Hurts So Good

This is going to be a short post....I am soooo exhausted tonight. But I'm happy. :)

Dwayne and I felt so good about our hike yesterday that we decided to do another one today. It was in the same general area but a different trail. This one is called the Kolb's Farm Loop. It was a 5.5 mile hike, and we knew we wouldn't make it all the way, especially after still being a little sore from yesterday, but we decided we'd at least do 2 miles of it.

We had another beautiful day today...enjoyed some lovely scenery. Part of the walk was in full sun and part was shaded deep in the woods. We crossed over two bridges that spanned Ward's Creek so I got to enjoy seeing the water....my favorite thing in the world. It's my therapy. We picked some blackberries and munched on them along the way but they were nowhere near ripe, lol. It was still fun to do. :)

We walked 2 miles in before we realized we needed to stop and turn around to get back to the car. That meant 2 miles back.......4 MILES altogether and we were only going to do 2 miles!! It was a lot harder getting back out than it was going in. There was a little uphill walking going in, but there was a HUGE hill that we walked down....which meant that we were going to have to climb it to get back out. After about the 3rd mile of walking I became painfully aware that I had blisters on nearly all of my toes and the pads of my feet. Unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy the scenery as much heading out as I did going in. My concentration was on my screaming feet and trying to breathe while climbing that dang hill. There were a couple of times I had to stop while climbing it and the thoughts of rolling back down it seemed like a very real possibility.

I think Dwayne thought I wasn't going to make it a couple of times. He would slow down and let me catch up. He knew my feet were shot so he held my hand in the downward spots so I wouldn't slip and fall. He gently encouraged me all the way....told me what a great job I was doing. He was awesome to take me hiking both days and I'm glad we got to spend that time together. We also had our little puppy Scarlette with us. Bless her heart, lol. We had been giving her plenty of water but she started lagging behind and when Dwayne told me to stop and let her rest, I turned around to look at her and she plopped down right in the middle of the trail, just a panting. We felt sorry for her so I carried her for a ways....and then Dwayne stuck her down in the backpack and zipped it only halfway to hold her in. I was walking behind him so she could see her Momma. She was so adorable....cute little face and front paws hanging out of the bag...bouncing along the trail on Daddy's back. Too precious. I really need to invest in a digital camera.

We finally made it out and I've never been so happy to sit down in all my life. I was hurting bad...even Dwayne was in some serious pain this time. We made it home and hobbled upstairs. We both got showers and sat down to eat some dinner we picked up at the Publix deli. He knew my feet were ruined and wouldn't be able to stand up and cook the turkey breast I had planned for dinner, so he suggested Publix, picked it up and paid for it. Works for me.

Our original plan was to hike all 3 days of my birthday weekend (birthday tomorrow!), but after today, we mutually agreed that there will be no birthday hike tomorrow, lol. My feet really need to heal a bit first. But I am so happy and content right now. I'm working towards my goals every day and now Dwayne is starting to tag along with me. It feels good...it feels GREAT!! Even the exhaustion feels good because I know it's due to really pushing myself with the exercise. It hurts to even walk across the carpet right now...but I'm doing it with a smile. :)

I said this was going to be a short post tonight didn't I? You guys should know me better than that by now. :) 'Nite nite.

Quote For The Day:

"Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself." -Theodore T. Hunger

The Sunshine Is Back

Today has been FANTASTIC!!! Dwayne came over and we took the puppy and headed out for a little hike. He's in better shape than me and said he didn't want to kill me on the first hike out of the new hiking book he bought me for my birthday, so he said we'd take it easy today. We went to Cheatham Hill which is part of the Civil War Battlegrounds tied into Kennesaw Mountain. We did a 2 1/2 mile loop....some of it uphill, some of it down. It was nowhere near as uphill as our hike up Ft. Mountain a few weeks ago, but it was enough to feel the burn. I was proud of myself for doing it. Some of the walk was in the sunshine, but most of it was under the cool shade of a beautiful wooded area. There was a light breeze and we crossed over a creek in a couple of different places along the trail. The birds were singing...the june bugs were humming...it was a beautiful summer day. I released all of my negative energy and breathed in all the fresh air I could hold. I thoroughly enjoyed my happy day and it felt good to smile and laugh again.

Dwayne said we could go on another hike tomorrow....if his back and butt muscles stop aching, lol. It does my heart good that Mr. I'll-take-it-easy-on-you-today is in a lot more pain than I am. :)

I'm headed to bed....it's been a long, fulfilling day and I'm looking forward to getting some good sleep tonight. And by the way, I didn't have to delete any emails today because nobody tried to contact me....hallelujah!! The clouds have parted and the sun is shining on me once more. :)