May 17, 2012.
Daily Miles: n/a Total Miles: n/a Hours Hiking: n/a 0:00am -0:00pm
May 17th, I'm driving back from
Colorado to California to my parents’, to drop off all of my food
boxes and actually do a little bit of preparation with them. It’s a
good old-fashioned 20-some-odd hour drive across the desert, which I
don't mind. It's nice. I've done the drive before and I love the
southwest, so I can't complain too much. It gives you a lot of time
to think about it {the hike}. I'm finally on my way back to the
start...and in a week and 1/2 a day from now I will be on trail,
starting a....ahhh...very difficult journey to say the least.
*laughs* I..It's...I try and prepare myself and it, it’s, just
like, WOW, that's a lot of miles in one day, and that's a lot of days
consecutively...the average is supposed to be 46.2 miles per day for
60 days, in order to complete the trail...which will break the record
by 4 days, but still...I mean that's...*laughs*... that's quite a
feat and I know that the first week or two is going to be hot and I'm
going to be sore because my body isn't going to be used to it day in
and day out. I've trained a whole heck of a lot, but...you know, you
can't train exactly for it, unless you do it. I couldn't train for
hiking for 60 days unless I was to hike for 60 days prior to this.
The other day while running, this build up before, it kind of feels
like the analogy of you sitting at the rim of the Grand Canyon
looking across this big vast open place and you saying 'well, I'm
here and I need to get all the way across to the other side'. You are
just waiting to start... you have to pick your own path and take it
and that's where I'm at. One week to go. It's *laughs* I've prepared
mentally as much as I think I can and it's going to be one of those,
just take it day by day. I know how far I need to go, and I will deal
with the problems and the little things as they come up. Just don't
worry about them. Once I've got everything set, it's out of my hands
really. That's all you can really hope for... Otherwise, it'll be
enjoyable, not in the sense of being really really fun like a normal
thru-hike, because you're hiking with other people and hanging out
and literally making the most of a summer, but it will be enjoyable
to me in the way of...it being a goal I've set and it's a goal I
really want to achieve, and I like to push myself. So, in doing this,
I'm really pushing myself, which no matter how I do, I'll know
whether I can do it, whether I can't, where some limits are and what
I am more capable of and generally know myself more. I mean I know I
can push myself and push myself and push myself, and I've really as
of yet to find a good breaking point and this, this might do it. This
might be the thing that finally lets me know where I cannot go and
what I cannot do. So, man, it'll be good. Spending 2 months of my
life to do something that no one else has done before, basically. I
think that's a fair trade. We'll see what I can do *laughs, see if I
can break a record or two...
