A huge highlight of this book is how the authors don’t force their views on you. Katie and Heather tell you about their experiences and why it works for them. While at the same time encouraging you to do what works best for you.

The parts that I found most unique and helpful were the sections on creating a resilient body and performance nutrition. There aren’t a lot of other resources on these topics even though they are so important! 

For creating a resilient body, they discuss the importance of specificity training (i.e. going on backpacking trips prior to your trip).  This helped me design my thru-hiking training plan.

The performance nutrition chapter changed the way I think about my food and resupply strategy. This encouraged me to look up metabolic efficiency training and think deeply about fueling my body based on the activity type. For hiking, this means more fat. Prior to this, I focused my backcountry menu on carbs. Katie and Heather lay out what meal plans could look like on the macro level. This has inspired me to add macros in my backpacking meals spreadsheet. I wonder if I have not been giving my body the fuel it needs to crush miles. I will definitely be paying more attention to this in the future.