Day 2: The Wilderness

I started out a little late this morning because Patrik and I had to drive to the starting point 4 miles south of Rudyard. The first few miles were fine, except for the 3 dogs that jumped out of nowhere and challenged me at the edge of the road. I stopped only long enough to check for traffic and cross to the other side. They stayed at the edge of their territory, but barked like the hounds from hell until I was well out of site. After that bit of excitement, I was stopped by a woman named Florence who recognized me from the local paper. We chatted for a few minutes while I stretched my hamstrings. She told me how she had gone to visit a friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and then she politely excused herself and I was on my way. The road then took me into an area of forest that seemed to go on forever. I didn't see another soul for at least 5 miles...not even a deer.

I'm worried about my left leg. I developed a huge blister on the bottom of my left foot so I favored that side while walking and that led to a mild shin splint. I just have a bad feeling that it's going to get worse on that leg because of the angled slope of the road. I'm favoring the foot and putting more pressure on the outside muscles of my left leg.....that can't be good. Despite the drama with my leg, I am determined to walk a marathon each day. No one said it would be easy, right? I guess if it was easy, more people would do this type of thing. Tomorrow should be interesting.