After 20 days in France, I came back to Maine, worked over the weekend, and headed to Baxter State Park for my annual end-of-season stay at a cabin on Kidney Pond (sidenote, it snowed). October is a much quieter time in the park. Overnight temps are dropping into the 40s or lower, making it less appealing to camp outside. There are a few thru hikers trying to squeeze in a summit before the mountain closes and some other hikers bundled up for fall adventures, but overall it’s a very peaceful time. I spent most of my time there reading, playing Scrabble, eating yummy campfire food… and thinking about hiking.
While I was very happy to be enjoying every minute of my time in France (including cheese, pastries, and Rose), there was a mild nagging anxiety about the training that was awaiting me at home. Since I solidified my 2027 AT hike via social media announcement, which somehow feels like a binding contract, I’ve been looking forward to mid-October. This is the moment when guide season ends and I can focus fully on training. It’s when the rubber hits the road, so to speak. No more excuses, no matter how legitimate, for not going all-in on this goal.
Since returning home, I’ve started training 6 days a week. That’s a big adjustment. When I guide, I’m hiking every day, but it is very different from targeted training. Now, I’m running a lot (emphasis on A LOT) and doing HIIT workouts, yoga, hiking-centric strength training, core workouts, balance exercises, and hiking a big mountain once a week. I’m also researching gear, planning trip logistics, connecting with as many other thru hikers as possible, and experimenting with dehydrating my own food.
Here’s what I can report heading into week 2: training is a full time job.
Or, it could be. Since July, I’ve rarely had more than 3 days in a row when I wasn’t guiding, preparing to guide, or traveling to guide. It forced me to be extremely efficient with everything else I had to do – non-guiding work, parenting, several big life transitions, and just the tasks associated with being a human. Now, I have time, which can be a blessing and a challenge.
This is one of the hardest things about working in the gig economy. When there’s money to be made, you become super-human, even to the point of the wheels coming off the bus. You take every job you can, work all hours, and rarely say no. And you learn to maximize every free minute, even if that minute is used to relax and enjoy summer—which, as a guide, is a rare and precious minute. When the gig season ends, there is the initial relief associated with slowing down, and then… the chaos of unscheduled time.
My first week of training felt sort of scattered, like all my workouts went in a shaker and then dumped out all over the floor. A late afternoon run, a morning gym trip, a midday online yoga session. And as a Type A, high-output, list-loving person, I am very certain this is NOT the way to train. Also, training actually cannot be a full time job for me. I have other jobs, two of them in the off season, and a life that needs some sorting out in advance of my thru hike. So, if training can’t be a full time job, it has to be a priority. Scheduled, not fit in, and given the attention it demands.
Week 2 is off to a great start. Early morning yoga and a 6 trail run completed by 10. Luckily, it only took me one week to affirm that I am, indeed, a schedule person, and this is the way to train. .
