Date: 2014-09-01
To: ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂPoor planning WILL result in failed executions'
Miles today: 0.0

207 days to go¢¦Today my daughter and I went to hike the last 12 miles of the Ohio & Erie Cannelway The Towpath Trail. What an ordeal¢¦It was as if I had forgotten everything I had learned about making well thought-out plans prior to execution of a task. It was partly cloudy, in the upper 70s, and quite humid ¢ no big deal. We had an adequate water supply and easy access if more should be needed. The plan was to hike six miles from where we last left off to where the Towpath took a break (Shepler Church Road) then move via car to the end point of the Towpath (Dover-Zoar Road) and hike back to Fort Laurens State Memorial throw our hand in the air and declare victory over the Ohio & Erie Cannelway Towpath Trail 85 miles! Poor planning makes for poor results¢¦We made fairly good time for us, rather I should say me ¢ the first six miles in about two hours¢¦I had some left hip pain but I was able to work it out without any problem. We then drove to the end point as planned stopping for refill of water. So far everything is going well. The second phase of the plan was for me to dismount and start hiking towards Fort Laurens State Memorial and my daughter to drive back to the Fort and start hiking towards me or Dover-Zoar Road. I stepped out of the car. Then the downhill spiral started. The cell phone rang¢¦It was my wife telling me that one of our credit cards had been compromised and that she had put a stop on it and she wanted me to have that information so I would not try to use it for gas or lunch. Simple conversation¢¦The problem was I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes and not thinking just reacting got back into the car and finished the conversation with my wife. I told my daughter what had happened got out of the car and immediately she drove off and I started to hike. The mosquitoes started to attack¢¦You guessed it! I was in shorts, tee shirt, ankle socks, running shoes, and a pack¢¦Nope - no bug spray, mosquito repellant, DEET, garlic, lemon joy NOTHING! Just me! It was just about one quarter of a mile in and it started to rain. Thank God for RAIN! In the Army we would say: ¢God loves an infantryman that¢s why he gave him rain.¢ NO KIDDING! The mosquitoes went away for about two minutes then the rain stopped and they came back with a vengeance in even greater numbers. I picked up the pace and continued to swat at them killing lots but not enough. Then my right hip started to freeze-up and as I moved along the pain got exponentially worse. I could not stop I would have been eaten alive by the mosquitoes. So, I just pushed on not being able to stop to recoup. I drank a lot of water which seemed to free up some of the stiffness and related pain. But it was still quit painful as I continue to move towards the objective. I met up with my daughter and asked her how much further we had to go. She said about four miles. Yep, I now had an ¢OH SHIT!! Moment¢ on my hands. Then things started to get worse my left hip started to freeze-up and become painful. There was no stopping and resting ¢ the mosquitoes¢¦my daughter could do nothing. I just had to tough it out. We finally made it to Fort Laurens State Memorial and the car. I could hardly walk I was in so much pain. There was no throwing our hands in the air to celebrate our victory. I was just glad to be alive! The other things that I did not do or plan for was: eat lunch, bring Gatorade or Sport drinks, I did not cut the water with any Sport drink, I did not bring any Tylenol, aspirin, or Ibuprofen. Bottom line I was unprepared! Now you may have gathered from my other posts that I pride myself in always having the answers and being up for the task. Not this time! BUT, What I did learn was that I am horribly overweight and out of shape! So, I have stopped beating myself up and have started an aggressive workout program taking the advice of those who had written in my guest book on how I should prepare for my trek on the AT in six months. Thank you all once again¢¦I now hear you! I now understand that for every pound I lose is one less pound I have to carry. Thank you!