here and then climbs and climbs. Just when you think you are at the top the trail rounds a bend and there is more UP. It was a good workout. 

At the five mile mark, Dave headed off on the blue trail toward his car.
He told me later that he ended up wandering off the access trail
and probably put in another half mile trying to get back to his car. 

I continued on to the end at Rt 625. The blazes in this section were faded and there were these weird jumping bugs that wanted to land on my face so I had to put my sunglasses on even though I was in shade. This made the blazes appear even more faded. It was slow going up the hill and trying not to go off trail. 

This was our last section that includes trail we've covered before. Next time we go out we will have about 3 more miles of 'old' trail and then it's all new stuff. Well except for the 11 mile section that we missed several times back in March and decided to move on. We will go back to that later to make the end to end official. 

Also, after this trip we will likley start doing 2 sections back to back with an overnight stay in between. The trail sections are more than an hour away now. It's a very long day getting there, hiking and then returning home. So to test myself, tomorrow I am heading to RCSP to put in another 8 mile hike to make sure my body can do back to back days. 

I'm pretty sure I can but I will likely sleep very soundly tomorrow night! 

EDIT the next day - I succeeded in back to back hikes. My brain was not entirely with the program when I started out but after a few minutes of stern talking to, it was fine. And I feel pretty good. 

Keep Smiling and Keep Moving

-Paula