The GeekHiker

I managed to hike today, my second 3-mile trail in two weeks.

I’ve had the plantar fasciitis since last spring; I figure six months is enough time to rest.  It still hurts, still aches when I get up in the morning. But the feeling of being off the trail has been trying as well.

I can’t say that the foot feels much better for having been on the trail, but at least it doesn’t feel much worse.  So long as its a draw, I suppose I’ll accept it.  Perhaps this is just how its going to be from now own.

[Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case.]

The biggest thing I’ve found is to follow the age-old advice of taking short steps, keeping my weight under me.  It feels like I’m learning how to hike all over again. Interestingly enough, my pace hasn’t changed much.  I make roughly the same mileage as I did before.

There was a moment, though, about halfway through the hike, when I had a spasm of pain right through the arch.

I stopped for a moment, held on to a fencepost, flexed my foot within the boot.  I wondered, briefly, if I hadn’t made a huge mistake by tackling the hike.

Eventually it passed, and I shuffled along.

I sure hope that’s not how it’s going to be for the rest of my life.

[At the moment, I’m feeling pretty good.  Mostly I just have to remind myself to listen to my own body better and adjust more: take shorter steps, be aware of little aches that can turn into bigger aches.  Crap, is this just what it means to get older?]

* * *

I talked to my financial planner last week.  We discussed the tests, the fact that its taking longer to study for than I had expected, how it had changed the pace of things.

Initially, I had believed that I would be able to take a week-long, but very expensive, class that would allow me to pass quickly.  Once I realized the volume of material on the tests (coupled with my lousy short-term memory), I knew that path would never work.  So, instead, I’ve elected to go with the self-study route.  Slower, yes, but for at least one test, its worked.

We’ll see in a few weeks if lightning will manage to strike twice.

Either way, she and I agreed that the slowed pace may not be the worst thing in the world.  The recovery from the recession, assuming the economy doesn’t double-dip, is going to be glacially slow.  So pushing travel plans forward isn’t such a bad thing.

[Judging by the way Congress is acting at the moment, it’s hard not to feel like I’m STILL leaving too soon…]

I mentioned that I’ve accepted that 2010, despite being a great round number, isn’t going to be the year I take off.  It’s going to be the year I work.  Which isn’t nearly so much fun.

Still, she was very encouraging, pointing out that I’m making progress, working effectively towards my goal.  So that’s good.

The hardest part for me, though, is keeping focused on the idea that I CAN do this trip.  Because the temptation to endlessly work is hard to stave off…

[Still true.  Damn true.  I don’t know if it’s just a culture thing, or a part of my personality, or some mix of both.  Even now, as I type this, I’m having a difficult time wrapping my head around the idea that this IS happening.  It doesn’t seem real yet.  There’s a consequence to that, I’m starting to see.  That lack of realness is why it’s so dangerous not to have a plan, why it’s so easy to let the days slip by and the time go wasted, because it doesn’t feel like reality to begin with.

Dangerous place to be.  But the plan is slowly coming… well, a framework at least.  Hopefully a framework is enough to get me started, and prevent me from losing too much time…]