[pct-l] Choices and Completion Rates

[Sean 'Miner' Nordeen]

>Do not underestimate the need to get prepared mentally.
There is truth in this.  However, I would argue that the act of preparing the other aspects helps in the mental preperation as well.  

Its true that an athlete developes mental toughness were they learn to push through feeling tired and learning just how far they can really go despite all the feelings contrary.  However, this thoughness isn't enough on its own.  When I hiked, there was a guy who had done numerous marathons and other running events since he was in school and he liked the physical challenge of it all.  However, he lacked the desire to actually hike the PCT.  He wasn't enjoying the hike beyond the physical challenge of it and his mental toughness only carried him about 1000miles before quiting (though that is still farther then many get which says alot about the drive of an athlete).

Overall, I'd say the most important thing one needs is the strong desire or hunger to hike the whole trail and if it's strong enough, it will carry you through almost everything that is thrown at you (except maybe a serious injury).  I obsessed over hiking the PCT for 4 years (thanks to delaying my hike by 2 years when something came up; and I always regretted doing so),   In all my reseraching on the PCT, I read many trail journals, obsessed over maps, looked at numerous photos and watched every video I could find on the PCT.  I eventually started to find myself frequently fantasizing about hiking the trail using the imagery that I had seen (some would call this image training).  When I finally started hiking, I had become so hungery for hiking the PCT, that the idea of quitting was never a serious option.

When I hiked, I never allowed myself to talk negative about my hike.  It didn't matter how down I may have felt at the time.  In fact, I would start to talk out loud the opposite (when you speak out loud your mind seems to stop thinking for a moment to listen which is a method I use to change my train of thought).  I would say things like "I'm hiking all the way to Canada".  "I"m hiking in comfort."  "I'm hiking with strength and vigor"  This always helped me overcome the worse of what was thrown at me.  That and I knew that I would feel differently latter on and that there was nothing that a good meal in town couldn't fix, so I just had to hike through it for now.  Because I knew that I wanted to hike to Canada on the PCT.  That no matter how down I felt at the moment, I was having the time of my life.

-Miner



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Check my 2009 PCT Journal out at http://www.pct2009.lifesadventures.net/Journal.php