A little background.

I want to hike the Long Trail before I turn 40. I'm 38 in January, so I have two whole summers to do it before then. I'm planning to do it as a section hike, since it generally takes three weeks to do it all at once. I'm not an athlete and I've never done a long distance hike before, but the real hitch is that I have Lyme disease. I was Diagnosed in March of '06, but I've pretty much suffered from these symptoms on and off for the last twenty years.

I really, really want to do this. I've had this kind of hike on my life's to-do list for a very long time. I have the support of my doctor and the people around me. My husband suggested I keep track of my training and progress on this blog. I need to do some serious training this winter. I plan to start with a fairly standard training program and my doc referred me to physical therapy for some hip pain I've been having.

I'm contemplating soliciting for donations for Lyme research. Ask for sponsorships for a dollar a mile or something. I don't intend to get into the controversies about Lyme disease treatment--I'm not into that. What I am into is more research and a treatment that works for me and everyone else who's dealing with this.