Raining, Training, Not Complaining

Since my last post about training, I haven't gotten out too much to walk. I did walk a few miles Sunday but wanted to save my next longer day for Monday. That is when I planned this great cirucit hike over Cold Mountain in Western Virginia. And it actually turned out to be perfect for Komen 3-Day training for three reasons. (1) There was a lot of uphill, gaining about 1,300 feet during the hike. Our training stresses doing a variety of conditions, including uphill and I've not done a ton of that. (2) It was raining. In fact, it rained steadily enough that I was soaked and got a blister on my toe from wet socks and too infrequently (recently) used hiking boots. Komen stresses training in all kinds of weather, and I've not done a lot in the rain. (3) Perhaps most importantly, although the hike was not too long - about seven miles - it was slow going at times with the rough trails, slippery surface, and uphill. So I was on my feet a lot, about four hours including some time exploring as we walked. Time on one's feet to walk 20 miles a day is really important.

Since Monday, it has rained every day, many times pouring. Today, I went out to walk 4 miles in my new shoes. A mile later, it started pouring. Having had plenty of time walking in the rainy mountains Monday, I didn't think anymore walking in the rain was needed today. But even so, I was soaked to the skin in less than a minute, and my fanny pack soaked through, along with the new shoes. No complaints though, all part of the experience.

The coming weekend, my plans are for a really long walk - 18 miles - followed by 10 miles on Sunday. Hopefully my left heel, which seems to bounce back fairly well even after pain now, will hold up, and I will be good to go with 60 miles starting two weeks from tomorrow morning.