Three peaks, 670 miles and a marathon? 14 days
Discussion
A colleague is planning a charity-challenge for Sept 2011...
(i) 3 peaks challenge in 24 hours, in reverse ending Ben Nevis then,
(ii) 670ish mile cycle ride to Lands End then,
(iii) finishing 26 miles short and a marathon to finish.
In 14 days total.
Any thoughts/similar experiences?
I have good all round fitness, do a fair bit of mountain biking and gym work etc (would source a road bike for the cycling)...
Any thoughts as to how tough this would be? I am not kidding myself and accept it would, just wondered how tough and what level of prep/training would be sensible?
(i) 3 peaks challenge in 24 hours, in reverse ending Ben Nevis then,
(ii) 670ish mile cycle ride to Lands End then,
(iii) finishing 26 miles short and a marathon to finish.
In 14 days total.
Any thoughts/similar experiences?
I have good all round fitness, do a fair bit of mountain biking and gym work etc (would source a road bike for the cycling)...
Any thoughts as to how tough this would be? I am not kidding myself and accept it would, just wondered how tough and what level of prep/training would be sensible?
The timescale makes it seem ok with the right training.
Could easily get the cycling out of the way in the first week, marathon takes 1 day leaving 6 days to fit rest/travel and 3 peaks in.
None of the individual events is that hard (speaking with the experience of a marathon and several 150mile+ rides under my belt here) as long as you don't push yourself too hard, and you have the training miles done, recovery shouldn't be a problem, but I'm sure you already know that doing them back to back is the hard bit
Leaving the marathon to the last day would be my advice - will be looming over you the whole time, but no need to worry about recovering from it, as it is definitely the one that will take the longest to recover from.
In my opinion, the most important thing you can do is get a good support team - no matter how much training you do, there will be bad patches during an event of this nature - the last sportive I did was a slog in minging French weather with 50 miles of cobbles - would have jacked it in, if it wasn't for the guy I was riding with and the wee French ladies smiling at the aid stations, and that was only 9 odd hours worth, not 14 days - plus, having someone taking care of your kit and the logistical crap at the end of the day makes things infinitely easier.
Could easily get the cycling out of the way in the first week, marathon takes 1 day leaving 6 days to fit rest/travel and 3 peaks in.
None of the individual events is that hard (speaking with the experience of a marathon and several 150mile+ rides under my belt here) as long as you don't push yourself too hard, and you have the training miles done, recovery shouldn't be a problem, but I'm sure you already know that doing them back to back is the hard bit
Leaving the marathon to the last day would be my advice - will be looming over you the whole time, but no need to worry about recovering from it, as it is definitely the one that will take the longest to recover from.
In my opinion, the most important thing you can do is get a good support team - no matter how much training you do, there will be bad patches during an event of this nature - the last sportive I did was a slog in minging French weather with 50 miles of cobbles - would have jacked it in, if it wasn't for the guy I was riding with and the wee French ladies smiling at the aid stations, and that was only 9 odd hours worth, not 14 days - plus, having someone taking care of your kit and the logistical crap at the end of the day makes things infinitely easier.
You'll need to do some serious running for the marathon component, unless you fancy just jogging it. 3 x 45 minute runs a week and a long one at the weekend (1 1/2+) would do it.
The marines run a race from Lympstone to Poole over the south west coast path, which is 88 miles, broken into 4 legs. You have to run 2 legs, which is 22 miles each day plus all the ascent and reascent. The above sort of regime helped me complete it, although I still walked like robocop the following day!
The marines run a race from Lympstone to Poole over the south west coast path, which is 88 miles, broken into 4 legs. You have to run 2 legs, which is 22 miles each day plus all the ascent and reascent. The above sort of regime helped me complete it, although I still walked like robocop the following day!
sounds fun but could be a logistical nightmare. i would consider doing something more "local". how about keeping it all in scotland , canoe from fort william to inverness (this is epic, caledonian canal, loch ness etc), cycle back to fort william, then smash in a few hills around glen coe?
I have to say that the 3 peaks is the most uninteresting thing i have ever seen. walk up easy featureless path to summit, come down, repeat three times..... not only does it have a major environmental impact on the area but it causes a huge disturbance for locals and doesnt help local business.
I have to say that the 3 peaks is the most uninteresting thing i have ever seen. walk up easy featureless path to summit, come down, repeat three times..... not only does it have a major environmental impact on the area but it causes a huge disturbance for locals and doesnt help local business.
I ran the support vehicle for 3 friends at Easter who completed the 3 peaks walk and cycled in between each mountain
. We start at Snowden on the morning of Good Friday and finished off with a quick sprint up Ben Nevis the following Friday. Plan, plan and do a bit more planning for good measure.
Apart from snow on the hills, a bout of sickness they all made it. Drop me a pm with your email and I can run through in a bit more detail off line.
for 3 friends at Easter who completed the 3 peaks walk and cycled in between each mountain. We start at Snowden on the morning of Good Friday and finished off with a quick sprint up Ben Nevis the following Friday. Plan, plan and do a bit more planning for good measure. Apart from snow on the hills, a bout of sickness they all made it. Drop me a pm with your email and I can run through in a bit more detail off line.
tw_uk said:
Thanks for the advice folks, think I will be getting involved.
Its the marathon at the end that is daunting as I dont enjoy running and get easily bored, having the motivation for that training will be most difficult.
The marathon is 26.whatever miles, just check with whoever sets the challenge that they are ok with you doing it at a jog/walk, if you can do the rest then the marathon is a jog, walk jog, run etc for 26 milesIts the marathon at the end that is daunting as I dont enjoy running and get easily bored, having the motivation for that training will be most difficult.
pablo said:
sounds fun but could be a logistical nightmare. i would consider doing something more "local". how about keeping it all in scotland , canoe from fort william to inverness (this is epic, caledonian canal, loch ness etc), cycle back to fort william, then smash in a few hills around glen coe?
I have to say that the 3 peaks is the most uninteresting thing i have ever seen. walk up easy featureless path to summit, come down, repeat three times..... not only does it have a major environmental impact on the area but it causes a huge disturbance for locals and doesnt help local business.
In fairness, it isn't at all featureless, it has bugger-all environmental impact, it causes very little disturbance for locals, and has nothing to do with local businesses.I have to say that the 3 peaks is the most uninteresting thing i have ever seen. walk up easy featureless path to summit, come down, repeat three times..... not only does it have a major environmental impact on the area but it causes a huge disturbance for locals and doesnt help local business.
BarnatosGhost said:
pablo said:
sounds fun but could be a logistical nightmare. i would consider doing something more "local". how about keeping it all in scotland , canoe from fort william to inverness (this is epic, caledonian canal, loch ness etc), cycle back to fort william, then smash in a few hills around glen coe?
I have to say that the 3 peaks is the most uninteresting thing i have ever seen. walk up easy featureless path to summit, come down, repeat three times..... not only does it have a major environmental impact on the area but it causes a huge disturbance for locals and doesnt help local business.
In fairness, it isn't at all featureless, it has bugger-all environmental impact, it causes very little disturbance for locals, and has nothing to do with local businesses.I have to say that the 3 peaks is the most uninteresting thing i have ever seen. walk up easy featureless path to summit, come down, repeat three times..... not only does it have a major environmental impact on the area but it causes a huge disturbance for locals and doesnt help local business.
it is featureless, the paths most often used are the easiest,they are the tourist path up ben nevis which is awful, criss crossing up the mountain to the summit, then turning around and descending the same path. the path used up snowdon is always the tourist path from llanberis which is also featureless, the first 2km is concrete and then it just runs alongisde the train line in its entirity and is dull. the path up scafell is almost always from wasdale head where, if you have ever been, you will notice there is absolutely nothing. no public parking, 1 toilet, no shops, nothing.... just houses.... but because its the shortest path to the summit people end up parking in gardens, blocking access routes and roads and generally being an arse. this goes on most weekends all summer....
the environmental impact of thousands of people trudging up the same path in the name of charity is enormous, the paths are destroyed during the summer as the three peaks charity do-gooders seem unable to comprehend where the path begins and ends so end up walking four abreast so what was a two/three foot wide path ends up being a six/seven foot wide path... and someone has to repair all these paths at the end of the season....
local business in north wales, the lakes and scotland rely on walkers and climbers but people are actually staying away because the three peaks events cause so much chaos and the sight of hundreds of peopel trudging up a hill with the sole purpose of getting to the summit, and returning as soon as poosible to getting a car and drive away is quite sad. they dont spend any money in the area because the whole point is to spend as little time there as possible...
here is a locals view.... http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/outdoors-news/three-p... still sure of your comments?
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