[pct-l] pct-l] footwear weight, was UL danger

[abiegen at cox.net]

>From: "giniajim" <jplynch at crosslink.net> 
Subject: Re: [pct-l] footwear weight, was UL danger 
To: "Len Glassner" <len5742 at gmail.com>,	"Yoshihiro Murakami" 
	<completewalker at gmail.com> 
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net 
Message-ID: <9493944E07CB4D8A85C26FB2B88C2FAD at HomePC> 
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1" 
 
For what its worth, the most efficient speed on these charts seems to be about 
80 meters per minute which is about 3 miles per hour.  I wonder if that's an 
>efficient gait that developed over millions of years of human evolution? 

My guess is yes. I remember reading another study a few years back that was done showing that walking/hiking faster uses less energy. The optimum speed was around 3 miles an hour. I picked up my pace because of that. So as you pass slower hikers who are complaining that the hike is so hard - keep in mind that for them, yes it is hard - at the pace they are going. If you can gently let them know that it would be easier if they were going faster, it might help them. Of course, everyone has different length legs, fitness levels, etc. so emphasize the gentle part. It is also another reason to go light. Heavy loads slow you down and by slowing down you are working hard plus you are working harder carrying the load - a double hit on your energy level.

An interesting aside OT - another study looked at students who were good at math skills and those that found math "hard." Looking at oxygen usage, the ones that found math hard were using more oxygen than those that found it easy. So again, when your kids say they hate math because it is too hard - it's true. It is too hard for them because their brains are consuming more energy and working harder.

TrailHacker