Hit 100 miles on the Appalachian Trail in 6 days and my knees nearly quit

I was so focused on making good time I ignored the pain until mile 80, now I'm sidelined with tendonitis for two weeks. My advice is take zero days from the start even if you feel fine, they matter more than miles. Anyone else push too hard early and regret it?

2 comments

2 Comments

gray_schmidt814d agoMost Upvoted

Done the exact same thing on a different trail (the Long Trail in Vermont), pushed through shin splints for three days and paid for it with a month of zero hiking. Zero days are non-negotiable even if you feel like a superhero. Stretch your calves and hips every night too, tight calves wreck your knees on descents. And skip the ibuprofen as a painkiller, it just masks the damage and can mess with your recovery long term. Better to lose a day now than two weeks later, trust me.

martinez.anna14d ago

But see I actually kinda disagree with the idea that zero days are always a must. I've done sections of the AT and the Long Trail and sometimes my body feels worse after a full day off because everything tightens up and stiffens. @gray_schmidt8 makes a solid point about calves and descents though, thats where I've had knee issues too. For me the trick has been taking short breaks every few hours to do some quick stretches and keeping my pack weight down instead of planning full rest days. I know someone who hiked the whole AT without taking a single zero because they figured out a good routine of short breaks and light stretching, so I think theres more than one way to handle it depending on how your body reacts.