by Gary Fatool
Ok. I'm 60, type 2 diabetic, have a torn ACL and torn meniscus. What was I thinking when a co-worker showed me the KTA site and the Super Hike? Not sure, but I can tell you my friend Ezra Brooks was doing most of my thinking the day I signed up for the 50k. Thirty one miles. Never thought about 31 miles before until I started resetting the trip odometer in the car and was jolted into reality as to how far 31 miles actually are. It is 7 miles more than walking from the King of Prussia Mall to The Linc to watch the Eagles. That's a mere 24 miles. Oh well, what's done was done. Besides, I plopped down $80.
I love to walk. I live in the country and walked with my youngest daughter (19 now), my dogs, and whatever assorted neighbors dogs that decided to tag along. I never liked to back pack. The Army cured me of that. My walking is as light as possible, and it is mostly road, dirt or otherwise. What I committed to is a whole different animal.
Time to kick it up a notch. 8 mile used to be a long walk for the dogs and I, 4 miles being the norm. It is March. Time to quit the cigarillos, time to up the mileage. It is April. Time to quit the cigarillos, time to up the mileage. It is May, time to quit the cigarillos, time to up the mileage. It is June, I quit the cigarillos! I started doing more 7 to 10 mile walks, or walking a round of golf, approx 5 miles, then come home and walk the dogs 5 miles. One day I peeled off 15 miles and thought, 'this is going to be beyond hard'. 6 miles or more walks became the norm, even after a night shift. Double digit walks twice a week. Then I reeled off a 20 mile walk. The end of that walk it was as if my legs were detached. I was watching them moving forward but I had no control over them. I felt them though. I averaged 3.6 mph. And after 4 months lost 16 pounds.
It was right after this walk I finally scheduled an MRI with Ortho. It was only a year dealing with this pain. Wasn't bad while walking but I could hardly bend my left knee after any kind of walk. Torn meniscus and torn ACL. Most painful after a long walk. Not sure how or when all this happened. The MD gave me a good brace, a series of three shots in the knee and told me good luck, I'd live, couldn't do much more damage, and come back after golf season, so he can fix my trigger fingers and 'clean up' the knee. I was surprised as to how well the brace worked!
I decided I needed to finally hike on an actual trail about 2 weeks before the Super Hike. I choose, after having a lot of fun searching all the trails in Pa., the Old Loggers Path. I hiked the trail in 9.5 hours, 2.85 mph, with a left knee brace, after a hearty breakfast of potatoes, bacon, sausage and english muffin. I brought along two bags of trail mix, but barely ate one quarter of one bag. Don't be fooled by the moderate to easy, there are tough parts, but enough dirt road walking evened it out. Parts of the trail are narrow with a sharp drop-off. There was an amazing amount of water for the lack of rain in this area, enough to make spots annoying (there are stream crossings). I brought one of those filter straws, there were nice fresh pools of water throughout the 27.11 mile. Some climbs were challenging to do fast, but I wasn't burdened with a back pack. I went clockwise starting on Cascade Rd. I went clockwise thinking I would be climbing more than descending. Some descents were rough but it didn't appear if I had gone counter-clockwise the hike would have been any easier. Not typical parking, but I enjoyed starting with climbs when legs are fresh. There are plenty of opportunity to take photos without getting off the trail, including vistas. Its mostly well marked, but there are some challenging spots. Tore the big toe nail of its moorings about 8 miles in, which made sharp descents aggravating, and I swear the rocks popped up on their own when they saw that left foot coming. But I made it. Was never so happy to see my car! Next the Super Hike....
Read on for part 2...