What possibly can hurt when hiking
It is always nice to share the incredible pictures of fantastic places with others. But there are not only the beautiful sides with hiking. You also have to deal with pain. Possibly, a lot of pain. On the feet, the legs, the back and also on the backside, if it goes very dumb.
Blisters
Who does not know that, you hiked a bit, suddenly you feel a light burning sensation on your foot. When you look at it, you notice that a blister has formed. Blister patches can be very helpful, not only for preventing getting worse, but also to relieve the pressure and thus the pain. In addition, they ensure that the liquid is drawn from the blister without having to open it. Blisters should never be opened, as there can get dirt in and cause inflammation.
Muscle Soreness
Muscle soreness always occur when we use muscle more intense than they are used to. The good thing? You can get used to it very quickly. While I already had uncanny soreness at 9 km after my first hike, after the 50/12, only 5 months later, I realized that you can get used to the strain and had no muscle soreness the day after. Just do not get discouraged!
Hematomas
Women spend 8% of their lives figuring out where their bruises come from.
https://www.visualstatements.net
One look down and one finds, half the thigh is blue. On the arm you will also find a bruise and sometimes they are not just blue, but purple, yellow and black. Where do they all come from? No idea! At least mostly. If you want to go down a slope, slipping in the wet leaves and hit with the backside exactly a stone, it is not only deep black, you know at least where it comes from.
Back pain
Just grab a backpack and just stuff everything you probably need, it can backfire at you very quickly. Especially if you already have a sensitive back. Meanwhile, I’m planning exactly what I’ll pack. Alone with the backpack, water and food it is fast up to 5 kg, which you carry with you (since I drink a lot, is always have a little more water with me, but it remains simple: 1l = 1kg). A good and comfortable backpack is very important, and I also benefit from being able to carry the weight more on the hip than on the shoulders thanks to the hip belt.
Groin pain
After the first few hikes, the left groin started to hurt. Just going uphill, I felt a searing pain in the groin, with every single step. After I made 30 km for the first time, they were gone to show up on the right side. These stayed with every hike and usually started after the first 3 km. Since I assumed that it is simply due to the lack of training, I also started with stretching exercises. It was getting better.
On my first 50/12, which I intentionally planned on flat terrain because I wanted to avoid this pain, it also started after 3 km. If you have 47 km to go, anything but pleasant. After 37 km these pains were gone at once (enough, of course, if everything else hurts) and never appeared again. Whether it is right to simply ignore such pain, I doubt strongly and I would not recommend at this point. Just because things are going well, it does not always have to be good.
Black toenails
The shoe is a bit too small, the nail a little too long and it goes down hill. The ideal combination to get a black toenail. Apart from the fact that it can be very painful, it is quite possible that the nail will fall out after a while. To avoid this, it is advisable to keep the nails as short as possible. Also in between while hiking, the shoes should be tied again and a little better, so that the foot sits properly and can not even slide forward.
Unfortunately, I made some mistakes regarding to this and after six months, half of the nails are black, but at least it matches the hematomas in color.
