[at-l] body changes from hiking

[sloetoe at yahoo.com (Sloetoe)]

To chime in with Chainsaw:

1 day: real changes in range of motion (Very tight in some
dimensions, newly limber in others. Watch this carefully.)

7-10 days: real changes in leg strength (Hills will start to get
smaller; changes will shrink by ~1 month out.)

7-10 days: possible changes in "finesse" of day to day living
(Less time in camp, for example; changes may continue all the
way up[!])

14-28 days: beginnings of real changes in aerobic conditioning
(Hills not only "smaller" but "less steep" too; changes will
shrink ~6-8 weeks out)

1 month: beginnings of real changes in metabolic conditioning,
w.r.t. fat->energy conversion (How easily your body converts
peanut butter to miles, instead of Gatorade to miles; changes
may continue for 3-4 months, depending on starting conditioning
and degree of demands placed on body all the way up -- i.e.,
going from 8 to 10 to 12 to 15 to 18 to 20 to 25 mile days,
stacked up.)

On the last points: obviously, starting in the best shape you
can manage puts you far ahead of the curve. "All throughhikers
are in the same shape after one month" is a popular
misconception. "Beginner" marathon books commonly stress you
should not attempt a marathon in your first year of running, or
in six months of running if you're "in shape". A throughhike is
not exactly a slow marathon; it's not unreasonable to telescope
that "six months" down to the first three months of your hike,
either.

Thus, if you start your hike unconditioned, you will notice a
big "training effect" at the end of the first month. It ain't
over though. (Especially for endurance, "training effect"
*begins*, not ends, at four weeks.)

Chainsaw mentioned how body smells will disappear, and perfume
smells will come on like naval claxons. True too with sounds:
some woods sounds will appear with more clarity, urban sounds
will scramble your brain. Water in a brook, birdsong, night
crickets all soothe; car tires on asphalt, radios, headphones,
clanking picnics, all blare. You pick up cigarettes a half mile
(15 minutes) off. Fast food smells may nautiate (sp?) you, and
send you to the salad aile. Barbeque may make you careen down a
hill, bowling with bee nests and flinging alarmed rattlesnakes
like twigs on trail, just to sate your now-all-consuming palate.
(And that's the first day.)

God I love hiking.
morphtoe

=====
Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.

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