March 30 — Boulder, CO
One month later it is very clear that coming out to Boulder, CO, was the right decision. Just within the last week have I begun to feel confident about putting strain on my hip flexor. In fact, it is still bothering me a bit right now but I think it is related to the buildup of calcium and scar tissue in the area after an injury like this. So what exactly happened? The first doctor was actually correct — it was a strained or slightly torn hip flexor muscle (the “hip flexor” actually refers to several muscles that wrap around and through your hip to help lift your knee) — but neither one of us realized how long it would take to get better. In retrospect, I should have known that I was looking at more than 3-weeks — heck, I could barely lift my foot off the ground by the time I stopped.
And where do I go from here? Two things need to happen before I do anything: first, I need to finish up working for GoLite, which has been absolutely awesome so far. If you have not checked out the additions made to the website, you are encouraged to do so: www.golite.com. Now it is much more consumer-friendly, with a concerted effort to educate visitors about GoLite and its products. The second thing is graduation; that is on May 9.
After that, I have some time before I start, particularly because I am thinking it will be best to start in late-July or even August from the Atlantic Ocean. Starting August 1 and hiking 25 miles per day would put me across the Ohio border into Michigan on December 6, which would be a good time to stop for a month for the winter holidays. Returning to Michigan on January 15, I could cross-country ski through MI, WI, and MN (bringing lots of warm clothes); I would hike across the prairies (in some pretty nasty conditions) and intersect with the Continental Divide Trail in mid-May, which would make for a possible but early-season push through the Rockies and Pacific Northwest.
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