the Roam

In 38 days I walked 1195 miles, averaging 31.45 miles a day, from New York City to St. Louis. In St. Louis I finally gave in to my swollen painful left leg and decided to rest and seek medical advice. The diagnosis was tendinitis and the advice was rest, long term rest. I hoped the problem would fade and I would hit the road again in a little over a week, but the tendinitis remains and I can’t go forward without risking more injury and jeopardizing my long term health.

I write this now from my couch in Brooklyn. I was going to walk to Coney Island today. I hoped 10 miles would prove easy compared to the 30-40 mile days that got me injured in the first place. I can feel the pain though when I walk down the block to go to Home Depot and as I lay here my warm throbs of gentle pain come over my lower left leg periodically.

It seems that once I accepted I had to call off the rest of the trip that my body suddenly started feeling a lot of pains that I had previously kept from my consciousness. I seem to also have tendinitis in my left arm, and I can’t grip anything for very long without pain. My right leg also seems to have suffered the same fate to a lesser degree, and my right hip and thigh have developed odd periodic stabbing pains. I’ve always been good and pushing physical pain out of my mind and going forward regardless. I think this is related to what a stubborn ass I can be. When I set out for this trip I knew stubbornness was all I had going for me. I wasn’t particularly physically capable beyond my endurance, and I certainly would never be considered strong or fit.

Stubbornness got me over the Appalachians, down dangerous roads with no shoulders and heavy truck traffic, and pushed me on through Indiana and Illinois when I could only walk with the help of a tight cloth brace and copious amounts of cursing. There is something amazingly free about standing alone in a fit of rage and pain and screaming “FUUUUUCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK AHHHHHHHRGGGHHHH FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK” with no one near to hear you or judge you or think less of you for it.

Thank you stubbornness for helping me get that far, but I can’t listen to you and continue. Stubborn pride would love to see me make it to L.A. even if I was dragging myself across the ground when I arrived. I want to retain full use of my body though and recover and go on to bigger things.

I want to run! I want to marathon! I want to burn enough calories to support my infinite food lust. So I’ll finally listen to my former coworker Eric Markowitz’s advice. I remember when you told me I needed to start running over a year ago. I hated the idea and instead took up long distance walking, but 12-14 hours a day isn’t feasible forever. Now that I know what I can push myself to do I think I can finally take up a faster form of exercise. That is… after 6 weeks of healing.

That doesn’t mean the roam is over though! The Roam is bigger than one summer or one adventure. I’m going to take what I’ve learned, take my less fearful and nervous outlook on life and make the rest of my life a roam if I swing it! I’ll continue to share adventures here and I hope I can continue to entertain and inform you all. Thank you all for your support! Knowing people are reading and that people wish me well helped me do more and go further than I ever thought I could.

Now I just have to get back in the groove a bit and find some money. Then I can start thinking about a new adventure. Maybe something more relaxed like a hiking pub tour of Ireland with dad and brother. We could cross the whole country in a week!

I’ll be sharing more lessons and weird thoughts from the road in more posts coming soon.