Sierra Club One Day Hike - 2013 Training
I first became aware of the Sierra ClubOne Day Hike back in July 2010 when Joan, my supervisor at the time, mentioned it to me and our co-worker Michele. We all agreed that it sounded sort of fun, but that 100 kilometers seemed pretty far. The web site indicated that the 2010 edition had passed, though, so I tucked it away in a back corner of my mind.
I think that I didn't recall it again when the 2011 version rolled around. And then in 2012 I did look into it, only to discover then that they restrict the number of registrants (because of limits set by the National Park Service, as it turns out), and that I had missed the registration deadline. So I tucked it away again.
Then sometime at the end of the year, I think it was, Ann said one day that I really should think about doing the One Day Hike. So I looked at the web site again and saw that registration would open on 1 February, and stay open until they had filled up. Tucked that away and started dreaming and scheming.
This will outline my training schedule for the One Day Hike. I think there were several layers to how I trained. The foundation was that I BELIEVED I could do it, and that I WANTED to do it. Layered on top of that is the fact that, although I work at a computer all day long in my job as a librarian at George Washington's Mount Vernon, I work at a stand up desk; so I'm on my feet all the time. On top of that is the fact that during the work week I don't eat lunch, but instead use the hour to go for a walk and have been doing that for a couple decades, at least. At Mount Vernon I have a 2.4 mile loop from our building to a spot up the paved bikepath that runs along the Parkway.
So all I've got to do, I thought, is add yet another layer on top of that: one that builds up my speed and stamina to the point where I can do 100 K (or about 62.1miles) in a single stretch.
The first of February 2013 arrived, a Friday, and I went to work reminding myself to keep myself free of meetings and so on in the afternoon so that I could log on at the website when registration opened at 4:00 pm. They said that in 2012 the registration filled up in 2 hours, so it wouldn't hurt to be quick on the draw and try to register right at 4:00.
1 February - Got logged in and registered. I was done with the process at 4:17. And lucky for me. They announced later that registration filled up in 28 minutes! Three hundred and fifty spots taken, just like that. That's a lot of eager walkers. If there are any cancellations, the registration will re-open at announced times so that others can vie for those places.
2 February - I had given thought to the particulars of training for such a hike. It seems a good idea to train in conditions similar to the C & O Canal, that is, a packed flat dirt road way. We're fortunate to live pretty much next to the Potomac, south of Washington, DC a little ways. And there's a private road I can use as my own training ground. Well, technically it isn't "private" in that the land is owned by the National Park Service, but it is isolated from public roads so that its only access for vehicles is through private property. This has the great advantages of being away from cars, very similar to the canal towpath, AND being literally out my front door so I don't need to drive there and back.
The Sierra Club sponsors a weekly Saturday training hike but I won't be able to make any of them.
So I drove out the road and clocked it on my odometer, marking each leg of the possible walking route: farm gate to river, that corner out to the turnaround, back along the tree line. Drew myself a crude map so I could walk different legs and add up various mileages.
3 February - First training hike - 5.5 miles.
4 February (Monday) - On my lunch break I did my usual walk of 2.4 miles out and back at the south end of the bike path that runs along the George Washington Parkway, north from Mount Vernon. That will be my pattern for the rest of the training season, unless I'm not at work for some reason. Walking every lunch hour, and using a stand-up desk rather than sitting down in front of my computer, are going to be primary leg-strengtheners I hope.
5-8 February - 2.4 miles each day over the lunch hour.
9 February - 10 miles on the shoreline at home. Went to the REI store near Bailey's Crossroads in Virginia to buy some new shoes for the hike, as my current "best sneakers" were pretty worn out. Came home with a pair of Keen brand boots instead. They seem to fit well, and are pretty light. I'm happy with them.
10 February (Sunday) - Walked 7 miles in the new boots, wearing new Smartwool brand socks.
11 February - 2.4 miles @ lunch
12 February - I had also measured the length of our driveway as a possible alternate training location. It isn't completely flat, but has small hills it. Still, it has some advantages over walking the 3/4 mile to the river at night, not the least of which is not having to walk that far back up the hill at the end of the training walk. The drive is 1/2 mile from the road to our house and then on to the garage over at "the big house." So tonight I walked back and forth on the driveway enough to make 6 miles after supper. It's dark and there isn't anyone around but Ann to see me doing this, which is probably a good thing.
13 February - 2.4 miles @ lunch
14 February - 2.4 miles @ lunch plus 4 miles @ night
15 February - 2.4 miles @ lunch
16 February - 4 miles @ lunch
17 February (Sunday) - 19.6 miles; thought that if I can continue to build my mileage on weekends, then I can focus on finding and maintaining a good pace on my shorter walks; seems like a good idea anyway.
18 February - 2.4 miles @ lunch
19 February - 2.4 @ lunch, plus 6 @ night
20 February - 2.4 @ lunch
21 February - 2.4 @ lunch, 5 @ night
22 February - 2.4 @ lunch
23 February - I decided to count the 2 or 3 miles I walk while picking up litter from the Potomac River shoreline in the Piscataway Creek area as training miles, call them "cross training," if you want because it involves stooping and lifting for a couple hours as well as the walking.
24 February (Sunday) - 20 miles, if I do that twice more then I'm in Harpers Ferry; I thought about the parameters for this One Day Hike: start at 3 a.m. and be done by midnight; that's a limit of 20 hours; so at 60 miles (plus a bit), one has to maintain a 3 mile per hour pace; except that wouldn't allow any time for rest and refueling during the walk, so in reality something faster than 3 mph is called for. Hmmmm.
25-28 February - 2.4 miles each day at lunch
1 March - 2.4 miles @ lunch and 5 @ night
2 March - my 2-3 trash picking miles
3 March (Sunday) - 28.15 miles. As I finished, I thought to myself "hey, that's more than a marathon! This thing just might be possible" I kept up a reasonable 3.4 miles per hour pace the whole time.
4-5 March - 2.4 miles @ lunch each day
6 March - No work because of a huge "snow event" that didn't actually arrive. Walked 4.1 miles at home in the evening.
7 March - 2.4 miles @ lunch
8 March - 2.4 @ lunch and 3 @ night. Had been thinking about this next bit since my long walk last Sunday. Made a couple adjustments and tweaks, and posted today on the ODH Facebook page:
Top 10 Things That Will Probably Be Going Through My Mind as I Finish the 100K O.D.H.
10. I guess "Passing on the left!" is what they say here in western Maryland instead of "Hi, how are you doing?"
9. I was doing okay until my blisters got blisters of their own.
8. How far away is Harpers Ferry in kilometers?
7. No, wait. There are fewer miles. How far is it in miles?
6. Is it "River on the right; canal on the left" or "Canal on the right; river on the left"?
5. I just realized that the towpath may look flat, but since we're going upriver, we've also been walking uphill the whole time.
4. This seemed like such a good idea back in January.
3. What should I play on my iPod when I finish? The 'Rocky' theme or the 'Amen' from Handel's Messiah?
2. Are we there yet?
1. What do you mean April 27th is NEXT Saturday?
Well, I thought it was funny.
9 March - 2 or 3 while picking up trash (cross-training)
10 March (Sunday) - 32.6 miles. When I got home I told Ann, "Now, if I can do that twice, I've got this licked!" But later I thought "Hey, I just walked 50 kilometers!"
11 March - 2.4 @ lunch
12 March - 2.4@ lunch and 5 @ night
13-15 March - 2.4 @ lunch each day
16 March - 32.6 again. And, yes, it takes at least 9 hours.
17 March (Sunday) - zero day because of a family obligation
18 March - 2.4 miles @ lunch
19 March - 2.4 @ lunch and 7 at night on the driveway
20 March - 1 mile at lunch; bought a pair of Superfeet insoles to slip into the new boots, turns out to be a good idea.
21 March - 1 mile at lunch and 6 miles at night; I'm thinking the evening walking is a good idea, too, because several hours of the One Day Hike will be in the dark
22 March - zero day because we were traveling to visit with family in Pennsylvania
23 March - 39.2 miles on a rail trail in Pennsylvania; interesting pressure to get back to my car in time to go out to dinner with friends; couldn't just drop out a lap or two early like I could at home if I was running late; had to keep going at speed in order to get back to where I had started from because that's where the car was; it was also interesting to be back on this trail near where we used to live
24 March (Sunday) - zero day
25-26 March - 2.4 miles @ lunch each day
27 March - 2.4 @ lunch and 8 @ night; trying to build up the night walking in order to put in more after dark hiking and build up my weekly total
28 March - 2.4 @ lunch
29 March - 2.4 @ home
30 March - 40.5 miles; thinking to myself that that's 2/3 of the one Day Hike, which is looking more and more like it'll be real achievable
31 March (Easter Sunday) - 2-3 miles picking up trash from the river bank in the afternoon; it's 4 weeks until the hike; the clock is ticking down.
1-2 April - 2.4 miles @ lunch each day
3 April - 2.4 miles at lunch and 10 miles at home on the drieway after supper
4-5 April - 2.4 miles at lunch each day. On 5 April I posted the following question to the ODH Facebook page. I'd formulated it during my last long training walk, but couldn't nail the answer on my own. Fortunately, Jon came to visit today and was able to snap out the formula needed, and then give me the answer (which I will post before the ODH).
"Given a hypothetical hike of 100 K (or 62.1371 miles) ... there is a point X at which the _number_ of miles traveled equals the _number_ of kilometers left to travel. There is also a point Y at which the _number_ of kilometers traveled equals the _number_ of miles left to go. Points X and Y are not in the same place, neither are they at the mid-point of the hike.
"Question: Where are point X and point Y?"
6 April - 2 miles or so while picking up trash on the shoreline
7 April (Sunday) - 30 miles
8-10 April - at a conference in DC and did walk at lunch, but only 1 or 2 miles each day
11 April - 2.4 @ lunch and 5 @ home
12 April - 2.4 miles @ lunch
13 April - Drove up to the Monocacy Aqueduct on the C & O Canal with Ann and walked 2 or 3 miles along the tow path with her so she could get an idea of what it looks like; Virginia bluebells in bloom; and we saw several birds that she identified for me, including what we identified as a rose-breasted grosbeak
14 April (Sunday) - 2 weeks until the hike- 43 miles; had been hoping to push to 50 but it was just getting too late; I think it was about 8:00 when I came up the hill for supper; a couple weeks past the vernal equinox there is more light longer into the evening, but I do need to remember that I'm working in the morning
15-16 April - 2.4 miles at work each day
17 April - 2.4 miles at work and 7 at night on the driveway; I weighed myself this morning and found that I've lost 10 pounds since I started training at the beginning of February
18-19 April - 2.4 miles at work each day
20 April - 2-3 miles while picking up trash from the riverbank, and then 10 miles at night; the One Day Hike is next Saturday
21 April - 20 miles; marathon runners in training seem to taper off toward race day, but I couldn't ever find any training schedules for 100 K walkers, so I'm making this all up on my own; I'm figuring that 20 isn't too much to do today since my target distance on Saturday is 62.1 miles (which would be something like a marathoner running an 8 mile day); but this will be my last long walk before the One Day Hike
22 April - 2.4 miles @ lunch. Someone posted on the ODH Facebook page about what a good idea it would be to be well-rested when we start the hike. Thinking that made sense, I went to bed at 9:00, hoping to work to earlier bedtimes the rest of the week
23 April - 2.4 miles at lunch and then 6.7 in the evening, taking one last walk down to the river, one last loop on my training route along the Potomac, and one last walk back up the hill at the end; there's supposed to be a notable hill in Harpers Ferry at the end of the One Day Hike, it's been several years since I was there in town, and I do seem to remember a hill of some note - but I had just backpacked down from the Pennsylvania border on the Appalachian Trail when I hiked up the hill and may not be remembering it well. Didn't get to bed till after 10.
24 April - 2.4 miles at work each day. A couple days ago I added up all these training miles. I was surprised at how many miles I had underfoot a this point: just over 575 since 1 February.
25 April - 2.4 miles at lunch time. Got to bed at 8:00 after a spaghetti supper. I'd read somewhere recently that "carbo-loading" the way most casual athletes practice it doesn't really offer the benefits people think it does, but I like spaghetti.
By the way, the answer to this month's puzzler is 38.3237.
In other words, after we walk 38.3237 KILOMETERS on Saturday, there will be 38.3237 MILES left yet to go. This is point Y.
AND after passing the midpoint 50 K mark, we will soon reach the spot where we'll have walked 38.3237 MILES, and find that we only have 38.3237 KILOMETERS left out of the 100 we started with. This is point X.
26 April - 2.4 miles at lunch to end my training. Somewhere during the day I broke my code of silence at work about the hike. I had figured I wouldn't tell anyone until afterward (you know, just in case it didn't turn out as planned). But Amanda asked if I had any plans; and when I said 'going to Harpers Ferry' she wanted to know if I was going to be hiking around there. eventually I told her the whole story. Had Ann's pancakes, real maple syrup, and Greek yogurt topping for supper. Just in case there is anything to the carbo-loading theory, after all. Got to bed close to 7:00 after setting the alarm for 1:00 a.m.
Let's hope that it was all worth it. The weather forecast is very favorable.
Summary of "big" training hikes each week:
Sunday 3 Feb: 5.5 miles
Saturday 9 Feb: 10 miles
Sunday 10 Feb: 7 miles
Sunday 17 Feb: 19.6 miles
Sunday 24 Feb: 20 miles
Sunday 3 Mar: 28.15 miles
Sunday 10 Mar: 32.6 mles
Saturday 16 Mar: 32.6 miles
Saturday 23 Mar: 39.2 miles
Saturday 30 Mar: 40.5 miles
Sunday 7 Apr: 30 miles
Sunday 14 Apr: 43 miles
Sunday 21 Apr: 20 miles