[at-l] fitness and hiking and "training" and such...

[yamakage at earthlink.net (Robert Seiler)]

Sloetoe AKA Fittoe,

I agree with you that there are myths concerning fitness training. However,
I do not agree that event specific training is a myth. Using yourself as an
example instead of giving how-to's could be quite dangerous to the neophyte
distance hiker. 

You were quite ambiguous concerning the kind of training you do - You and I
both know that you are an exceptional athlete, not the rule. The level of
fitness you maintain is well above average, and your training closely
parallels the ideal for long distance hiking, but it isn't the same. You do
lots of miles trail running. Yes?? And, you mentioned that you also did some
curb and fence post hopping. Even though you don't haul a pack on your runs
it is fairly event specific training. But it has been a long time since you
did a 5 or 6 month thru hike, hasn't it?

The danger I'm afraid, is that no training will stress the body like a thru
hike. So, first I'll give you some examples, then some how-to's.

I'm currently paying for my master's in Chinese Medicine by working as a
massage therapist in NYC. My clients are athletes - many of them would fall
into the category of elite athletes. One of them, a sub three hour
marathoner, came to me six weeks before Boston. I had been seeing him weekly
for the past year. He was in incredible running shape, he runs, lifts, bikes
and stretches. But, he decided to play a pick-up game of basket ball and
blew out his knee. No big stress from a bad step or incidental contact, just
a pivot that his body hadn't trained for. Working together we got him to
Boston, but he didn't beat 4 hours. Another: Pro baseball player in great
shape decides to do some jogging for cross-training and pulls his left
hamstring while sprinting at the end of 5 miles. His body knew short
sprints, but not at the end of a 45 minute run.

Another example closer to the trail. While I was hiking in '97 there were a
couple of guys who were bicycle messengers who were extraordinarily fit.
Thought they could do big miles in Georgia while talking up how easy the
trail was compared to their job. Guess what? They didn't make it to Fontana
without a yellow blaze for blown out knees. One more, this one also from '97
was a guy who claimed to have done significant mileage (I don't remember
specifics, but in the vicinity of 1,000 - 1500) on the PCT the previous
year. I think that he bailed in Hot Springs, citing knee problems. (But then
again, we all know about those knee problems <grin>)

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that being in great shape
won't have a positive effect on your hike. It will. But you must use your
body wisely. Agreed that running will do great things for your
cardiovascular system. It won't however tune the muscles you use for balance
while navigating on a slippery and uneven foot bed. And it won't give you
practice in the gait you will have when on the trail - unless you are David
Horton. 

Trying to train in one event and giving it a direct translation to another
doesn't work. Event specific training plus cross training works. That's why
boxers spend time sparring in the boxing ring; why race walkers train
walking; why dancers rehearse; why gymnasts work out with "their" piece of
gym equipment; and why long distance hikers should practice hiking. It just
makes sense. 

Could a NASA engineer pick up the job of a state economist overnight? Why
not? They're both very good with numbers, and critical thinkers as well.
Why, 'cause it's not the same thing. I don't think that you want a
psychiatrist or an obstetrician repairing the mitral valve in your heart.
Even though they all are M.D.'s, I think you are going to want a cardiac
surgeon. Why, because that is what they practice.

Being in great shape will in all likelihood shorten the body's learning
curve. When a karate black belt comes to my jujitsu club they put on a white
belt because their training is different then mine. Sure, they will probably
progress faster than non martial artists starting out, because they are both
fit and body aware. But the teacher decides when they progress. That is a
built in safety valve. On the trail you have to watch out for your self -
HYOH. Not too many people are going to tell you that you are doing too many
miles. This is when fitness can become a double edged sword. If your quads,
hams and glutes are strong enough to do twenty mile days at the beginning of
your hike you are going to have to exercise a lot of self control to not
overuse and injure your parts that aren't accustomed to the rigors of the
trail. You might be able to get away with it for a weekend, a week or two,
but a thru hike is a long haul.

I know that you know that small changes in equipment or training can yield
disastrous results. How may runners do you know that developed plantar
fascitis because they changed their shoes? How about shin splints when road
runners start doing miles in the sand?

Most thru hikers can easily pull twenties through Virginia and the mid
Atlantic states. I even did a twenty in the Whites, but I was ready for it.
Landshark did a 40 mile day into Damascus - and he was ready for it. That
said, I don't know anyone that did big miles in Georgia and finished their
hikes. I'm sure they're out there, but few and far between. This isn't
because the miles are too many, or the trail too tough, or that there
weren't any people out there who were incredibly fit. It is because hiking
is a very specific event and long distance hiking is a very specific and
arduous event. 

So now some recommendations for future thru hikers:

You do want to be both strong and flexible. This will lessen your chance of
injury and increase your odds of making it all the way.

Get out and hike as often as you can - off the roads and side walks if
possible - with a pack when you can. These things can really affect your
kinesthetic awareness, and you will become intimate with your gear as well.

Cross train - work your cardios. Practice some moving meditation like tai
chi. After all, the trail is more about your head than it is your body
anyway. Do flights of stairs or bleachers. Use a balance board - or better
yet a surf board. 

Take care of your body - stretch every time you train, eat healthy, quit the
caffeine, moderate the alcohol. Have some fun in your life. Get out and
hike!

When you finally get on the trail listen to your body. Let the trail and
your corporeal soul communicate freely to make the adjustments you need.

Peace, 

Bob
ATW '97

> Message: 16
> Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 08:57:46 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Sloetoe <sloetoe@yahoo.com>
> Subject: [at-l] fitness and hiking and "training" and such...
> 
> In seeming response to THE MYTH ("Nothing will get you in shape
> for hiking a pack over mountains and hills except hiking a pack
> over mountains and hills."), Our Man Wisperlight notes the
> following real life wisdom:
> 
> "something else that is interesting being in better shape from
> the beginning will help you spend less money.  if you are in
> better shape and can hike farther without needing to take so
> many slower days... you will save a lot of money and generally
> be in less pain and much happier. the first few weeks were hell
> for me and my out of shape-ness... I would imagine if the in
> trail-shape curve was less steep I would have completed much
> more trail much faster!
> 
> now I have been running, climbing, biking and "cross country
> skiing" it has me in a comfortable fitness level where I can
> hike for about 17 miles "comfortably" in a day, day after day.
> it is also some reason to go outside and stay active or else I
> would sit around playing video games all day eating carrots,
> apples and peanut butter! yum it is dinner time start training!
> Wisperlight"
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Rather than suggest "how-to's" at this point, I'll instead
> recount additional examples.
> 1) Georgia AT:
> 1979: Thought it was impossible as a throughhiker at age 18 --
> but although I'd tried to train, I wuz still a grunt factory
> worker who spent most of my time standing before various
> machines and then going out to bars.
> 1993: Thought Georgia was nothing -- a walk in the park. I wuz
> running 5 slowwwww miles a day with the wife, then we would hit
> a nearby park and practice walking parking lot curbs and fence
> posts and things. We hit one-plank bridges on the AT without
> breaking stride -- hmmmm just like throughhikers "amazingly" do
> a thousand miles up.
> 
> 2) Snowbird Mtn -- northbound out of Davenport Gap in the
> Smokys, 200 miles up.
> 1979: Thought it was *hard*.
> 1998: Hiked it with the Boyz (4.5 years old) and their mum. Had
> warned the Boyz that it would be hard. Meant it, too. They
> trained all summer; we hiked Labor Day. All the way up, they
> asked tremelously "Daddy, whenz it gonna get hard?" I said, with
> growing surprise, "Dunno!"
> 
> 3) More recent example: Fontana->Russell Field 13? miles,
> on Smokys AT, 2003
> March: Hiked north with throughhikers (started March 1) -- I was
> four weeks away from having run Mt. Mitchell (40 miles, 7+
> hours, a "PR"), and while it took us a day and a half to hike
> up, it took me 5 hours to hike out. (It was kewwwlllllll!
> Fontana Dam at night, with the leaves off the trees, is SO
> kewl.)
> July Fourth Weekend: I've not run much since May, almost nothing
> in June except to pace another runner at 100-miler June 21.
> Hiked Newfound->Fontana (39? miles), including Russell
> Field->Fontana in eight, not five hours. And my pack was
> lighter, to boot.
> 
> BOTTOM LINE: You should no more imagine you'll do well on an AT
> hike without training than you'd imagine driving a car without
> training.
> 
> WISPERLIGHT: Thanks for a great post.
> 
> Sloetoe
> (leaving "the how-to" for another post...)
> 
> =====
> Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
>  Pro Pondera Et Meliora.