Training tips for a Grand Traverse:

• Motorcar buffs will tell you there is no replacement for displacement. This is doubly true for a GTer: you need the biggest, most powerful human engine you can achieve, and you need to do as much backpacking distance as possible in preparation for the traverse.
• Don’t underestimate the value of lower Berg hikes. It is a lot warmer in the lower Berg, the terrain is rougher on average than that of the escarpment, and you can try to compensate for the lower altitude by taking on longer distances. You can burn just as many calories per day in the lower Berg as you will on a traverse.
• Don’t be kind to yourself – carry extra weight like your tent to prepare for the weight you will be carrying on the traverse. Push yourself harder on your training hikes.
• High-altitude hikes nearer the time of the GT will help prepare your body for what is ahead. You may also find that iron supplements can help you better cope with the altitude.
• To get hiking fit, you need to hike. However, dissimilar exercise that focuses on building core strength and leg muscles, as well as stamina, is always going to be beneficial.
• There are several benefits to sharing a tent on a GT, including an overall reduction in weight because you can split the tent and carry only one stove and set of billies between you. Make sure you know your tent-mate well, that you have set ground rules beforehand, and practised setting up and taking down your tent together. Decide and practice in advance how you are going to split, share and rotate chores.

Strategy:

You need to have a personal strategy for taking on a Grand Traverse:

• Compete with yourself, not the other members of the GT team. There is no need to be up at the front all the time. Pace yourself to optimise your rest stops, especially in cold or poor weather. You’ve trained hard, you know you can keep up, but don’t overdo it. Try always to have a reserve of strength – you never know when you will need it.
• A traverse is like a whole lot of weekend hikes end-to-end. Take one day at a time – you might be overwhelmed if you keep looking at the whole picture. The leader will make sure each day’s goal is reached. These goals are reasonable and achievable, and when you have fulfilled each one, you will have completed the GT.
• Failure is not an option. It never was. It never will be. Don’t even entertain thoughts of it.
• Monitor your personal well-being.  Adjust your food and liquid intake accordingly. Be especially wary of becoming dehydrated. If you are feeling grumpy, depressed, listless or unmotivated, you are low on sugar. Eating some chocolate is an excellent way to get a boost. We are chemical beings and our bodies control our thoughts way more than we are prepared to admit.
• Get the sleep you need. If necessary, ask your GP to prescribe a good sleeping tablet and make sure it works for you in advance of the traverse. An effective way to help ensure you get a good sleep is to make a routine out of getting cleaned up at the end of every day, so take a dip in a stream, have a “billy bath” – or if the weather is bad – have a warm “flannel bath”.
• Have a routine and stick to it. Have a place for everything and keep everything in its place. Plan and know in advance how you are going to split, share and rotate chores with your tent-mate. Having a routine removes the burden of choice and makes chores easier to accomplish.
• Maintain your humour, especially when you don’t feel like doing so. Don’t form cliques or take sides in a matter. Attribute an antagonist’s behaviour to the state of their physical well-being and help them through it instead. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
• You are a member of a team. What you want is secondary to what the team wants. Don’t do your own thing. If you are feeling impatient, strike up a conversation with someone or offer to help a tardy team member with what they are doing. Don’t go ahead of the leader without his / her express permission. Always have a hike buddy who knows where you are at all times. Do not burden your teammates, especially the leader, by disappearing out of sight without anyone knowing where you have gone.
• Get pleasure out of your achievements. One of the very best things about the Grand Traverse is that, on a clear day, you can look back along the edge of the escarpment and see where you have come from. Your progress on this journey is clear to see and marvel over.
• Set aside time at the end of each day to simply chill out and enjoy your surroundings. Get your feet up, take in the views and do a bit of socialising.