Treated myself to hiking rather than running my mountain trail today. Decided at 90+ degrees complete with nasty humidity, there was no reason for me to beat myself up trying to run it. There aren’t many times I can afford extra time on the mountain, usually having to race the clock to get back and onto another task. But today’s schedule allowed for some extra time for which I was grateful.
About a mile and a half into my hike, I spotted a younger female dear, standing just off the trail in a little clearing. She didn’t move. Probably thought if she remained still, I couldn’t see her. I let her maintain that theory by continuing to walk past, though slower, catching sight of her out of my peripheral vision.
I found it interesting that she didn’t react to my dog that accompanied me, and that my dog didn’t seem to notice the deer. But…about fifty yards past the deer, my dog got a sudden nose full of deer. Turning in the direction of where it was originating, she pulled on her leash, eager to explore. But I wanted to let the deer be, so I had us keep walking.
Despite the weather, I hike or run this mountain trail seven days a week. There are even times, such as today when I purposefully make it a point to push my body harder with the warmer temperatures. As such, my body is fairly well conditioned to handle most of what comes my way on my journeys. But…when humidity is thrown into the mix, all bets are off. Today was no exception.
Though I’m known to push through my discomfort, the one thing that will cause me to stop is if I feel myself getting a blister. Since I run fifty miles a week, blisters are rare, but with humidity, can appear. As most runners would agree, we avoid blisters most, knowing how they will hinder our ability to put in our mileage.
So when I felt one forming three and a half miles into my hike with another three miles to go, I paused to readjust my socks. That proved effective for the next hundred feet or so, until my sock slipped down again.
Hmmm….
Pausing to give my dog a drink of water and figure a solution, I looked around, not very hopeful that I’d find anything to help solve my problem. But there, right in front of me, was a four-inch wide strip of whit cotton T-shirt that measured about a foot and a half long.
Excellent!
I was thrilled with my find. Snatching it up, I slipped off my shoe and tied the strip of T-shirt material around my ankle, pulling it down over my heel. This provided a cloth barrier so my shoe could no longer rub against the back of my foot, the skin of which was irritated due to the high humidity.
Problem solved!
Meanwhile, my dog drank all her water and sat patiently watching me. When I was done, I gathered up her water dish and we headed off to complete our hike.
Most would have overlooked that strip of T-shirt as just a piece of trash. And to be sure, I’m not one who appreciates trash strewn about—normally. But I must admit that today’s find was a gem. Not only was I able to fashion an effective barrier from it to keep from getting a blister, but also I was able to remove an offensive piece of trash from the trail in the process.
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