Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Lani,

I'm planning a 7,100 mile hike in a few years. The walk has a one year time limit to complete, which means I'll have to average about 20 miles a day. The kicker is it's a biathlon, and I'll also ride a bicycle 7,100 miles in the same year. I'm 60 now, in good shape and generally walk from 10 to 12 miles a day and sometimes up to 20 miles. I am cutting back to about 8 miles a day for a couple weeks due to a very minor knee problem. Are you familiar with any research on long distance walking? I'm especially interested in old books from about 1870 to about 1930 which was the time frame of the six-day walkers. I can't do any running as I'm missing a disc in my back, and I'm concerned about impact problems. It has been 25 years since it disappeared on its own, and I haven't had any pain in over 20 years.

I'm not too concerned about the bicycle portion as 20 miles a day isn't that much if done at an easy pace.

Thanks,

Gershon

Where will you be walking? I am doing the John Muir trail in California which is backpacking 220 mile+ this summer in about 30 days.
We (my husband and I) ride about 15 miles a day in about an hour. We have to carry about 30-35 pounds on our hike. I am 59 and he is 66. Good Luck on your trip.

Linda,

This is a road walk/ride that will touch all of the lower 48 states.

Have a great time on the John Muir Trail.

Gershon

Gershon wrote:Linda,

This is a road walk/ride that will touch all of the lower 48 states.

Have a great time on the John Muir Trail.

Gershon

Do you have a link to information on this walk? This sounds like the kind of thing I would like to do after I retire (10 years to go!)

Kate

Katy,

This is a trip I'm planning for myself and there is no published trail. The first part of the challenge is planning the route, which took me several months of working several hours a day, and then several more months to plan the water stops.

It started out as a walking trip with stealth camping, but with the increasing harassment of the homeless, I decided it was too risky because I'd probably end up in jail along the way. So I devised a method of leapfrogging with a small camper and a bicycle.

It may all be a moot point if I discover there is no way to get up to 20 miles a day without injury. However, I think it can be done as others walk this distance successfully.

Meanwhile, I found roadwalking is an excellent way to prepare for my backpacking trips in Colorado. The trails are much easier now.

Gershon wrote:Lani,

I'm planning a 7,100 mile hike in a few years. The walk has a one year time limit to complete, which means I'll have to average about 20 miles a day. The kicker is it's a biathlon, and I'll also ride a bicycle 7,100 miles in the same year. I'm 60 now, in good shape and generally walk from 10 to 12 miles a day and sometimes up to 20 miles. I am cutting back to about 8 miles a day for a couple weeks due to a very minor knee problem. Are you familiar with any research on long distance walking? I'm especially interested in old books from about 1870 to about 1930 which was the time frame of the six-day walkers. I can't do any running as I'm missing a disc in my back, and I'm concerned about impact problems. It has been 25 years since it disappeared on its own, and I haven't had any pain in over 20 years.

I'm not too concerned about the bicycle portion as 20 miles a day isn't that much if done at an easy pace.

Thanks,

Gershon

Hi Gershon,

Sorry for the delay in responding to your question - I didn't receive an alert and only saw it just now.

I'm not familiar with any publications with a match for what you ask. Why the interest in those specific dates, I'm curious?

Lani

I would like to get your book about constipation--how do i order it?

lizalice wrote:I would like to get your book about constipation--how do i order it?

Lizalice,

You can get the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.com/B00HYE9Q0A. I wrote it before I gave up eggs and cheese.

Thanks,

Gershon

Lani,

The late 1800's and early 1900's were the years of the "Six day racers." Many of them would average 40 to 50 miles a day for six days. The time period interests me because the best books written on many subjects come from that era.

There is nothing on how to improve at long distance walking (not race-walking) that I can find today. The closest I can come is hikers on the Appalachian Trail, but the one I'd be interested in is Jennifer Pharr Davis. Unfortunately, she doesn't write about her training methods.

Thanks,

Gershon

Lani,

There is another reason I chose that era. You've probably heard of Napoleon Hill, author of "Think and Grow Rich." You may not be as familiar with Charles Hoyt and Frank Gilbreth, the developers of Scientific Management and Applied Motion theory. You've probably heard of Dr. John Kellogg and M.V. O'Shea and their research on vegetarianism. When I start researching a new topic as a writer, I start with books in that era. They are freely available at http://www.archive.org. Then I do an archaeological dig and read all the books they reference in their books to get to the root of the learning. From there, I have a solid base of knowing the great books, and I pay more attention to contemporary authors that reference these writers. In the case of Dr. McDougall, the link to this era seems to be his time with the Seventh Day Adventists.

Once I have that solid base of knowledge, I start working forward in time. This is a more difficult as I have to look in bibliography for a contemporary book and search for clues to the evolution of knowledge. There is usually not as much evolution as one would expect. After I gather this information, I write a book. I decided not to write a book on vegetarianism as the best books are written.

Unfortunately, the expertise on walking, except for race walking seems to begin and end in the period I referenced. The experts who walked in those times didn't seem to write any books. The best clues I'm finding now are among the ultra-marathoners, but I don't believe in pain or injury, so they aren't helping much.

Right now, I'm working on increasing my stride rate which naturally increases the stride length. I'm using a metronome to keep the rate constant and as I increase the rate speed is going up almost linearly. I've read this is a logarithmic relationship, so when the rate of increase starts to taper, I'll start increasing the distance more quickly. I suspect this rate will be higher than I expect. My guess is 164 steps per minute, but it will probably start to level off around 140 steps per minute. My guess is the speed will be around 5 mph.

If this is true, the hike may take less time than I expect.

I found some old books on old time walking. It was called Pedestrianism, but it was really racewalking. Back to searching.

Walking, by Henry David Thoreau
Published in 1862

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1022/1022-h/1022-h.htm

Walking, by Henry David Thoreau
Published in 1862

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1022/1022-h/1022-h.htm


Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Thibet by W. H. Knight
starts MAY 21, 1860

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3639/pg3639.html
scroll way down for the beginning of the book

Have you seen these books by John Hillaby from the 1960s?

http://www.longwalking.com/longwalkers-john-hillaby/

Kate

Thanks for the book suggestions.