8 Weeks to Awesome (Again) – Hike Training Plan

Most recently updated January 3rd, 2024

Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Somehow we’re back again to the time of year when everyone resolves to change their lives (or themselves) for the better.

That also means it’s time to get into my hike training plan “8 Weeks to Awesome” again!

So, that’s why this year I’m calling it:  “8 Weeks to Awesome (Again)”.

Also, my hiking group and this 8 week hiking plan was recently featured in Cary Magazine, so I guess I gotta keep doing it 😉

Though I don’t really think New Year’s Resolutions work, I do believe you can set a goal and achieve it!

This hike training plan starts with setting your own individual goal – basically, deciding what you’re training for.

Your goal may be to increase your ability to:

• • • Hike a longer distance, or
    • Hike at a faster speed, or
    • Be better at elevation gain – or even, yes,
    • The dreaded weight-loss goal!

Or, your goal could be to complete an epic Bucket List hike on a planned (or dreamed of!) trip for the coming year.

If you’re looking for a way to get back into shape before Spring – even if you don’t have a big trip coming –  this hike training plan could be just what you need!

Read more to learn how to set up a hike training plan for your own individual goals!

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That Man and I were forced to postpone some epic hike travel plans (most notably, hiking in Kauai) for years due to COVID travel restrictions, and were scheduled to go again this past year.  

But sadly – due to a scary health event – that wasn’t how it went.  

I did get to go on an epic hike trip to Greece – which included hiking Mount Olympus!- but the trip didn’t include That Man.  

He still has some healing and training to do before he could do something like that!

So, while I hope to get to some of our exotic Bucket List hiking destinations together this year,  I’m going to set up my training plan goals around amazing hikes that are close enough to drive to!!

There are plenty of great hike destinations in our own country that yo don’t even need to fly to!

Sample Goal Hikes

On my  New Zealand trip  (with my favorite adventure travel company) just a few weeks before the pandemic shut everything down, the hardest day of hiking was a 12 mile hike in Tongariro National Park, so I did my training plan that January with the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in mind.

This hike was 12 miles long, with A LOT of elevation gain, and I also knew that I would only be carrying a day pack.

I trained to these specs for that hike, and I did just fine – in fact, I did much better than some of the younger folks I was traveling with 🙂

For the purpose of our “goal” hike this year, I’ve chosen three hikes in my local region as a model.   There are so many great hikes around here, it was hard to choose!

You can use any goal hike you want, and make your plan based on that.

I didn’t choose the most difficult hikes (though they’re not that easy either), I chose goal hikes that are:

• • Pretty well-known hikes that can be completed in a day,
  • Are driving distance close, and
  • Have well-marked trails inside a National Park.

All of these hikes are “bucket list” worthy, and they’re all within easy driving distance of the Raleigh area 🙂

I’ve already done all of the sample goal hikes, so you know you’re getting a first-hand account 🙂

1. Alum Cave to Mt LeConte Summit

• • • Distance: 11mi roundtrip circuit,
    • Elevation:  2763ft elevation gain.
    • Hike Time:  8 hours
    • Location:  Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

This route includes the Alum Bluff trail, then continues on to the LeConte Summit.

The Alum Cave Bluff is located at 2.2 miles, just before the entire trail’s half-way mark.

The cave is the official end of the Alum Cave trail, and if that’s all the hiking you wanted to do, you would turn around here.

But if you’re hiking to the LeConte Summit, you’ve still got more than half of the way to go to the top, and there’s plenty more to be seen.

Read here about my experience hiking the Alum Cave Bluffs to Mt LeConte Summit.

And just so you know, the trail also keeps ascending after the cave, and gains 1,000 ft more elevation before leveling off.  Yay  🙂

2. Cedar Run/White Oak Canyon Circuit

• • • Distance: 7.3mi roundtrip circuit,
    • Elevation:  2794ft elevation gain.
    • Hike Time:  6+ hours
    • Location:  Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

There are basically 3 routes to hike Whiteoak Canyon in Shenandoah National Park, and the circuit with Cedar Run is the most difficult.

Cedar Run Canyon is a beautiful, narrow, rocky gorge. The trail is narrow, rough, and steep, and its surface consists mostly of rocks.

Read here about my experience hiking the Cedar Run White Oak Canyon Circuit.

The trail is long and steep, and  includes rock scrambling, stream crossings, and other challenging terrain.

I know I seem pretty casual about it, but make no mistake, this is a very strenuous trail!  I recommend NOT hiking this one in the heat of summer 😉

The Rangers warn that only well conditioned and well prepared hikers should attempt it – and when you finish your training, that will be you!!

3. Old Rag

• • • Distance: 9.2mi roundtrip circuit,
    • Elevation:  2000ft elevation gain.
    • Hike Time:  7+ hours
    • Location:  Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

If you’ve heard anything at all about Shenandoah National Park, and you’re  a hiker, then you’ve probably heard about Old Rag.

The iconic Old Rag hike is rated by the park as a “very strenuous” hike, partly because you’ll need to scramble and claw through a couple of miles of rocky terrain to complete the trail.

If your physical fitness is good and you’ve no fear of heights, they say this hike could just be one of the best ones you’ve ever done!

I did talk to the Rangers about it, and on my last two visits to Shenandoah, it was on my hit list.  Read all about my Old Rag hike here.

NOTE:  If you have any worries about your fitness for the activity, please consult your physician and do your own research before trying.  I’m not a trained physician, but write only based on my own personal experience and research.

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Get The FREE PDF!

Everything that you need to start your 8 Week training is included in this post. 

But it’s a long read and may be inconvenient to refer to while you’re training.

For your convenience, you can click here to sign up and download your FREE “8 Weeks to Awesome” PDF file.

Then you can print it out and refer to your plan anytime you want. Happy training!  LJ

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Weekly Maintenance Training 

You may already have a maintenance workout schedule going  – including hiking or not – that keeps you in generally good shape.

Your weekly training should include:

• • • (3 days) Strength training workouts,
    • (2-3 days) 1.5-2 hour moderate endurance hiking or jogging workout, and
    • (1 day) high intensity workout  – like fast hiking.
    • Stretch every day

Sample Weekly Workout Schedule
Monday	Strength	Stretch
Tuesday	Endurance	Stretch
Wednesday	Strength	Stretch
Thursday	Endurance	Stretch
Friday	Strength	Stretch
Saturday	Hi Intensity	Stretch
Sunday	Endurance	Stretch

Some people think a daily workout is too much, but it’s okay as long as you vary the intensity – for instance, don’t do two really long, high intensity workouts back to back.

It’s actually good to get moving, sweating and stretching every day.   If your maintenance schedule doesn’t already have you doing that, try to bump it up!

Even if you only have time for a quick stretch and a 20 minute walk at lunch time, it will make a difference.

Long-distance hiking, even if its just a day hike,  can be a pretty intense athletic activity – so we’ll need modify our daily workouts to train for it.

Build Your Unique Training Plan

To create your training plan,  start at your current level and add or modify workouts based on what your individual goals are.

For our purposes, let’s go with the longest distance (11mi for the Mt Leconte Summit) and the highest elevation (2800ft White Oak Canyon) of any of our sample goal hikes, so we’ll be in great shape to tackle any – or all –  of them!

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NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!

You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers: 

• • Your Hike Plan Worksheet
  • Daily & Weekly Workouts
  • Weekly Meals tracker    

 Click Here to Order! 

A download link in your confirmation email let’s you get started right away. Happy training!  LJ

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Use the specs of your goal hike as an end point to plan a series of hikes that will prepare you for your goal.

Start with the goal distance and elevation gain on week 8 (the last week of your training) and work backward for 8 weeks, starting from the goal hike length and elevation to your current fitness at Week 1.

So for us, that’s 11 miles distance and 2800ft elevation gain.   Also, because the goal hike is a day hike, we don’t need to train for more than a 30lb pack at the most.

Hiking to Get in Shape for Hiking

It’s true that the best way to train for a Bucket List hike is to go hiking.

That said, you don’t need to do a training hike every day of the week – you should aim for one longer training hike per week, with walking/jogging, shorter hikes and strength-building throughout the rest of the week. 

And of course, stretch every day!

Hike Training in the Gym

If the weather is bad, or you don’t have any hills around, you can train on a stair-climber, a treadmill at max incline, or actually go up and down flights of  stairs wearing your pack.

If you can, add an additional weekly shorter hike with some elevation gain and a heavy pack to be one of your weekly strength building workouts.

In my experience, it’s the elevation gain, not the mileage, that people find most difficult.  So be sure to get some training hiking up hill, whether it’s outdoors or in a gym.

The Plan

Your plan should:

• • Include at least one long hike each week – with increasing length to work up to  your goal length.   The long hikes should be done at a normal speed for the terrain, usually 3-3.5 mph.
  • If you’re training for strength as well as endurance, you can do that at the gym and/or add a shorter hike each week with increasing pack weights.
  • You can add another hike (or jog) each week for speed if you aren’t already doing that.

If we give ourselves 8 weeks to train to comfortably do this 11-mile goal hike, the training plan long hike progression would look something like this:

Weekly Long Hikes

Week	Miles	Elevation / Pack Weights
1	6-7mi, Loblolly Trail	100 ft / Extra 5 lbs
2	6mi, Eno Pump to Guess Rd	500 ft / Extra 5 lbs
3	6.5mi, Co Mill Trail	1,000 ft/ Extra 10 lbs
4	7.2mi, Sycamore Trail	1500 ft/ Extra 10 lbs
5	8-9mi, Loblolly-Schenck	2500 ft/Extra 15 lbs
6	8-9, Co Mill-Sycamore Loop	3000 ft/ Extra 15 lbs
7	9.3mi MST at Rolling View	3500 ft/ Extra 20 lbs
8	10mi, Eno Pump to W Pt.                       on the Eno	3500 ft/ Extra 20 lbs
9*	11-13mi, Loblolly zombies        *bonus hike	3500 ft/ Extra 20 lbs

NOTE:  For training purposes, to create extra stress to simulate more steep elevation gain than is available locally, I’ve added light weights to the pack each week, starting with a base weight of 5 lbs.  

I use soft wrist and ankle weights for this because they are more comfortable and fit easily into my day pack.

This is especially helpful if you know you’ll be hiking with a heavy pack and need to work up to it.

In this case, we’ll only be hiking with a day pack, so the training tops off with a pack weight of 30 lbs.

These strength building hikes are not about speed, but I would recommend maintaining at least a 2.5-3mph pace to get the results you want.

Weekly Strength Building Hikes

Week	Miles	Extra Weight
1	5mi, Co Mill-MUT	10lbs
2	5-6mi, NCMA-Meredith	10lbs
3	5mi, Lake Pine	15lbs
4	5-6mi, Bond Park Lk trail	15lbs
5	6mi, Eno Pump to Guess	20lbs
6	6mi, Old Reedy Crk to Warren Cemetery	20lbs
7	6.5mi, Co Mill	20lbs
8	6-7mi, Loblolly	30lbs
9*	8mi, Co Mill-Big Lake                                       *Bonus Hike	30lbs

 

If you find you can already hike your allotted miles comfortably, then you might add miles and elevation gain faster than laid out in the program.

Train hard, but don’t push yourself so quickly that you get injured.  An injury will set you back, and maybe even cause you to cancel a hiking trip.

This is a very moderate training program, but everyone starts from a different place and progresses differently.

Come Out for a Hike!

The hikes I’ve listed are actual local hikes that I’ll be posting to my hiking Meetup group.  You can sign up on Meetup if you’d like to hike with me. 🙂

If you’re not local, you can follow the plan with equivalent hikes in your area.

During the training for New Zealand, and training for Greece, I made Training log posts as I  made my 8-week training journey – I’ll be doing weekly Training Log posts for this year’s series, too.

To see them go to my Training Log.   I hope they’ll  be helpful- or at least amusing! 🙂   

By following a training plan that increases your mileage and elevation over time, you’ll build the strength and endurance you  need to hike any trail!

I hope this post has been helpful and motivational for you!  If you have any questions or comments, please drop me a note and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can. 

For more posts with ideas for getting fit and healthy, go to the Fitness & Wellness page. 

Thanks for stopping by – see you next time!  LJ

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