Last night I kicked off my training for my upcoming August trip.
Unfortunately where I live is devoid of anything but long flats and meadows surrounded by paved trails and high towering structures. But there are great views of a grand lake. On this particular hike I was joined by 23,374 others. The hike was a timed event, 3.5 miles.
The pre-hike preparations were made in the meadows before we began. There had been rain the previous two days so the meadows were muddy. It was a very cool evening and these meadows lie in the canyons just east of the towering structures. The lake lies just a bit further east. The trail itself was a paved loop that wound through narrow canyons with views of the lake and towering structures the entire way. Fortunately, the rain only produced occasional puddles and there was no danger of flash flooding through the narrow corridors. As far as wildlife, I only spotted the occasional pigeon and squirrel.
The hike provided my kickoff for training. Last night I did not wear a pack but I do plan on training with a pack covering high mileage the flat land and I’ll even use the internal passageways of the towering structures on occasion for climbing training. Sorry I do not have any photos but there are some available of the event at http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/index.php
I finished in 25:34 for the 3.5 miles. A very good start since I’ve been mostly inactive in the winter since last October’s 26.2 mile hike on the same general course.