[pct-l] Was great quote, now planning a hike

[Jeffrey Olson]

The first time I planned a long section hike - 75 days in 1992 - it took 
my girlfriend and I a full six weeks to gather food, plan drops, put 
food in boxes, label them for my folks to mail, etc.  Now, I don't buy 
food til a week or so before the hike, spend three or four hours bagging 
it and then a couple hours labeling and boxing the bags.  Granted, this 
is not a full 130 day hike, but last time it was about half that, and 
the times are accurate. 

I especially liked the time spent in the months prior to buying the food 
figuring out what I wanted to eat, calories I needed during what week - 
the first two weeks I needed far less food than the following weeks - 
making a master list, organizing my gear a couple times, and generally 
positioning myself at the brink of leaving one life for another. 

Nowadays, as I get older and it's harder to get in and and stay in 
shape, I'm starting my section hikes with a much higher likelihood of 
having to drop out - I had a sprained ankle cut my six week trip to a 
week last summer, and that was due to being overweight.  My pack has 
been getting lighter and lighter - my base is now about 12 pounds.  
However, planning will have to include a much more self-disciplined 
"getting in shape" period starting at least three months prior to 
starting a hike. 

I have friends who run marathons and their training regimen is cut and 
dry.  There are all sorts of charts/calendars out there.  Is there 
anything like that that's been researched for hiking long distances?  
Not being 28 any more is very wonderful, except in certain cases like 
long distance hiking...  If I have to think about training, I tend not 
to do it. 

Jeff, just Jeff
Martin, SD (The flyover zone)