Re: [pct-l] Drop-out, decompression, and conditioning

["Joanne Lennox" <goforth@cio.net>]

Big, Tall Hummel -Strider

I think you forget that I started almost a month before anybody else did,
on March 21.  One of my main limitations seems to be that I am sensitive to
very late spring snow storms and to giardia.  Fortunately, I have more than
my share of tenacity.

I think that many people don't get the overtraining syndrome.  And younger
body's can take stress and recovery faster. Also stress is cumulative and
comes in many different forms ( food, injury,heat, jetlag, money worries
,slowness, sickness,drugs, travel problems, loneliness, fear, hitchhiking,
crossing rivers, snow, sleep problems, worry about loved ones, or work,
etc.)

As I have pointed out, the thruhikers that make it, that bounce through
their experience and out the other end, may not  be the ones that might
provide
the most information.

It is unfortunate that the people that leave the trail in Northern
California, usually do so quietly, and we rarely get to learn from their
experience.  But it is very valuble experience, maybe more valuable for
training purposes than those who don't have as many problems and walk all
the way to Manning.

What is the effect of conditioning and pacing on outlook? It appears to me
that outlook is one of the prime determinates in continuing a thruhike. 
Jim Owen said it: a thruhike is a mind game, it is not about equipment.

As far as basketball is concerned, I would think that it would probably be
fairly good training for the PCT, mainly because it involves long training
sessions and long games, and that it emphasizes the legs.  And it is
usually done over a long period so that endurance would be pretty good -
probably a good thing in training the endocrine system.  Probably depends
on how much bench time there is, and how intense the exercise.

It would be nice if we all could just hike our own hike.  But this does not
make us more aware or more educated about the pitfalls that we will
encounter, more often it is a limitation in our experience that prevents us
from making good choices, even when we are prefectly free to make those
choices. Forewarned is forearmed as my Mom used to say.

Goforth 
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