Steve asked
me to write in this week’s blog about the Yakima Canyon Marathon. Both he and I
and a few other CHS friends participated in it this last weekend. It was my
first marathon and I thoroughly enjoyed both training for and participating in
it. The scenery was incredible, the weather was fantastic, and because of the
smaller number of participants (around 400), I didn’t feel that I was pushing
my pace too hard or that I was penned in by a big crowd. Another friend who had
started earlier so she could walk the route, ran the last mile with me into the
finish line. It was a wonderful feeling to finish and feel tired but still good.
If you’ve ever thought about doing a marathon, I would highly recommend this
one as your first because they welcome first-timers and celebrate their
successes in a very public way.
While you
may never plan to run a marathon, I have found by my experience that getting
your body in shape to run a marathon and to do longer-distance day hiking are
remarkably similar endeavors. This is because both require a good deal of
activity-specific training in order to do the distance comfortably and without
undue damage to the body. By activity specific training, I mean that you
actually have to train extensively by doing the activity itself repeatedly.
It’s not enough to go the gym and lift weights or ride the elliptical machine.
Because of the cumulative nature of the hikes offered in CHS for
both groups, it’s very important that all participants (and hike leaders),
regardless of initial conditioning, find activities during the week and on the
off-hiking weekends to build and/or keep their fitness level up. Although some
naturally hardy folks can keep up with these hikes without doing any outside
conditioning, I’m not one of those, and most other hikers are probably not
either. Most people who do long-distance day hikes find that they must
additionally condition themselves during their non-hiking periods in order to
keep up their hiking stamina. What’s a hiker to do to keep in shape?
Of course the best exercise for hiking is… hiking. So even on
weekends when you’re not hiking with your CHS comrades, you should try to get
out with friends and family and put a few miles behind you. If hiking is not
possible, then you need to find other ways to keep up cardiovascular endurance
and strength. Many hikers—including me—enjoy doing pack walks on local streets
and trails. This involves stuffing a bunch of weight into your pack (usually in
the form of water bottles or sand bags) and walking several miles wearing this
weight. You can start out with about 15 pounds and work your way up from there.
I walk at a sustainable pace for most of the time, but I will also speed up the
pace a bit every now and then to simulate an exercise interval—moving my
activity from aerobic to anaerobic to build strength and cardiovascular
endurance.
Another good cardio activity that works well for building hiking
strength is climbing stairs. You can do this with or without weight. The key is
to perform the activity for a period of time (anywhere from 15-30 minutes)
without stopping to rest. In order to do this, you must maintain a sustainable
pace as you climb. It’s also a good way to practice the rest step (click here to view an article on setting a pace and using the rest step as a
way to maintain movement while resting leg muscles).
You can also do other types of exercises and weight training to
build your endurance and muscle strength, but these are the two most-hiking
specific activities I can recommend when you can’t get out to do an actual
hike. Cross-training (doing other activities that use muscle groups different
from those involved in hiking) is always a good idea and can lessen muscle
strain and injury caused by repetitive activity. Swimming, bicycling, running,
and other types of activities you may enjoy.
Andy Martin had an informative presentation on conditioning for hiking during the Orientation. If you didn't get a chance to view that, click here to go the Agenda for the Orientation and click on the Conditioning link. If you want to view an expert’s advice on conditioning for hiking, including information on interval and cross training, take a look at local
trainer and Mountaineers member, Courtenay Schurman’s web site (http://www.bodyresults.com/hiking-training.asp). She provides detailed information and links to articles,
exercises, and sample programs that might help you out. She also provides more
hands-on assistance if you feel that would be beneficial to you. I used her
advice earlier in my hiking career to increase my hiking pace and stamina and
highly recommend her.
So work on keeping up your fitness and you’ll enjoy yourself a lot
more on the trail. Physical fitness is a key to feeling better before, during,
and after your hiking trips, and to avoid muscle injury.
I hope to see you all on the trail soon!
Kelly Cleman
