RE: [Philmont]: Physical Condition

Mel,

I went to Philmont in 2002, I was 43. I was offered a crew in late October
when one of the council contingent fell apart. I pulled a crew together
before Thanksgiving and we decided to start meeting in earnest after the
first of the year. On January 1st I was 5'9" and 255lbs. On our first
shakedown in south Louisiana I drank all my water (4 Liters) before lunch
and got overheated shortly thereafter in the middle of nowhere. Held up the
crew for 2 hours while they filtered water and waited on my fat butt to get
going again. I decided, as I laid there in middle of the trail that I was
not going to be the weak link in the chain again.

I bought a $400.00 eliptical trainer and got to work. Started off at 4
times per week for 10 minutes at low resistance. By March 1st I was at 40
minutes and full resistance. After two weeks at that level I could not get
my heartrate in the "fat burning" zone on my heartrate monitor. I saw my
old Scuba belt in the closet and realized that it would put extra weight
right on my hips, just like my backpack's hipbelt. By May 15th I was on the
machine 6 days/week for 50 minutes, and wearing 35lbs of lead on the scuba
belt. I stayed at that level of effort until we left on June 20th.
Additionally, I started eating sensibly and tried to keep the caloric intake
at about 2200. When I stepped on the scale at Philmont, I was at 215 (lost
15 more on the trail) with resting heartrate around 63. Unfortunately, all
of the boys (14-16 years old) ran track or cross country at their respective
high schools, so I couldn't keep up if they wanted to rabbit ahead. But, I
wasn't the slowest member of the crew. I was still huffing and puffing
going over Phillips with full food and water, but they didn't have to send
the Mercy Flight for me either.

I do not recommend waiting until January to get started. Start now! I have
added a bicycle to my workout gear this year. Since I am over 40, have
never been a serious runner, and carry extra armor plating, I will not be
runnng again this year. Personally, I need low impact exercises to save the
knees, but still rigorous enough to get the heart into an effective zone for
aerobic activity and to burn fat.

Scott Calkins
Advisor
2005 Crew 618-B
  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com]On
Behalf Of MelMetz@aol.com
  Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 7:42 AM
  To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
  Subject: [Philmont]: Physical Condition

  With 2004 Philmont season drawing to an end. Would like to hear from
adults, especially those over 40, on how you prepared yourself for Philmont.
Just hiking with the scouts does not make it happen and some of you found
out the hard way.

  Mel Metzler T320
  Dayton, OH

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Received on Thu Aug 5 02:02:09 2004