Countdown to Amicalola: Eight Weeks and Counting

A tranquil pond at the base of some cliffs. Not pictured: The lethargic cottonmouth basking at the edge of the road not too far from here. 

Date: January 28, 2015

Current Week: 01/28/15 - 02/4/15
Days until Amicalola: 56
Pounds to next weight goal: 7.6 (-2.4)
Total Loss Last Week: 2.2
Weight Goals Met: 0
Minutes Exercised, Yesterday: 35
Minutes Exercised, Last Week: 250
Minutes Exercised, Week: 0
Miles Hiked, Yesterday: 0
Miles Hiked, Week: 1.5
Miles Hiked, 2015: 1.5

It was a close run thing, but week three of my countdown ended up heading in the right direction. While not a major loss, it's still almost three times the previous week's tally. This, coupled with over an hour of additional exercise during the week, made it a very good start.



I say a very good start because there is still eight weeks to go. I need to have more time out on the trail before we cross under that arch at the start of the Springer Approach Trail. I'm hoping to improve upon the pace of this week, and end up down as far as I can go. Once the hike begins, my problem is going to be finding enough to eat. But I'm not there yet, so my problem is still avoiding eating too much. Neither is a particularly enjoyable problem, although the former has its benefits.

Even though I'm not ready physically, I'm really gearing up for the hike mentally. Eight weeks is not all that long. Pretty soon it will be the middle of March, and the hike will come whether I'm ready or not. Actually, that's inaccurate. Those first few weeks are going to be rough no matter how well I'm prepared. The work I'm doing now is just a matter of degree of roughness, with merely very, very, difficult being the best case scenario.