day 3: in which detours are the bane and blessing of my existence

day 3 on the road dawned absolutely grey and gloomy! what beautiful weather to walk a mere 13 miles...or so i thought. after a nice long rest on day 2, i was excited to get back to walking feeling relatively fresh, and for the first mile or so i did feel pretty good! here are some thoughts from a roller coaster day 3!

• about a mile or so into walking, an old injury on one of my ankles began to give me trouble. this prompted some emergency texts to my sisters (who have both done multi-day long hikes), several impromptu trips into a walgreens and back again (i am single-handedly keeping them in business probably), and a slightly weepy cup of tea at a dunkin' donuts where i felt like i'd failed only three days into the project.
• side note: this walk is probably sponsored exclusively by dunkin' donuts restrooms. their new slogan can be: elena pees at dunkin' lol
• luckily, i hit upon a good combination of an ankle brace and some ibuprofen that made me feel like the world was a new and beautiful place! i'm always so cheerful the first 5 or 6 mile of the walk, which is really fun. it also makes sense because my practices walks were mostly around that length and i feel confident in my ability to go that distance successfully!
• i was startled by a jogger who blew past me at an intersection and i caught up to them at the next one (red lights are a hilarious equalizer for pedestrians). they asked where i was going and (bless them) were more excited than shocked when i said "montauk."
• i had my FIRST bad luck with detours RIGHT before i got to the location of my interview! i had to pass underneath some train tracks, and the ONLY road that went under them was closed!!!!! i ended up having to walk about 0.75 miles out of the way and then back again....which meant i wasn't able to rest as much as i wanted to! i'll post a photo of the detour on Instagram, so head over there and check it out - it's very funny on the map in retrospect!
• the interview today was lovely! my interviewee (and his co-worker!) were super welcoming and gave me a bunch of gifts on the way out, including a copy of the quran and a container of dates. luckily, tomorrow i'm staying with a friend and i'll be able to leave the gifts there so i can pick them up on my way home!
• i had my SECOND bad luck with my route and GOOD luck with a detour post-interview. for some reason, my walking directions wanted me to head down jericho turnpike despite the sidewalk ending which - I AM NOT ABOUT THAT SCARY LIFE. i took the first turn out that wasn't a dead end and managed to find an alternate route! i had to traipse across a grassy park, but it was totally worth it.
• i'm all tucked in for the night, and the name of the game is FOOD, STRETCHING, and RECOVERY. my hope is that my ankle will adjust and that the brace will help equalize me for the rest of my journey, but i had a long talk with my body about alternates in case it doesn't seem possible (if anyone sees me in about 30 miles on a bike, you know what's up lol)

i'll touch base again after my interviewssss (2, possibly 3?????) tomorrow!