You know we at Sportsballshop love a challenge. In the past we have tried and failed to get to the start line of a 10k race, sadly this was due to injury (2 slipped discs in my case) and we also completed the rowing challenge where we rowed 1 million metres in 90 days (this may have caused the back injury). Well 2020 sees a new challenge for 2 of us in the office, as we take on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge in June 2020.
The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge is officially rated as 'TOUGH', as you have to scale 3 mountains in one day and is described as challenging even for the keenest of walkers. I personally like to keep fit with Hockey through the Winter and Cricket through the Summer, mixed in with rowing on a Concept 2 machine, 80 lengths of the pool twice a week and 2 spin classes a week on the Peloton bike. However, i don't do much walking unless you count the dog walk on a Sunday afternoon up to the Flowing Well in Sunningwell.
We are raising funds for the Alzheimer's Society as this particular walk is their charity walk. They promise us it will be demanding but exhilarating and will be in some of the most spectacular countryside in England. If you would like to support us on our walk please go to our team fundraising page below:
So the Yorkshire Three Peaks will push me to new limits over the next few months. The date of the challenge is Friday 26th June so, I have plenty of time to train. But, how should you train for this particular challenge? Looking around there doesn't seem to be many training plans available although I did find this one on the
TeamWalking website. It suggests an 8 week plan - luckily we have around 17 weeks until the 7:30am start time.
There are lots of caveats thrown in such as
- Seek medical advise before you start your plan (I'm sure my doctor would be thrilled to see me take one of her appointments up with this enquiry)
- Sudden bouts of exercise increase the risk of injury
- Mix in with other exercise - Strength training exercises, swimming, cycling as well as walking
- Devise your own training plan to suit your level of fitness
Obviously these are valuable snippets designed to ensure no litigation can be levelled at the writers door. So I also endorse these comments.
Without stealing the copy from TeamWalking I was intrigued to find weeks 1 and 2 had 4 bouts of training in each week. Walk for 3 miles day 1, day 3 walk for 3 to 4 miles, day 5 swim or cycle for 30 minutes with day 6 a staggering 10 to 12 mile walk. Already in week one they are suggesting a 10 mile walk!!!! Each of these days are finished off with a small amount of strength training exercises to include Step Ups, Forward Lunges and Squats.
Week 3 and 4 the level of distance covered obviously has to increase so days 2 and 4 are more challenging with a 4 to 6 mile walk on day 2 and a 6 to 8 mile walk on day 4. Day 5 sees a 45 minute swim or cycle and day 6 is the same as weeks 1 and 2. All other days are rest days and you should ensure these are taken to allow the body time to recover.
Weeks 5, 6 and 7 step up the distance to a level where you are in no doubt what lies ahead. Hopefully staying injury free during this period too, will allow you to build up to some serious miles covered. Day 2 walk 8 to 10 miles, day 4 1 hour swim or cycle, day 5 is a 6 to 8 mile walk on hilly terrain with day 7, wait for it..........a 14 to 16 mile walk on hills. That would be a walk to the Flowing Well 8 times in a day, I assume the consuming of alcohol is not included in the training plan?
Week 8, challenge week, no backing out now. Only 2 training days suggested this week, to just keep the fitness ticking over. Day 2 is a moderate 4 to 5 mile walk and day 4 and easy 3 mile walk. Again the other days are rest days, take them as you have 25 miles to walk on challenge day.
So we have a plan. We have 17 weeks to get ready. We have paid the entry fee. We now need to get training...........Oh yes and buy all of the equipment required too? I shall discuss this in our next update.
