Spring training

Machu Picchu, 2006 

Kilimanjaro, 2010

“We have two good seasons here in Minnesota,” the old joke goes. “Spring and autumn. On good years both fall on a weekend.” 

That certainly seems true this year. Spring has only just sprung this week, it seems, after a very cold, wet, and windy March and April. But today I am putting on my cargo shorts (purse pants) in anticipation of a nice couple of days.

I am getting a slow start to my spring training for activities in which I will be participating this summer. In June, I will be doing a week-long bike ride from Venice to Mantua with one of my favorite tour groups Boat Bike out of Amsterdam. (I’ll tag a few extra days of day hiking near Cinque Terre afterwards.) 

In July, I will be in a small group backpacking in Yosemite National Park for five days or so, anticipating a lot of elevation gain and loss.

The photos above show the happy outcomes of two big hiking adventures from my past. The first shows my group arriving at the Inca Trail overlook of Machu Picchu in 2006 after four days on the trail at relatively high altitudes in the Andes. (Highest point: Dead Woman’s Pass at nearly 14,000 feet.) 

The second shot is from the summit of Kilimanjaro four years later. This was an eight day hike with a summit elevation of 19,300 feet. But surprisingly, the African hike was the easier of the two. Why?

In my slim research of the Inca Trail, I found it most often rated as only a moderately difficult trek. “What the heck,” I thought, “a tough guy like me should breeze through this.” I was wrong. Both the elevation and the altitude made the hiking extremely challenging for me. A co-hiker commented that she found it more difficult than doing a marathon in Denver. After completing one of the more rigorous days, a physician on the trip told me that I could skip my next cardio exam! And I was a youthful 54 years old at the time.

So when I had the opportunity to climb Kilimanjaro four years later, I did a good deal more investigation into the hike itself. I found a great hike leader, Destination Tanzania. I learned that there are multiple routes to the summit and that the longer the trail, the greater the acclimatization and likelihood of success. I got medication that helps combat altitude sickness. 

And I trained. That made all the difference. I summited without a problem. (Although losing in a day and a half the elevation I had gained over six days played havoc with my knees. I was sore for a week afterwards.) I enjoyed every day of the hike.

Lesson learned. An activity for which one has trained is more fun than one for which one is unprepared. And you are thinking, “Well, duh…”

Spring training for me started in earnest this past weekend. Two three and a half mile hikes with my backpack partially loaded. Eight mile rides to my local YMCA with a few good hills. As spring progresses, I will add weight to the backpack and miles to both the hikes and bike rides.

The training hikes and rides are in themselves quite enjoyable. As is the anticipation of the big events this summer. For me, a happy life has anticipation in it. And while I slog my backpack up the local hills, I will also be anticipating the beauty and company of Yosemite. I hope all my readers are in some kind of training.

Comments

[Tim Stahmer]

I am greatly impressed with your mountain treks, especially climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. I know people younger than either of us who found their expedition to Machu Picchu challenging. I have to go into training just to accomplish the urban hikes I take. :-)

Looking forward to reading about and seeing the pictures from your Italy and Yosemite adventures this summer.

[Doug Johnson]

Just keep moving, man.

Doug