[pct-l] Starting mileage?

[Kelly Baraga]

Chris,

Sounds like you and your wife are preparing yourselves for a great adventure. I did the trail last year, Class of 2015 and was one of the few that actually hiked only 15 miles day one and was glad I did. I had been training but felt that I wanted to ease into it and picked up my milage by the time I left Mt Laguna on Day four. The first few days for me were hot and I was trying to get ahold of what I was attempting. I met many thru-hikers who ran from the border only to pass them on day two as they were taking a much needed day off at Lake Moreno. Too much, too hot, too fast. I was relatively blister free and injury free all the way thru Washington, which is pretty much unheard of. 

There was a guy who spoke at AZDPCTKO last year about overuse injuries. He mentioned that our brain is the first part of our body that has a hold of what we are doing, then our cardio (lungs) followed by our skeletal frame, ligaments, tendons and finally bones, something like that.  Most of us get so caught up in the first few days and push too hard, then find that we are overused and under developed. My advise, which you can do with as you please, is start SLOW!!! Do your 15 miles and within a week or two, you will be pushing 18-20 miles without all the pain and suffering. I think there is a formula that when you train, increase your miles by 10% every week and then stay put week four. Then bump it up again. It worked for me and I had a marvelous time. Funny thing is I kept running into the same people over and over, even when they pushed on and I had my slug pace. The tortoise always catches the hare. Have fun and I’m sure you and your wife will enjoy the hike!

Kelly B, aka GG

> On Feb 22, 2016, at 3:18 PM, Christopher Reed <christopher.reed.kihoku at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>  Hello everyone,
> 
>  I'm sure this has been answered a hundred times before, and of course,
> everyone is different, but what kind of mileage/speed do people usually
> start off with to insure less chance of injury? My wife and I are in decent
> base condition, but obviously that's not much compared to a thru-hiker 2
> months down the trail. Furthermore, we're 35, so while not up there by any
> means, we're not spring chickens anymore, either. We run frequently and do
> long walks in the city, but we have no access to mountains or real
> elevation; the best we can do is go up and down the steepest hills in the
> city over and over.
>  Any thoughts and advice would be greatly welcome!
> 
> Chris
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