Hi,

I’m training for Rainier (DC route) in early July and have been approaching my training from the “can’t be in too good of shape” mentality since I’m going to continue training after this trip. I’m at the end of my base period and my big training days are starting to surpass what I’ll be doing on my climb (e.g. ME workout with 5000′ and a 50# pack, 20 mile fasted Z1 with 5600′ of gain and a 30# pack).

In TftNA the descriptions of the specific period are all percentages of the goal climb’s biggest day/pack weight so based on that my days will be less than what I’m doing now. Should I follow what’s in the book or set the pack weight to around what my trip will be and just go for as much as I can handle with regards to elevation gain? It says to dig deep during those weeks but I don’t want to overdo it. I was planning on doing two weeks of specific work and then a taper week.

Thanks