Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Reality Hike 105: The Complete Training Plan: 10/22/14 - 2072.7 to 2078.8 miles



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The route continues along Route 12 and the Lochsa River in eastern Idaho. The area is heavily forested and there should be places to stealth camp.

About three miles from the end, it turns away from the Lochsa River, so be sure to get water for the leg into Missoula.
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Introduction

The complete training and hiking plan is on the top tab named “Cyclical Training Plan.” Take a look and come back when you think I’ve completely lost it.

The plan is designed so there is no pain or fatigue the entire time. Of course, it is designed to complete the hike in a year. It does get difficult to find the time after about a year of training. For now, I’m following the plan to see what happens.

No Pain or Fatigue

In “Road Walking: Conversations with my Coach” I explained the need to walk without pain or fatigue. Pain is a warning sign of impending disaster if the physical activity continues. Fatigue is fine if a walker is only walking a day or two. If a walker walks every day, fatigue becomes chronic and can lead to illness or injury.

The Cyclical Training Plan starts at an easy level and progresses slowly. If a walker follows this plan and takes extra rest if they need it, they should never experience pain or fatigue.

It is tempting to skip a few cycles, but many physiological changes need to occur to prevent injury and fatigue.

Too many Miles after a Year!

The miles in the 48 state hike will not change if a walker doesn’t have the time to train. So, I have some choices.

  1.  I can make time to follow the plan.
  2.  I can start the hike less prepared and see what happens.
  3.  I can choose not to take the hike.
  4.  I can adapt.


The first phase of getting extra miles when I run out of time to walk so much is to get a treadmill. I take a seven break after every 20 minutes of work so I don’t get repetitive motion injuries from working on the computer.

Instead of pacing around the house, I can hop on a treadmill for seven minutes. That will work for a while.

The next phase is getting a treadmill work station. That should take care of the problem.

Is this Hike for Real?

Someone asked me this in the comments yesterday. The truthful answer is I don’t know. The problem is taking a year to make the hike. I don’t see the miles as a problem.

For now, it is a possibility, but not a probability. What is probable is I well go as far into the training plan as possible and take shorter hikes on the road.

However, the hike will never become real if I don’t train as if it is real. Something may happen along the way to make the hike possible and I want to be ready.

Conclusion


The cyclical training plan gives the training structure. I’ll follow it until I get a better idea. The long term goal is to average 24 miles a day for 365 days. I’d prefer to average closer to 30 miles a day. If I find the cyclical training plan isn’t achieving my goal, then I’ll change it.



Yesterday's walk was easy and so was my 5.1 mile walk this morning. I'm surprised at how warm it is in the mornings. I was expecting it to be colder by now.

Fall is in the middle month of its season. Now it's the time of kicking leaves on the sidewalks.

It's approaching the new moon and the moon hadn't risen yet this morning when I took my walk. It was dark!

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