Smile through suffering – the walk

I have been postponing when writing this blog post. It has been difficult to adapt to «regular» life. I miss being in the forest and the daily avalanche of dopamine to cross large mountains. It feels as if they had torn me from one world and drop me into another. I spent almost five months worried about how far I had to walk every day, and when I stopped to eat, filter water and make my refuge. My life was simple. This way of life was completely transformed once I began to head south in the I-95.

I wanted to share some conclusions of my walk. So here we are going:

The path only becomes more difficult, but you too

For hikers to the north, the path gradually becomes harder. There are some exceptions: stretching through WV, MD, PA and the desert of the hundred miles, but none of the paths was easy. The trail of the Apalaches is not a flat land path through the forest. It is full of rocks and roots, and you have to cover thousands of feet of elevation change every day. For my dismay after crossing pa a nj, the rocks never really ended. They simply became a reality that I had to accept.

I like how David Goggins encourages people to «stay hard.» What means that is to stay hard and follow its goals. I repeated «Hard» as a hymn in my head, especially for the second half of my walk. I noticed that both my mind and my body became much harder. His body fits naturally to what he demands. The true power of a walk is mental adaptation. My mind became powerful. I can cancel the signs that my body is sending my brain and forcing to continue doing something difficult even when I don’t want to. All other hikers I met can be related to being more difficult during the path.

The importance of nutrition

I am a healthy dining room at home. For some reason, I thought I could follow the «hiker diet», which consists mainly of junk food. Processed and sugary snacks throughout the day. Ramen or mashed snapshots for dinner. Do not be misunderstood, some of these foods have some nutritional value (that is, mashed snapshots that have carbohydrates). I followed this diet during the first 800 miles of my walk because I wanted to be cheap. I thought my body would be fine with this temporary change in the diet, at least well enough to survive five months until I arrived in Katahdin.

If I have been following my blogs, then I will know that I got sick around Mile 800 and I had to spend five days recovering. Nutrition was not necessarily the main culprit behind my illness, but now I think it was an important factor. It makes sense: you must feed your body well if you want it to take more than 2,000 miles. Protest if everything that is giving it is junk food. When I went back to the road, I changed my diet. I tried to cut the largest amount of processed and sugary foods as possible. On Days That I Hiked Out of Town, I Packed out a Salad Kit and an Apple or Avocado to get submail in. A TYPICAL DAY OF EATING LOOKED SOMETHING Like This: Two Packets of Kodiak Protein Oatmeal with A Tablespoon of Peanut Butter and A Tablespoon of Chia Seeds Mixed in for Breakfast, Dried Fruit and A Granola Bar for Morning Snacks, Cheese, Salami and Honey in Tortillas Lunch, trail mix and a protein bar for afternoon snacks, a listed meal for dinner and a protein cookie for dessert. It was not a healthy diet according to out -of -the -train standards, but my body worked much better during the next 1,400 miles. My wallet definitely paid the price, especially for dry dinners, but was not willing to sacrifice my nutrition for money.

My original «diet»

My reviewed diet once I began to take healthier food choices

Of germophobe to garbage of the hiker

In my normal life, I am a limit germophob. And in terms of daily hygiene, who does not like a daily shower? When people asked me before my walk about what worried me the most, I often gave the cheerful but true answer that I worried about feeling dirty for days. I adapted surprisingly. Over time, I stopped worrying about how clean it was or how much it smelled. The dirt on my legs, acne in my face and the stench of hikers became honor badges that kept the hikers and tourists away from me on the road on weekends.

You can make unlikely friends along the way

My closest friends on my walk are older than me. I met Early Bird the first day of our walk; We walked through the arch together in the Amicallala Falls State Park and shared miles in several states until NH. One of my favorite days of my walk was to cross from VT to Hanover, NH with dawn on my birthday. He got an elegant hotel room in the city and bought dinner for the whole group we were with. Last week I met with Early Bird for dinner, it was great to remember our walk.

Supper after the Path with early morning

I also became friends with John; The hiker of the section that picked me up in the middle of nowhere is the day I got sick. He led hours outside his way to help me that day. After his section to the south, he jumped to make the last hundred miles of the path. I reached it at the beginning of Mahosuc Notch. We spend an hour putting and starting the noticeable «toughest mile of the at» together.

John and I before Mahosuc Notch

I am very grateful for my friends with Early Bird and John. I appreciated his company during what was otherwise a lonely walk. Both did the magic for me as they walked along the path, and that is why I am immensely grateful. They represent the strength of the AT community. I will pay your generosity forward returning to the path to do the magic of the path. These unlikely friends taught me not to judge a book on their cover, and they opened my mind to the idea that your friends do not have to be your age.

A new perception of what is difficult

I did something that was difficult in ways for which I was not prepared. I did not realize the toll of the days without a nutritious meal, weeks without a day of rest, and months without seeing family and friends would face me. More days than not, it was a mental battle to put a foot in front of the other for 20 miles. I always think of the heat wave that I walked in ma. It was brutal. I felt that I was on the verge of heat exhaustion. It was impossible to let my heart rate recover, even in floors and descent: the heat kept it raised all day.

This water spot at the end of a 1 mile walk for Dalton, ma, saved me! It probably looked like a maniac for the locals. I left liters of water on me before starting out of the city.

Of course, there was an escape from suffering: quit smoking. I could have resigned at any time. I approached. The founder of Trek, Zach Davis, encourages all the aspiring hikers to write how they would feel if they renounced during their walk. In that way, what they write can deter them from getting out of the way when that moment inevitably comes. A few days before starting, I wrote that quitting smoking would be the «worst absolute cases, because I would start the next season of my life with a failure.» So, apart from two especially low moments (get sick and my quadruple lesion in me), I never allowed myself to consider smoking.

The path forced me to feel comfortable to be uncomfortable. I grew a lot fighting those impulses to leave the path for home comforts. The beauty of a walk is that it is a manufactured challenge that simulates real life. Life is how resistant we are when things do not go out to our path. The next time I stress, angry or walking for a difficult moment, I will try to remind me that I am grateful for what I have, instead of regretting what I don’t. I will remind myself that I have a climate refuge with plumbing, unlimited access to food and a comfortable bed to rest and recover from my day’s activities. I have already tried my hypothesis that my standard for what is difficult is much higher than before. My races since the path ended have felt super easy.

As a note, can you believe the lives that our ancestors lived? They fought for their lives every day. They had to hunt and cultivate their food, build their shelters and fight predators. They did not have the luxury of leaving on a 2,200 mile walk «for fun.» That was his life, we like it or not. This was something that intrigued me on a walk. I wanted to try a more difficult life. I felt that I had lived most of my soft life; accustomed to the comforts and comforts we enjoy today. That is why I caught the ultramarkon error: they allow him to temporarily return to his primary survival instinct and give him a new appreciation for later life.

A return to our roots

Another reason why I left on this trip was to be surrounded by nature for a prolonged period of time. I loved the feeling of being in a landscape much greater than me. The trees that have resisted hundreds of storms, a path that has supported billions of steps and mountains that have existed for hundreds of millions of years. He felt liberating follow in the footsteps of our ancestors.

It is humiliating to think about how many years a tree has. It is reassuring to see it still strong. He puts life in perspective: I can have a million thoughts turning my head, but the three are still there. Living in the present. That thought bothers me.

Keffer Oak in Va

We have all worried a lot about material possessions. We are lucky to have received the best gift from all: our planet. Its beauty makes me feel rich.

I can do anything to which they establish me

My faith in my strength and skills is higher than before. I think many of the things I choose to do with my life will seem easier compared to my walk. Little by little I will run again and I already look at the ultramarathons in the coming years …

I couldn’t have done it without …

I could not walk without support from my family and friends. I leaned hard on phone calls with relatives in each city. It was comforting to hear their voices and remember the home. I had to spend the weekend of Mother’s Day and the weekend of Father’s Day with my respective parents and family. Those weekends were restarted very necessary and revived my motivation to continue walking.

Some of my favorite days on the road were when friends went for a walk with me. Everyone did the magic for me, whether they brought me food or take me to the city for a meal. I had a lot of fun sharing time on the way with them. It really is the only way for anyone to understand what it is like to walk in AT.

Finally, the path along the entire path was incredible. I was surprised how generous people and communities are along the way. Trail Angels fed me with delicious meals, gave me innumerable walks inside and outside the cities, and twice even welcomed me to their homes. It was refreshing to meet such kind people. His warm and smiling faces were a change of edifying rhythm of hardness and loneliness along the way.

Conclusion

More than everything else, I learned to smile through suffering. My trip was the adventure of his life. It was a privilege to spend this time living and walking through the Mountains of the Apalaches. I was constantly surrounded by beauty. This experience solidified the importance of the mountains in my life: they are where I am happier and I think clearly. Sharing outdoor challenges with others is one of the purposes of my life, either walking together or sharing my experiences online with you. I hope you enjoyed the trip, I enjoyed sharing with you.