What Is Average Time Spent Perparing For Trek?

[HLB066]

Hi everyone,
I came across this forum after I suggested to a girlfriend she should do the trek
to mark her 40th birthday. Although she hasn't dismissed the idea altogether,
I think she thought I had gone quite mad.
The longer I thought about the idea I realised there was NO reason why I shouldn't
do the trek myself.

So…………what is the average time spent preparing physically for the trip?
Now that I have decided I want to do it, I want to go straight away!
Is an average of six months enough? More or less required?
Your thoughts would be great to get me going.

I live in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, any ideas where to start training as there are no hills near me.

Cheers and thanks Heather.

[jafa]

Well – I guess it really depends on your starting level of fitness. I`m 38 – and I gave myself 3 months. To be quite honest – after a month of training (and alot of that high cardio) I reckon I could go now with few problems.

I have another two months before my trek.

[Waza]

Hi Heather

Good on you for deciding to give it a go, you will find it a very worthwhile trip, full of memories and it may even be a life changing experience for you.

I would suggest however, that you read up a bit on it before you go, there are many excellent books available now, including:

Kokoda – Peter FitzSimons
The Kokoda Trail – Stuart Hawthorne
The Spirit of Kokoda & The Essence of Kokoda – Patrick Lindsay
Kokoda – Paul Ham
A Walk in their Footsteps – Andrew Stone
Blind Leading the Blind – Stuart Andrews
Angels of Kokoda – David Mulligan

All of these give an insight into the History (very important) and refer to current trekking conditions.

Perhaps two of the best for actual information on current trekking are:

Kokoda Trek – Clive Baker (he has walked the Track around 15 times I think)
Field Guide to the Kokoda Track – Bill James

Both very good.

Other more factual accounts are:

Those Ragged Bloody Heros & A Bastard of a Place – Peter Brune
To the Bitter End & Blood and Iron – Lex McAulay
The South West Pacific – E.G. Keogh

I had personal reasons for going, I used to live in PNG as did my parents and Dad was involved with ANGAU for the full term.

I trekked in April/May 2005 aged 60 and started light training before the Christmas and built it up, with walking, trekking, swimming, cycling, squash and climbing a 3k mountain on a regular basis with a full 17kg backpack, right up until I left for Moresby.

Found it difficult the first day but by day 3 I was comfortable until the end, although I certainly was breathing heavy and my claves, especially on the first day, hurt like hell, on the ascents and my knees hurt on the descents.

But it was a wonderful experience, shared with a few great people and a couple of not so great people, so pick your group well, or go with friends who will share the experience with you.

If you wish to speak further, I'm happy to email to with further details.

Good Luck and congratulations on deciding to partake in a truly wonderful Australian experience and share some of our History.

Regards

Warren (Waza – Trek 83)

[Waza]

Sorry Heather, meant to add that some of thes books are currently available on ebay (just type in Kokoda), don't pay a lot for them though as they do come up regularly.

Regards

Waza

[HLB066]

Hi Jafa and Waza,
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions.
Both of you have given me alot to digest.
Heading off to the library tomorrow morning to collect some books for a history lesson.
Next I need to work out how I am going to incorporate some hills into my workouts.
Cheers and thanks Heather.

[Waza]

Hi Heather

If you wish to have a further look at a training schedule, give me a call on warren@metrogroup.com.au and I'll email you a couple of spreadsheets if you like.

Good luck with your training in Melbourne.

Regards

Warren

[Lapun Mama]

Hi Heather,
Not sure when you were heading off but hope this info is useful for someone.
I've had the privelidge of nursing a number of ANZACS & had always said I'd like to do the Track before I hit 50, as I thought by thenI'd be too old. My son was planning to go & invited me along. He also surprised me with the return airfare as my 50th birthday pressie.
I continued with my underwater hockey & kayaking & added in a specific gym programme over 12mths especially lots of leg work.
The heat nearly killed me on day one – I'm not only a Victorian, but am from the southern coast & had been camping in single minus temps the month before going to PNG. Our guide was great & allowed time for us to acclimatise & were usually started early before it got too hot – the highlands noticeably better/cooler. The other thing I found really important is good blister prevetion, trekking poles & suitable knee brace – I checked with my physio & had no trouble with my didgy arthretic knees; remebering that downhill is much harder on your knees than uphill – that just kills your lungs/heart/leg muscles, but fittness should address that area!
I survived & loved it & just booked to go back on Trek 447: Owers-Kokoda-give something back to the community.
Before gaining my title of Lapun Mama (Pidgin for Grandma) I was also known by the name of Heather. So good luck to another Heather & enjoy.

[Mrs Moo]

Hi Heather
You don't really need hills to train on if you have a stairwell – preferably in a multi-story building. There is a good DVD by Lindsay Kelly that he made after he did the trek last year. All his inital training was done in a stairwell. Took him 4 months to get where he felt ready, then did a trek in the Blue Mntns and decided to do a bit more training! He also has a lot of good practical advice on what to wear etc.

For myself, I am 55 and have been training for a few months on a hill near where I live. At first I could hardly get up it once. So the first week I went up and down once each morning. The second week I went up and down twice, and so on. Eventually I was doing 12 times which took an hour – all the time I could spare. Now I have added a pack – 14 kgs at the moment, but I plan to increase that. I had to go back to 6 times up the hill with the pack, but am now back up to the 12 before work each day. During the winter when it was too dark to be on the hill by 6.00am I did a 45min workout video, which has aerobics, weights, strength training etc on it.

My point is, it is better to do too much than too little training. For me, I want to enjoy my trek and not be absolutely knackered every night.

Find some stairs, and good luck!

Mrs Moo

[Xman]

Hi Heather,
I would just like to throw in that the good old fashioned exercise bike is very good tool to use for strengthening of the legs. It is low impact and works both the extension and compression of muscles. This helped me no end when I was traveling for business a month before the trek even if you have no hills or stairs every gym has a variety of the bikes and you can get a very good workout on the bike alone for an hour and I tell you what your legs know about it. It is also good for the core muscles.

Happy training Hard and strong

Cheers

X-Man

[Author]

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