Even More About Physical Preparations

I have been traveling quite a bit this last month and just came back from spending a week in the woods backpacking on the Hoh River Trail.

What a wakeup call for me physically!

I would like to pass along some information that while we are preparing, we need to remember to keep that body of ours in mind. After all, we have nothing if we do not have our health, right?

I mean it is very important to stay physically prepared by also being fit physically. This is accomplished by eating a balanced diet, getting proper rest, and a exercising regularly. IF any of these are out of balance, either too much or too little, we will have a problem when real stress is added to our workload, especially in the case of survival, or else we must sacrifice the quality of our life style and habits to down time.

For me, I have been violating all three: diet, exercise and rest. The results are not pretty - sore feet, sore legs, sore butt, sore stomach, sore back and sore shoulders. As I struggled down the trail, one of my daughter's girl's camp hiking songs came to memory and brought me a smile, where they would sing cadence while backpacking, "My back aches, my belt's too tight, my hips shake from left to right, left,...left,...left, right,...left!" As they sang they would do all the motions of left to right hip movements and then kick their left legs up in the air. It was quite funny then. Still funny now!

Also, remember, when you get older, you must take into consideration the amount of load you are carrying both around your middle as well as what you have in your backpack because the combination of increased weight all bears down on your feet, legs, back, etc...

Also, the intensity of your activity, including the distance you are going to travel adds into the factors of how well you will do. If you push the envelope like I did with a very heavy backpack, with poor physical conditioning, you have a formula for disaster or at best a very sore body.

I remember when I was in my twenties, I used to swear by such phrases as, "No pain, no gain!" and "No distance, no glory!" Now at 60, I have changed my phrases to, "If it hurts, that is a warning!" and "If you wish to complete the distance, slow down, smell the flowers and enjoy the scenary!" "Hey is that an edible plant? I need to stop and take a picture of it!"

My how life is a taskmaster in teaching such little lessons...