I begin my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) on March 16th (87 days and counting!).
The AT spans 2,198 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Though most of the Appalachians are relatively small mountains, compared to say the Rockies or the Himalayas, the trail as a whole covers a whopping 464,500 feet of total elevation gain and loss. This is the equivalent to summiting Mt. Everest from sea level and back 16 times – no small feat.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AppalachianTrail/comments/2ppdyj/awesome_map_and_elevation_profile_of_the_entire/
Here’s the problem: I live at the beach. The highest natural peak in Virginia Beach is a grandiose…. 88 feet. And the average elevation of the city? 12 feet.
How does one prepare for climbing mountains every day with no mountains to train on? Here’s what I’m doing.
1. Lots of walking
Walking is great low-impact cardio that strengthens bones and muscles while being easy on the joints. It is, after all, what I’ll be doing all day everyday, so I might as well start doing a lot of it. I’ve made an effort to integrate more walking into my daily routines–
Walk to the gym every evening. My gym is about a mile from my house, so the roundtrip builds in an automatic two miles of walking into my day, in addition to my gym workout. It also happens to be a pleasant evening wind-down routine and a chance to catch up on podcasts.
Lunchtime beach walks. The beach is a short drive from my office (lucky me!). On my lunch break most days, I go for a walk on the beach. Walking in sand is hard; it really works your foot and ankle muscles. I am prone to issues with my feet and ankles, so I can use all the help I can get to strengthen them up. The midday hit of fresh air and ocean sounds are nice too.
Walk to the grocery store. I use my old backpacking pack to carry the groceries the half-mile home. This is more or less challenging depending on how many groceries we need! Last week when I had to buy a bag of sugar, a gallon of milk, 4 squashes, and a bunch of canned goods, I was huffing and puffing by the time I got home.
In addition to the above, 1-2 times a week I do a longer walk/hike with my fully loaded backpack, preferably on natural terrain (not pavement when possible). There’s not much real hiking around here, but there is a state park and several city parks with good walking trails.
2. Hills where I can find them
They are few and far between, but I try to make the most of the hills that are accessible to me. In particular, there is a large city park called, I kid you not, Mount Trashmore. The park, built over an old landfill in the 1960s, features a couple grassy hills with walking paths. It is the first landfill conversion park in the U.S. and the city of Virginia Beach brags that this park is “world-renowned.” I don’t know about that, but it is a nice park. The main hill (i.e., landfill) in the park is still only 60 feet high so I get several reps in each visit.
3. Stairs
Once a week I do a high intensity interval (HIIT) workout on a stair master. This is a great cardio workout and also works those mountain-climbing muscles. Mount Trashmore has some pretty decent stairs as well and I work those into my hikes.
4. Strength training
I’m retaining my usual strength training routine while prepping for the AT. I lift weights three times a week with push/pull/legs (M/W/F) split. A solid strength base will certainly contribute to successful hiking, and I enjoy it.
5. Don’t worry about it
This is not necessarily the most optimal training program possible, but it’s a balance of what’s easily accessible to me and activities I enjoy. I know from experience that there is no way to fully physically prepare for long distance backpacking anyway. Nothing can really replicate the experience of being on trail. But there will be plenty of time to walk the 2,200 miles. The AT is a marathon, not a sprint. I can start slow and work up to it. The real training will be “on-the-job training,” hiking day after day. As long as I’m in decent physical shape, which I expect to be, I should be set up for success.