Date: 2008-05-27
To: MRI Day
Miles today: 0.0

Early today I had the latest picture of my knee taken. It sure did take an effort to keep the knee completely still for the 20 minutes or so of the procedure. I had to use my hands to manually bend the knee again afterwards, and the pain increased more from keeping it still and straight like that than it did from hiking 5 miles the other day. I hope that means it's getting better, not worse. The tech would say only that he could see a lot of fluid on the knee, and that I'd have to wait for it to be professionally read before I could find out what can actually be seen in there. Hope they read fast!I'm very optimistic though. I gathered up all my gear yesterday, ostensibly so I can spend some time the next couple of days searching for missing items, but primarily for an excuse to go shopping for more/replacement/lighter gear tomorrow. You may think I'm foolish to spend the money now, as I might not even be able to hike this year, but I actually don't need anything big, just a few small replacements like stuff sacks, maybe a new pocket knife, and some consumables like 100% deet. But the way I figure it, I may as well do it now, because if the Dr. gives me the go ahead to hike then I plan to be out every day building up some mileage and weight and testing the knee. Anyway, shopping is good for the soul. No further excuse needed.Continuing on the same theme, I got a new shipment of shoes today from Zappos.com. I love zappos, their shipping is free and very fast, and they take returns up to 356 days later (including paid return shipping) as long as the shoes are in new condition. Years ago, when I first bought shoes online I was terrified of the thought that they might not fit. I'm very hard to fit: small stubby feet, wide at the toe, narrow heel, and a high instep. I've been to literally hundreds of outfitters and specialty shoe stores, been measured, fitted, recommended, etc., and bought loads of shoes that felt great in the store. Most of which have subsequently given me blisters, pain in the toes, ankle pain, knee pain, hip pain, you name it. The problem seems to be that the shoes that are comfortable and feel like they fit in the store, don't fit as well when I've had them on a couple of hours. Yes, I've tried having fittings immediately after a hike, in my already sweaty hiking socks, on my already swollen feet, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. So the zappos experience is perfect for me: I can order several pairs of shoes in several sizes. On delivery I immediately try them all on with my hiking socks to eliminate the obviously undersized, oversized and uncomfortable. The remaining shortlist of pairs can then be worn around the house for hours at a time to see how they feel as my feet get used to them, and as they get hot (which is inevitable with hiking socks on in the house when it's 90 degrees). If after a couple of hours they have problem spots, they go back in the box and get returned for free.The reason I'm shopping for new shoes so close to the proposed (hopeful) start date is that my favorite boots, a pair of Dunham Cloud Contrails, hiked about 800 miles of the Florida Trail last year, and while they are still comfortable and I love them, I know they probably don't have much more life in them. I stopped by the local New Balance store last week to pick up a new pair, and to my dismay they have been discontinued, as apparently have all women's Dunhams. They did indeed have the boots, at an amazing $19.99, about 20% of what I paid for my last pair, but of course, not in my size. Having called almost every NB store in a several hundred mile radius and searched the internet I have given up on the quest to find a pair.   I've tried several other boots, but none that fit quite like my Clouds, so have turned back to shoes. With the knee injury at all I think the lighter weight may help in the long run. This isn't the first time I've switched allegiance, and I still have the last good pair of NB shoes that I used to hike in before the clouds, but they too have too many miles on them to last too long into a long hike, and as they have started to wear they have been causing a small but deep blister on the outside of my left heel. So I thought I'd try another shoe, but which? My planning is still continuing in other areas. The first batch of food should arrive tomorrow, and hopefully maps later this week.Preparations go on.....