[Philmont]: Shakedowns - Physical Conditioning?

I think we are talking past each other. Obviously, doing anything is
better than doing nothing. Certainly there is *some* beneficial value
to shakedown hikes vis-a-vis physical conditioning. The point is that a
few shakedown events are not an adequate conditioning program in
themselves. In your case, clearly you are doing more than just the
shakedown events (those weekly hikes you mentioned). I would not
consider that to be sufficient for myself, but I will certainly concede
that it's likely more than most Advisors or Scouts do.

Again, according to Ranch sources, 50 percent of all Advisors have done
no training, 30 percent haven't done enough, 10 percent have adequately
trained, and 10 percent have done more than necessary (similar figures -
probably worse - for the Scouts). I have always attempted to be in the
lattermost "overtrained" category - because of my relatively diminutive
stature (5' 6" and 155 pounds "trail weight") and an obsession to NOT be
an impediment to my Crews (or worse, fail to meet my own
standards/expectations). And as the primary Advisor for my Crews, it is
a simple Health and Safety issue that I still have to have plenty left
in the tank even after the most brutal days, no matter how tough the
hike or how challenging the weather conditions. Every experienced
Advisor on this List has seen his or her share of adults for whom it was
seemingly everything they could manage just to make it to the next camp
before dropping in their shoes. Sure hope they're not faced with
anything more critical than eating dinner and going to sleep....

Bottom line (again) is what kind of a Philmont experience do you want to
have? Relatively speaking, only a few folks have died at (or just
after) Philmont for lack of proper physical conditioning. However, a
huge number have suffered through mediocre to truly miserable
experiences. Don't think so? Sit in on any camp's Advisors Coffee or
(if you can possibly stand it) spend a few hours in the Advisors Lounge
at BaseCamp one evening, and listen to all the bitching and whining.
Too bad Prozac is a prescription medication - they ought to hand it out
with the coffee. They'll never be back - and not because they didn't
win the lottery, either. But of course, few of them will admit that the
pain and suffering was self-inflicted.

It's worth repeating: I don't want to "survive" Philmont, or "endure"
it, never to return again - I want to enjoy it. Ditto for my other high
adventures. And to make very sure that I will, I try to turn myself
into a piece of steel, at least for a couple of months every summer
(before life interferes yet again). So far successfully, though I'll
admit that the rust on that steel is getting a little harder to scrape
off these days....

- Dr. Bob

Daniel Preston wrote:
> I am not convinced that you need to backpack every day to make it a
> valuable conditioning exercise. As I wrote in an earlier post, we
> backpack for an hour or two in a local park on a weekly basis and then
> have shakedown hikes monthly. Having a backpack on while training is the
> key but the extended shakedown trips stretch muscles that are not taxed
> in the same manner with shorter, albeit more regular, workouts. While I
> don't have a medical background or any scientific data to back-up this
> concept, from my own experience it seems that the shakedown hikes
> improve overall conditioning.
>
> Dan Preston
> Louisville, Kentucky

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Received on Tue Jan 17 23:38:44 2006