Thanks Floyd but I'm far from stick thin at the moment. Would be happy if I could just convert more of this thigh fat into Mt. Whitney climbing muscle. Was finally able to hike last night with my 20 lbs of kitty litter in the backpack. Last weekend when we were in Phoenix we climbed Camelback - a small peak but it's very steep, almost like bouldering, and my quads were so destroyed afterwards that just getting up out of a chair was a challenge for a few days!
So my new training regimen for this week - every day for seven days I'll make the hike I did last night - 1hr.15mins up and down hill with weighted pack. Long enough for cardiovascular conditioning but not so long that I get so sore I can't work out. After that week, will switch to doing 2 hour loop with pack twice a week, and twice a week find a local hike that takes about 3-4 hours. First two days of Whitney climb are about 4 miles and 2000 feet elevation gain each day - not too tough except for the altitude, so if I can do that every week here, will be good training. Then when that is going smoothly I'll add a couple big hikes at altitude (there's a good sixteen mile roundtrip dayhike up an 8,000 foot peak a couple of hours from here).
Summit day on Whitney will be almost 10 miles roundtrip, or 16 if we decide to hike on out (sounds crazy at that altitude, but sometimes after a long climb the promise of a cold beer and a soft bed is SOOOO alluring!).
Okay all you slackers out there - I'm 46 and if I can do this, you can drag your butts into the gym today! Ellie
Hi KML! I used to see you post on "Teach's" thread, and wondered what happened to you! I am glad I found you and read about your happy ending. I need inspirational reading right now! I just wanted to comment on the "coincidences" you mentioned. I prefer to think of them as gifts from God. I have experienced some in sitch too. It seems like just when I want to give up, something happens to keep me going. I cannot believe it is just dumb luck, I feel like it is God's loving care, leading me onward! Just my $.02! Josa
