[pct-l] hiking and running

[pmags at yahoo.com (Paul Magnanti)]

Two different balls of wax. They both involve high
amounts of caloric expenditure by using your feet.
That's about it...

I won't point out the obvious differences that have
already been stated (sleeping inside, eating good food
every day, taking time off)..but the body is geared
differently for running vs. hiking.  

Running, even a marathon, uses a large amount of
energy in a relatively short period of time.
Marathoners, esp. the really good ones, tend to have
more short twitch muscle fibers. Speed vs. endurance. 
A marathoner gets to recover and does not have to
repeat the same experience over and over again. 

Thru-hiking is more endurance. The other end of the
spectrum. Even a "fast" hiker is going 3 to 3.5 mph
vs. the average speed of 2 MPH. Long twitch muscle
fibers galore. Endurance vs speed. the hiker body is
geared up more for the slow caloric burn over a day.
Think pack mule instead of race horse. 

A better comparison for thruhiking vs. running might
be using an ultramarathon as a baseline. For most
ultras, there is as much walking as there is running
(except for the elite!). The mileage for a week of
training is (or should be) equivalent to what many of
us do in a week of hiking on the trail.  There is as
much powerhiking as running during training as well.
More long twitch and less short twitch muscle fibers
than a marathoner. Still, there are some differences.
If runing is a distant relative of thru-hiking, then
ultras are a first cousin. You go and go and go for up
to 30 hours, often on trails in the mountains...then
it is over. You go home, sleep on the couch and have
your girlfriend bring your favorite dishes from a
Himalayan restaraunt.  Not much recovery time in
thru-hiking. And no girlfriend ever got me saag and
naan for takeout when thru-hiking. ;)

Running is harder in the short term, thru-hiking is
more taxing in the long term. 

I am not a doctor, scientist or much of an athelete.
Heck, I don't even claim to know what I am talking
about. ;)

Mags..who is off to NYC this weekend for a marathon




************************************************************
The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
http://www.magnanti.com