I’ve started modest training. In the last three weeks I’ve lost around six pounds and started walking 4-5 miles a day.
I know that isn’t much but my commitment is to get serious by March 1 which will give me six weeks of real preparation.
My core training has me up to 76 kneeling ab rollers and I continue to make progress on my weight training.
A family emergency had me not able to train in karate since I’ve been gone for circa twenty days.
My current plan is to train with karate until April and then focus on hiking over everything.
I want to move up to ten miles a day with a backpack for March 1 to March 15 and then move up more. I’d like to lose at least fifteen more pounds before I hit the trail.
My pack is twenty-five pounds with five days of food and two liters of water so losing the fifteen pounds will make it like carrying only ten.
I want to be able to do 15-20 miles a day when we start in New Mexico. Ten miles by 10:00 and then the rest by dinner. Mid day siesta.
In my tent and sleeping by dark. Up when it gets light.
Anyway. This is aspirational. I will see how things actually go.
But general training is:
- Start walking more.
- Walk more with weight (that trains my feet).
- Walk longer distance.
- Some weight/core training for general health.
- Some stretching/swimming to loosen up (I’m naturally very tight).
- Work up to longer distances with weight (pack weight). This improves stamina and leads towards weight loss. Which is like reduced pack weight.
Still too early to know how the snow will be.
But the current plan is do New Mexico to Chama which should be around June 1 and then do a flip to avoid snow and do the Great Basin before the heat picks up or head straight through depending on the snow conditions.
Time will tell.
Otherwise, I finally bought a reservoir system that works with a water bottle. That is basically a mouthpiece, hose, cap and straw system that lets you hook up a water bottle and drink from it while hiking just like you would from an hydration bladder.
I’ve looked at a number of them and have finally found one another hiker used and that was reasonably priced.