Crossed something off my bucket list yesterday, backwards. That is, I didn’t accomplish it, I demonstrated that I will never be able to accomplish it. This hurts. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much as my feet did last night, but my feet are more or less OK this morning.

In September of 2015, I tried to walk the Geneva Lake shore path in a single day, and failed. I got a late start, and once it became clear that I wasn’t going to finish, I let the pain in my feet talk me into quitting.

Yesterday, I tried again. I started two hours earlier, and the calendar gave me another hour on the back end. I got farther before before my “projected completion time” slipped past sunset, but the thing that ended the walk was the foot pain, again.

For the most part, everything went well; no significant joint or muscle pain, no blisters, no chafing problems. But it has become clear that the soles of my feet have no interest in carrying me more than about ten miles in any given 24 hour period, and the 21.2 of the shore path is just NOT going to happen.

For the record, I made 13 miles; 12.25 from Linn Pier clockwise to Chapin Road, and then (after significant deliberation among bad alternatives) another 3/4 mile up the hill to Wisconsin 50 (and, more importantly, Foley’s Tavern).

Also for the record, toward the end, every step was a level 6 spike (“Don’t think about it, just keep going. Don’t think about it, just keep going. Don’t think about it, just keep going.”), and the occasional downward stair step was a level 7 spike (Clench your teeth and take it because there is no choice.) Much fun.

So walking the shore path in a single day is off the list. (Well, if I can loose a hundred pounds or so, there will be grounds for reevaluation.) This makes me sad.