workouts Archives - Just J.Faye

You guys! Michael and I are getting so close to leaving for the PCT. We fly out to San Diego on Tuesday. I am freaking out and am so excited!

Below is my final summary of PCT training for my last three weeks of training. Although between being sick and doctor visits these have been my slowest weeks of training.

PCT Training Goals

You can read about our PCT and CT goals here.

There’s just a few weeks left to go and I’m still trying to train as much as I can. Preparing my body to hike 25 miles a day for 4-5 months isn’t super reasonable. A lot of people say that your PCT training is basically the first month of the hike; however, I want to start the trail as prepared as possible in order to feel strong and minimize risk of injury.

My minimum goals for each week are:

Hike x1
Run x2
Stairmill or incline walking x2
Strength training workout x2
Stretch!!

Running trumps the stairmill and hiking trumps both the stairmill and running. If I get in an extra hike, but only squeeze in one run I’m totally fine with that.

PCT Training Week 13

Sun March 24: cardio barre workout
Mon March 25: 3-mile walk + this full body HIIT workout
Tues March 26: 5-mile run
Wed March 27: North Table Mountain hike
Thurs March 28: 4-mile run
Fri March 29: 2-mile incline walk + 9-mile bike + this leg and core kettlebell workout
Sat March 30: 1-mile incline walk + 12.3-mile bike

As I mentioned in my last training post I was visiting my family out in South Dakota. My sister and I fit a couple of early morning workouts in before my nephew woke up each morning. It was fun to workout together! On Monday we (along with my sister-in-law) took advantage of the spring weather and took the littles out for walk. More family pictures at the end of the post 🙂

Fortunately, a week of no rain/snow and some higher temperatures dried out the trails! I was able to get out for a lap around North Table Mountain and, oh man, it was delightful! It also gave me a chance to test out my new pack. A few months ago I applied to be a Gossamer Gear ambassador and while I didn’t make the cut they did want to partner with me this year and send me some gear. I picked out the Camo Kumo 36 Superlight Backpack and the Hipster fanny pack. I love both items and can’t wait to use them on the PCT! I’ll be doing a full gear post soon so that you can see what else I’m bringing.

PCT Training Week 14

Sun March 31: 1-mile incline walk + 12.3-mile bike
Mon April 1: 17.8-mile hike
Tues April 2: 4-mile run
Wed April 3: 1-mile incline walk + this leg and core kettlebell workout + 9-mile bike
Thurs April 4: Rest
Fri April 5: Rest
Sat April 6: Rest

3 rest days? Pretty lazy, right? Actually, as I mentioned in this post I was pretty sick with a fever and pericarditis, which is inflammation of the pericardium, which is the tissue lining the heart. All my body wanted to do was rest, so that’s what I did. I saw my primary care doctor on Monday, started taking consistent ibuprofen (which is how you get rid of pericarditis), and began feeling much better.

Prior to getting sick I did get some nice workouts in! Michael went and I went on a long training hike in Boulder and it was the best time. Soon we will get to do that every day!

PCT Training Week 15

Sun April 7: 3-mile walk
Mon April 8: Rest
Tues April 9: Rest
Wed April 10: 9-mile bike
Thurs April 11: 12-mile bike
Fri April 12: 12-mile bike
Sat April 13: Rest

Another kind of lame week for working training. This makes me really sad looking at it, but it’s what I could do with the energy I had. I didn’t fully recover from my fever/pericarditis until Wednesday, so I was able to get in some biking.

As I mentioned, I was feeling better by Wednesday, but I got a call from my primary care doctor on Thursday saying that my troponin levels were elevated when I did some blood tests on Monday. Troponin is a group of proteins that are released into the blood when damage is being done to the heart. Obviously, it’s not what I wanted to hear. I was able to get in to visit a Cardiologist on Friday. It seemed that everything looked fine, but he wants me to come in on Monday for a quick echo and a stress test. I won’t lie, I sobbed in my car a little bit after this. I know that everything will be fine, especially because I’ve been feeling totally normal, but I hate being in this position again. I have gone through so many heart tests in the past few years. I thought these days were over.

On the bright side, it was fun week of meeting of with various friends who wanted to wish us well before heading to the PCT. I’m lucky to have such a strong support group here in Denver!