Back in the Saddle Again: 5 miles

I took my new foot out for a spin this evening and threw everything I could at it, taking the trail that goes straight up bigass hill. The foot emerged unscathed and pain free. YAY! Hopefully, the combination of the cortizone shot and a custom orthotic will do the trick. I don't care if my foot completely collapses on October 4th, as long as I get thru the walk.

One thing that did not work out as well tonight was my shoes. Because of my deformed foot, I found an antique pair of Nikes and got out the X-acto knife and cut a hole where the joint is, so my foot can stick out. Here's what it looks like:

The concept is great -- I'm working up the courage to do surgery on either my Merrells or my NBs -- but the rubber in that old pair o' shoes has oxidized so much that there's no cushioning left, and my good foot ended up with a blister. So I had an excuse to slap on one of Band-Aid's new blister bandages (WHICH ARE AMAZING). I might end up euthanizing the Nikes which grievously pains the hoarder within me.

Love the oak trees on this trail:

My gnew enemy: gnats!!!! There were swarms of them.
 
Posting photos tmrw.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 1 hr, 25 mins
Climb: +2,237ft / -2,201ft

The top of bigass hill is now all browned up: