>>> <RezFactor@aol.com> 02/04/00 12:29PM >>>
I'm nearly to the point where I will accept what shape I'm in presently and start the Trail there. How many others out there hear what I'm saying? Is anyone all THAT concerned about physical preparation? Should I be?
######Sloetoe propounds as follows:
1) Fat is insulation — useful in the early going. It's also calorie dense — so it's an easy-to-carry fuel. It's also weight that your legs push up a hill and are crushed by going down. Tradeoffs, tradeoffs.
2) There is an ever-present myth, oft-repeated by "experienced" long distance hikers, that "The only way to get in shape to hump a pack up an down mountains, is to put on a pack and hump it up and down mountains."
Phooey, I say. Hornswaggle of the first order. (And just what IS "hornswaggle" anyway?) (Hey, is that an edgeekated word? Oh Erudition! Thou Opens and Closes on Worlds Apart!)
In my observations so far, those who say that you can't get into trail shape before setting out have simply failed at the training, not that the training has failed them. I HAVE gotten into trail shape, and it made Georgia at 33 years of age EASY, whereas Georgia at 18 years of age (my throughhike) was terribly, terribly hard.
Sounds like you're leaving soon, though. That is NOT time enough to train properly. Thus, can you get in shape as you're hiking? As you probably know, this is what the vast majority of aspiring throughhikers do. Vitamans C, E, and I should become your friends. And if you have 4 weeks, down a boatload of Glucosamine/Chondroitan between now and when you leave. Do what is comfortably hard those first few weeks (8-12 miles); and expect the ability to stack long days to come (as it will) bit by bit after Hot Springs.
After Damascus, you won't care; as well, you'll be hiking well enough that you won't *need* to care.
Walk well!
Pontifically Yours,
Sloetoe