DISCLAIMER: Let me start by saying I'm not an expert on anything (except auto mechanics/fixing cars ;) I can't claim to be an expert on nutrition, health, fitness or injury prevention. I only know what I have learned from others. This is what I have practiced in my own life and found to work for me. I just wanted to share what I am doing, and if anyone planning on doing a long distance hike finds any of this info useful or entertaining then kudos. If NOT then please disregard.
Let me tell you the story behind how I have come to be where I am today. Nobody cares WHAT you do until they know WHY you do it... Right?
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| Statics of our Mt.Elbert hike on the way up |
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| View from Horsetooth rock of Fort Collins and my feet |
I think everyone knows when you do something repeatedly it gets easier. With Training and diet in a short amount of time I was able to get measurable results with everything I did. I wanted to be able to reach the top in 30 min. (which would require running the whole way) however I wasn't able to achieve my goal. Here's why:
One day on my way back down the trail as I was jogging downhill (w/about 10lbs pack) I started to noticed a dull pain in my knee behind my knee cap which started to turn into a louder and louder pain as I went on. If I would stop and rest it would go away and I could continue on my way, it would act up again if I had a hill to climb. I also noticed it while climbing stairs the day I had gone hiking. I didn't know what was going on. What I didn't know then I most likely had which is commonly referred to as "runners knee" I am assuming was from overuse. Later in that summer I hiked Mt. Democrat (14er), Hanging lake, Hiked to the Glacier, and many other trails by Horsetooth rock(all very short hikes) I slowed down a little and It didn't bother me to much more than slightly dull pain from time to time. I rested more in between hikes which seemed to help. Since I had started training for the PCT the last few months I haven't had any knee issues. Yea! BUT, last week I was doing my training routine (I'll get into that in a minute) and I was running at moderate (6.5mph) pace on the thread mil for 45 min straight (which I have never done/attempted before) the outside of my hip started hurting. I had to stop running 43 min and 50 secs into the run it was hurting so bad. I really wasn't that concerned, the pain was gone minutes after I stopped running (shows my ignorance to what my body was trying to tell me) Two days later I was going to run for 60 min. I had made it 27 minute into the workout and then the pain in the hip was back. aaaahhh WTF is going on here. I started doing research (Ok I Goggled it) and discovered it's an issue with my IT band was tight and hurting my Bursitis.(Goggle it) Which brings me to the conclusion of I need to figure out what the heck is going on. Am I doing something wrong? How can I prevent this and other issues from happening on the trail? I know I won't be running on the PCT. The only thing that is going to take me off the trail is severe injury. Until yesterday, "injury" meant a broken bone, torn ligament or whatever caused by some accident or from postholing. Postholing is when your walking on top of deepish snow and you suddenly break through the crust with one leg up to your knee or crouch haha. I never considered that I could injure myself by "overuse" or improper movement/Gait. I have just opened up a whole new world to explore.
Here is how I feel about training.
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail...
I'm not even at the novice level when it comes to long distance hiking. Everything I know is what I have read and learned from others. I seem to hear the same thing over and over when it comes to training. Usually sounds something like this, "the only way to hike 20-30 miles day after day with a fully loaded pack is to actually hike with a fully loaded pack for 20-30 miles day after day". I agree Although (don't tell anyone) I don't quite agree with that mentality. To me, thinking that you aren't going to prepare your body at all before hand and are simply going to just get in shape mid- trail sounds like a lame excuse for not exercising. By saying you don't have time to exercise is the wrong answer. people make time for what is important to them. However I know you can come straight from the couch and thru hiked the PCT. I'm not saying it can't be done. But how many people have done that and failed/quit cause the physical demand was too overwhelming for the mental to compensate for long enough to get into shape? We'll never know cause we will never hear their story... Ok rant over ;)
Wow that was a long story time session sorry bout that. It's training time!
The last few months at the gym I was just kind of doing what I felt like doing no real plan I was following. I would do squats with 135lbs - 185lbs pretty low weight, leg press, lunges with 50lbs of weight, core workouts and once and a while some upper body stuff. Cardio was my main focus, I would spend 40 - 60 minutes doing cardio. Which I found to be quiet enjoyable on the machines being able to track my numbers, such as pace, distance and time. I found stair stepper to be the most difficult so I wanted to hit that the hardest. I basically just wanted to raise my fitness level, and endurance. Improve my bodies ability to use oxygen efficiently. I found an awesome article on long distance hiking, endurance training. Which I have adopted for the last two months prior to my start date. Real quick here is what I was doing for cardio before I came across this article:
Stairs 20 minutes 100-120+ floors
Walk at steepest incline 20 min 3.5mph (my target hiking pace)
Run treadmill for 20 min 6.5-6.9 mph
I would usually do stair stepper followed by walking or running, I have done all three only a couple times. (usually cause Jordan was finished with her workout before me and it was sauna time! desert training haha) It has been exciting to watch my fitness level increase. Never in my life have had cardio as my main focus and tracked my progress.
Here are my records I've been keeping from my previous workouts. Sometimes I forget to record my work outs that's where you get the multi-day gaps in my workouts. The numbers are not drastically different. But the ease at which I can do them is (wish I would have recorded my times from Nov. and early Dec. to get a better idea of where I came from):
Month 1: Build a base
Start slow, moderate your training if you feel rundown, gradually ramp up to the longer workouts. He tells you what to do every day of the week includes advice and why you do the workouts.
Best advice he gives on month 1 is "Don't sweat a missed day. Refocus, recommit, and keep going." Macy
Month 2: Focus your effort
"This is the heavy-lifting month where both the volume and intensity are highest and the focus is on making big gains in fitness and strength." Macy says
Mondays: Rest
"Recovery Days Are Key" Macy
Tuesdays: Run 45 minutes (zone 2 moderate effort, can hold a conversation)
Wednesdays: Gym workout B:
- 2 minutes front crunches
- 2 minutes side crunches on each side
- 3x8 bench press (60% of single rep maxium)
- 3x10 dumbell curls
- 4x10 squats
Thursdays: run 60 minutes, completing four 5-minute intervals (zone 4 very strong effort, feels like a race) separated by 3 minutes of easy jogging.
Macy: "Intervals increase your heart rate and boost aerobic fitness. when your body adjusts to the higher intensity, it makes lower intensity feel easier."
Fridays: Gym work out C: your choice: an hour of yoga, pilates, Crossfit, or other cross-training.
Saturdays: Hike 80 minutes (zone 2-3, zone 3 strong effort, breathing hard)
Sundays: Long day: Hike 3.5 to 4 hours with a fully loaded pack on hilly terrain (zone 2)
Macy: "Doing the long day when your legs are a little tired simulates how your legs might feel on the second day after doing big miles."
I am glad that I started training and that I had pain in my hip. I really opened my eyes to overuse injuries. Which previously wasn't even a blip on my radar. As far as my hip pain I am going to stretch (which I never do) my IT bands (found tons of YouTube vids) really well and take it easy when I feel pain. As I was re-reading Yogis' book I happen to be in the training section a couple days ago and read about Bigfoot's story. When he hiked the AT he was in a lot of pain. And just before his PCT hike he went to physical therapist and learned his gait was all wrong. I found his YouTube videos Yogi mentions in her book and found them to be most informative. I suggest everyone planning to do a long distance hike to watch them.
Avoiding Overuse Injuries on a PCT Thruhike (Part 1)
- intro (very funny by the way, uh, huh)
Part 2
Avoiding Overuse Injuries on the PCT (Part 3)
- avoiding and managing injuries
Prior to my hip pain I never understood what "listen to what your body is saying to you". I get it now. Just one more piece of knowledge to help me walk the walk to Canada.
Feel free to comment (hikers let me know if this was useful) and don't forget to follow either by subscribing to email updates, RSS feed or follow on Google+, I'm going to start posting more often since It's getting closer to Day 1!
Coming next is shoes, more gear, food part 2 and training updates...
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| Hanging Lake |
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