Recovering

[Dogwood]

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]

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" exercise machines. Hiking is not low-impact.

[sbhikes]

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]

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]

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]

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]

"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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

You might want to look at the publically traded reputable professional landscape maintenance/build/design company The Brickman Group for landscape employment.

[v5planet]

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]

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]

Thanks all for the good info--feeling better and getting back on the trail soon....

[Pedaling Fool]

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-nu..._-welcome_back

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

http://www.bicycling.com/training-nu...tructing_dairy