Doin trek, need tips on endurance and stamina

D!ve^Bomb!

Ok i'm doing a trek through the grand canyon next year and i need to improve my endurance and stamina, especially on my legs!! I want to be able to enjoy this trip rather than wishin i was back home on my first day there.. I'll be walkin between 4 and 6 hours a day for about 8 days straight :rolleyes:

Does anyone recommend any particular exercises i should do? should i stick to cardio or should i hit the weights as well, when i get closer to the trip i'm gonna start walkin up the mountains to get used to different terrain and hill walkin etc so for now i think i'll stick with the gym..

oh yeah, can anyone recommend shops for buying stuff like hiking boots and ruck sacks etc, pretty much everythin needed for camping, the only one i can think of is millets..

Thanks

pwd

There are some good army surplus stores around Capel Street. Don;t remember the exact names but you get quality goods much cheaper than elsewhere.
Meindl are very good hiking boots; it would probably be worth getting a pair for your holiday.
Why not start hiking in the mountains now, instead of waiting? That would strike me as the best way of becoming accustomed to that sort of activity, and now is probably the nicest time of the year to do it. If you are in Dublin or Wicklow, the Wicklow Way is entirely waymarked so you cannot get lost walking it. An Oige have a few guided hikes every weekend also, as well as weekends away. You need to be a member to do most of these.

D!ve^Bomb!

cool, thanks.. you're right in that now is probably the best time to start hiking, nothing worse then walking a 45 degree angle against a gale force wind:)

i see the GREAT OUTDOORS on Chatham st are dealers of Meindl, do you know what kind of price range we're talking about? also do you know if they have a large variety of sizes, i'm a size 12 but sometimes even a 12 does fit, i see they have bigger sizes on their site but don't know if they'd stock them?

pwd

I got a pair around 1996 for I think 140 punts. Note that I've used them a fair bit and they are still in very good condition. You can get ok boots for half their price, but as well as not being as good, they will not last in the same way at all.
It is worth trying to haggle the price a little in the surplus stores. They might give a reduction for a cash purchase.

You'll probably already know this if you're reading up aboiut hiking, but:
don't wear jeans on the hills (because they will cling if it rains)
bring a raincoat (because it keps the wind out more than the rain)
lots of thin layers are better than a few thick layers for keeping warm.
wear a thin pair of socks under a thick pair. (keeps your feet warm, and minimises friction. Doesn't metter so much if you have good, well-fitting boots, but still worth doing)

D!ve^Bomb!

so there's a good chance we're talkin about well over 200e now, even close to 300:eek:

i want to make a habit of this trekking but if i don't then that's 300 wasted:(

pwd

If you're in your teens perhaps save your money, in case you grow out of the boots. As I recall my feet continued to grow a little after the rest of me had finished. Otherwise, even if you don't get into hillwalking, then the boots are worthwhile anyway because they'd mnimise the risk of sprained ankles or blisters and spoiling your holiday.

D!ve^Bomb!

i'm the ripe old age of 21.. my feet stopped growing long ago, infact they may have gotten smaller

yeah the boots do look like a good investment, and i'm pretty sure i will get into the habit of doin stuff like this anyway..

i had a look at the An Oige website, it looks good and it is perfect for me to get the practise in but they have their hikes on sundays and i work on sundays:(

pwd

That means you probably have a day off midweek you can use to go hiking yourself, though, which is nice because their aren't nearly so many people/bikes/horses/families/dogs around the hills.
The Wicklow Way starts from Marley Park and goes all the way to Glendalough. The 16A leaves you close enough to Marley Park.
There are coaches to Glendalough too around this time of year. There are various waymarked hikes around ther eyou can do. Get a map in the tourist centre there which will describe them.
There are all sorts of hikes you can do in the dublin hills alone, really

D!ve^Bomb!

i have my own transport too which makes things much easier! i may drag my gf to Glendalough for a nice long walk.. thanks for the advice:)

anyone else have any tips for gym work to cater for endurance and stamina?

DeFonz

I only ever went on one trekking holiday - up to Everst base camp!
I was pretty fit anyway, but here is what I did in the gym with the trek in mind :
I built up to about 20-25 minutes on stairmaster. That machine is pure hell. Bloody great for your calf muscles though. About 20-25 mins on the rowing machine. About 20-25 mins on the crosstrainer. Another horrible machine.

The starimaster can only help you walking uphill. You will be suprised how tiring it is to walk downhill, especially if the ground is powdery and your basically skiing on rubble and using your toes and knees as brakes.
Our guides however told us the best thing we could have done to prepare was to get our rucksack, chuck some heavy stuff into it and walk up and down our stairs. But if you don't want to freak out ur ma get out on the hill/mountains anywhere u can and start walking. .

At the end of the day though most of this didnt really matter, as the altitide messed up some very fit people and some unfit ones were fine. This doesn't apply to your trek though.

I had Berghaus boots. Highly recommended. About 140yoyo I think - a mary st shop I think. Buy good socks/liners. You only need a few pairs.

Best of Luck in the canyon.

D!ve^Bomb!

cool, thanks, i'm workin my way up to the base camp trek, i'll probably do that at the end of next year:)