Problems & Solutions

For such a long hike, over fun but challenging terrain, I was overall pleased with the way my body and gear held up. As mentioned elsewhere, I would schedule in a couple of extra days for rest and side walks.

Problem 1. Snapped Walking Pole

Coming out of Ellory South in the early morning under headlight, I reached a saddle at 2km and looked back to see what the view might look like, while sidestepping the small ‘bench’. I didn’t see the two plain wires and the two barbed wires at shin height and tripped over, opening up my right shin and snapping my right-hand walking pole.

Solution

I had pre-wrapped 1m of gaffa tape around the handles of each walking pole as a handy storage point. I found some straight sticks and, using the tape, created a field brace for the pole. That night I replaced the sticks with my short MSR aluminum pegs, sports tape and gaffa tape. This repair remained solid for the next 6 days, and Komperdell via Outdoor Agencies have sent a replacement section.

I used Savlon and water to clean the leg wound. I then applied Hypafix to cover the wound and keep the dirt & flies at bay.

Problem 2. Achilles Overload

Coming into this hike, I had been training hard to build the strength of my right leg muscles due to an underlying chronic knee injury. I was wearing an Ossur Unloader One X brace, using the poles intermittently, and while the knee was sore with the long days and challenging terrain, it was manageable.

Following the fall noted above and a couple of long back-to-back days, it was my left Achilles that became painful as I limped into the Serpentine Gorge Chalet shelter later that afternoon. For preventive reasons, I had been doing nightly lower limb stretches for my hamstrings, calves and quads, and it was common for my legs to be ‘buzzing’ each night as I fell asleep; however, this night, my Achilles wouldn’t tolerate the pressure on my sleeping pad while lying on my back.

Solution

I started massaging my calves while lying on my side and was amazed by the trigger point pain I identified in my soleus and fibular muscles. Additionally, my heel was exquisitely painful on pressure, more so than the Achilles tendon or insertion.

To offload this area, I trialled a few interventions;

1. Applied an Engo patch to reduce the friction between the heel cup of my shoe and my sock. Some benefit.
2. Cut and shaped a piece of my foam splint to raise my heel (5mm) with the intention of reducing the direct calcaneal (heel) compression, but also to reduce Achilles stretch load in case the pain was early-stage insertional Achilles tendinopathy. Some benefit.
3. Continued with nightly massage and trigger point releases of the soleus, fibular and plantar muscles. Some benefit.
4. Shortened my stride length up inclines to reduce ankle dorsiflexion (i.e., to minimise the stretch load and compression on my Achilles) and made greater use of walking poles to assist in load dispersal away from the left leg. Some benefit.

The pain stabilised with these interventions and at times was minimal. With the different interventions, I realised I could walk without pain up inclines (so not Achilles primary pathology), and it was only sore when I wore my trail runners. So, a heel compression problem is most likely initiated by the repeated long days, with a pack load and some degree of self-protection of the right leg after the fall.

After completing the hike, my heels took about 8 days to feel comfortable wearing shoes again. I’m now looking for a new pair of trail hikers with less ‘grip’ on my heel.

Problem 3. Numb Toes

At the same time as I developed the heel pain, my big toe and the next three toes developed a numbness around the pads and toes on the underside of my left foot. I really noticed this at night when massaging my feet and identified several sensitive points over nerves that, when massaged, sent electrical shocks into the numb areas. This was a case of compression neuropathy, again from increased compression around my heel (e.g., medial plantar nerve), and I knew it would settle with time once I stopped hiking.

Solution

Gentle massage, calf stretches, shorter strides, more pole use, and stop hiking….

Now, 14 days after returning to civilisation, I can wear shoes, and the area of numbness has reduced, but there is still a small area that remains under my big toe.

Problem 4. Soleus

There are two primary calf muscles: gastrocnemius and soleus. Both are strengthened with single-leg, straight-knee calf raises, and of all the muscles that were sore after 6 days, it was my soleus that really stood out. While not a problem, it did indicate that my gym program was largely appropriate but just needed a bit of nuance when it came to my calf strength program. In discussion with a colleague, they pointed out my calf raise program focused on load shift vertically up and down, while hiking involved a lot of horizontal/angled forces.

Solution

I have added in inclined calf raises and, in addition to my backward sled pulls for my knee, I added forward sled pushes, which emphasise more horizontal strength training.