Morning Trip Report. New 4 mile route again. Started at noon, 48°F, cool and clear skies, rain coming in tomorrow. Took Bayou & Alyosha without packs and I carried my High Sierra 9# pack. Keen Voyageurs, wool socks, summer hiking pants, thin performance zip with thumb holes under a thin zip fleece with thumb holes.
Shed the fleece halfway when I watered the dogs at Webb’s driveway. Stephanie walked a ways with us. On the way back an old man in a truck with a crated Shepherd stopped to say hello. The Shepherd was beyond aggressive, I think it’s the one that lives across from the Webb’s. I’m thinking what I need to carry in case we’re jumped. While I’m thinking that, we ran into the loose Boxer and gave him my best LEAVE IT drill sergeant voice and he pulled up, startled, and the second time, he turned and went back to his porch. But he wasn’t a naturally aggressive dog, I think he was more curious than anything.
After pain in the balls of my feet and shins yesterday, I pulled the inserts out of my Keens and realized I had worn them paper-thin at the ball of my foot. Simple fix, replaced them with Dr. Scholls for Runners. I spent a lot of time in front of the display and nothing really fit the situation, so I’m trying out the runners inserts in one pair of Keen Voyageurs and the regular inserts in the other pair, which are newer. I’ll try something else if these don’t help.
Should have taken a break today after yesterday’s foot pain. Didn’t of course. A mile from home, my feet really hurt. Should have taken a stop and rested my feet. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Got home, one of the inserts had slid back in the shoe, the other crinkled. Not what I expected from Dr. Scholls. Tomorrow is rain, so I’ll be taking a break. Elevated my feet and powdered them. No shin pain and no heel pain, it’s all in the balls of my feet, and now the tips of my toes.
Also to help with post-exercise inflammation, I’m going back on Wild Salmon Oil (also good for the heart) and Triple Flex from Nature Made (good for all my joints, not just my feet.) For a while I was also taking New Century Zyflamend Whole Body (herbal anti-inflammatory & pain relief) but I ran out. At my age, all three have multiple benefits. We’ll see what we see.
Harvard Health says an anti-inflammatory diet includes: tomatoes, olive oil, salmon, leafy greens, almonds & walnuts, berries, cherries & oranges. All of which sounds like lunch to me.
Happy Trails.
–SHS, 2019