marathon
WALKERS
TRAINING GUIDE
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www.britishgastreksbritain.co.uk
marathon WALKERS TRAINING GUIDE
Contents 1. Why train?.............3
2. Nutrition & hydration……….3
3. Training advice..........4
4. Example training guide..........4
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Welcome to the British Gas Treks Britain 2014 training guide! Congratulations on signing up to the
British Gas Treks Britain marathon
trek!
We advise that whatever your current fitness
levels, or that of those you are walking with,
training for your marathon walk will make the
experience much more enjoyable for
everyone. With a few weeks of training you
should be more than ready to take on your
challenge in June.
www.britishgastreksbritain.co.uk
marathon WALKERS TRAINING GUIDE
Why train? Walking for 26 miles in one go is a tough challenge,
and some training is essential no matter what your
current fitness level. Preparation is key and will aid
your enjoyment of the challenge whilst ensuring that
your body is up to the rigours of the event, and for
some this training will just ensure that you feel
comfortable walking in your boots and backpacks,
across varying terrain.
A major benefit of training is that you are able to
prepare your legs for terrain that you may be un used
to on a day to day basis. Whether that is uphill,
downhill, along grassy verges or across bridleways and
over styles, taking on some practise walks will really
help on the day for everyone to keep a steady footing
whilst following the route.
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More specifically dealing with how the body may react
to walking for extended periods along uneven ground.
Often the strains and stresses that become evident on
t h e b o d y d u r i n g w a l k s a re u n e x p e c t e d s o
understanding these effects can be hugely important
for the enjoyment of the walk. For example if you find
that during your training walks you always get blisters
on the heal of your foot then it could be telling you
that you need to wear your boots in more, try different
socks, or that you need to put a blister plaster on your
foot prior to the event.
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Nutrition It is important in any endurance event to keep eating
and drinking to maintain energy and hydration levels;
the same applies to the training walks leading up to
the challenge. Keeping both energy and hydration
levels high will make strenuous portions of your walk
feel far more manageable. Use your training walks to
trial different foods and see what works for you,
remembering that the predominant fuel you will need
is carbohydrates (bread, pasta, potatoes) prior to the
event to get your fuelled up before you head out,
whilst taking a variety of snacks with you on the walk
itself.
During the event, after around 25 - 40 minutes,
dependent on your pace and fitness, the predominant
fuel source you will start to burn will be fat rather than
carbohydrate. As a result of this, we recommend that
snacks such as nuts, cereal bars & flapjack and fruit are
a great way of keeping sustained as you walk.
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Note - We don’t overly recommend the use of energy
gels for walkers on our events as we find a number of
participants often begin to feel sick as the large
quantities of gels they take causes a spike in
carbohydrate levels which the body is not used to over
such short periods of time.
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Hydration advice It is very important to stay hydrated whilst taking on
any exercise – and walking is no different. If the
weather is hot on the day of the event then these
guidelines will need to be more vigorously followed.
Staying hydrated during exercise is not simply about
drinking water – your body will need more than that –
you also need to learn to replenish the minerals and
electrolytes your body will burn during the challenge.
Please be aware that at each of the rest stops water will
be available.
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By drinking simple energy drinks such as Lucozade
you will be rehydrating as well as replenishing your
muscle glycogen stores, therefore killing two birds
with one stone. The best way to do this is by drinking
Sports drinks which contain electrolytes and vitamins,
or re-hydration sachets which contain salts & sugar.
These are significantly better absorbed, and help to
replace energy, electrolytes, vitamins and other
nutrients essential for performance. To put it into
context you will want to try and have one sports drink
or sachet for every 3 hrs of walking. Alongside this
water should also be consumed at regular intervals to
top up these levels.
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A 3% drop in hydration leads to a 10% drop in energy
levels - so be aware that if you aren’t hydrated you will
begin to find things a lot more difficult on the trek!
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Top tip -­ Try making your own energy drink:
200ml ordinary fruit squash 800ml water A pinch of salt Mix them all together in a jug and cool !
down in fridge
The importance of drinking water and energy drinks
before, during and after training cannot be over
emphasised. Being thirsty and having a dry mouth are
the first signs of dehydration and
often mean that you are already
lacking water. www.britishgastreksbritain.co.uk
marathon WALKERS TRAINING GUIDE
Use walking poles General training advice Training is a very simple concept; it is all about
progressively increasing your ability to do just that
little bit more, and giving your body time to adapt,
recover and to come back stronger. If you are
relatively new to endurance events, the trick is to
build it up gradually and peak a couple of weeks prior
to the event itself, allowing a recovery period
beforehand. Don’t over commit to training and don’t
overstretch yourself, you want to reach the event day
in peak physical fitness but without being worn out.
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Wear your gear in! Walk as often as you can and as much as you can.
Wear the shoes/boots you will be wearing on the
event (if they are new, then this is very important!) and
find a way to carry your backpack comfortably – this
will help to avoid blisters and any foot and back
injuries.
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Fit walking into your everyday life Break the exercise in slowly. This could mean walking
instead of taking the bus, walking up stairs instead of
getting the lift and just doing a little bit of walking
often whilst building up to longer distances over time.
Don’t try and do a long walk at first before you know
what to expect but most of all - enjoy it!
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If you are going for a long walk and begin to feel pain
in your lower back or legs have a think about using
walking poles. These will help you to reduce the
accumulated stress on the feet, legs, knees and back.
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Make sure you take on hills The route you undertake won’t be like Kilimanjaro but
it is important to incorporate inclines and descents
into your training.
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Positive mental attitude! Whilst it sounds corny it is true – a lot of training is in
the mind and staying positive even when your body is
tried, you don’t feel like continuing or perhaps have
had a bad day at work. By remembering why you
decided to take the challenge on in the first instance
and thinking about how good you will feel once you
have finished will spur you on to the end. Remember
if you think you can – you will!
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(Medical advice - If you have any concerns about
embarking on a serious training programme, or
indeed the actual event, please consult your GP).
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Example training programme This is based on a six week training period and is a sample programme, which can be tailored to your own
personal timetable. It is important to remember that the most important thing to do is just get out and walk.
The maximum number of training days per week is four and you should be looking to try and train for at least
three days out of seven as a guide. We expect that for the average person 1 km = 10 mins of walking.
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WEEK
MON
TUES
WED
THURS
FRI
SAT
SUN
1
2 MILE WALK
REST
REST
2 MILE WALK
REST
2 MILE WALK
REST
2
2 MILE WALK
REST
3 MILE WALK
REST
REST
3 MILE WALK 2 MILE WALK
3
3 MILE WALK
REST
REST
REST
4 MILE WALK
REST
4
REST
OTHER
EXERCISE
3 MILE WALK
REST
OTHER
EXERCISE
4 KM WALK
REST
2 MILE WALK
5
REST
REST
4 MILE WALK
REST
REST
4 MILE WALK
6
4 MILE WALK
REST
REST
2 MILE WALK
REST
REST
OTHER
EXERCISE
EVENT
www.britishgastreksbritain.co.uk