AT's AT Hiking Training Plan, Week Seven

Week: May 12 - May 18 (7 Days)
Miles Hiked (Week): 9.75
Miles Hiked (May): 21.25
Miles Hiked, (April Goal): 30
Miles Hiked (Yearly Total): 48.75
Pounds Lost: 2.4
Percentage to Next Milestone: 0%
Pounds Lost (Total):  0.2
Weekly Goal Met: Yes
Nights Camped (Week): 0
Nights Camped (Total): 2
Nights Camped (Backpacking): 0

There must be something about odd numbered weeks, as they go better than my even number weeks. A lot of the success for this weekend was courtesy of the good weekend I had hiking. Without going overboard on my meals during the two days, I hiked almost ten miles. This total is my highest for the year, and the highest since last October. Because I hit that number, I'm sitting in a comfortable place for hitting my monthly hiking goal with four potential hiking days left in the month.



However, even though the week was a personal best, it's still not enough. When I'm hiking the Appalachian Trail, I'll need to be hitting close to that number each day, on terrain much rougher than the relatively flat and easy places I hiked this weekend*. Therefore, this is not a summit, but rather a base for increasing my rate. With my goals through the rest of the summer and fall, I'll need to at a minimum hit those numbers pretty much every weekend.

My goal for this week and weekend is pretty simple. String together two good weeks, even if the weight loss is relatively weak. This will be a challenge, as Memorial Day weekend is coming up, one of the trickiest weekends for me. The temptation to eat (and drink) too many calories, while slacking off on the hiking, could be a problem. I consider it a test, one I'm hoping to do well on.

*For the record, I hiked two "Hiking the Lists" hikes, one along the Tamarack Trail at Volo Bog in Illinois and the other at Newport State Park in Wisconsin. I also added a .75 mile hike along the boardwalk at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge.