AT Section Hiking Training and Preparation

For those of us who chose not to Thru Hike and Section Hike the AT, we had to train each year prior to hiking. For those who live near mountains training is much easier than those of us who live where there is little elevation change. Living in the eastern part of Maryland, the most elevation I can hike is about 300 feet in some of our local State Parks. Prior to Covid-19, I used a local gym that had treadmills that elevated between +30 to -5 degrees along with a Versa Climber (think of a ladder where the steps and hand holds move). These were great for cardio, but the AT footpath is not flat and there is nothing like actual training in the woods. Depending on your age and physical condition, its always best to start out slow and with some weight in a day pack. For me its been 1.5 liters of water in a Platypus along with snacks or a light lunch and of course a rain jacket and toliet paper and aluminum tent stake (for digging a cat hole). I prefer not to train when the temperature is below 50 degrees and never train in the rain. I've got a couple of hiking trails that are also mountain bike trails to hike within 15 minutes of my home and if I want to drive 30 minutes or more, I've got a couple of State Parks to train in. If I want to train in town I'll use a 4 story parking garage and hike that for between 30 to 45 minutes for 3 days then take a day off and repeat. Over a period of weeks, I will add weight to my day pack until I am around 15 to 16 pounds. I will train on both parking garage stairs and local parks and increase my miles up to about 5 to 6 miles per day. I have a watch that monitors my heart rate and I try to keep in under 130 (I was 80 when I completed my last AT miles). Once I'm comfortable with my pace and training, I will switch to my ULA P-2 backpack (now called Catalyst) and load it with 1.5 liters of water in my Platypus, a 12 ounce Gatorade, my Big Agnes down sleeping pad and insulated air core mattress, my SteriPen, rain jacket along with snacks or a light lunch. I always bring my Black Diamond cork snap-lock trekking poles. Once I start training with my backpack, I will start wearing my soft-sided ACE ankle braces (over my Darn Tough hiking socks) and may or maynot wear my lighter Tommy Copper knee braces. I will stay at 6 or 7 miles per day and again, take a break every 4th day. Over time I will increase my miles per day to 9 or 10 miles as I hardly ever hike more than 10 miles on any AT Section Hike. I've done a 16+ mile day twice, once in the Smokies and once in TN. I've done a number of 11 or 12 miles days and maybe a 14 mile day. Since these are the 1% exception, I train for the days I am most likely to hike. This way my body becomes use to doing 10 mile days. When I section hiked in April, normally in Virginia or PA I would start my training in late January. I would try to allow myself two months to get back into shape as once I hit 75, I found I needed more time to get back into shape. For me the most important thing was to listen to my body. Sometimes when I hiked I would develope pain in my feet or ankles. I would shorten my hike and take 4 ipuprofen after I got back to my car. If the pain or discomfort was gone the next day, I continue my training, but if the pain continued I'd take another day off. On occasion I trip or stumble. It could be from a bit of a root sticking up on the tip of a buried rock. I would just stop and find a place to sit down for 5 or more minutes before continuing on. Sometimes I would just head back to my car. During training you can stop anytime you want and hike back to your car. I've hiked with pain a number of times. On our journey through Mahoosuc Notch, I injured my left Achilles either in the Notch or during the climb up the Arm. The ibuprofen helped that night, but the next day the pain was worse. We bailed and hiked back to Success Pond Road and my Subaru. The next day I went to the ER in Berlin NH and the doctor confirmed my Achilles injury. That ended that Maine hike. Another time backpacking NoBo in the Bigelows (Maine), I stretched my Achilles on day 2 of what was supposed to be a 4 day 3 night backpack. The place we planned to tent had water issues so we hiked on to the next tent site that had better water. I was in pain most of that 2nd day and even the ibuprofen didn't help much. The last day, now day 3 was better as the terrain was a lot less severe and the ibuprofen I took that morning helped. I normally only take my ibuprofen at night and rarely during the day. We took 2 Zero Days then day hiked between East Flagstaff Road and Caratunk Maine for 3 days. Took another Zero and day hiked and backpacked for several more days. The ibuprofen helped with the pain and we completed our planned Maine section and on our way home, we day hiked easy miles in VT. I've said this before, but your body will tell you when to slow down or take a break. Injuries for seniors can have much more of an affect than those who are in the 30's, 40's 50's and 60's! Then tend to bonce-back quicker!