[Philmont] Conditioning

Like Pete, we are pretty close to sea level, so the biggest challenge
is altitude preparation. However, our 3 adults in 2005 (age range
42-50) had no significant problems and managed to keep up without much
trouble. Two of us have a regular running regimen which we stepped up
a bit, and the other did extended lunchtime hikes with full pack for
nearly a year in advance. We each augmented that with some extra stuff
- for example, it's about 4.5 miles of rolling hills from my house to
the Church where the troop meets. My son and I hiked that with a full
pack each Tuesday as fast as we could manage - got it down to a fairly
consistent hour and 20 minutes, which isn't bad in 95+ weather. We did
come to believe that you can simulate altitude with sufficient heat
and humidity but I have no medical basis for that.

Certainly, good cardiovascular conditioning of any kind is a great
foundation, but don't forget to do some actual serious hiking with
your Philmont pack and boots. I found that there's surprisingly little
overlap between the muscles that hurt from running and the muscles
that hurt from hiking with a pack.

-- 
T.W. Cook - SM Troop 151/CC Crew 911 - Georgetown, Texas
http://www.troop151.org
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