Hiking MB - Conditioning

[Tampa Turtle 1011]

While I too use a soda bottle a 32oz Nalgene is about 5.5oz.

 

IMHO Urban hikes are a nice warm-up but not as challenging as the real deal. Use them for training but do not shortcut the outing in scouting.

[Engineer61 19]

From Tampa:

 

How much does he weigh? A bit over 100# I'd guess.

 

Is the terrain easy? Depends on where...can be open desert or mountains.

 

There are no places to fill up? No.

 

Supposedly, you are no longer permitted to cache water (water drops) on Federal or State lands here in AZ (not sure why) ... I haven't seen the edict myself, but wife is in the know....this means he has to lug it all.

 

From OGE:

 

"The worst that can happen is you both will improve physical conditioning"

 

Uh...that would be the best...a 10 miler is beyond my functional limits...conditioning can't fix a bad meniscus. And asthma is very unpredictable.

 

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Ya know....maybe he could start by walking home from school...that's about 1.5 miles according to Google Earth....on the days he doesn't have band...he'd have only his book bag...about 15#...

 

At least with that idea, we'd immediately see his commitment level.

 

[Tampa Turtle 1011]

Start with school. I walk home everyday; it is a nice "spacer" before home.

 

As for you, yeah like I said it took me a year of work to get in shape to do more than 5. And I ain't fast...I'm not called the turtle for nothing. It is a wonder that I finish at all.

 

Basement is right, 1 liter soda bottles work great.

 

Maybe get him a cheap pedometer? Have him start counting steps.

 

He'll know when he is ready to start with a pack.

[qwazse 4349]

Have you seen kids and their school packs lately? They break my back just watching the little gompers carry them two blocks!

[Engineer61 19]

"Oops, you may not get much rain...where are you?"

 

Yeah...big oops! Central Arizona...not known for rainy days....lol

[qwazse 4349]

Sounds like you've got a plan.

 

When he's beyond the "after school" stage, have the boy get a counselor for more ideas for what to prepare for. For example, I've been told that flash floods are a serious issue for some parts of the SW in some seasons. Even, in the hills of PA and WV, we know to make a few phone calls about certain streams if there have been consecutive days of rain or if a large snowpack has begun to thaw. Based on what was last reported to the ranger station, we adjust our hike plan accordingly.

 

Also in terms of hiking buddies:

1. Don't shy away from dumping this on Mom. A lot of times relationships at this age consist of her telling him to do something, and him ignoring it. This might be a good way for them both to simply enjoy each other's company.

2. Involve his patrol. He can help his patrol leader write a plan that will meet the SM's approval. This may require you shelling out for a pizza or two while they meet at your place to hash it all out.

3. Take the merit badge with a buddy. Sometimes an MBC might actually prefer this, because it makes for better discussion.

[Engineer61 19]

So, I floated my idea to my Scout to use the walk home from school as a conditioning tool ... the conversation ran like this...

 

Me: "Ya know, I think I came up with a good conditioning plan for your Hiking MB..."

 

Him: "Yeah, what?"

 

Me: "Well, since the weather is good, you could start by walking home from school on the days you don't have band."

 

Him: "You're kidding, right."

 

Me: "Why no ... I'm not. It's a little over a mile, flat, paved, and your book bag is a moderate load by comparison to what you'll have to haul for a 10 or 20 mile hike."

 

Him: "Well it might be a good idea, but there's no way I'm going to do that."

 

Me: "Ok...well, you'll have to come up with some way of getting in shape then."

 

 

[Engineer61 19]

A reply:

 

"1. Don't shy away from dumping this on Mom."

 

Not possible, her knees are in worse shape than mine...too many youth years spent with high impact aerobics, power lifting and Stair-master.

 

"2. Involve his patrol."

 

Hopefully.

 

"3. Take the merit badge with a buddy."

 

I don't know that he's even consulted the MBC as yet.

 

[Basementdweller 608]

Well engineer, let him do his thing.

 

Have him take a 10 mile hike and see how it goes. If he fails he fails....just make sure there is a couple of bail out points at 3, 5 7 and the end.

 

Menicus, pfffft. Tore mine a year go, surgery a year ago this friday. While I did not do my usual 500 miles, I still did 150 in the last 4 months. Did 30 miles on the Appilacian trail a couple of months ago with a 20 mile Pack.

 

10 miles will make it swell, get yourself a set of trekking poles they do help and get back at it.

 

 

I am going to tell you if you walk with more than a 10 pound pack you are completely out of line for a day hike.

[Tampa Turtle 1011]

Let him get started. Let him hike his own hike.

 

My youngest got religion pretty quick after a couple practice hikes. Now he packs light, thinks carefully about each item, and makes sure he has water, socks, etc.

[qwazse 4349]

Sometimes, mapping out where the cute girls live helps extend those walks. But, no point in telling your boy that. It sounds like if it's your idea, he'll ignore it.

 

My oldest, who was very athletic, was insulted at the suggestion that he could walk a mile to his buddies house instead of pacing the floors writing for us to be ready to haul him there.

[Tampa Turtle 1011]

We go to Clearwater Beach, etc and do training hikes there in the winter. Often the older boys enjoys the "scenery" (and the occasional calls of "oo Boy Scouts!") and the younger boys the various dead sea critters.

 

Whatever works.

 

I am always surprised by how some boys are better hikers than I would have predicted.

[Engineer61 19]

LOL...just reading a couple of these replies and applying the idea to my Scout is a hoot!

 

I have never seen a 14 yo more disinterested in the opposite sex than my stepson.

 

He infuriated his female cousin over the summer when he told her that he didn't see any reason to ever want to have a daughter... "Why would I want one of those?"

 

He refuses to even watch kissing scenes on TV or the movies.

 

Thanks for the mental images today ... I definitely needed the uptick.

[Basementdweller 608]

I guess I miss the whole point of conditioning.

 

 

Hiking is just walking after all.

 

 

Tampa there are many aspects to walking that folks miss now a days. Urban walks are cool because you really get to look at the city. Challenging???? Does it always have to be challenging? I hike the Cincinnati river walk annually, You cross the ohio river 4 times various bridges....I enjoy the 10 mile version of the hike. We enjoy eating at a sandwich shop at fountain square and generally there is something going on at sawyer park. I like hiking it between thanksgiving and christmas to look at the lights.

 

It is just an opportunity that most folks don't take advantage of.

 

Everyone talks about old school scouting......Well most troops adventures were within about 30 miles of home. They didn't drive 4 hours highway to hike for 2 or 3 hours. they hiked from the CO to the event and back.....some were lucky enough to have a truck to haul gear in.

 

 

 

 

[qwazse 4349]

BD, much of it may be psychological. Certainly some of us grew up being kicked out of the house at noon and not welcome back in until supper time on a Saturday. (Parents just got sick of yelling at you to do chores while all you did was try to watch cartoons on TV.) Sooner or later we would figure out that we could easily get ourselves five miles away from home and back in that time period if we tried. That's not the case anymore with most kids in the country.

 

You need them to experience that walking a mile or two is hardly any imposition on their time or energy before they try anything longer.