Published In the Asheville Citizen-Times April 18, 2009

I finished hiking all the trails in the Smokies — 800 miles — last November. To accomplish this challenge, I walked several 19-20 mile days.

Two months later, while walking through a parking lot, I was hit by a woman speeding in an SUV. I walked out of the ER with a concussion, compressed vertebrae, a traumatized neck and bruised feet. Some say that it could have been worse.

The instructions I received from the ER doctor were very cautious — only walk on smooth ground and see a neurosurgeon in four weeks. But I couldn't even wallow on the couch with a good book and mindless DVDs since I was supposed to keep moving. I started walking on city sidewalks in my neighborhood and worried, what kind of magic would it take to hike again at my prior level?

Shocked and aching, I went to see my internist who checked me over from head to toe. He knows I'm an active hiker and how troubled I was and said the magic words: “This is not going to be a life-changing event.”

He gave me a prescription to see a physical therapist. Then I started the hard work of recovery to get back on the trail. I had been to physical therapy before for minor problems — a sore shoulder, a strained foot — but now I was engaged in major rehabilitation.

On my first visit, the physical therapist evaluated me. How far could I move my neck? What kind of pain did I have in my back? When she asked me my goals, I was very specific: to be able to hike 19 miles again without any pain. Physical therapists call this: “to return to prior function.”

We went over several exercises that I was ordered to do three times a day. Every time I saw her, having mastered the exercises, she made them more difficult, which hurt my back all over again. Just like Jane Fonda said 25 years ago, “No pain, no gain.” So I persevere and understand that my back and neck are going to ache.

For my first hike, I went into the Smokies for nine miles — too much, too soon — and I hurt for several days. So I dialed it back to half-day hikes with the Carolina Mountain Club. I'm now back to hiking over 10 miles, but I've not attempted a 19-miler yet.

It's hard to judge when I'm overdoing it since I only hurt the day after. I've passed the three-month mark when the neurosurgeon said I could try yoga again. I know I'm going to be sore all over again.

Rehabilitation is time consuming: going to therapy, doing stretching and strengthening exercises at home, and then doing enough cardio work to keep up aerobic fitness. Getting back to prior function is the most important thing I'm doing now.

If President Barack and Michelle Obama can find time to exercise, so can I. One of the benefits of being part of the Carolina Mountain Club is knowing hikers who've had similar problems and worse. Other CMC hikers have temporarily shelved their boots because of accidents, illnesses and operations, but they came back to the trail. I take great comfort in these role models who are now hiking and backpacking as well as they were before. I plan to be one of them.