I need to really think about my thru-hike and how best to undertake it. There needs to be an element of flexibility built in, to ensure I make it to my destination (Mount Katahdin) by my deadline date - 10th September, but also to ensure I don’t spend my whole trip beating myself up if I don’t complete the millage and struggle to stick to the plan.
The trail is 2,190 miles long, so in 100 days, I would need to be averaging 22 miles per day.
This does not include the extra miles that I will need to cover when I go into town and need to get resupply.
Staying on the trail also need to be offset with going into town to charge electronics and to get access to wifi to upload video content on a regular basis for vlogs, as well as updating social media
Tactics
Stay on the trail as much as possible.
Have a planned route with where I want to reach each day.
Stopping at towns for resupply which are on the trail or less than a mile from the trail
Making sure I walk every day - so no zero days
Walk for longer each day and focus on maintaining a steady pace
Break down the distance into chunks. Half way point, quarter point, 100 miles blocks etc
Plan when to resupply - is it every 7 days? Every 10 days? What’s going to work best
Use the elevation profile to plan which days to walk further. e.g. walk for longer on the flat sections. Reduce the millage during the tough sections.
Wait for my trail legs to kick in - 2/3 weeks?
Do a big push at the end when I’m stronger
Start earlier in the day and finish later
Keep breaks to a minimum during the day
Have breakfast and lunch on the move
Nail my morning routine, so no flaffing
Nail my evening routine, so I can get to bed ASAP and start the recovery process.
Filter 2 litres of water in the evening, so when I wake up I can drink a litre and then start walking straight away with the other litre of water
Have dinner at 4pm and use the extra energy to walk a few more extra miles before setting up camp
Keep back pack weight down to as light as possible.
Do you have any tactics/tip you think I could use to make sure I complete the trail in 100 days? Please comment below.