Having reached the age of 75 it’s understandable that Jay Thurston is concerned about how his body might react to being asked to paddle a canoe for 16 hours a day.

Thurston, of Viroqua, who is planning to set out with canoeing partner Mike Kinziger, 60, to canoe the 436-mile length of the Wisconsin River on June 13, has been very calculating about the logistical and physical preparations for the trip.

In fact, he started training and planning for it two years ago.

“There’s no other way to prepare,” Thurston said. “I’ve had to work very steadily to increase my strength and endurance. I couldn’t risk suffering an injury or setback, so I’ve taken things very slowly. Right now, I feel like I’m stronger physically than I was when we canoed the Wisconsin in 1983. We’ll have to see about how my body bounces back after each day of canoeing. That’s something I absolutely don’t know about right now.”

Canoeists plan press conference

Jay Thurston 75, and Mike Kinziger 60, are hosting a news conference, Wednes-day, June 11, at Three Rivers Outdoors, 400 Main St. in downtown La Crosse, from 6 to 7 p.m.

The canoe (named "Inspiration") they will use on the trip will be on display. The modern voyagers will provide a copy of their-seven day trip schedule and answer questions.

In 1958, Thurston canoed the length of the Wisconsin with then-partner Gary Kitzman in 12 days. In 1983, he teamed with Kinziger to canoe the length of the river in eight days and three hours. Both efforts were considered records. Now Thurston and Kinziger are planning to canoe the length of the river with an itinerary that has them finishing in six days and 10 hours, which would set another record for an open canoe.

The trip won’t just be paddling. There are 26 portages that total more than eight miles. Four of the portages are a mile in length. In the past two record-setting attempts, the portages included camping gear and everything the pair needed for the whole trip. That won’t be the case this time, as Thurston and Kinziger plan to spend each night in a camping trailer that will be pulled by Thurston’s wife, Diana, who will be supporting the pair from the shore. While the pair still has to portage their own gear, it will be lighter than in the past.

Many technological advances will aid Thurston and Kinziger as they make this attempt. The advances seem to walk hand-in-hand with the popularity of “silent sports” across the nation.

For example, the canoe itself is evidence of technological advancement. Created by We-no-nah Canoe of Winona, Minn., Thurston and Kinziger will be using an 18-and-a-half-foot carbon fiber canoe, The canoe will be unveiled at a special press conference in La Crosse on June 11.

The canoe is an improvement over the Kevlar canoe the pair used in 1983 and it’s a significant upgrade from the aluminum canoe used in the 1958 trip.

“The sport of canoeing has come a long way, in terms of both its approach by recreational participants to those of us who are considered marathon canoeists,” Kinziger said. “The technology is different, especially in the materials.”

Kinziger is a professor at the University of Idaho where he coordinates the undergraduate, graduate and outdoor leadership recreation programs. He still teaches whitewater canoeing for the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Kinziger said many things have helped improve being physically prepared for such an attempt, including being able to better balance nutrition and introduce enough calories to the body each day to make up for what is being lost through the constant physical exertion.

“(In 1983) both Jay and I lost quite a few pounds during the trip,” Kinziger, of Moscow, Idaho, said. “You can’t fully replenish what you’re going to lose, but you can manage to eat better and drink more to keep yourself strong for the trip.”

Kinziger is in top physical shape. At 60, he lives the healthy outdoor life.

“To be a better paddler, I paddle; to be a better biker, I bike and to be a better skier, I ski,” Kinziger said. “All outdoors and often.”

There’s an important health-related benefit that has made this trip possible for Thurston -- he used to be a smoker, but quit the habit 35 years ago.

He says he remembers during his first voyage with Kitzman that he would often pull to the side of the river to light up a cigarette.

“There’s no more of that,” Thurston said. “In fact, if I had kept smoking, I don’t know if I would still be around to even attempt this.”

Now the only smoke the pair will see will be a mist rising from the water as the sun rises over the Wisconsin River in mid-June.

This is the third part in a series of stories that will tell the journey of canoeists Jay Thurston and Mike Kinziger as they plan to canoe the Wisconsin River starting June 13.