Asked in Health, didn't get a response...

Howdy folks. About 15 years ago I spent five months backpacking all over the four-corners area. Since that time, I've graduated from assorted institutions and managed to get settled into the sedentary lifestyle of corporate life. Needless to say, I've packed on the pounds and have lost all my training in that time.

I'd like to get back into backpacking, as I am now near the AT, and have found other places in the area that I can hike around. My goal is to do the top of the AT in Maine in a couple of years, so was wondering if I could get some feedback from people on some of my plans. I came across the Backcountry Forum, which seems to be populated with some good folks with good ideas.

My first question to the group is:
I started training by just walking, should I be walking in boots to get my feet used to them again?

My second question is:
How long should I train without weight before strapping on a pack again?

Thanks in advance!

No claim of expertise here, but I would wear whatever you intend to wear while hiking. This way, if the boots need breaking in (which many new ones these days do not, btw, unless they are full leather), you are doing that while training.

I'm old school, I do wear boots, but many people here do not-they wear trail runners of one sort or another which you may want to consider. My boots are Asolo FSN95 or something like that, a lightweight boot compared to traditional ones but they still give me ankle support, which I like. Otherwise, I wear running shoes all the time, except for those rare occasions where a "real shoe" is needed for appearance sake.

Second, I see no reason not to wear a light pack from the get go. Don't go overboard, but wearing your pack will get you used to it as well. You can use bags of rice, gym weights, sand bags, whatever works and is handy to add weight to it for just walking around. This way you will know if the pack is comfortable, for one. An ill fitting pack is something you want to avoid-it can cause back and shoulder problems, so if you're going to find that out, now is the time for that.

A similar question is here.

I seem to remember that post.

Having recently taken a bunch of weight off, I am also shooting to do part of the AT. The other end of it though in Georgia.

From what I have learned here getting out and walking would be the first thing. Add biking to your training plan to build yourself up. One thing that I learned from my marathon training is to go slowly and try not to exceed a 10% increase in anything. So if you start walking an hour with no weight, don't try to walk 5 hours with 40 lbs the next day.

I am trying to build up a training plan for my AT hike. I plan on starting in March or April hiking against the flow of traffic. I use a training plan for my marathon training and I think it will be helpful to others like us trying to get back into the hang of things. I will post it here when its done for comments.

The boots question is an interesting one. For my marathon I know I want to run in the shoes I train in, but I don't want to exceed 400 miles on the shoes, and I want to run the marathon in broken in shoes, not new shoes. With Hiking boots I would assume the break in process is just as important, however good hiking boots are designed to help you support the weight of the pack. If you don't have a pack on, walking in the boots is probably going to be awkward. This is probably a good place for trail running shoes, or lighter weight trail boots.

Someone mentioned clothing. Well one thing I learned in a couple of weeks back during two back to back 5 mile hikes is I like to hike in my running clothes.

I sweat a lot and the moisture wicking materials in the underwear and the shirt make a big difference in comfort. I literally hiked the first 5 mile hike in all cotton and the second day in my running clothes. It was a big difference.

Good luck getting going.

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