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Re: Fitness

Jeff Mosenkis wrote:

> I am interested in fitness (primarily because my level of fitness is
> somewhere below a mollusk), but how they feel they have gotten more fit
> since they started hiking.  If they trained before they started, was what
> they did necessary or sufficient?  Does 2 weeks on the trail pretty much
> equalize everybody?
> 
> Now that I look at it, I guess this is a general question to thru-hikers
> also...
> 
> thanks,
> jeff

Jeff, I think what you'll find is that fitness requirements vary greatly 
with the individual.  I learned this all too well when last month I set out
on a thru-hike after training aerobically for months and specifically carry-
ing the pack for several weeks.  I still failed, and I am convinced I will
never be able to do a thru-hike because, after training to my ultimate capa-
city, my system still cannot process the energy fast enough to day after day
meet the energy requirements for a thru hike.

Yesterday on here I read where a guy with a sedentary job and no training at
all went out and did 100 miles in one week.  It made me want to cry.  With
all my training I could not get that far.  I had read everything I could get
my hands on, had purchased and used all the right gear, had eaten well, and
so on, but my body just wasn't up to it.

Despite the notion in the Declaration of Independence "that all men are
created equal," I'm afraid it is in fact an old wives' tale.  As a guy with
a high IQ, there are mental hoops I jump through with ease that I see others
struggle with.  When it comes to thru hiking, I'm afraid I have been treated
to the other side of the coin.

You have posed a very interesting question, especially to one who has so
recently failed.  I, too, would like to see a number of responses to see how
others have fared.  All too often, we only hear from those who have succeeded,
and perhaps that gives "the rest of us" a not-to-accurated picture of how
difficult, or even impossible, that might be for many people.

Bill Choisser
lkenney@slip.net
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