Little glamorous habits that maintain our successful walk

Welcome to another Beanie Baby special!

Solidly in the middle of the middle of the continental path divides, Cookie Monster and I have accumulated enough experience (and street credibility, we hope) to share some useful habits that we have maintained on the road. These routines are sometimes tedious, but they seem to help prevent many bigger problems along the way and take care not only our health in the short term but also in the long term. For any new hiker, or even an experienced one who wants to increase his self -care game, here are our essential and true essential daily habits:

Stretch twice a day

We stretch twice a day, before and after walking. It is not space science: we all know that stretching is important for the recovery and prevention of injury, especially when we are pushing our bodies with such force on a walk. Even 10 fast minutes make a big difference in how our bodies feel. For some inspiration, this is what we usually stretch (feel free to adapt to your own needs):

• Neck
• Shoulders/back of the back
• Buttocks
• Quads
• Hip flexors
• Ischiotibial
• It band
• Calves
• Achilles
• Ankle alphabets
• Foot massage

Prevention of diverse injuries

Sometimes specific problems arise, or the ancients demand continuous attention. For me, that includes maintaining shoulder resistance and the tendency to plantar fasciitis. What seems to you will depend, but if you are adding some shoulder stability exercises every day or use a special sock at night, it is essential to do the small things to keep the biggest problems under control.

Use of sun protection

It is practically the hikers uniform to wear a sun hoodie, sunglasses and a hat, for a good reason! The sun is strong, especially in the elevation, and the CDT goes through many exposed areas (example, large division, burns, crest walks). However, it is surprising how some hikers choose to renounce sun protection in exposed skin, and some have suffered bad solar burns along the way. The use of sun protection is not only in our long -term interest to protect against skin cancer, but also ensures that we do not have to deal with uncomfortable solar burns, or worse, blisters or solar poisoning.

In addition to a hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses and a hat, we wear sunscreen, solar gloves and a solar umbrella when the conditions require it.

Brushed and dental thread

I hope everyone maintains their dental hygiene here, but I know how difficult it is at the end of a long day. Even so, brushing and dental thread every day are simple steps to maintain your dental hygiene under control (and feel a little less disgusting).

Prioritize sleep

In my humble opinion, the dream is so underestimated! I will not bore you with science, but the dream is vital for our physical recovery, function of the immune system, mood regulation, memory and more. Don’t neck! That means both time and quality: take the team you need to sleep deeply, even if that means some additional ounces from below if you have a cold dream like me, or a inflatable sleep pad.

Nutrition

Any hiker knows how much struggle is to obtain enough calories, rent only specific nutrients, in your body along the way. It is difficult to analyze exactly what each one needs individually, but some things have a good common sense. Few things would be more exhausting and frustrating than getting sick along the way; For immune support and, in general, trying to cover my bases, I take multivitamin pills and drink emergen-C packages with water most of the days. Obtaining our fruits and vegetables is also important. I guess our parents were just after. Maybe that is as simple as packing an apple for its first day after the city or taking a side salad with its paste bowl. Make sure that you are taking as many calories as you need is also difficult, but you can try to make it fun and efficient in weight: think about the mixture of trails, nutella, cheese, etc.

Feet care

As a hiker, your feet are your soul. So it is essential to take care of them! There are some things we do to prevent foot problems:

• Remove your shoes and socks at lunch to let our feet out of the air
• Attending to hot points as soon as they arise
• Drying wet socks
• Use baby dust on very humid feet

Stay at the top of hydration

It can be difficult to stay well hydrated in the CDT, with long hauling, dry heat and altitude. Electrolytes are as important as water intake: we met a hiker here that was almost hospitalized by Hyponatremja (low blood sodium levels). Pack enough water (even if heavy) and electrolytes, and actually drink it (what can be its own challenge) is something simple that can be done to take care. A well hydrated body works best in many ways!

Be aware in the city

Cities offer incredible treats, but they are also a vortex. We have discovered that it is quite difficult to manage our time in cities. With all temptations, we make sure to be aware about what we consume in cities to ensure that we still feel strong when we return to the road. We also do our best to keep in touch with friends and family when it is in the city, since that is an important part of our well -being as well.

I do not want this to be received as from a box of soap: the CoCokie monster and I have made mistakes along the way and we have definitely not accepted all these routines every day, but they definitely help. We only wanted to share what has really been useful! Even if these routines feel a lot at most, simply small and fit what works for you.

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