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q-tip
11-20-2010, 11:56
I just finished my hike from GA-Harpers Ferry. Would like to find out what folks are doing to recover. I find myself pretty exhausted and my feelings seem to be running amok. Any experience helpful.

Tuts
11-20-2010, 12:05
Your body is now used to the endorphins firing four hours upon hours every day. The absence of that has a large impact. Also, your body is used to being extensively used and turing out certain amounts of energy at a steady rate for hours. Without doing this, your body will want to rest in preparation. Finally, your body is reparing itself from all the abuse it just took from all that hiking.
My advice, rest, relax, eat healthy, get a little active during the day. The energy will come back soon.

Pedaling Fool
11-20-2010, 12:11
By recovery, I assume you mean recover with respect to physical recovery?/.

I generally don't need to do anything special to physically recover from a LD hike because I tend to pace myself well, since I never go out to break any records. But I do make sure I start exercising parts of my body that were neglected during the hike.

The only time I feel worn down is when I do daily workouts, because I tend to push it a little too hard on occasion. And when I do it really bad I get that awful numb feeling and all I can do is lay down and suffer. That's probably why I don't push myself too hard during a LD hike, because I know what it does to me and you really put yourself in a predicament on the trail in that condition.

P.S. If you're talking about mental recovery, then disregard my previous rambling:D

Tenderheart
11-20-2010, 12:15
Your body is now used to the endorphins firing four hours upon hours every day. The absence of that has a large impact. Also, your body is used to being extensively used and turing out certain amounts of energy at a steady rate for hours. Without doing this, your body will want to rest in preparation. Finally, your body is reparing itself from all the abuse it just took from all that hiking.
My advice, rest, relax, eat healthy, get a little active during the day. The energy will come back soon.


That's good advice. And remember, your body is really wanting to pack on the pounds because you have just scared it to death. EAT HEALTHY!! People ask me all the time: How long does it take to get over a long distance hike? My response: I'll let you know.

litefoot 2000

Iceaxe
11-20-2010, 12:33
I get the blues after a Long Distance Hike. Some advice I got from my fello hikers... "Start Planning your next hike!" - Works for me!

Spokes
11-20-2010, 12:43
Your post-hike regiment should include drinking plenty of water, maintaining a good multi-vitamin, and supplement diet with a natural/herbal anti-inflammatories (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/553966_5) like natural omega-3 EFA, white willow bark, turmeric (curcumin), green tea, and Boswellia.*

Learned this from my marathon, ultra running, and thru hike experiences.

*Always consult your doctor first before taking any supplements.

emerald
11-20-2010, 13:09
I would have posted the New York Times article linked below as the opening post of a new thread, but it wouldn't have amounted to much because it would have gone in every direction at once.

It's relevant to long-distance hiking in many respects including the build-up and the let-down phases. One aspect of what's being called recovery is the attendant unhappiness brought on by idleness at least in a relative sense which causes the mind to wander. Happy hikers find new focal points in their present surroundings and lose themselves in them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/science/16tier.html

Spokes
11-20-2010, 13:52
.........Cool.........

sbhikes
11-20-2010, 21:25
It is worrisome that you say you feel exhausted. Perhaps you were vitamin deficient? Maybe you should see a doctor or maybe take some OTC iron or other vitamins for a couple of days and see if you feel better.

I had the jimmy legs when I stopped hiking. And my feet hurt. After a few days, my knees started to hurt. It took a year for the creakiness to go away. I still feel creaky for a day after a day hike.

Mentally I feel like I'll never recover. It's been over a year for me now and every day I get up and go to work and feel like I'm dying. I want to tattoo on my chest "Pull the Plug No Heroics" because I can't see any reason to save me if the paramedics come. What are you going to save me for? So I can sit in a cubicle for the rest of my life?

Luddite
11-20-2010, 21:27
It sounds like you need to get back on the trail sbhikes and qtip.

Tuts
11-20-2010, 21:34
Woah sbhikes... I'm way more worried about you if that's your outlook. Being away from the trail after a thru-hike can be depressing at first, but what you're talking about is a bit more than that. Perhaps, a career change? Do something to make yourself happy man.

weary
11-20-2010, 22:27
It's been 18 years since my longest walk began. I'm still in a recovery mode. I'm hoping it won't end as long as I remain conscious.

Luddite
11-20-2010, 22:34
I want to tattoo on my chest "Pull the Plug No Heroics" because I can't see any reason to save me if the paramedics come. What are you going to save me for? So I can sit in a cubicle for the rest of my life?

I know I'm only 23 and don't know much about life, but you don't have to sit in a cubicle the rest of your life. Maybe find a seasonal job that will allow you to work only 6 months of the year, and for the rest of the year you can be on the trail or up in Alaska or in the himalaya trippin' on acid trying to change your whole perspective on ****. (Hansel)

Life is short!

emerald
11-20-2010, 23:03
It's been 18 years since my longest walk began. I'm still in a recovery mode. I'm hoping it won't end as long as I remain conscious.

It's been 30 since mine. Maybe I'm in a state of denial, but I think I recovered many years ago when I realized a through hike ends with new and even better opportunities. I no longer crave the experience.

I'd rather spend Tuesday mornings outdoors with a new local group of like-minded individuals I've been invited to join who desire to celebrate the natural world by exploring local opportunities and becoming involved with conservation projects.

Tinker
11-20-2010, 23:09
Eat like a pig, drink like a fish (water, that is ;)), and sleep like a baby (as much as you can). R&R, in other words.

Tinker
11-20-2010, 23:14
It is worrisome that you say you feel exhausted. Perhaps you were vitamin deficient? Maybe you should see a doctor or maybe take some OTC iron or other vitamins for a couple of days and see if you feel better.

I had the jimmy legs when I stopped hiking. And my feet hurt. After a few days, my knees started to hurt. It took a year for the creakiness to go away. I still feel creaky for a day after a day hike.

Mentally I feel like I'll never recover. It's been over a year for me now and every day I get up and go to work and feel like I'm dying. I want to tattoo on my chest "Pull the Plug No Heroics" because I can't see any reason to save me if the paramedics come. What are you going to save me for? So I can sit in a cubicle for the rest of my life?

I recently left an indoor job to work as a landscape laborer (less money) because I felt the way it seems that you are feeling. I agree with the other posters above. Get a job outdoors that will provide you with enough money to live day-to-day. It makes life more real in many ways:).

sbhikes
11-21-2010, 00:03
I had an outdoor "job" when I got home from the trail. I volunteered in an organic demonstration historical garden. Sadly, I am not a strong man. I'm a wimpy lady and there's no way I can work like these young guys in an outdoor job.

I just get all depressed like that when I have some kind of project that isn't finished and I try to figure out when I'll get a chance to work on my project again and it turns out there won't be any time for a couple weeks and that's mostly because my stinking job gets in the way. And then I think about how I have to go there every day and it's like when will it ever end?

Tuts
11-21-2010, 00:45
I had an outdoor "job" when I got home from the trail. I volunteered in an organic demonstration historical garden. Sadly, I am not a strong man. I'm a wimpy lady and there's no way I can work like these young guys in an outdoor job.

I just get all depressed like that when I have some kind of project that isn't finished and I try to figure out when I'll get a chance to work on my project again and it turns out there won't be any time for a couple weeks and that's mostly because my stinking job gets in the way. And then I think about how I have to go there every day and it's like when will it ever end?
Likely whe you get another job. One that you love doing. Find it and go for it.

Carbo
11-21-2010, 01:30
I just finished my hike from GA-Harpers Ferry. Would like to find out what folks are doing to recover. I find myself pretty exhausted and my feelings seem to be running amok. Any experience helpful.

All of the above is good advice. One more thing to consider is a vitamin D deficiency. It could affect you physically, which can affect the mental part. Coming off the trail and the constant bit of sunlight, now reduced since you're no longer out there, can alter the D in you. Just a thought, ask your doc.

weary
11-21-2010, 12:59
Likely whe you get another job. One that you love doing. Find it and go for it.
Such jobs are available. I was lucky. I looked forward to going to work for most of my final 30 years of earning a living. I did finally have to take slightly early retirement when I sensed my bosses thought our readers were no longer interested in reading about the outdoors and the protection of wild lands.

I like to think that it was the managers' bad judgment not my leaving that quite quickly plummetted the newspaper to the brink of bankruptcy.

Not that I've stopped working; just stopped earning money. Life is successful when one can get up most mornings worried about all the pending work needing doing.

Dogwood
11-22-2010, 00:36
I have a different take on things. I seek out the trail to recover from all the crap I deal with when I'm not hiking.

Q-tip, I'm not saying you don't have valid pts concerning yourself and for your recovery(I'm assuming physical and emotional recovery) and I know some are of the opinion that hiking has to be a physically and emotionally taxing affair BUT I AM OF OF THE OPINION THAT HIKING, EVEN LONG DISTANCE HIKING, DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY! HIKING CAN BE ONE OF THE HEALTHIEST, INVIGORATING, SELF-ACTUALIZING THINGS A PERSON CAN DO!

As I have made the transition many times, I have learned to more easily switch gears from a hiking lifestyle to a non-hiking lifestyle and vice-versa. This is what is happening in your life right now! You are transitioning back to non-hiking lifestyle! BUT, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, WHAT YOU ARE TRANSITIONING BACK TO IS GOING TO BE PERCEIVED/DEFINED DIFFERENTLY NOW BECAUSE YOU ARE NO LONGER THE SAME PERSON AS YOU WERE BEFORE YOUR HIKE FROM GEORGIA TO WEST VIRGINIA! Stay mentally alert and engaged after your hike! Take inventory of the positive gains you made while on the trail and somehow learn to adopt/incorporate those gains into your non-hiking life! That should help with your emotional, and possibly mental and spiritual, issues. As far as physical issues, when I first started hiking, after long hikes, I found it especially physically helpful if I continued exercising at a high level and committing myself to stretching and eating as healthy as I then knew how barring any serious physical injuries when I finished my hike.

Pedaling Fool
11-22-2010, 08:30
As far as physical issues, when I first started hiking, after long hikes, I found it especially physically helpful if I continued exercising at a high level and committing myself to stretching and eating as healthy as I then knew how barring any serious physical injuries when I finished my hike.
I agree with this part. You just overhauled your body and the worst thing you could do is let it go. If you overhaul your engine, you don't stop changing the oil. Yet this is what many do, they complete an overhaul of their body and then they just stop all "maintenance" once the hike is over and their body goes back to hell.

This would be a perfect time to get into running, that's what I did and now I consider myself a runner (for life); this is significant because I always hated running and always had a hard time getting into it, despite knowing it is one of the best forms of exercise for the body.

P.S. Don't fall for the, "running is bad because it's high-impact..." That's absolute BS created by marketing companies trying to sell their idiotic "low-impact":rolleyes: exercise machines. Hiking is not low-impact.

sbhikes
11-22-2010, 12:28
I really really wanted to get into running after my hike. But my feet were shot to hell and I just couldn't do it. My appetite was through the roof, too, and any exertion would lead me to binge eat out of ravenous hunger. So I curtailed my running to try and heal my feet and my appetite and now I'd have to start from scratch if I wanted to take up running. This is a big bummer.

Pedaling Fool
11-22-2010, 14:51
I really really wanted to get into running after my hike. But my feet were shot to hell and I just couldn't do it. My appetite was through the roof, too, and any exertion would lead me to binge eat out of ravenous hunger. So I curtailed my running to try and heal my feet and my appetite and now I'd have to start from scratch if I wanted to take up running. This is a big bummer.

I hate to use an old worn-out cliche, but it's never too late.

It won't be as easy starting now as it would have been, but you do have muscle memory to fall back on. So starting running and other forms of working out is the only way to go in my opinion. The only other option is to let nature ravage your body -- I know nature will win out any way, but I'm fighting back. I don't want to be anyone's trouble when I get old, that's why I stay active, yet don't kill myself trying to be at a level of a professional athlete.

As an active person I've learned to accept that I will always have some physical pain, but I just try and lessen it, but still workout. The toughest thing to fight (so I keep working out) is boredom.

It's just like a thru-hike; the mental aspect far out-weigh the physical difficulties.

All I can say is don't try and run a 5k (or whatever) in X-amount of time, rather just find a pace and run for an hour or two and simply keep at it, just like your hike...day-after-day-after-day....

There's little tricks you'll discover to keep it interesting, one of mine is to run through nice neighborhoods and try and get ideas for my landscape issues.

weary
11-22-2010, 16:14
It's been 30 since mine. Maybe I'm in a state of denial, but I think I recovered many years ago when I realized a through hike ends with new and even better opportunities. I no longer crave the experience.

I'd rather spend Tuesday mornings outdoors with a new local group of like-minded individuals I've been invited to join who desire to celebrate the natural world by exploring local opportunities and becoming involved with conservation projects.
Well I certainly don't disagree. That's how I stay reasonably fit without getting bored. My small town has gone from no protected lands to 5,000 acres of protected lands, no trails to 31 miles of woodland trails over the past 60 years. There is always something to new to discover, go see, maintenance needed, beaver flowage to be crossed, blowdown to be removed ....

I still ponder the posssibility of another long distance walk. But now it is no longer "a just go" decision. It gets balanced against the challenges -- and fun -- I would have to leave behind.

Weary

Dogwood
11-22-2010, 16:30
I'm getting off topic a bit but I do not believe our bodies and minds NECESSARILY have to be "ravaged" by nature or fall apart/entirely wear out due to hiking/thru-hiking, or for that matter, aging! I believe that is something we have been led to believe HAS TO HAPPEN because we see it so commonly in those around us.

Instead, I choose to take clues/adopt habits from successful people who are realtively healthy and physically and mentally awake and fully functioning well into their eighties and nineties. My grandfather was sexually active until his death at 89, for example! Please, no snide comments! Jack LaLanne, at 96 yrs young, is another one of those who still lives an active, mentally alert, and physically fit lifestyle. There are many around if we seek them as healthy role models/mentors instead of buying into the belief that we HAVE TO ALL fall apart physically and mentally as we age! I think if we all looked into some of the latest cutting edge independent medical life extension research we would find that we are capable of living longer, healthier, and active lives, well beyond the century mark! The body has an anazing capacity to regenerate itself, IF WE TREAT IT RIGHT, AND we understand how many factors can influence the quality of our physical longevity!

I also belive that we are more pro-actively capapable or personally responsible for our health than we sometimes are aware. It's not always "nature" impairing our minds and ravaging our bodies in so much as it's our personal and behavoral choices! NO, I do not blame McDonalds for forcing bad health down my throat. It is I who decides if I will eat that food. If eating like that results in negative physical and mental side effects it is my personal responsiblity to deal with it! Same with smoking or drinking or consistently placing myself in an emotioanlly and spiritually negative environment.

If health and active longevity is my goal I pursue/study health from those acheiving it or have acheived it!!

BrianLe
11-22-2010, 17:01
"I really really wanted to get into running after my hike. But my feet were shot to hell and I just couldn't do it. My appetite was through the roof, too, and any exertion would lead me to binge eat out of ravenous hunger. So I curtailed my running to try and heal my feet and my appetite and now I'd have to start from scratch if I wanted to take up running. This is a big bummer."

After the PCT I couldn't run either, ended up having foot surgery, so I was happy to finish the AT this year with systems relatively intact. What worked for me on the appetite was to take a couple of weeks for the appetite to come down to normal, then I started with a gentle run (and still am not doing much distance). In a way it certainly was "starting from scratch" insofar as I hadn't run in multiple years, but key was that my weight is down close to where I think is (ideally) sustainable/good, and of course my legs and lungs and so forth are pretty strong still. So it hasn't been bad at all.

I think one of the worst aspects of (re)starting a running regime for me is doing so when I'm carrying a lot of extra body mass --- not fun at all, one feels very slow and heavy. I'm hoping I won't blimp up too much over the next several months ...

Joshuatree
11-22-2010, 18:33
sbhikes look around I've seen a couple of landscape companies that hire mostly women. they have them doing more of the landscape part of grounds keeping making it look nice and such and less of the grunt work

Pony
11-22-2010, 18:49
I slept and ate for most of two weeks after I got home. I was about 20 pounds under weight and most likely not as healthy as I should have been considering all the exercise I had been getting. My knees finally stopped hurting about two weeks ago, and now that I am physically a lot better, I'm starting to get the itch to get back out.

Mentally, it's been a tough transition. I don't feel depressed really, just out of sorts with the world. Everything seems too fast and too loud. Especially the loud part. I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of things in the near future.

sbhikes
11-23-2010, 12:47
sbhikes look around I've seen a couple of landscape companies that hire mostly women. they have them doing more of the landscape part of grounds keeping making it look nice and such and less of the grunt work

I live in California. All the landscapers are Spanish-speaking and men. Strong as heck and really hard workers. The only landscaping job I was able to get was a volunteer job in a food garden. I pulled weeds and shoveled compost around and got paid in fresh bananas.

I know how you feel, Pony. People in the regular world seemed like they all shouted to each other all the time. And they smell. I still think most people smell horrible. The perfume makes me gag. The smell of exhaust makes me gag, too.

Blissful
11-23-2010, 12:50
Eat like a pig, drink like a fish (water, that is ;)), and sleep like a baby (as much as you can). R&R, in other words.

I agree with the last two (the first can make your system go haywire and lead to other medical issues).

Fourth - Exercise. Like running

sbhikes
11-23-2010, 13:02
The body eventually does break down. I am a Sierra Club Hike leader and I've watched as a lot of the older hikers have faded away. You can stay active, yes, but eventually you will wear out.

Dogwood
11-23-2010, 19:50
If you so choose to emulate/focus on those hikers who have "faded away" because of age you have the right to so choose your mentors that way. However, you can also choose to emulate/focus on those who are in their nineties and still actively hiking! It's up to you what you wish to fucus on! Personally, I have met hikers who were in this age group completing thru-hikes! They are out there! If you don't want to be average/the norm don't emulate/focus on those who are avg/the norm!

There are 3 general fields in the landscaping industry: landscape architects/landscape designers(usually unlicensed), landscape contactors(those that install the designs of the architect/landscape designer, and lanscape maintenace personell(those that mow the grass, trim the trees, etc). Some companies do some crossover combination of fields. Some specialize in one aspect of landscaping. Most of the Hispanics you notice are in landscape maintenance and do crossover work in landscape contracting/installation/building.

If you want a job in the landscape field as a female maintenance person apply at casinos, lg hotels, office buildings

weary
11-23-2010, 20:04
The body eventually does break down. I am a Sierra Club Hike leader and I've watched as a lot of the older hikers have faded away. You can stay active, yes, but eventually you will wear out.
True. Nothing lasts forever, even the human body. But there is no doubt that active people stretch their active years to the maximum. Somethings about aging can't be guarded against.

But gradual wasting away from not using your arms, legs, mind, and other body elements is not among of them. At 81 I'll never be equal to my 30s or 40s again. But at 81 I can still walk five miles in a couple of hours over a rough woodland trail, observe the plants and wildlife with more skill than 40 years earlier, lead a crew installing bog bridging, cut brush, and make maintenance decisions with the best of them.

Well, I think so anyway.

Weary

Dogwood
11-23-2010, 20:11
malls, etc maintaining interior landscapes(interscaping). Companies that specialize in this type of landscaping often hire females because they are in the public arena and this type of maintainance is often less heavy labor intensive with less installation and/or build aspects.

Jobs do exist for non-hispanics in landscaping. Look for positions with REPUTABLE PROFESSIONAL landscape companies rather than the small mom and pop companies, that seem to be everywhere, THAT DO NOT PLACE THE HIGHEST PRIORITY ON HIRING EMPLOYEES THAT WILL WORK FOR THE LOWEST WAGES! If you can emphasize that you have landscape experience, a D.L., green card, speak Spanish, are strong, reliable, and offer quality conscious knowledgable work you will have a better chance gaining employment in a reputable company. Being bi-lingual in Spanish/English will only increase your chances of being hired!

Dogwood
11-23-2010, 20:15
You might want to look at the publically traded reputable professional landscape maintenance/build/design company The Brickman Group for landscape employment.

v5planet
11-24-2010, 11:08
The body eventually does break down. I am a Sierra Club Hike leader and I've watched as a lot of the older hikers have faded away. You can stay active, yes, but eventually you will wear out.

sbhikes, you are being painfully negative about everything. The real world sucks, but you can always take the edge of with a better perspective.

Don't like your job? Find a different one.

Running will require you to start from ground zero? So start from ground zero. Just get out there - no one's going to do it for you, and complaining about it doesn't help.

Depressed about not being able to disappear into the wilderness for 6 month intervals whenever you want? That's just how it is. A thru-hike is basically binging on unmitigated privilege and eventually you have to come back to the world, whatever that is. I'm sorry you've had trouble coming down from that high -- we all have -- but if you refuse to see the silver linings on all the dark clouds of life you're never going to be happy. Happiness is a choice, and it's one you have to make for yourself.

sbhikes
11-24-2010, 12:35
I have a lot of 70-80 year old friends being a Sierra Club Hike leader. People do wear out. They can do a lot into their 80s or beyond, but not as much as when you are in your 30s. Two of them died this year. One of them has had to give up his annual birthday hike. I never see the 80+ year old bungee-jumper/hangglider/skydiver guy with the 22-year-old legs anymore, either. It's not focusing on the negative. It's simply a fact of life.

Just like the fact of life is that I'm not a landscape maintenance worker. I'm a computer programmer. It is really hard to sit all day. I get the jimmy legs.

q-tip
12-04-2010, 11:50
Thanks all for the good info--feeling better and getting back on the trail soon....

Pedaling Fool
02-02-2011, 10:46
Here's some more info on recovery. Take note on the Vit I write-up and also good stuff about NOT becoming a couch potatoe during recovery, do something, keep it easy, but do something.

http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/injury-prevention/welcome-back?cm_mmc=BicyclingNL-_-2011_02_01-_-trainingandnutrition-_-welcome_back

This is a little grey, but maybe someone will find it useful

http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/nutrition-weight-loss/deconstructing-dairy?cm_mmc=BicyclingNL-_-2011_02_01-_-trainingandnutrition-_-deconstructing_dairy