Blister Sisters

Yesterday we went on a training hike over the Seven Sisters, which is Part Seven of the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (M-M Trail). It was really hilly terrain, much more than we'd done before... at parts it was basically rock climbing. I know that terrain makes a difference, but I couldn't believe how much it slowed me down and tired me out. After a mile and a half, I felt more fatigued than I had after over five miles on a flatter hike.
Here's the elevation guide, for that section of trail, so you can see what it was like. It the jagged rockiness made it feel a lot more hilly.


While I'm not going to pretend to be in good enough shape that I wasn't having some muscular and aerobic problems, these issues were not nearly as pressing as the pressing of my large blisters against my boots. You see, I moved out of my dorm room the day before we went hiking, and all most of my clothes (including all my hiking socks) stayed in my mom's car, which was gone by the time I was looking for them. So I hiked in lightweight socks instead of my normal medium weights. Big mistake. 3My feet were sliding all around. I could feel the process start: one on each heel, and one under each big tow. Eventually, the big beauty on my left heel broke, and oh boy, could I ever feel it when it happened! By the time I got my sock off at the end, the piece of skin that had broken off had migrated halfway down the side of my foot (the blister actually extends about twice as far as the broken skin...mmm).
So, the lessons learned are:
1. I should not wear thin socks, or else, I should wear two pairs. Blisters suck.
2. Rocks are kind of a pain, and really slow me down when I have to go up or down big ones.
3. Terrain is super important in determining speed and ease in hiking.
4. Food tastes really good, and makes me feel a lot better when eaten in the middle of a hard hike.

There is less than a week until our week long MA hike. I'm apprehensive about the pace we've planned (15 miles/day) and how the weight of the pack will affect my stamina.