I got sponsored by the Cda Tri Team, so I've gone ape over the last 8 months. I am up to half Ironman levels of training and have run out of money. But I am on track for the full Ironman next august! I thought archery was expensive, Triathlons are ridiculous.
i go to the gym, hit the cardio and stair machine, some weights but mainly i load up my pack and hike. best training you can get for the mountains comes from the mountains in my opinion
To get ready for my first trip this year:
Long walks with a 40-50lb pack to get the boots and feet in shape.
Climbing the high school stadium stairs for an hour twice a week
Step ups on a 16" box and pack
Daily Push ups, sit ups, planks for core (kids join in for bragging rights)
Just an update. When this post started I had just switched from sitting at work to standing at work all day. I have lost 2 lbs in three weeks and can tell my legs are getting stronger just because I stand. I am 5'10" and weighed 158 so I don't have a lot of weight to lose anyway. But now I'm down to around 155 without even doing very much. I would recommend it if you can. It feels weird at first when everyone else in the office is sitting, but I've already seen the benefits in less than a month.
Crossfit is awesome for conditioning. It won't do any one thing excellently but will do a number of things well. Examples would be if you want to be a better run, go run. If you want to be stronger, lift weights. If you want more endurance, interval train. Crossfit is awesome if you want to benefit from all three but not master any. Make sure your instructor knows what they are doing and don't feel the pressure to push yourself too far out of the realm of reality the first few times. Work yourself up.
I do intervals on bike, stairstepper, pushups, situps, pullups, have a machine similar to total gym, then I go out and hike up and down hills with a pack on..... seems to work well for me.
