Suffer Fest on the BMT: A Cautionary Tale

[johnspenn]

Last November I went on a longish hike on the Benton MacKaye Trail with a friend. Prior to the hike I had not been conditioning properly (much more couch time than trail time). It got pretty rough.

Here's a blog post detailing the hike and results with an accompanying video.
Suffer Fest on the BMT: A Cautionary Tale

Hope it helps!

[Engine]

Thanks for sharing that! Maybe it will open the eyes of a few aspiring hikers to get busy on building some fitness prior to stepping foot on the trail.

[johnspenn]

Conditioning definitely makes a HUGE difference. Thanks Engine!

[Maineiac64]

Thanks for sharing. I heard that that part of BMT can be brutal. You can get into much better hiking shape pretty fast but it goes away pretty fast too if you don't stay up on it. I try to do 2-3 cardio (cycle/spin) workouts and/or walks during the week and then one 2 hour plus hike on weekend but being out on a tough trail for multiple hours can knock the hell out of you. Those legs get pretty heavy!

I did Woody to Neels a few weeks ago and it was COLD and WINDY and I didn't think I was ever getting to the top of Blood Mountain. Good GOD almighty.

[johnspenn]

Thanks for sharing. I heard that that part of BMT can be brutal. You can get into much better hiking shape pretty fast but it goes away pretty fast too if you don't stay up on it. I try to do 2-3 cardio (cycle/spin) workouts and/or walks during the week and then one 2 hour plus hike on weekend but being out on a tough trail for multiple hours can knock the hell out of you. Those legs get pretty heavy!

I did Woody to Neels a few weeks ago and it was COLD and WINDY and I didn't think I was ever getting to the top of Blood Mountain. Good GOD almighty.

It's so true- I;m in much better shape now than I was then, in only a couple of months, but I know if I slack off I will lose the edge quickly!

We've been out a couple of times, yesterday was really nice and perfect hiking weather. Planning on doing the 14 miles between Hogpen and Unicoi Gaps next Saturday. Thanks for watching!

[MuddyWaters]

You lose ground on conditioning extremely fast...in days..with no activity. runners are well aware of this, which is why they need to run most days of week to maintain and improve.. of course, need 5 days or so between really long runs to recover too

[Dogwood]

Posted an associated response on the AT vs PCT MPD avg thread just now.