Getting in shape

With Nafets, Shiloh Ranch Regional Park (Photo: Lindsey Shere)

Eastside Road, May 28, 2013—

TRYING TO GET back in shape preparatory to the next Big Ones: an assault on Mt. Whitney in a week or two; then another Long Walk, which I'll hint at no further for the moment.

How to get in shape? Well, for one thing, put on those hiking boots every other day at least. Then, wear a backpack to get the neck and shoulders used to it again. I've been carrying a ten-pound weight around in it, and will soon up that to twenty. Whitney will require a tent and sleeping bag, and they add up. The Long Walk won't need those, but will require a more extended wardrobe.

It's nine months since I've done anything strenuous — that was the assault on Mt. Shasta, last September — and five years since my previous Really Long Walk. Oh, there have been the occasional daylongs, including the four-day walk from Sausalito to Half Moon Bay last October; and of course a little over a year ago we spent a number of days rambling in Limburg (Netherlands), Belgium, and Luxembourg.

I'm sorry I haven't been writing about those walks here on this blog. It's time to redesign Sherewalking. Meanwhile, we hit the Sonoma county hills every Sunday we can, and get back in touch with lying flat on the back on a straight flat hard surface, stretching out as long as possible.

And, of course, squats, and lunges, and one-foot balances, and all that. Getting in shape.