Hiking the AT in VA (Part 1, prep)

[ATthruVA]

Hey y'all

My partner and I have endeavored to hike the 500 miles of the Appalachian Trail that pass through our home state of Virginia.

Now, we won't be through hiking it, mind you, mostly backpacking it in 3-4 day chunks.

We're both fairly active, but we have a lot of preparing to do. I'll be writing about the journey here, from everything from workouts and training, to gear and backpacking tips and tricks. If you're interested, come along!

 

[ATthruVA]

Fitness prep:

I work as a server at the moment, and thus am pretty used to spending hours on my feet, so that's good. I also fancy myself a bit of an urbanist, and try to walk or bike everywhere I can. However, it has been years since I did any kind of deliberate working out.

For the last four weeks, we've been going out to hike every weekend, and have covered 34.5 miles so far.

In addition, I've started the Foundation and Back and Core programs. These are fairly light programs for sure, but daily routines and I tend not to get along, and the best workout is the one you actually DO.

 

[ATthruVA]

Gear!

Got some new hiking boots - Salomon Crosshike 2s

I've never bought myself a nice pair of hiking boots before (I typically just hike in runners) so I'm pretty excited about these.

I've put maybe 15 miles in on them so far and they feel nicely broken in. They've been through a lot of mud so far too, and remain water tight. You love to see it.

 

[Mamatigerj]

Welcome to the Hive! I look forward to reading more.

 

[Fremen]

Welcome

 

[aku-chan]

 

[Anek]

Hello and welcome!

 

[ATthruVA]

A brief fitness / training update

I just finished up day 3 of the foundation and back and core programs. I think I've done a good job of adjusting the level and rest interval to keep these challenging, as I've been just a bit sore the last few days.

I love being just a little sore, ya know? Not enough to really hurt, but enough to know I did well the day before.

I also tossed in a push ups everyday challenge. I've always struggled with pushups, so I want to use this time as a springboard to bring that aspect of my fitness up. Day 1 of that is now also done.

Not terribly thrilling, I know, but the day-in and day-out of it often isn't

 

[MadamMeow]

I love that feeling, too! I call it feeling cut like my boyfriend used to say after he lifted weights.

It might not be the same thing as that at all, but it's the feeling of 'yeah, I did good'.

 

[ATthruVA]

Got another hike in this weekend!

At 7.22 miles and 1,125 feet of elevation, it's the hardest one we've hit yet. It didn't feel too bad, either, even though almost all the elevation was crammed into the last half mile. I had an issue with the laces on my hiking boots, and had to do this in my work shoes, which got very muddy. Replacement laces should arrive soon.

I did fall off a few days on my three programs, and a few years ago I think that would have really discouraged me. I know now though that just getting back to it is the most important thing, so that's what I did.

More to come!