PCT Training Plan: Got My Mojo Working for a Less Than 120 Day Attempt


PCT • TRAINING • LONG-TERM COMMITMENT (WITH SHORT-TERM COMPLAINTS)

Here’s the big picture: structure, logic, and how to use the plan without turning training into a second job. The following four posts break down the phases: Base, Build, Topand Sharpen.

Length: 22 weeks

Focus: repeatable days

Progression: volume + vert + packet

Ruler: durability over speed

TL;DR

Most PCT prep fails in the same ways: too much too soon, inconsistent weeks, and ignored recovery. This plan is designed to avoid those three problems by stacking simple anchors, easy volume, and cutting weeks on purpose.

A small shield on a pole that marks the value of a continent’s effort: the PCT begins as a symbol long before it becomes a life.

Note: This is a framework, not a court order. Adjust the volume and intensity to your body, terrain, schedule, and injury history. If something goes wrong, the “victory” is to adapt early, not move on and pay later.

Read this before you «crush» Week 1: Most training plans don’t fail on hard days: They fail when you try to make every day a hard day.

  • Week 3 ego spike: When you feel strong and calm, add 30% more.
  • The downhill tax: when your quads and knees start to get interesting.
  • The recovery lie: when you call tiredness «being tough.»

How to use this plan (without thinking too much)

  • Prioritize key sessions: each week has a few anchors that are more important (long walk, climbing work, back-to-back practice).
  • Fill the rest with easy volume: Low-intensity miles increase durability without ruining recovery.
  • Track elevation as if it counted: Raising your legs is not a personality trait; they are earned.
  • Progress the pack weight gradually: Lighter at first, heavier later, so the connective tissue adapts with the cardio.
  • Use tapering weeks on purpose: reducing load periodically is how you keep showing up for months on end.

If you only do three things each week, do these:

  1. a long walk (Standing time matters more than “fitness vibes.”)
  2. A session focused on climbing. (hills, stairs, treadmill incline, you choose).
  3. One day of consecutive practice (teaches your body to wake up and do it again).

The goal is not single-day heroic efforts. The goal is repeatable days, because the PCT is primarily an argument with tomorrow.

Hambone and I arrive at Guadalupe Mountains National Park for a multi-day hike—our last real jolt before the AZT, where every little mistake stops being pretty.

The 4 phases (Base → Build → Peak → Drawdown)

This plan groups four tasks in the correct order: first durability, then hike-specific fitness, then trail simulation, then freshness. Skip the steps and the trail will collect payment later.

Base phase (weeks 1 to 8)

Establish consistency, develop foot/ankle durability, and gradually increase volume and elevation. The weight of the backpack is kept modest while the body learns to tolerate the frequency.

In the end: You finish long walks feeling «worked,» not wrecked, and you’re ready to do them again the next day.

Construction phase (weeks 9 to 16)

Turn fitness into hiking-specific resistance. Increase weekly volume, add consecutive long days, and build tolerance for rises and falls.

In the end: Consecutive things stop feeling like a crisis and start feeling like a pattern.

Peak phase (weeks 17 to 20)

Hit the trail: multi-day blocks, higher verticals, and heavier loads. This is where you rehearse the systems that decide a complete hike: fuel, pace and recovery.

In the end: You’ve put your “trail routine” to the test and you know what breaks first.

Tapering (weeks 21 to 22)

Reduce the volume while maintaining the rhythm. The goal is freshness without losing custom. You want to arrive eager, not burned out.

In the end: you feel elastic, not rusty, and you want to walk, not recover from training.

What this training plan really is (beyond the “legs”)

  • Durability: tendons, feet and joints that tolerate frequency and impact.
  • Climbing legs: sustained vertical without sudden effort.
  • Downhill tolerance: Controlled descents that do not exploit the quads or knees.
  • Heat adaptation: pace and hydration when conditions are uncomfortable.
  • Trail Systems: calories, water strategy, foot care and decision making while tired.

Simple railings (so the plan doesn’t eat you)

red flags

  • Sharp pain is a stop sign: Change the intensity to make the movement easier and re-evaluate.
  • Accumulating fatigue: reduce weekly volume by 10% to 20% and maintain the routine.
  • Downhill is where you pay interest: Choose control over speed on steep descents.
  • Sleep debt: If you are constantly tired, you are not “gaining courage,” but rather you are increasing your risk of injury.

Green flags

  • You can repeat days: not “PR energy,” but sustainable pace.
  • The pain resolves: Normal fatigue disappears in a couple of days.
  • The long days seem predictable: You know what rhythm and fuel work.
  • Tapering weeks help: You recover quickly and come back stronger.

This training plan is a series of 5 publications

  1. Post 1 (this post): Overview, how to use the plan, guardrails and the logic behind the phases.
  2. Post 2: Base phase: weekly structure, emphasis on durability and progression goals.
  3. Post 3: Build Phase: Back to back, plus elevation and hiking-specific resistance.
  4. Post 4: Peak Phase: Multi-day simulation blocks, heavier loads, and trail system practice.
  5. Post 5: Taper: reduce the volume while maintaining the pace to start healthy and strong.

Next: Base phase: where I build boring consistency and where most people accidentally sabotage themselves.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park: Our AZT prep hike began under big skies and bigger rocks, where the miles feel honest and the wind doesn’t negotiate.

This should get interesting.

Am Sage.

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