Walking and sometimes running about 48 miles a day, Joe McConaughy managed to crush the previous unsupported speed record for hiking the Appalachian Trail. But we now see that his body paid a price.
“C’mon, I had to have one visually disturbing post,” McConaughy wrote on his Instagram feed Monday. “After 3.5 weeks, recovery is going well. My feet are the main legacy the Appalachian Trail has left behind.”
“My ankle joint is also still recovering and swells when it feels like it”
McConaughy says he’s experiencing numbness on the bottoms of his feet and between his toes, but he’s not worried because he experienced the same thing after completing the Pacific Crest Trail.
The 2,190-mile trail starts at Springer Mountain, GA., and finishes at the Summit of Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Most hikers take 6 months or more to complete the trek. McConaughy reached the terminus on August 31, in just 45 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes.
“I had partial tearing in my hamstring tendon, which is progressing nicely,” Joe writes. “My ankle joint is also still recovering and swells when it feels like it”
On the bright side, McConaughy says he no longer looks like “Skeletor”.
“I’m currently 180, 15lbs heavier than my everyday weight.”
McConaughy says he’s hopeful the doc will give him clearance Thursday to start running again.
You can get a lot of insight about Joe “Stringbean” McConaughy’s journey by looking at his Instagram page @thestring.bean. There he posted about the extreme amount of calories required to go 48 miles a day.
The previous verified unsupported record was set in 2015 by Heather “Anish” Anderson. Her time was 54 days, 7 hours, and 48 minutes.
This isn’t the first record for the 26-year-old McConaughy. In 2014 he set the record for the Pacific Crest Trail. He completed the 2,660-mile trail in just 53 days. But that record was broken in 2016.
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