When we were getting ready for the Appalachian Trail one of the useful things I learned to do was train my feet.
By walking 4-5 miles a day with a full backpack for a week or two I would save myself from a week of pain on the trail as my feet adjusted.
Another thing was stretching. When I started stretching a few weeks before hiking I saved myself from knee pain for the first 2-3 days on trail.
With the PCT, given the weather and the distance between resupply locations where we are starting we need to do some training before we start in order to get through Oregon in time.
The current training approach we have is:
- January walk at least four miles a day.
- February. Walk at least four miles a day with our packs on and another 3-4 miles a day without them.
- March. Go for 8-10 miles a day with our packs on, including some foothill trails.
- Take a class on ice axe/self arrest. Our hope is to miss all the serious stretches but we want to be careful.
- April-May. Work up to fifteen miles a day.
- April. Start stretching every day.
- May. Practice some with our gear. (Note. We’ve used all of it before).
- June. Be on the Pacific Coast Trail.
That is our current plan. The neighbors are getting used to seeing us out with our backpacks on.