how much rest before big hike?

[Adk_dib]

I plan on doing 6 high peaks in 3 weeks in august. I would like to have fresh legs for these hikes. How many days before a big hike do you rest. I usually workout on tuesdays and thursdays. for a hike on saturday is one day rest enough. Also, when is the best time to "carbo load", the night before or 2 days.

 

[adktyler]

I usually give it two days, depending on the amount of training that I'm doing. Any more much, and I feel like I'm beginning to loose the groove. Any less, and I fell a little drained. I feel like it's something personal, though, depending on the person and their body.

I also prefer to "carbo-load" the day before (not quite the night before). It digests in time, then, but you still have the lasting benefits!

 

[Raymond]

Six mountains over three weeks doesn’t seem strenuous enough to warrant special planning. Not six mountains around these parts, anyway.

If you’re already regularly exercising, I don’t anticipate you having any trouble. We used to groan and wince as we struggled up and down the Loj stairs immediately following the first hike of the year, but we’d still be back out on the trail the next day, hitting another one or two.

 

[cushetunk]

Six mountains over three weeks doesn’t seem strenuous enough to warrant special planning.

Perhaps Adk_dib meant six mountains on a single day three weeks from now?


I don't really do training, and I have ample experience just going and doing stuff. I think that some simple things work best. If it were me, I'd try not to do anything radically different than what you normally do -- I wouldn't want to freak my muscles out by doing something out of the blue like changing an exercise regime suddenly.

Are you normally sore after your regular workouts? If not, maybe you don't need to worry. If you are, maybe you should cut back the one before the hike.

You probably have an idea if you can complete the hike, if you have done something like this before. I suspect that for an isolated endurance effort, for a person in fairly good general shape, belief is far more important than the other details. If you are convinced you can do it (and don't go in handicapped with sore muscles or whatever) you you most likely will.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I personally would lay off a heavy day at the gym for the 2 or 3 days preceding a big trip. Last week for me went:

Wed: Lift
Thu: Stairmaster
Fri: off
Sat: 30 mile bike ride, spin (higher cadence, purely aerobic)
Sun: Presie Traverse
Mon: off
Tue: Spin
Wed: Lift again

I don't want too much time off...

HTH,
Tim

 

[Adk_dib]

heres my schedule:

weekend august 1st : allen

weekend august 8th: Cliff and Redfield from LOJ.

weekend august 15th : 3 Santanoni's



inbetween redfield and santanoni's I suppose only a wednesday workout would be enough.

 

[Jay H]

No rest for the wicked! I'm not a big proponent of rests, even a rest day for me would involve doing something short, maybe sleeping in. I've found that even on multiple "big" days (and everybody's "Big" day is different), my quads are a little sore, but that usually always goes away after the first couple miles. You are talking about having 6 days in between your peaks which is a lot more than I bet most people here were thinking when you mentioned 6 peaks in 3 weeks.

I think something aerobic would work in between your peaks, keep the lungs breathing and the heart pumping, cycling, swimming, jogging, gym would work well in between. Maybe take the day before off, other than say stretching or something light.

Jay

 

[snickers]

Personally I don't see a need for any rest with that schedule.

This is just me..(I hike every Sat and Sun from moderate and up)

I don't do any killer workouts during the week, I just walk.

Monday - no workout - just house cleaning, unpacking from the weekend, repacking for the next weekend, cleaning the jeep, grocery shopping, making dinner.

Try to get a 30 minute walk in at lunch most days; especially on Monday to loosen the tight legs from the weekend.

Tues, Wed - walking, maybe a bike ride

Most Thurs a walk or skip the walk and just enjoy family night.

Friday - walk if I am home or travel for the weekend

I, like Jay don't really rest. A rest day for me is sleeping till 7am or going to bed at 9pm.

There will be time to rest when I am really old.

Happy Trails - Cindy

 

[PA Ridgerunner]

Like Cindy, I get a decent walk in on most days, but am not doing heavy duty gym workouts. I like to have at least one day between big hikes. Hiked Marcy (15 mi., 3100+ ft ascent) last Tuesday, then opted for a shorter climb (Jay Peak) Wednesday and it turned out to be too much, so we didn't go all the way. (My quads were barking pretty much the whole way.) Was fine by Thursday to do Lower Wolfjaw.

 

[dr_wu002]

F rests! Just keep going. Hiking on the weekends, gym during the week. I sometimes take Fridays off from the gym because I usually have a ton of driving to do Friday Night so it's nice to get extra rest. Don't forget about the sex action either. I think you can count that.

-Dr. Wu

 

[cbcbd]

It depends on your definition of "workout". When you work out do you usually work hard enough that you are sore the next day?

I find that if I am in a regular workout/active schedule it is pretty hard for me to feel a burn the day after. If that is the case then no muscle is being torn = no rest is really needed to rebuild muscle tissue.
Keep working out until the big hike - rest the day(s) following the big hike to rebuild tissue. But still go into the gym, even for a light workout - blood flow helps recuperation.


Carbo load? If you really feel that you'll be using that much energy so fast that you won't be able to replenish it during the hike, then do it like marathoners do... pasta dinner the night before.

 

[eddie]

A few years back, my brother and I did the Santanoni's on day one, rested on day two and did Allen on day three. Our pace was 12 1/2 hrs for the Sants and 9 1/2 for Allen, just average times at best. If you are in "average" shape, then a day off before would be adequate IMHO.

 

[Raymond]

I wouldn't call 9½ hours for Allen average, unless you’re talking about the average time of my hikes of it and PinPin’s. It’s always taken me at least 12 hours, and that was the first time; they’ve been worse when I’ve been with another person. I suppose that’s only natural.

Never hiked the entire Santanoni Range at one go. My son and I tried it Sunday, but the Bradley Pond Trail was in such bad shape — there was a lot of standing water, even on the herd paths — and we were so far behind on our time that we bailed on even attempting Couchsachraga (a couple fellows laughed when I asked about the swamp two-thirds of the way to it), just bagging Panther and Santanoni. You know you’re in trouble when Santanoni is easier than Panther (three previous climbs of Panther always took me 13 minutes to reach the summit from Herald Square; this time it was 32 minutes). It was just as well we did skip Couchee, as we would probably have been coming down the Santanoni Trail in the dark, and would have had trouble getting down the cliff and bushwhacking around the flooding near the end of the trail. It took us 12 hours and five minutes just for the two.

Anyway, be prepared for lots of mud.

Bradley Pond Trail

Panther herd path

Santanoni herd path

 

[eddie]

Those pictures of the Sanatanonis are frightening. I have hiked all three twice and Panther another time on an aborted trip due to crummy weather, and that's the worst trail conditions by far. WOW! The last time, I had a pair of LLBean gum boots for the Bradley Pond Trail just to keep my feet relatively dry up to the Panther Brook herd path and I stashed them there. I agree, no 12 1/2 hr day with those conditions.

 

[marty]

age can play a role in your decision

"Well, you're a little bit older and a lot less bolder than you used to be." (Bob Seger).

When I was young, as I think ADK_dib is, rest before big hikes wasn't necessary. I get more little aches and pains now in my 50's, despite working out an average of 6 days a week and find the need to take a day's rest before a big hike (two days off before back-to-back big hikes).

Good luck on that big hike!

Marty

 

[Raymond]

I should have known we were in trouble when we had to side-step a big puddle just to get from the parking lot onto the road, then watch out for streams flowing in the road.

By the way, there were some bicycles stashed where the footpath begins. Is it legal for Forty-Sixer purposes to ride bicycles on the road? That doesn’t seem right to me. I know it wouldn’t fly for the AMC Four-Thousand Footer Committee.

And back in 2003, I noticed that a woman had carried some backpacks up to the footpath in her car, and was awaiting the hikers to claim them. That seems sneaky, too.