[pct-l] Preparation -- Physical Training

[Ron]

Eric, 
I agree with you.  On my 2009 thru I was fairly conditioned and had no problems.  In 2011 I figured on getting in shape on trail.  I was easily able to do 20's from day one but when I arrived in Big Bear I was done due to inflammed knees.  This year I will condition more and start slower.
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Eric Martinot <eric at martinot.info> wrote:

>It seems to me there is a wealth of good information on this list  
>about gear, resupply, logistics, hiking strategy, etc., but very  
>little about the process of physical body conditioning in preparation  
>for a thru-hike.
>
>I often think that some of the knee and foot problems and other  
>injuries that many thru-hikers experience comes from inadequate  
>physical conditioning coupled with stubbornly long miles in the early  
>days and an attitude of "I'll get in shape as I go along."  This seems  
>dangerous to me, or at least responsible for some aborted hikes and  
>unnecessary misery.  Beyond muscles and aerobic capacity, even just  
>developing adequate callouses on your feet takes awhile, to reach the  
>point where the feet feel fine the day after a hard 20-mile hike.   
>Same for knee resilience. Same for hands and arms and hiking poles.   
>In my view, you want to be able to build all that up over time, with  
>rest days in between hard hikes, before you subject yourself to that  
>stress every day continuously.
>
>Yogi's planning guide has a nice 3-page section on thru-hike training  
>(p.64).  I wonder what other posters might have to share on this  
>topic.  Yes, everyone's needs and opportunities for training are  
>different, but in the end, we all make specific choices about what to  
>do.
>
>In my case, to prepare for PCT section hikes in past years I tried to  
>do 3 months of a weekly 15-20 mile training hike with significant  
>elevation gain, plus aerobic cycling mid-week.  To prepare for a 1600- 
>mile thru-hike I did overseas, I did about 3000 miles of cycling in  
>the year before the hike, and then about 4 months of weekly 18-mile  
>3000-ft gain training hikes and some shorter hikes mid-week in the  
>evenings. There was a standard hike I did, and it started as a  
>grueling 8-hour ordeal but after a few months was down to an enjoyable  
>6 hours. I also made sure to break in both pairs of boots I was  
>bringing, putting 100 miles on each pair before starting the thru- 
>hike, to condition my feet to the boots.
>
>Now I'm preparing to finish the PCT this year, the 1400 miles I  
>haven't done yet.  This time I'm doing about 3 months of twice-weekly  
>15-20 mile hikes between now and April, in the boots I'll actually be  
>wearing, and using poles, and maybe a full pack towards the end.   
>(Bringing a full pack on training hikes is something I've avoided, and  
>suffer in the early days of the actual hike because of it.)
>
>Eric
>
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