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Well, a major accomplishment for me this week was, after my fourth attempt, I finally made it to the top of the Colby Trail! Again, this is a rather tame trail for most but hard for me. I really wanted to quit several times on the way up but what kept me going was my goal of hiking the Grand Canyon and if I were to ever do that hike, I would not be able to quit! So, although I had to stop and rest several times, I made it. What a joy! Now I will continue to train on this trail until I can make it to the top and back without stopping to rest.
My plan is to build up to 5 to 6 hour rather strenuous hikes in an environment that I will be able to stop should I need to due to exhaustion or injury. This is important until I am familiar with what my body can accomplish.
A couple of things that helped me to the top of the Colby Trail were continuing with the daily neighborhood walks of 4 miles and secondly and just as important was Yoga to help my breathing. Specifically, Kundalini Yoga. So, I concentrated on my breathing, and it worked! once I got my breathing rhythm, I was able to climb much further with fewer stops for rest.
I will also start doing yoga poses to help my rather stiff body loosen up a bit and hopefully make me a bit more flexible. The REI site has 6 yoga poses to help with Hiking Prep.
https://www.rei.com/blog/hike/6-yoga-poses-to-help-you-return-to-the-trail
I have also started strength exercises, squats, squats with overhead presses, lunges, stair climbing and step-up exercises. Here are several sites for hiking training exercises that I found useful. I will add more exercises as I get used to this initial set.
https://yonderlustramblings.com/top-6-hiking-training-exercises-you-can-do-no-matter-where-you-live/
https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/hiking-training.html
https://fitfortrips.com/fitness-training-for-grand-canyon/
