Small Steps to Health

Painful Hiking Experiences

October 16th, 2008 by asithi · 1 Comment

Tagged Exercise Injuries, Fitness, exercise injury

Photo by:  Buck.

Reading Cranky Fitness’s post on Advice for the Out of Shape Hiker, reminds me of my painful hiking stories. Actually these are mostly my husband’s stories.

Hiking story #1

Our first backpacking trip was a 6 hour hike in with a 2000 ft change in elevation. When we initially signed up for the weekend trip, I thought it would be a nice camping trip. I did not know that I had to walk about 12 miles with 30 pounds strap to my back until two days before the trip. I could not even lifted the pack and strap it on myself. My husband had to do that for me.

So for two days, I debated whether or not I should go. I was afraid that I might not be able to keep up with the group. It has been a few years since high school PE. And even then, I only had to take a PE class up until my sophomore year. So for 6 years, my exercise is walking to and from class. At 22, I never even thought of the possibility I might end up hurting myself.

‘We should go. It would be a challenge. If your pack gets too heavy, I can take your sleeping bag and carry your water,’ said my husband.

At the start of the hike, my husband was in a jovial mood, joking with the others. I was focus on breathing, drinking plenty of water, putting one step in front of the other, and stretching every time we took a break. Merry mentioned that “the faces of the people going up the hill (okay, cliff) were invariably serious and fairly quiet.” That was me. I felt like a pack mule.

Two hours into the hike, my husband started slowing down. The jovial mood dissipated like the fog we saw in the morning. Another hour later he started stretching when we took breaks. He went from the middle of the line of hikers to the person in front of me. After we started from the next break, he was behind me. I was not concern because one of the leaders of the trip was last to make sure we all end up at our destination. I was so focus on myself, that I did not even notice the distance widening between us.

During the final hour of the hike, my husband pulled his groin muscle. Being the concerned girlfriend at the time, of course I had to take all the extra breaks that he was taking. We were the last ones to make it to the campsite. The next day while everyone was swimming at the lake and setting off for their day hikes, we catnapped the whole day. Hey, we need to prepare for the hike back out.

Photo by:  Jason.

Hiking story #2

A few years ago, my husband and I were too cheap to pay for the 2 mile uphill gondola ride at $35 each. The nice lady at the park told us that most of the locals hike up the hill and take the gondola down at $5 each. ‘Most people are able to get up there in 40 minutes and it’s only 2 miles.’

Before setting off, we debate whether or not to buy more water since we only have a 32 oz bottle with us.

‘We’ll be fine. It is only 40 minutes,’ said my husband.

‘But I drink like a camel when I hike. What if we do not have enough water?’ I said.

‘You can have most of the water. I will only take a few sips,’ said my husband.

My husband down half the bottle before we even made it pass the halfway point. The woman who started at the same time we did, made it to the summit and was jogging back down when we were 2/3^rd of the way up. Yeah, the lady at the park forgot to mention that 2 miles uphill is fairly steep and rocky. And that those same locals, who take only 40 minutes, probably take this hike every morning.

Two hours later, with a husband limping from a groin pull, I reached the summit, cranky from dehydration, holding an empty water bottle.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by Small Steps to Health.

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