Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Training

I wanted to share my recent training experiences for my trip a few weeks ago. This was my third day hike of Whitney in the last three years. The first two times, I did a few training hikes in So Cal. (Baldy, San G via Vivian Creek trail, etc., and a little cardio work on a bike. I am 38, and in average shape, and felt the training hikes were good experience. Both of my first two Whitney day hikes took about 13 hours, which I was satisfied with, and were great trips. I acclimated by camping at the portal, and other than feeling winded, was not bothered by altitude at all.

For my training this year, I decided to focus on cardio training. Running seemed to be the easiest, so I started running a 2 miles a day, five days a week, at a slow pace about 9 months before my hike. I added one mile per week, and noticed I started to like, having not run since high school. By August, I had lost 15 pounds, was running 25 miles per week, and was feeling great. I set a goal for myself of 12 hours for my day hike, thinking that I should improve over the previous years' times because of the shape I was in. Come hike day (August 10), I started out at 3:15 am, and felt my pace was a little fast, but comfortable. When I reached Trail Camp at 6:00, I knew I was cranking! I felt great, never out of breath. Of course, I drank a ton of water, and ate regularly, all of the thing that the board tells you. Where I really noticed the difference was on the switchbacks. I took just over one hour (1:07) to get to Trail Crest. I just could not believe how much different my body was reacting! Anyway, I made the summit by 8:45, and after spending 20 fantastic minutes at the top alone, was back at the portal at 12:45. Nine and a half hours - I smashed my goal!

Now, I am not advocating skipping the big training hikes. On the contrary, the hike I did at San Gorgonio in preparation for my first Whitney hike a few years ago, better prepared me mentally than anything I ever did. But I was really surprised of the effect that all of the cardio training I did this year had.

I am currently in training for my first marathon, and dare I say, under 9 hours for Whitney next year?

Darylrose, the first 2 times I summitted I could not run 100 feet without nearly passing out. I made it up in 10 hours. I got smart and started jogging. I measured off a quarter miles, half mile, mile. Those points were always a house, bush, tree, signpost or whatever. I went a little farther every day until I cracked the magic mile mark! Now I can do 4-plus miles. The running only improved my summit time by 15 minutes, but it was SO much easier on my cardiovascular system and made the trip easier. I did all this for the mountain. I would like to thank Mt. Whitney for making me a healthier and probably longer lived person.
Big P.S. For anyone starting jogging, get rid of the tennis shoes and buy a good pair of running shoes.

Darylrose,

Great post. I agree with you that running is absolutely essential to prepare for Whitney. I know plenty of people do the hike w/o running a step, but I can't imagine how they do it or how much they suffer. When I meet casual people who are training for a first-time Whitney hike, I always suggest to them that they run 20 miles a week, minimum. Many look at me like I'm crazy, but running makes the hike not difficult, as long as you're OK with the altitude.

You're aiming for a sub 9-hour hike. This will be tough unless you trail run the last 3 miles or trail run various flat sections of the hike. I am a 3:20 marathoner who used to log 50 miles a week and I never could break 10 hours for Whitney, but I never trail ran any part of it. My goal for next summer is also a Whitney hike of 9 hours or less, so we'll be shooting for the same goal. Have you thought about throwing in some stairclimber training? I do that 40 mins. a day and it really helps the quads and helps you running too. Best of luck.

Candace - one question:

There are flat sections of the hike? lol

Seriously, if you ran a 3:20 marathon (that's fantastic!), then you shouold be able to break 9 hours at Whitney. When I did 9:30 in August, I "jogged for just a few minutes at the end, and wasted over 20 minutes pumping water the second time at trail camp (I spilled all of my freshly pumped water - twice!), so that's why my new goal is 9 hours flat.

Incidentally, my goal in my upcoming (first attempt) marathon is firt to finish (got to be realistic here on the first time), and second to break 5 hours. I am obviously not in the shape that you are in.

Good luck, and let me know if you need a hiking partner on your trip next year. I hiked alone this year, and it was hard to keep up a good pace sometimes.

Thanks!

Darylrose,

When I was a teenager all those many years ago, the typical invincible kid who never needed training of any kind, I remember going into the mountains and almost never being able to go above 12,000' without headaches, nausea, etc. It ended up somewhat limiting my enjoyment of my outings. Now, at the advanced age of 46, with lots of running on the flats and hills, hiking the SoCal trifecta, proper hydration, and eating along the way, I find myself doing routes like the MR with no AMS, no nausea, maybe the slightest edge of a headache toward the end of the trip, which I cure by stopping and doing a little deep breathing. I will forever swear by some form of training, and would recommend it to anyone thinking about going up into the hills. Of course, I'm sure there are lots of kids out there would could take on the mountains with little or no training, but it would certainly help, and I find that long runs also assist with the mental attitude of toughing it out.

Good luck with your marathon and all your future hikes and climbs!

I read an article in Backpacker magazine (sic) a few months ago that suggested a training regimen that i have tried for my upcoming one-day Whitney hike:

I have been walking up and down the stairs at work with a 40-lb daypack during lunch. It's a five-story building, and after 10 round trips -- that's nearly a 50-story building and i'm quite sweaty.

I'll know in a couple days if three weeks of this made a difference.

cheers!

Of course there are level sections of the hike. :-)I guess the most level section would be before Outpost camp, in that long meadow. Also a brief stretch as you're coming down the switchbacks, just entering Trail Camp, that is also level. That would be easy to jog through, also the last 3 miles coming down from Lone Pine Lake, but by then, most people have tired legs. I know my legs are tired by then. People who trail run the whole way are incredible, I am in awe of them.

Darylrose, if you're doing 30+ miles a week and did Whitney in 9 hours, then a 5 hour marathon time would be a cinch for you. I bet you can do it in 4 to 4.5 hours as long as you don't hit the wall. My marathoning days are over, I have chronic tendinitis in my knees and can't run more than 12 miles at a time. But hiking is more satisfying anyway!

"I know plenty of people do the hike w/o running a step, but I can't imagine how they do it or how much they suffer."

I have never done any running to train for Whitney, and have never felt like I was suffering on a dayhike up Whitney. Maybe a tiny bit of suffering in the last 2-4 miles, but that is generally when I haven't done any really long hikes lately, because the part of training I usually let slide if I don't have the time is going on some good 15, 20, 25 mile hikes to get ready to go 22 miles of Whitney.

I once went up Whitney with someone who regularly ran 50 miles a week, and he was suffering quite a bit while I was comfortable. I had to go at his pace, so I was never in the least winded or tired on the way up, in spite of the fact that I never do any running. Elevation gain at altitude? He wasn't really ready for it, in spite of a few days of acclimation.

Here is one way to do it without running. Do a lot of hiking in steep terrain, and do a lot of hiking in steep terrain with weight on your back. I have a nice three mile climb, six mile RT hike I like where I gain 3,000 ft in the three mile climb. I put 40 pounds on my back and do that as fast as I can a few times, and I'm getting there. Then I do some more hikes of over 10 miles, preferably 20+, even if there is not a lot of elevation gain, with a lot of weight on my back to prepare for going distances, and then take a week long trip to the Sierra, taking many wonderful beautiful hikes at elevation, including some 15+ mile trips, and I can end my trip doing Whitney as a day hike with virtually no suffering, assuming I don't tweak an ankle or get a blister, which so far I have not done.

In dayhiking Whitney, there are three things you really need. You need to be able to hike uphill, you need to be able to hike at elevation, and you need to be able to hike a long distance. The first two are so much easier when you have good cardiovascular conditioning, but you don't need to run to get it. Hiking uphill is good conditioning for it, hiking at elevation is good conditioning for it. Doing both is even better, and doing it fast with added weight is really good conditioning. Running is a method of cardiovascular conditioning, but it doesn't replicate what you do on Whitney as much as hiking really fast up a steep hill.

There is no question that cardio training will help immensely in hiking Whitney. But you don't need to run to get good cardio training. Running is one way to get it, a good way for those who like running, I just prefer to get it a different way, one that I enjoy and one that better replicates what I do on Whitney.

I don't run either and I didn't have any problem doing Whitney in a day. I didn't suffer either. Sure I was tired when I got down but I didn't actually start to feel tired until I was a few miles from the trailhead. It is possible to have good conditioning without running. No doubt it's a great way to get cardio conditioned but it certainly is not requisite. Bob T, your 3 points of what it takes to do Whitney are right on. Try hiking Baldy fast every weekend for a few months, throw in a couple of longer hikes here and there, and most people will be able to do Whitney in a day.

I think the reason for my original post has been misunderstood. Having had the Whitney experience previously, and understanding the toll it took on my body (including recovery time - oy!), I wanted to post my results with a different conditioning regime. I would much rather hike in the mountains than run in the city, but unfortunately, time and family do not allow me the luxury. My intention was not to infer the running was mandatory to accomplishing Whitney in a day. On the contray, I did it twice without running a step. But if someone happens to be time challenged as I was this year, and can't get out to do any long hikes, I am suggestioning that running is a very good alternative. Equally, many people do only a few conditioning hikes to prepare for Whitney. The daily (and cummulative) effect of any cardio work will make a substantial improvement on your hiking experience over a few long hikes a year. There is no debate that the assumption has to be made for altitude. Some people handle it better than others. No matter what type of shape you are in, if you are predisposed to altitude problems, you will not do well. On my first Whitney attempt, my hiking partner, who had run two marathons previously, got altitude sickness while we where camping at the portal! We had to take him off of the mountain to Lone Pine the next day, he was that bad! He now knows he can never be at altitude.

My training consisted of about 30 minutes of running at a 9:00 minute pace (when I started it was 11:00 pace!) four days a week, and one longer run. Not much of a time sacrifice for the payoff I recieved. My time was three and a half faster, and my experience was substantially better! Running was what worked for me, but if you can do any regular cardio exercise, I think you will see that the benefits as well.

I did not run before hiking Whitney, but I am running after Whitney. I got back mid August and decided to run for a while. I really couldn't believe how strong my lungs are now. I think the Whitney climb made my lungs stronger. It is kind of backwards, but I am enjoying the new breath. I have been running the last few weeks since returning and am running almost three miles a few times a week.
I will be running before any more big hikes. It does seem to be a perfect way to train your lungs.

darylrose, I personally was not replying to anything you said. I really enjoyed your story. I think your training regimine is great and obviously it had an incredible effect on your performance. I was responding to someone else who said running was "essential" to prepare for Whitney. It isn't. I can say that and still say that I think running is great. I can't do it myself because it hurts my legs, but if I could, I probably would. My BF does trail running, street running, and competitive racing and he KICKED a$s up Whitney which is only, like, his 3rd peak. But I also did incredibly well w/o doing any running to prep. I do peak bags instead, once a month usually, and I did one almost every weekend for two months before Whitney. So, whatever works works. Hope that clears things up on my end.

Let me rephrase my original thought: for those who do Whitney without running, I will bet you that if you start running, you will enjoy your next day hike of Whitney MUCH more and you will do it in less time. Running enhances hiking, the hiking experience and ones enjoyment of it, IMO. The better shape you're in, the more you'll enjoy it. Bob T.'s hiking regiment is fantastic, but let's face it: most people who do Whitney for the first time do this type of hiking preparation, though they should.

Candace:

You still are saying that those who do Whitney without running, if they start running, will enjoy the next day hike of Whitney MUCH more and will do it in less time. For some this will be true, but for many, it will not be. For me, it would not be true.

"Running enhances hiking, the hiking experience and ones enjoyment of it, IMO." This is a blanket statement that may be true for you and some others, it would not be true for me and some others.

"The better shape you're in, the more you'll enjoy it." On that, we can agree. I have gotten out of shape at times, and done some hiking when I have been out of shape. I don't enjoy it as much.

I think that running alone will not get a person in the proper shape to do Whitney, because it doesn't get those uphill muscles in as good shape as they can be, and it doesn't get the body used to long-distance walking, but it can be very helpful as part of an overall regimine, and good cardiovascular conditioning is important.

I think, however, that my regimine alone will get a person in the proper shape to do Whitney, and if you are already doing a lot of fast hiking up steep hils with weight, and some long distance hiking, running won't enhance the experience much -- you are already in good cardiovascular shape for the hike. But maybe for some people, even with my regimine, running will enhance the experience, but I promise you, it would not enhance it for me.

In the end, everyone is different. The biggest key is "The better shape you're in, the more you'll enjoy it." But being in shape means being in Whitney shape. Whatever it takes for your body to be in better shape for Whitney is a good training regimine. People unfamiliar with doing hikes like Whitney (a basic class 1 trail that gains 6,000 feet in 11 miles and then goes back down), probably need to learn by trial and error what works best for them, so suggestions from both you and me probably help people as they go on the path towards figuring it out.

Let me give you my take on this running subject. I ran the L.A. marathon last year in the respectable time of 3:40. Im 44 yrs. young and run about 25 miles per week. I hiked Whitney on Aug. 1. We camped at lone pine lake and hiked from there to the summit and then back to the portal. I found that while my legs and cardio held up quite well, no amount of running could prepare me for the altitude. The summit for me was almost like a dream. Once I descended about 1000 ft. I felt much better and only then did I ask myself,"Was I just up there"? I think the running definately helped me on the downhill ,because my knees never bothered me and my legs felt fresh at the bottom. I guess what Im trying to say is while running is great for your lungs and your legs it doesnt do much for the AMS. My next attempt will be up the MR and Im hoping to do it after a week or so at altitude so at least next time I can have a clearer memory of the top. Any advice on coping with the altitude that I didnt try last time?(Plenty of water and food, aspirin for a couple of days before and twice on the trail, deep breathing which I think helped the most.)

Rip:

The best approach to avoid AMS is to acclimatize to altitude, so spending a week up high before your next trip will make a huge difference. Generally, it takes about 2-3 days to start adjusting your physiology to altitude (by shifting your hemaglobin oxygen association/dissociation curve) and you actually start producing a higher red blood cell count to carry more oxygen after about a week. The standard medical advise is to move no more than 1000 vertical feet per day, which is usually impractical climbing big mountains.

On the MR, you can do about 2000 vertical per day if you camp at Lower Boy Scout, then Iceberg before summiting. The other things that have been shown to work to help prevent AMS are diamox (check out the side effects) Ginko Biloba (just search for it on this message board and you'll find the info).

First of all - great to have the board back!

I brought this post back as an update of sorts. I completed my fourth dayhike on 8/8, beating the goal I set for myself last year. My time this year was 8 hours 14 minutes. Now, I will say this, I was on a mission this year! Without rehashing the good points made last year, I will add this - 2:30am is far to early to leave if you want to hike fast! But since my goal was to be the first on top of the mountain, I gave it a shot. While I did make the summit by 7:15am, a nice young couple beat me by 15 minutes! Next year I sleep the extra hour!

One final note, I did not get a permit in the lottery this year. I had already reserved my campsite at the Portal, so I drove down on Saturday morning to see if I could get a permit that was not picked up. No problem! The ranger informed me that they have issued permits for everyone who has requested one this year. I'm not sure if there are a substantial amount more no shows this year than others, but this is good news for those of you who did not "win" in the lottery.

Good luck to all of you who have upcoming hikes!