Spuds were never this heavy

When I were a lad I'd go to the farm with my dad and pick up a 56lb bag of spuds and waddle with it to boot of his old Austin A40. It were a right struggle and no mistake.
OK let's drop the Hovis bread accent. But that was and still is a lot of weight to carry, even for a short distance.

On Saturday I began my Alaska hike conditioning and since I figure I need to carry somewhere north of 5olbs, what better way to practice than to load up my backpack with 56lbs and start walking for a 7 mile round trip to Merriam's Corner along the Battle Road.
Thankfully an early Patriots Day event started shortly after my arrival at the historic site and the hour long ceremony provided adequate recovery time before the walk back.
Total walking time racked up - a measly two hours with an elevation gain and loss of a derisory 110 feet.
To put this in perspective, the 12-day Alaska hike has a gain of 11,956 feet and a loss of 13,512 feet - so basically it's a few thousand feet downhill, right?

Did I ache after lugging that load? Surprisingly only in my hip joints. But it did make me realize how important it will be to get in some 5-day (or longer) hikes with a full load well before this summer's big trip.