Training thoughts

I start my "official" training Monday. (Let me know if you want to take a walk. I'll be doing a lot of it and would love the company.) There are 4 phases to the training.

Phase one works to increase the mileage my body can handle. The first week requires hiking 16 miles total with an 8 lb pack. For the next 18 weeks I will increase my weekly mileage roughly 10 percent until I hit 90 miles the first week in June.

The second week in June I will attempt back-to-back 50 mile days over the weekend with my complete gear. The start of phase 2 is my first body and gear shake-down. Can I do 50 mile days and will my gear work for 50 mile days? The next 3 weeks I'm hoping to continue 100 mile training weeks but I'm not sure my body will hold up. I'll have to wait and see. The final week of this phase, July 9th, I plan to hike 3 back-to-back 40 mile days. This is my final gear shake-down and the end of my high mileage training.

The 3rd phase encompasses the next 3 weeks. My hiking mileage will decrease putting an emphasis on sleep deprivation training. I plan to pull at least 1 or 2 all-nighters per week, probably while hiking. Anyone up for all-night hikes? :)

The final phase, the week of August 6th, is a recovery week leading to my record attempt the week of August 13th.

Note: August 13th is probably not the week of the attempt. I needed a date to focus my training schedule around so I picked August 13th. There are a number of variables I still need to work through for the actual date and my training schedule will adjust accordingly.

Random bits

First ... Guy, thank you for the "gratuitous" cross-post.

I've had several people ask how the record is certified. There is no official body (at least none that I've discovered so far) that certifies or records these type of records. They exist in the minds of the people who care. It is also recorded on Wikipedia so it has to be correct. :) (Toward the bottom there is an entry for records.)

I think Mark's comments on the last post are a great way to continue my gear discussion. Thanks for letting me know about Survivorman. It's a great show and I've seen a couple episodes. While I understand that it's possible to survive with much less gear than I will carry my main objective is traveling close to 50 miles per day. All of my gear choices are a balance between adding weight and ability to keep moving.

Trekking Poles:
The terrain I'll be hiking on isn't that uneven but there is significant elevation. Roughly every 20 miles cycles through 3000ft up over 10 miles and 3000ft down over 10 miles. My knees and feet are in good shape but they will hurt after 2 days and 100 miles. In addition, I do wish to transfer some work (uphill and downhill) to my upper body. There are a number of articles and comments about the advantages of poles. Some people report as much as a quarter mile per hour increase in speed. Even if I experience only a fraction of that, over 200 miles it will add up. In general, I don't like poles from an aesthetic standpoint and I've been lucky enough not to need them. In this case I'm willing to look at any possible advantage.

Flint, steel and other fire issues:
I'm not planning on eating any hot food or starting any camp fires. For the most part I will either be walking or sleeping. This means any fire device(s) is purely for emergencies. The most probable emergency being 3am, rain, and a thunder storm so I have to stop moving because of lightening danger. In addition I'm tired, wet, cold and my body can no longer produce enough heat to keep me warm. I need to start a fire in wet conditions to keep myself from hypothermia. I'm planning on bringing the Light My Fire Firesteel Scout Firestarter and a couple Tinder-Quik tinder. I've played with a number of options but this seems like the best combination for starting a fire in wet conditions (the reason for the Tinder-Quik) with the smallest amount of dexterity (the reason for the Light My Fire). I will probably also carry a Mini-Bic. I normally carry redundant options for starting a fire. A third option that I normally carry is 3 matches and a "trick" birthday candle. (The type that relights when you blow it out.) I will probably leave this option at home. It requires too much dexterity to use.

Batteries:

From what I've read on past attempts one of the main reasons for failure is making a mistake and loosing the trail at night. I will test my headlamp and see how long the batteries last in the cold. I need sufficient light for 5+ nights. That will determine the number of spare lithium batteries. (Lithiums perform much better in cold than normal batteries.)

Side note:

I plan to travel 21+ hours per day and not stop for any extended period in the dark. I wont have enough insulation to sleep at night. The temperatures can range from 20's at night to 90's during the day.

Toilet paper, trowel, and toothbrush:

Toilet paper is a luxury ... I agree but I like it. Staying "fresh" is a nice emotional boost. It is also slightly faster than using leaves, river rocks (much nicer than leaves), etc. If I do bring a trowel it will be extremely small and light, more like a spoon. In my experience it's much quicker to dig a hole, especially when you are tired, with a spoon shaped object instead of a stick. The toothbrush I also bring for the emotional boost. It's comforting, for some reason, to scrub your teeth in the evening. (I find the lack of toothpaste doesn't hurt the experience.)

Cash and satellite phone:

I normally bring cash in case I need to bail out part way through and find my way home. For this trip I may not bring any since I hope to have some support and a phone. The sat. phone has three main uses. The first is the obvious emergency call for help. The second helps with meeting friends willing to hike segments of the trail with me. The third and most important reason is that it makes Danielle feel better since I'm going solo. The phones are heavy and adds about 15% to my base pack weight but I think this piece of gear is non-negotiable.

Side note:

Base pack weight is the total weight of a backpack and non consumable gear carried in the pack. The base weight doesn't include worn clothing, food, or water.

Please keep questioning my choices and asking questions. It forces me to write and think.

Thanks,

- Jon

Gear list - the beginning

I was planning to post a list of specific gear that I was going to take with me. As the list developed I realized that I still have a ton of unanswered questions regarding which specific gear I'm taking along. Almost every piece still has me guessing and desiring to experiment. Because I'm not yet able to post specifics, below is a general gear list with some notes. Future posts will have the questions I'm working through and (hopefully) solutions.

Worn:
Sneakers
Socks
Tights
Pants
Shirt
Watch
Hat - sun
Trekking poles
Necklace

Extra cloths:
Socks
Socks - sleeping
Wind shirt
Insulation - upper-body
Rain protection
Hat - sleeping
Gloves - probably just use socks
River crossing footwear

Sleep:
Sleeping bag or half bag
Stuff sack
Tent / tarp
Stakes - ?
Ground cloth
Sleeping pad

Kitchen:
Food storage
Water storage
Water purification

Kit:
Sun block
Chap stick
Sun glasses
Light
Batteries - extra
Toilet paper
Purell
Toothbrush - ?
Small towel - ?
Maps
ID
Cash
Sat. Phone
Camera - ?
Stuff sack
Foot tape
Personal meds.
Trowel - ?

Emergency kit:
Steri strips
Sterile pad
Neosporin
Imodium
Ibuprofen
Duct tape
Lighter or flint and steel
Tinder
Safety pins
Needle
Compass
Matches - ?
Candle - ?

... defined

It occurred to me that some people may not be aware of what an "unsupported unresupplied hike" means. Well my definition: (and accepted in the backpacking community)

Hike a trail end-to-end personally carrying all needed equipment and food. (Water is acquired along the way.)

Coup at GoLite also calls this style Alpine Style Thru-Hiking.

This style differs from the absolute speed record holders. (These guys are actually crazy - they run the trails.) Support crews meet them with meals, tents, etc ...

The process begins

Well ... I have decided to attempt to break the unsupported unresupplied speed record for the John Muir Trail. It stands at 5 days 7 hours 45 minutes for the 211 miles, as recorded in Wikipedia. I will use this blog to record my steps.

I've arbitrarily decided my "official" training will begin on February 5th and last approximately 28 weeks. I've started work on a spreadsheet to track the progress. I'll post later.

There are many issues related to this that weigh on me:
- The training schedule for the last couple months will be brutal simply based on the time required to tick off miles.
- I need to recruit some people to hike with me for different sections of the trip (hint for anyone reading :) )
- There is at least one other serious attempt being planned. I don't mind if he breaks my record but I worry that if he breaks the record I wont be able to break his record.
- I need to work on my gear list, including food.
- My body is build for speed, not endurance. I continuously fight my physiology when I hike.
- I need to increase my night hiking as well as sleep deprived hiking.

I guess by writing I'm hoping I can humanize the process for myself. By taking away it's monolithic nature the idea becomes possible. In the end it will be interesting to see how far I've gone.