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hurricane!
10-25-2012, 07:41
Hey Guys,

I'm new to the boards so hopefully you'll cut me a little slack if I'm out of line.

I'm currently planning a thru hike for Spring 2013 and this site has helped me immensely. But the only reservation I am having at the moment is that I am currently in really good running shape. I'm running 7 days a week and logging about 60-70 miles a week. I'm concerned, after reading some posts, that after the AT I may have some serious damage do my body. Thru hiking has always been a dream of mine, albeit a short dream at 24 years old.

I have searched the net pretty well and I havent found a direct answer to my problem.

So hopefully someone can speak to this issue. Being in good shape and hauling a light pack (<24lb w/o water), how quickly do you recover? How possible is permanent damage? Is this a valid concern?

Thanks in advance!

jburgasser
10-25-2012, 08:06
I consider myself a serious, local-level competitive runner (I ran OUC 1/2 marathon a few years back in the low 1:17's) and while I have not thru hiked the A.T., my father-in-law and I go for a week-long section-hike every year. I think what you will find is that you will get winded from the hiking but will recover quickly and be able to continue along the trail with an elevated heart rate, as opposed to a more sedentary peerson who will stop and rest after a much shorter time with an elevated heart rate. What the running does not train you for is the weight of the pack on your lower body and the different muscles used while walking as opposed to running. But that should not pose any real trouble or hurdles for someone who runs at least an hour every day.

As far as injury goes, I don't think you have to worry about anything that is permanent. Ligaments, tendons, and muscles heal. Put your fears aside. YOU WILL NOT DO SERIOUS DAMAGE TO YOUR BODY. What will happen is after about 10 - 14 days you may become so accustomed to walking for 8 - 10 hours a day that you don't give it a second thought. I imagine that running 60 - 70 mpw you have to work through occasional injuries. Hiking should result in nothing more serious than any running injury.

Your biggest worry may be how quickly can you get back to 60 - 70 mpw (and I assume racing shape?) after a thru hike, especially since you will be getting back to Florida right when the racing season is getting going. Maybe not right away, maybe not a month. But I think if you finished your thru in mid-October you could expect to run Disney (early Jan), Clearwater (Jan 19), or Miami (last weekend of Jan) Marathon at your current level of fitness.

If the A.T. has been your dream, don't let your running ambitions get in the way. You have plenty of time for that!
Good luck!!

Jim/Ickybod

Starchild
10-25-2012, 08:15
Continued running is potentially damaging to your ability to run.

That said the potential is there for the thru to effect your running. The thru hike is a life changing experience for many and I am hoping for it to open up a new direction for me in life, I somehow know it will. Perhaps even healthy and uninjured after completion you will find more fulfilling and happier things in your life then you knew possible and that running is able to offer you now and running won't seem as important after.

Peace

garlic08
10-25-2012, 08:35
I had similar concerns when I started long-distance hiking in my 40s and I was a firefighter. I'd come back a little underweight, a little weak in some aspects, strong in others, with sore feet for a while, but within several months I'd be back to normal physically. I hope I never get back to "normal" mentally. In your twenties, you'll have an easier time of it.

I agree with Starchild's statement that continued running can do potential harm, too. Think about that, for sure.

10-K
10-25-2012, 08:35
I run marathons, a few ultra marathons, and more 5k, 10k's, and half marathons than I can count and hike all the time.

No problem. The only thing is that after a 7+ day hike I have to ease back into running because the transition from carrying a load 20+ miles a day through all kinds of terrain takes a few days.

And I'm old.

hurricane!
10-25-2012, 08:50
Thanks you guys! I appreciate the enthusiasm and quick replies

Same here, jburgasser, I'm pretty competitive in my AG at the moment. I just did the Army 10 Miler last weekend in DC in 1:07. Now I know that my running shape has little to do with hiking shape, but the reason that I have the time to do the AT is I will be switching careers and moving out to Denver. So whether I do it or not then I'm sure it will take me a while to get into shape again by moving up to 5280!

So the goal is to start mid-March and finish in about 4 months. Just in time for CO winter to sit on my butt and recover. haha

I think that you have really helped to put my mind at ease with things, everybody!

I'll let you know what happens!

moytoy
10-25-2012, 09:01
At 24 you probably don't have to worry. Although there is not a guarantee that you won't damage yourself. I have never thru hiked but I am a long distance hiker and only recently did I start having problems because of it. And my doctor is not sure that the walking has caused my hip problems. It probably has more to do with carrying a heavy pack. Hike smart and you will be fine!
10K is not old...he is older....

yellowsirocco
10-25-2012, 09:20
Might damage your ego. I bike and after 6 weeks on the trail I lost speed and gained endurance. Somehow speed seems more important with respect to my ego.

Pedaling Fool
10-25-2012, 09:28
How possible is permanent damage? Is this a valid concern?

Thanks in advance!I think the only people that suffer permanent damage, barring people that fall off a mountain:D are people that were not physically prepared for what they were doing, yet just kept going. I think your chances of suffering permanent damage is quite low. I suffer from permanent damage to my right knee, but not from hiking, mine is from cycling, just from being a typical guy that didn't like to admit weakness and so I'd power thru the pain when my body wasn't completely up to the task. You seem like you're in much better shape than I was when I made this mistake (as a young guy -- this was about 20 years ago), that's why I think you'll be alright.

I kind of agree with starchild about excessive running having a potential in causing permanent damage, but NOT because running is bad, actually I believe running is one of the best things one can do for the body. However, I do believe if one does too much of any one thing it can lead to damage, hence my bum knee is from too much cycling on a body, specifically my knees, that wasn't yet prepared.

I believe there's a lot of similarity in hiking in the mountains (note in the mountains, not on flat land) and running. If you look at the mechanics of it, hiking up a hill requires one to put a foot on the ground with the knee bent and force the body up; this is very much like a run, where you basically jump off from one foot and land on the other, then repeat. The only real difference is that in hiking you don't do that "jump". Walking of flat ground however, is more like pole vaulting with your legs, not really using the quads in such a dynamic manner as in running or hiking uphill.

And then you got downhill hiking! That is where most people cause injury to their knees. Walking up and down stairs, you can actually get a sense of how much more strain on the quads downhill is compared to uphill. Walking up the staircase is very easy compared to walking down; this is really apparent when you have sore legs from a workout. One of the best things you can do to prepare the body, specifically the knees, for downhill hiking is single leg squats.

P.S. When I say, "Walking up the staircase is very easy compared to walking down...", I'm specifically talking about strain on the quads and eventually the knees. In respect to cardio difficulty, then uphill hiking is very much more difficult.

peakbagger
10-26-2012, 08:03
Normal AT hiking will not do damage beyond having to go up a width in Shoe size (many folks widen out their feet permanently.

Some folks dont listen to their body and use ibuprofin for a subsitute for dealing with an injury while thru hiking. THose are the folks who can do permanent damage

jeffmeh
10-26-2012, 08:26
A thru-hike will leave you in great shape endurance-wise. You will also likely find diminished upper body strength, vertical leap, fast-twitch muscle response, etc. Each of those can be redeveloped after you finish, with effort.

snifur
10-26-2012, 08:47
As a runner what i noticed is that as previously stated, loss of upper body strength and leaping ability. Although my endurance was not impacted significantly, my cardio was impacted along with flexibility. My speed had dropped significantly and it took alot of work to return to my previous standard. No joint issues and no lasting physical impacts from the trail.

hurricane!
10-26-2012, 08:49
Wow, great input everyone. Exactly the kind of answers I was looking for (both good and bad).

Pedaling Fool
10-26-2012, 09:38
As others have said you will lose upperbody strength during a hike; that was really noticeable to me since I have been reguarly working out in a gym for years before my hike. However, muscle memory, in my opinion, makes this a non-issue. I was very much smaller when I got off the trail, but really didn't take much time for me to gain my strength back in the gym.

The same with running...your body will feel different (and most probably weaker) in the beginning when you resume running after your thru. But if you're truly an avid a runner, it really isn't an issue, because it'll comeback. In the longterm I think you'll be stronger because of your thru; anytime you challenge your body in a new way, I believe can only be a good thing.

map man
10-26-2012, 20:35
My longest backpacking trip to date is 15 days so I can't speak to what your body is going to be like after a thru hike. I can say from experience that your running will help you in many ways in having your body ready to backpack. I know that my body adapts much better to hiking since I took up running a few years ago than it did before I started running. It would be particularly helpful if you could do a fair amount of running on irregular surfaces (trails, cross country course, etc.) in the couple months before your thru hike.

The one time I'm pretty certain that hiking helped my running was in 2009 when I ran my best half marathon just a couple months after a 1.5 week backpacking trip in the Rocky Mountains. I've often wondered if vigorous exertion up at the high altitudes in Colorado helped me in the same way that altitude training is said to aid elite distance runners.

FarmerChef
10-26-2012, 21:07
Normal AT hiking will not do damage beyond having to go up a width in Shoe size (many folks widen out their feet permanently.

Some folks dont listen to their body and use ibuprofin for a subsitute for dealing with an injury while thru hiking. THose are the folks who can do permanent damage

+1 on the shoe size. My running flats moved up a half size. I am by no means a good local runner (8:00 mile average over my last half) but I can speak to training for a run while doing heavy hiking miles. This is only my experience so take it with a big grain of salt.

I only log around 25 to 30 miles per week (especially now that I'm in core training for the next 4 months before the spring marathon season). But I have mixed big hiking miles into the middle of my training. My last hike was 170 miles over 9 days. That was right in the first third of my speedwork training for the half. It did take about a week to get the "bounce" back into my form but I wound up dropping a full minute per mile on race day.

That said, I didn't hike a thru and it wasn't a full marathon. However, I do feel that the extra cardio benefit you'll get from the hiking will actually help your time to go down once you add the speedwork back in and build back up to race pace. As for permanent injury I don't think that will be a problem assuming you listen to your body and don't push it farther than it can go. I know, easier said than done some times. Again +1 to peakbagger on the Vitamin I. I have been a daily user on the trail but I'm trying to break the habit ;)