"So, are you in training for your big hike now?"
Yes. I only hike when I feel like it, where I feel like and only as long as I feel like it. I eat whatever I want, and sleep as much as I can.
I just can't think of a worse way to start the the full AT than to be tired of hiking and tired of being out in the cold. I'm figuring too, that if I start out as nothing but lean body-mass, I'll only get emaciated that much faster. 8 weeks ago I was already in triathlon shape. In racing terms you "taper off" a week or few before the event. This is one big long event. I'm tapering off a few months before. Besides that it's winter. Since early March can still bring snow to the Georgia mountains, if I can get a little bit of sub-dermal winter-layer going on, I'm taking it.
Without conscientious intent, I'm already up&down the mountainside on foot nearly every day. But I'm not especially focused on physical conditioning. I'm training psychologically instead. It's hugely neglected and overlooked in the world of thru-hiking preparation, which tend to be obsessed with gear and fitness. So, my strategy here is very different from what I've heard anyone else doing, but what everyone else says of the on-trail realities leads me to believe this is a better idea.
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