March Madness

Prior to March, the PCT was the only thing on my mind. All day every day I was thinking about everything from my gear choices, how I'm planning my resupply, to what it will be like once I'm actually on the trail and worrying about every possible thing that can go wrong. I even had some dreams about the PCT. Just when I thought I might be going crazy the calendar turned over to March, which can only mean one thing - March Madness!

The NCAA Basketball Tournament is always one of my most anticipated sporting events of the year. It has been a much needed distraction from my PCT obsession, and this year it has been even more exciting for me with my favorite team, Ohio State, reaching the Final Four this past weekend. Sometimes I've been so focused on basketball that I even forget that I'll be hiking in a month.

I think one of the things I'll miss the most while I'm on the trail is watching sports. I'm not a baseball guy, but there are still a lot of other summer sporting events that I look forward to that I'm going to have to miss this year: the NBA playoffs, the golf and tennis majors, the Tour de France, and the Olympics and European soccer championships which are only held once every four years. Thankfully I should be back for most of football season in the fall! Hiking the PCT will be totally worth the sacrifice though, especially since watching sports seems to frustrate me more often than not.

In exactly one month from today I will start hiking!

Go Buckeyes! Beat Kansas!

It's been a happy March for Brutus!

Wake-Up Call

With about six weeks to go until the start of my trek I knew I had to start getting into shape. It's something I should have started weeks ago, but I'm really lazy and like to make excuses - "It's too cold" or "I would rather watch college basketball" or even "I can get myself into shape in just a few weeks." Well today I finally got outside for my first real workout of the year and I soon realized that I'm in worse shape than I thought I would be.

In addition to going on long walks, I like to train for my hiking trips by climbing stairs to strengthen my legs and increase my stamina. Since there are no serious hills or rugged trails in the area, this was the best training I could think of to prepare myself for hiking in the mountains. What I've found is that the stairs not only replicate the tough climbs on a trail, but they're actually more strenuous.

The set of stairs I like to train on is at a nearby forest preserve at an old toboggan run. The toboggan slides were removed a few years back, but they kept the stairs due to their popularity. There are 125 stone steps in the set, each one having a different height and depth, so no two steps are exactly the same. Rain or shine, I'm never the only person using them. It's not uncommon to see 20-30 other people there also trying to get in a good workout. I've seen all kinds of people there: firefighters (while carrying a heavy fire hose), mixed martial arts fighters, runners, hikers, and men and women obviously just trying to lose a few pounds.

Usually I like to go twice a week and do about 10-15 sets (a set being up and down). If I'm feeling good then I like to run a few sets. Today being my first time there this year I just wanted to take it easy and walk 8-10 sets. Halfway up my first set I could already tell I was out of shape and that it was going to be a real struggle. After eight sets my legs were done and I called it a day. I'll definitely be sore tomorrow. It was a lot harder than I expected, and I wasn't even wearing my pack, but really it shouldn't have surprised me since I haven't worked out much since doing the Colorado Trail last summer. I have a long way to go, but I know the first time is the hardest and it'll get easier every time.

Introduction

Hi everybody! Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail has been a dream of mine for several years. Only a few months ago I decided that this would be the year to make it happen. With less than two months to go until my start date I still have quite a few things I need to do to get ready. I need to figure out my resupply strategy, there is still some gear I need to get, and most importantly I have to start training.

I created this blog so that my friends and family, other hikers, and whoever else is interested can follow my adventure. I am still trying to figure out how everything works, so it's still very much a work in progress. Once I'm on the trail I plan on posting every day, or at least as often as my cell service will allow.

Enjoy!