Training. Well I'll tell you right now I'm not doing any. The only way to prepare for hiking in the mountains is... to hike in the mountains. Not many of those here in the Dallas area, same problem I had in Detroit before the AT. I plan to do the same thing I did then: go to the trailhead, and hike.
My job is somewhat physical, which is good, but it isn't cardio. I am riding my bike a little more, just around town, and walking a bit, doing some stretching. These things aren't training, they're guilt-alleviation strategies. Truth is, I'm lazy. And, I hate exercising. Running is painful, and though I like bicycling, I like it mainly as a means of transportation; I need a destination, not just to ride in circles, especially in the city.
My main preperation is mental. One must psych oneself up. Not how you think, though. Before the AT I had a sort of mantra-- that what I was about to do is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done, that it's going to hurt, my body is going to complain, and I'm going to be uncomfortable most of the time. Expecting this, I can then deal with it when it happens (less than I thought, actually. The body adapts quickly).
However, there is one thing I'm doing: eating as much as I can. Lots of fat, carbs, calories. I'm naturally skinny, and on the AT I was on the borderline of actual starvation, crossing over it now and then. I was eating of course, but the calorie burn is so high you just can't get enough, and stray into calorie deficit often. Most Americans have plenty of fat, for reserves in these cases. I don't, and my reserves were pretty well spent by the time I hit Virginia. I was very often exhausted, sometimes sick and vomiting, and frighteningly thin. But knowing that I can keep going even under such crazy physical stress (not to mention pushing through an injured Achiles early on) convinces me training is for suckers.
Lastly, I admit I'm not a physical or athletic person. I'm not doing this hike because I particularly like endurance sports or the cardio challenge. Hiking is alright in itself, but it's not my main love. I put up with the hiking because it puts me in the excellent places I want to be. As a friend of mine once said of herself: I'm not a thru-hiker, I'm a thru-camper.
So what's important is not training, really, but figuring out a better system for food on the trail, and packing away a few extra calories beforehand.
