[pct-l] 2012 prep strategy

[Scott Williams]

Hi Doug,

It's reasonable, but requires a good pace for much of it, when you count for
getting off trail a few times for resupply.  I'm 58, and hit my first 30 to
35 mile days in Oregon as the trail is much easier than CA, or WA, but I was
pretty trail hard by that point.  Tam is a great place to train, as is Mt.
Diablo which has a few trails to the top where you can get 8 to 12 miles of
much steeper trails than any on the PCT.  I'll give you some detail if
that's a place that is close enough for you to train on.

Those trails set me up well for the start, which like yours, will be much
easier than Diablo.  Do the Dipsea, Matt Davis, and Steep Ravine trails,
back and forth to and from Stinson Beach, and see how many miles are really
realistic for you to start with, and then try to up the mileage over the
next few months.  If you're already able to exceed 15 to 20 mile days, than
it is do able, and if not, hike it anyway, it's gorgeous, even if you don't
quite make Cascade locks.  If you want to get together, I'm from the Bay
Area too, just give me a hollar.

At my age, I trained hard, but then started at 10 mile days the first week,
15 the second, and only let myself hit my training distances by week 3.
 Maybe I was overly cautious, but I've had injuries when I let the
endorphins take over, and I didn't want to shoot my summer's plans in the
first week.  It was a good plan for me, as my feet were so used to distance
I had no blisters, but did get some plantars fasciitis at the start, which
went away over the snows of the Sierra, but returned during the last few
weeks of WA.

Good luck to you both,

Shroomer