Traceeey
Since: Jul 2008
Posts: 3
Hi there - this is my first time posting.
I would like to walk the Taupo half marathon on 1st August (just over 5 weeks away)...i've done very little training (maybe 5 k's per week....SOME weeks)
Ive done it before but i was much fitter. Do you think its unrealistic of me to try this? If not how much training SHOULD i be doing to be able to finish/cope
Its a pretty flat course...
Appreciate your feedback, Tracey
Hi Traceeey
I see your message here. Will leave it for the experts to answer as I'm not one! Good luck if you do try for this. Great goal.
Cheers and welcome to Wonder Walkers
Heya Tracey - just checking: when you say you're doing 5k's per week, do you mean you're doing a 5k walk multiple times per week, or that you're doing 5k per week in total?
Traceeey
Since: Jul 2008
Posts: 3
At the moment im only doing 5ks total (have been lacking in motivation..im such a last minute person! haha)
But i can easily manage 7ks at a time - when i make the time...havent pushed myself beyond this for a while
Heya Tracey - hmmm... I know I should probably let the experts answer this (that's what they're there for!), but my gut feeling would be that if you're only doing 5k total a week at the moment, it's a huge step from there to doing the multiple training sessions a week that would let you build up to a 21km, in just 5 weeks.
Looking at some of the 21km buildup programmes that are out there, most of them seem to use a 12-15 week buildup - and I seem to also remember the recommendation that you never increase your total weekly kms or the length of your longest walk each week by more than 10% per week - that allows your body to slowly adapt to the demands that all the extra walking places on your joints and bones. Obviously, to build up to 21km from where you are now, you'd need to increase your total distances and longest walk each week by a lot more than that each week.
For reference (just for me personally), I re-started regular walking in October 2009, did my first 10k in November, and then my first half in January - by which time I was usually walking between 30-50km total a week, depending on the week in question.
That said, I'm not a professional trainer or physio, and I know some of the experts on the Wonder Walkers panel are, so I might be unnecessarily pessimistic here. I also personally know one person who went from being totally inactive to doing the Oxfam Trailwalker 100km walk in only 12 weeks, and the generally-recommended timeframe for building up to that is 6 months (that said, she found it a thoroughly MISERABLE 12 weeks in which she felt like she did nothing but work, walk and sleep, and that she'd never recommend that kind of training programme to anyone!)
So I'll be interested in hearing what other people have to say here too :-)
Traceeey
Since: Jul 2008
Posts: 3
Thank you i appreciate that :)
Hi Traceeey I think Starfire pretty much hit the nail on the head. Maybe do a 10k if they have one or find a 10k event then build on that. It's great to have a goal though and something to train for so keep that up. We look forward to hearing how you are progressing
twobees
Since: Jun 2010
Posts: 2
I'm with the others, personally I would go for a 10k for a start. A half marathon is a big call :)
