9 miles and 21 pounds

Last Saturday a few of the AT folks got together a conditioning hike at local park.  Open to all, 5 normal people showed up too.  A smartly dressed gaggle of women with trim waist packs were waiting at the trailhead while the three of us arrived in a flurry of activity and a bit late (excuse: we were staging cars at the end point to shuttle us back to the start).

If you are not familiar with a conditioning hike, it's where you strap on your backpack loaded down with more weight than you plan on carrying and you hike.  So we arrive complete with full-size overloaded backpacks, technical hiking boots, the ever-present trekking poles and a complete complement of attitude.  Why the five women did not flee on our arrival remains a mystery.

Setting the record straight, I was not planning on a full pack.  My goal was to carry the exact amount of weight I have lost to date.  Since I weighed in that morning at 17 pounds under my full winter bloat, I opted to go for 20 pounds.  Including the pack, 3 liters of water, 24 ounces of Gatorade, a tent (it was handy) and a small stack of old phone books (even handier) I finally settled at 21 pounds. 

The phone books.  I should probably not have mentioned those, here or at the hike.  There were plenty of jokes: "Todd is prepared, if we need to order a pizza" or "If we need a fire we can burn Todd's phone books". Things like that.  But hey,  they were sitting right there next to the recyclables.  Instant weight!

Good news is we all completed the hike without incident and I think to a person we could have hiked more.  That evening and the day after I felt no pain or stiffness and all of the joints were happy.   However it did teach me a bit about how quick I can dehydrate, especially on a cool day when the sweat evaporates quick. 

The pack was fine on my back ..but that sucker was heavy to pick up.  Makes sense, a fully loaded pack is a struggle and this was not quite that bad.  But you grab this thing by the little handle and heft it around and 21 pounds is a noticeable burden.  Heavy enough that I double checked the weight of the pack when I got home.  Simple technique: weigh yourself with pack, then sans pack, then subtract.  I confirmed the previous measurement.  It was 21 and another interesting number was revealed - I was now 21 pounds lighter than my winter max.  Or 5 pounds lighter than when I started the hike that morning.

Running the numbers, that is about 10 cups of water.  Maybe I should have hit that three liters I packed a little harder.  I put it back on quick with a combination of water, Gatorade, and beer and by Monday I close to where I was.

By Wednesday I had stabilized back at the 21 pounds loss so the downward trend continues.  So some nifty take-aways:  21 pounds is one heck of a burden and I no longer am carrying at least that on a daily basis.  My goal to carry my exact weight loss in the backpack was achieved with startling success.  I can do 9 miles without falling over.  And most important, I swear that whatever junk I stuff in my pack will remain a secret.  There are some things you should not share, even with close friends.