3 Month Custom Hiking Training Plan

1 review for 3 Month Custom Hiking Training Plan

1. Rated 5 out of 5

   Just Jess (verified owner) – February 24, 2023

   Tl;dr: Do the thing, invest in yourself and let Retha shower you with her knowledge, experience and encouragement!
   Little did I know following a stranger thru-hiking the AT on Insta would lead to my first backpacking experience…but it did! My story, I am a newbie to the backpacking, thru hiking and in my late 30s. I had only dabbled in day hikes and hadn’t camped out in 10+ years. I’ve always had a pull to hike all the miles and trails, but I had let fears and lack of knowledge / experience hold me back. When I found Retha and started followed her journey, something in my core told me this is the type of person I need to be around – she’s real, she knows her shit (and isn’t afraid to tell you if she doesn’t) and her energy is contagious. Then this girl goes and posts about working with her over 3 months to prepare for a hike! Like, did my dream just come true?! Yes, yes it did. Fast forward to me actually reaching out and signing up for the program, I had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t even fully comprehend that I was expected to do a hike at the end of 3 months, I was just stoked to have access to knowledge I felt I needed to start. From there, Retha guided me through picking an appropriate hike and curated the custom 3 month plan. Each month, she provided a big picture mental concept to focus on and one larger/longer physical activity (on overnight camping trip in addition to regular training, multi-night overnights in the later months, etc). She would include some homework / exercises to re-enforce the monthly mental focus and YES, you will go over the homework, so don’t slack! We would connect every month, which allowed me to debrief her on that month, offload questions, go over homework, work through any tough spots and celebrate all the victories. She strongly encouraged visualization exercises and walked me through some (I’m not crying, you’re crying moments for sure). The physical training itself was well thought out, having someone take the guess work out and create the schedule for me was huge. The training was a combination of strength training, yoga and various cardio. None of this required any extra investments on my end – I didn’t need a gym membership or elaborate home gym set-up. Strength training was focused on body weight exercises, and she provided links to various free yoga videos. Retha set excellent guidelines for the physical training yet gave me lots of wiggle room to figure out what worked best for me and my body. As far as gear, she’s got you there too! One month focuses heavily on gear, using it and getting comfortable with it. Retha was patient with questions, probably questioned some of my choices (newbies gotta learn somehow!) and more importantly, she was there with encouragement the whole way. This experienced changed my life and I don’t say that lightly. I learned how to adapt when a plan goes to shit because Mother Nature is sassy like that. I learned it truly is about the journey, not the destination. I learned how to come home to myself. Even better, I was reminded that I am a kickass human who can do hard things. All in all, Retha provided a solid mental, spiritual, emotional and physical foundation and will be your cheerleader the whole way, it’s up to you to show up and make the rest of the magic happen!