Long distance walk challenge help with route
Discussion
What started out as a bit of fun with a fitbit , walked 72,000 steps in a day which equates to 52 km
has now come down to a challenge to walk a double marathon 52 miles in 24hrs , for a local children's charity , looking for a few tips to increase to this distance at work i' m walking between 25,000 -30,000 steps a day .
was thinking along the lines of the wife dropping me 50 miles from home at midnight ideally around the New forest , does anyone know of any off road routes , as flat as possible , or any other routes in Hampshire / Dorset .
and any other tips would be helpful ......obviously chaffing cream ...not light weight 106 kg / 53 years
cheers
has now come down to a challenge to walk a double marathon 52 miles in 24hrs , for a local children's charity , looking for a few tips to increase to this distance at work i' m walking between 25,000 -30,000 steps a day .
was thinking along the lines of the wife dropping me 50 miles from home at midnight ideally around the New forest , does anyone know of any off road routes , as flat as possible , or any other routes in Hampshire / Dorset .
and any other tips would be helpful ......obviously chaffing cream ...not light weight 106 kg / 53 years
cheers
Last November to commemorate the Armistice Centenary, myself and a bunch of other like-minded fools decided it would be a great idea to carry a 100kg stretcher and dummy from Compiegne, France, to the Welsh Border - raised money for the Brecon MRT amongst other stuff.
It was 11 days of a marathon a day pretty much - some days longer, some shorter...
The act of walking and the stints on the stretcher, we were rotating teams of four, were not particularly hard work, what took it's toll was the simple attrition of the accumulated distances on tarmac and hard packed surfaces. Blisters aside, which I luckily didn't suffer from, the biggest 'injury' were tendonitis of the lower shin (Anterior Tibialis) and the IT Band becoming inflamed on people's weaker legs.
You'll have to have faith when I say this was a bunch of fit and motivated people and it still took us by surprise how hard it hit during the second half of the challenge. We had a team of medics & physios keeping us in some sort of shape too.
My point being, to do the distances you're looking at, you'll need to do some decent training to keep the final impact down to a minimum. We concluded that the only way to have reduced the injuries would have been to build up to the operating distances over a six months period to balance the body and strengthen the moving parts.
It's the training that will take the toll, doing the actual distance 'ONCE' will just hurt like a bugger afterwards for a bit - doing the training to do the distance is where you'll need to plan just like running distance training - ramp up the distances slowly, deload/rest, ramp up again, 10% added etc.... Also assuming you'll be carrying safety kit, food & water? How heavy, planned dropped rests or carry everything with? Test it all out etc...
Next year's challenge is crossing from France to Spain and back again across the Pyrenees, again doing approx a marathon a day but across a mountain range carrying all the kit, but luckily no f
king stretcher. 12 month plan already started.
Good luck.
It was 11 days of a marathon a day pretty much - some days longer, some shorter...
The act of walking and the stints on the stretcher, we were rotating teams of four, were not particularly hard work, what took it's toll was the simple attrition of the accumulated distances on tarmac and hard packed surfaces. Blisters aside, which I luckily didn't suffer from, the biggest 'injury' were tendonitis of the lower shin (Anterior Tibialis) and the IT Band becoming inflamed on people's weaker legs.
You'll have to have faith when I say this was a bunch of fit and motivated people and it still took us by surprise how hard it hit during the second half of the challenge. We had a team of medics & physios keeping us in some sort of shape too.
My point being, to do the distances you're looking at, you'll need to do some decent training to keep the final impact down to a minimum. We concluded that the only way to have reduced the injuries would have been to build up to the operating distances over a six months period to balance the body and strengthen the moving parts.
It's the training that will take the toll, doing the actual distance 'ONCE' will just hurt like a bugger afterwards for a bit - doing the training to do the distance is where you'll need to plan just like running distance training - ramp up the distances slowly, deload/rest, ramp up again, 10% added etc.... Also assuming you'll be carrying safety kit, food & water? How heavy, planned dropped rests or carry everything with? Test it all out etc...
Next year's challenge is crossing from France to Spain and back again across the Pyrenees, again doing approx a marathon a day but across a mountain range carrying all the kit, but luckily no f
king stretcher. 12 month plan already started.Good luck.
You should take a look at the South Downs Way.
I've ridden my MTB along the South Downs Way a coupe of times and I've seen people run or walk it in an organised 24/48hr event. The SDW is very well marked and easy to navigate. The distance is 100 miles with around 12000 feet ( I think) of ascent, with beautiful views along the way. The route has a Youth Hostel and several nearby campsites and pubs along the route. Ive found starting at Winchester and finishing in Eastbourne, west to east is the best direction, especially if it is windy.
You could tweak the start finish to suit your levels of fitness and endurance.
https://www.southdownsway.co.uk
I've ridden my MTB along the South Downs Way a coupe of times and I've seen people run or walk it in an organised 24/48hr event. The SDW is very well marked and easy to navigate. The distance is 100 miles with around 12000 feet ( I think) of ascent, with beautiful views along the way. The route has a Youth Hostel and several nearby campsites and pubs along the route. Ive found starting at Winchester and finishing in Eastbourne, west to east is the best direction, especially if it is windy.
You could tweak the start finish to suit your levels of fitness and endurance.
https://www.southdownsway.co.uk
Piha said:
You should take a look at the South Downs Way.
I've ridden my MTB along the South Downs Way a coupe of times and I've seen people run or walk it in an organised 24/48hr event. The SDW is very well marked and easy to navigate. The distance is 100 miles with around 12000 feet ( I think) of ascent, with beautiful views along the way. The route has a Youth Hostel and several nearby campsites and pubs along the route. Ive found starting at Winchester and finishing in Eastbourne, west to east is the best direction, especially if it is windy.
You could tweak the start finish to suit your levels of fitness and endurance.
https://www.southdownsway.co.uk
If you can find some friends you could consider this - https://oxfamapps.org/trailwalker/I've ridden my MTB along the South Downs Way a coupe of times and I've seen people run or walk it in an organised 24/48hr event. The SDW is very well marked and easy to navigate. The distance is 100 miles with around 12000 feet ( I think) of ascent, with beautiful views along the way. The route has a Youth Hostel and several nearby campsites and pubs along the route. Ive found starting at Winchester and finishing in Eastbourne, west to east is the best direction, especially if it is windy.
You could tweak the start finish to suit your levels of fitness and endurance.
https://www.southdownsway.co.uk
Along the South Downs way - some useful downloadable maps and advice if you register - even if you don't do it.
I did the Northern version of this a few years ago. The advice above about training and building up the distance is spot on. I'd done up to 30 mile walks before but doing double that was hard on the feet (managing blisters was tough for many).
Enjoy!
..and depending on the route, if there's lots of hard surfaces, buy a few pairs of cheap of trainers that are as comfy as you can get.
All our fancy pants Gucci hiking boots went out the window and after two days a trip to Decathlon was organised and everyone without trainers bought a pair and they did the job.
All our fancy pants Gucci hiking boots went out the window and after two days a trip to Decathlon was organised and everyone without trainers bought a pair and they did the job.
Mothersruin said:
..and depending on the route, if there's lots of hard surfaces, buy a few pairs of cheap of trainers that are as comfy as you can get.
All our fancy pants Gucci hiking boots went out the window and after two days a trip to Decathlon was organised and everyone without trainers bought a pair and they did the job.
More great advice! My friends that did Trailtrekker with me are experienced marathon/fell runners. They didn't turn up in walking boots...All our fancy pants Gucci hiking boots went out the window and after two days a trip to Decathlon was organised and everyone without trainers bought a pair and they did the job.
The Wessex Ridgeway is another interesting route. I found it fairly easy going and I loved the area around the Dorchestershire Gap.
https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?...
You might struggle to avoid hills unless you go for an abandoned train line. Have a look at the Downs Link.
https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?...
It's a bit boring IMO but is flat. With hills you have views and variety.
https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?...
You might struggle to avoid hills unless you go for an abandoned train line. Have a look at the Downs Link.
https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?...
It's a bit boring IMO but is flat. With hills you have views and variety.
bigandclever said:
My tuppence; you want hills, not flat, for training.
unfortunately I/m at work in Iraq , so training is limited to walking at work averaging around 25k- 30k steps a day . challenge will be either 8th or 9th May depending on weather. after I get back ,looking at Ringwood -Calshot castle and back its 85 km
ive heard 1000 mile socks are good and a few friends are going to join on the return journey.
thanks
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