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84 BACKPACKER 03.2014 THIRTY-SEVEN MILES per day through the Whites just wasn’t going to work. Matt Kirk shrugged it off. Even if he didn’t set a speed record, he reasoned, the scenery was payoff enough. Besides, his pack weighed a shade over nothing. He was enjoying the cruise, no matter his pace. This attitude—flexible, relaxed—might not seem like the stuff it takes to hike these 2,185 miles faster than anyone. But if he couldn’t enjoy it, Kirk figured, what was he doing? For months, he’d planned every mail drop, every calorie he’d consume, every gram of gear he’d carry. He turned food prep into science—going heavier on fat, which is more energy dense than protein or carbs. And he forced every- thing to do double-duty. “I packed coconut oil because at room temperature it’s solid and more manageable,” he says. “Plus, if you develop chaffing somewhere, it’s like edible Body Glide.” He went light on food, carry- ing just 3,500 calories per day (a minimum figure he arrived at by pushing himself on long shakedown hikes and, of course, balancing pack weight versus hunger). So when he (expectedly) found himself ravenous with nothing more to eat, he tranced into a differ- ent state of mind: “When I’m pushing myself at my thresh- old, I feel like I’m looking out- ward more,” he says, “like my consciousness is opened more to the world around.” As he breezed down through the Mid-Atlantic states and into the South, he picked up a few miles here and there, methodically carving into the deficit he’d amassed in Maine and New Hampshire when he missed his 37-mile-per- day pace. He wasn’t so much chasing the 23-year-old speed record as existing alongside it. He didn’t even allow that he might break it until he got to the Smokies. Even then, he strolled the last miles as easy as the first. 58.9.38 Leisurely mornings are nice and all, but if you’re looking at a big-mile day, they’re a huge daylight suck. Want to break camp faster? Get organized the night before, Kirk says: “The only thing that I really keep on hand is my flashlight.” Here’s how he gets out of camp: 4:45 A.M. Wake up (naturally, no alarm) 4:46-4:49 A.M. Zip out of bug bivy, answer nature’s call and retrieve food bag 4:50-5:00 A.M. Retreat to bug bivy, hydrate (20 oz.), eat breakfast (three or four energy bars), and caf- feinate (coffee—some- times even hot!) 5:01-5:04 A.M. Dress; sort and pack snacks for day 5:05-5:09 A.M. Zip out of bivy, lace up shoes, drop tarp, pack up rest of gear 5:10 A.M. On the move 3 STRATEGY COMBINE YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TRAINING TO HIKE FARTHER THAN EVER BEFORE. PROFILES IN ENDURANCE CHOICE WORDS APPALACHIAN TRAIL (UNSUPPORTED) IN DON’T YOU MISS A LOT BY SPEED HIKING? “NO, YOU SEE MORE BECAUSE YOU’RE HIKING DURING THE CREPUSCULAR TIMES OF DAY WHEN WILDLIFE IS MORE ACTIVE AND MOST PEOPLE ARE ALREADY SET UP IN THEIR CAMP AND ZIPPED UP IN THEIR TENTS.” –MATT KIRK MATT KIRK’S GETAWAY PLAN: A FAST-TO- PACK TARP AND INSTANT COFFEE BREAK CAMP FASTER MATT KIRK DAYS HOURS MINUTES P H O T O S B Y ( F R O M L E F T ) S T E V E N M C B R I D E ; B E N F U L L E R T O N ; G E O F F S A N D I N E