Setting the right pace on a trek

Setting the right pace on a trek

Kris is a fit young man who joined a trekking trip in the Himalayas. In his group, there were people from different corners of the world and of varied ages. Soon after the initial meeting at the lodge, they all became friendly, started sharing their stories, jokes, laughter and it seemed that they were all set for a great adventure holiday. The following morning the trek started with a steep hike from the lodge they were staying at and it was a hot and humid day. Within the first hour, Kris found himself struggling to keep up with the rest of the group. As he tried harder to stay with the group he started to huff and puff and sweat a lot. It became very embarrassing for him that there were older people who seemed to be walking with quite an ease and were always ahead of him. Whenever there was an opportunity to stop, Kris would stop and gulp in water from his bottle. In a couple of hours he had run out of all his water and was embarrassed to ask anyone for more.

The adventure holiday which he had come to enjoy started seeming like a punishment where his only objective was to stay with the group.

I am sure most of you who have been hiking and trekking would somehow relate to Kris’s condition – it happens to all of us and slowly with experience we learn the art of setting the right pace for our-self in the mountains.   What is setting the right pace?

To explain this I would like to compare the human body to a motor vehicle.

All of us who drive motor vehicles know that there is something called the optimum speed of the vehicle. This is the speed where the vehicle cruises steadily with min throttle. While this speed is most fuel efficient it also turns out that wear and tear (in the engine and transmission) at this speed is minimum. Most people would agree with me that this speed is also the most enjoyable speed. Back to the human body – so when we talk about setting the right pace for ourselves in the mountains we are trying to find this optimum speed for ourselves.

Like optimum speed for different vehicles is different because of various factors similarly optimum pace for each human being is different because of factors like different lung capacity, size, weight, etc.

If we hit this pace right we would consume least amount of resources (energy / water / oxygen, etc) and wear and tear on our body (our knees / ankles) would also be minimum. Also, this speed would be an enjoyable speed which we would be able to sustain through the day.   But how do we get this speed right for ourselves? Here are some tips gained from years of mountain guiding. -Being able to breathe well while hiking is the key. If you are going out of breath, slow yourself down to the speed where you can comfortably breathe and hike. I know it is easier said than done so I will give you a formula to do it. You need to walk in tandem with your breathing. As you walk, in your mind keep saying something in a rhythm. For eg. Left…(take a step)..Right…( take a step)…Left…( take a step)…Right…( take a step)…Left… (take a step )…as you walk. You can of course use other words too ------in…out…in…out / one…two…one…two…/ sun…moon / cat…dog, etc. This will help you get into a rhythm with your breathing and slowly the climb would become effortless. -It is important to ignore other people’s speed and be comfortable with your own speed. It is not a race, you have come to enjoy your trek. Most good outfitters have a sweep guide and they would not let you go astray. So just find your pace and enjoy it! -Stop once every 50-70 mins, depending on the terrain, weather, etc. Don’t stop for more than 5-10 minutes (the shorter the better) unless if you are stopping to have a meal. -When you are cold or sweaty and it is windy, quickly wear a layer (which should obviously be on top of your backpack). It will not let your body cool down. -When you stop, the body starts to cool down quickly and when you start walking again you would need to warm up again before you can achieve the right pace. This is why frequent stopping/ walking is not good just like it isn't for the vehicles. -Have a little bit of water and something to eat if you feel you are low on energy. Energy bars, fruits, nuts, jaggery are great for nibbling on a trek. -When you are walking at higher altitudes oxygen levels are considerably lower and you go out of breath very quickly. At 3500m, oxygen level is 2/3rd of what it is at sea level and at 6000m it is half. So as you go higher reduce your pace further to avoid going out of breath. -If you breathe well while trekking/ climbing you would acclimatize better. -It helps to stretch your muscles at the end of the day and before the start of a day's walk. -When the gradient is high, it is good to take smaller steps. By breaking down a high step into 2/3 smaller steps, you exert less. Also your muscles are much more relaxed and helps avoid having sore muscles at the end of the day. At high altitudes, this is even more important because the primary source of energy for muscular contraction is oxygen. So if your muscles are relaxed your body will utilize the scarce oxygen more efficiently. Hope this helps – next time I am in the mountains I will try and get a video to demonstrate this better. Happy trekking and climbing!    

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