Preparing for the Journey

I’m active but I knew that I would need to be intentional to prepare my body adequately for this trip. We expect to walk 10-13 miles each day in the flatter areas, and 7-9 miles per day in the mountains. Thus, I started training 6 months in advance, taking 2-3 hour long walks as often as I could, and using the treadmill, erg, and elliptical machine in the winter, when the days were short. Starting 2 months before departure, TJ and I went for 5-8 mile walks with our backpacks once or twice per week. This gave us a chance to try out our new hiking shoes, get comfortable with the packs, and ensure that the clothing we planned to bring didn’t cause chafing with the packs or long distances.

Here is my typical training plan for a week:

• 1 day - balance and strength
• 2 days - walk 45-60 minutes
• 2 days - walk 2-3 hours

TJ’s typical training plan for a week looked more like this:

• 3-4 days - run 4-6 miles
• 1-2 days - walk 2 hours

We walk or hike in a variety of places, with a variety of terrain: long trails through fields and rolling wooded hills, a moderate hiking trail that ascends 550 meters on a mountain, paved roads, pole lines, logging roads, and several different very small mountains. When I have had a short period of time where I’m waiting to pick up Little Sis, I have walked around parking lots and cemeteries. Every little bit helps.

Some weeks have been better than others. Assigning Little Sis and Big Brother one night per week to prepare dinner definitely increased our adherence to our training plans. Longer daylight hours have also made it much easier to get out in the evenings. As we have gone farther, we have gotten stronger and feel capable of walking long distances day after day. We feel ready.