This the men who are looking to go on the World Race (and for the laddies who want to know more about the man hike).
What is it?
The man hike is a 20 mile hike with your pack along the Appalachian trail. This will be a high demand hike on your body. You will need to look at training for this journey. There will be very little flat areas, so you will be going up hill or down hill.
The man hike will also teach you what it means to be a man of God while on the race and you will get to grow close to the other men who will be doing the race. it might seem like a lot but it is not as bad as it sounds and if God has called you to this then he will give you the strength to do it.
Why Train?
20 miles might not seem like a long distance but you have a lot of slopes that you will go up and down on and even though your pack might only be 30 pounds it will still fell like a lot, since you are going up and down it will take a lot of endurance to be able to do move along at a solid speed.
I did not train the first time I did it and I was in pain for about a week after the hike (one of the reasons I was told to wait a year). Even though I trained I was still breathing heavily at parts along the trail.
How I trained for the hike.
This is all about how I was able to lose over 4-5 inches in just 3 months. I was at a 37 and went down to a 33
Diet
I cut soda down a lot to just 1 bottle at work ( this became my water bottle for the week)and 1 drink when I went to dinner on my way to my Young adult life group, and 1 diet drink on Saturday. As for food I ate only 1 breakfast hot pocket in the morning mon-Fiday, I also cut out fired food at work and went to 2 pizzas weekly (unlike most places this was made by had and fresh daily and cooked same day) then soup or fruit, on occasion I would get something else but that is what I did for lunch, dinner I had soup or something my mom would cook. I would also have nuts at my desk to munch on (much better than chips). I also would drink milk with all my meals at work
Exercise
This is the biggest thing that you as a Future World Racer will need to do. I started off at 4-5 days a week doing this but in the end I did this 3 times a week and backpack training 2 times a week (once the weather was worm enough)
(the non bold is what I started at and the Bold is where I was at when I left for TC)
Tredmill
5 intervals
3mph 30sec rest speed
3.5mph 45sec workout spped
In the end i was at:
15 intervals
3.3mph 45 sec rest
3.8mph 90sec workout
Stair stepper
level 3 for 8mins
In the end I was at:
level 6 for 20min
Arc trail (this is that bike thing that you can adjust the resistance and use your arms to push the leavers and legs as well at the same time)
level 4 for 8 min with 30lb resistance
In the end I was at:
level 5 for 4 min 80lb resistance
level 10 for 16 min 80lb resistance
squat(sit on a bench then stand up)
I started at 2 reps of 20
In the end I was at 2 reps of 50 with a 30lb cowbell
Backpack training (walk around with your pack)
For this most of you will not have all your stuff till near the end so just get a blanket and visit your local thrift store and get some ankle weights and throw them in your pack with a blanket. I could not start this as soon as I would have liked mainly due to the weather (Minnesota was cold for to long) . This will also give you a good idea of what your “limit is” for gear, for me past 60 lbs my shoulders started to hurt but at 50 lbs I was fine. This also will let you know if your pack will work. Note:you might lose a lot of weight doing this and your pack might not fit as well as it did when you first started, if this is the case if you can wait till after TC to get a new one as you will learn what you need and don’t need at TC
I started off with 35 lb pack for 2 miles in 37 mins
In the end I was at 50lb pack for 8 miles in 2 hours 20mins on the street
What to bring that was left off the list that you will be given for the hike (or better items to bring)
There are a few things that were left of the list that should be on it:
Hiking stick- you can find one on the ground or make one from a branch on a tree, there are parts of the trail that are tricky to navigate that having a stick for balance will help (this is big if it rains before or while you are on the trail). You can buy one if you want as well.
Energy drink power– I used spark (http://www.amazon.com/Advocare-Spark-Energy-Single-Pouches/dp/B00JZZSJ90/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1433199291&sr=8-6&keywords=spark+energy+drink+fruit+punch) it has vitamins amino acids and some caffeine and it gave me the energy I needed for the hike. This will help give you the needed energy to keep moving along when you wake up early the next day.
Water bladder- this is much better than a water bottle. I used both a bottle and a bladder (i used the bottle to fill the bladder). A water bladder is much easier to drink from and you won’t lose it (we had someone who lost their bottle with in the first 5 minutes of the hike the bottle rolled down then burst open)
Extra shoes– ask your squad leader if it might rain on the hike (note: they might not know), if it has a chance to rain on both days bring 2 pairs of shoes (nothing is worse than hiking 14 miles in wet shoes) If it is raining then bring 2 so you will have dry ones for the 14 miles back.
