Urban Hiking

March 1, 2023

I’ve started a more organized training regimen, following some advice in a great book I’ve been using, “Adventure Ready: A Hiker’s Guide to Planning, Training, & Resiliency” by Katie Gerber and Heather “Anish” Anderson.

This book, along with many others, has been a great training tool for both physical and mental preparation. The other one that I’ve now ready probably 4-5 times is Badger’s “Pacific Crest Trials”.

For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been hiking with a full pack 3-5 miles roughly every other day during the week and then doing a 12-15 mile hike on the weekends. There’s a structure to it and I’m hoping it will really get me prepared to hit the trail in good hiking shape and make getting my “trail legs” a bit easier and faster.

Despite riding my Peloton and weight training for the last two years, 5-6 days a week, actual hiking works very different muscles and is the only way to really train for an endeavor like the PCT. I’ll train with this regimen for about 9 weeks and then have a full week of rest before I fly to San Diego and hit the trail.

I got a new sun hoody from REI that I’m really liking. I’ve gotten a nice route in my neighborhood down that I can vary between 3-5 miles and even has a nice hill at the golf course that I can climb. It does feel a bit strange walking around with a full pack with my tent poles in my side pocket and I often wonder if the neighbors think I’m a homeless person, but oh well.