Bad news 6


On the last day of the previous stretch I managed to bang my left foot hard against a rock. At the time, I just said some words I will not repeat here, and walked on. It was painful, but I was keen to keep up the speed.

The day after, which was the first day of rest in Zunhua, I noticed a slight pain in the joint at the base of my left big toe, but I didn’t think much about it. The day after that it was painful and swelled up. So painful in fact that I was having a hard time walking naturally.

I have been doing a lot of thinking the last days, wondering if it is a fracture, or just the tendons and muscles reacting to the impact against the rock. Of course I have also been thinking a lot about what consequences this might have to the walk. It is a bit ironic that one big toe, in a worst case scenario, can potentially stop an entire walk.

Anyway, today the toe seems to be getting slightly better, so I hope that means there is no fracture, and that it is on the mend. I have been taking anti inflammatory tablets lately to help it along and reduce the pain. This is of course the last thing I wanted now, but bad things happen now and again. I decided there was no point in writing about the injury until I knew a little more about how serious it was.

Well – I hope this soon gets better, and I can get back to walking the Great Wall! Will keep you posted.


6 thoughts on “Bad news

  • Christian Mogensen

    Yunnan Baiyao (simplified Chinese: ????) aerosol spray – get some from the local pharmacy. Spray on your foot. Wait 10 minutes. Ready.

    Fay used this when I had a pulled muscle, and it’s amazing. It’s a secret recipe of medicinal herbs developed for the military.

  • Svein Erling

    To walk with an injured toe is at best very difficult. Better rest until it is healed and rather two days too long than one day too short – trying to keep up the speed may slow you down. My guess is that you can easily walk 25 km per day with healthy feet, whereas 20 km per day is difficult with aching feet. And even with a difference of only 5 km per day, it only takes you four days to catch up one day of rest.

    Wishing you a speedy recovery and hope nothing is broken.

  • Roxanne

    Thought to say something to you a couple days ago about being driven at this point. Every book that I have read about people walking the wall get to this point and push themselves to the point of carelessness because the end is finally getting in sight. It appears this is a very tough stretch and you are doing magnificant. But rather than beat yourself up trying to get as far as possible each day, stop and remember you are in a magnificant country with what I can imagine is stunning beauty all around you. So, maybe you could stop a few minutes a couple times each day, take a deep breath and take in the beauty of where you are at the moment, rejuvenate and move on. Really do not want to see you beat yourself up and not finish, these are your last months, so it takes a little longer, enjoy them.

  • Anne-Brit Mydske

    Hvordan går det med tåa? Antar du tar det med ro siden du ikke har skrevet på en stund. Jeg har også en vond tå, sparket borti noe på hytta, og har nok med det jeg må gå her hjemme! Dag og jeg har vært i byen i dag, det var enstor påkjenning!
    Håper at tåa di ikke er brukket, men forstuving er også vondt og kan ta lang tid.
    Uansett: lykke til!

  • cloudsnow78

    It has been almost a week since you write the last post.
    How are you doing?
    Is your toe healed? I hope you have a good rest while waiting for it heals.

    Best wishes.

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