Looking for training advice/programs for walkathon

dawnsnarks

My sisters and I are planning to participate in a 39-mile walkathon in early May for breast cancer research/funding in support of our aunt who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Go big or go home, amirite? While we've all been exercising, walking 39 miles in 2 days is more than any of us currently do. Does anyone know of any programs that might work for this? We'd prefer not to keel over in the middle of the fundraiser as that would kind of defeat the whole purpose.
Thanks for any advice you can throw our way!

tanowicki

You could look up a marathon training plan and instead of running the distances, just walk them. Also, the group organizing it should have some training information to give you.

I did one of those years ago. I didn't train enough and the second day was a bear. Get good shoes.

dawnsnarks

Thanks! I usually avoid distance events so had no idea where to even begin...Dr. Google is no help if you don't kinda know what you are looking for!

tanowicki

If I'm correct, this is with Avon and they've been doing it for years. They do have good training information if you read your informational packet.

BootCampC

http://walk.avonfoundation.org/site/DocServer/AvonTrain_39mi_12wk.pdf?docID=5906

lishie_rebooted

Avon has training programs on their site.
Of varying lengths - 12, 16, 18 week programs I believe.

And it's not a "walkathon" and you need to have the fundraising completed prior to Event Eve otherwise you'll be forking over your credit card to cover the difference - you get approximately 3 months post-Walk to complete your fundraising.
It's a 26.2 mile route on day 1 and 13.1 on day 2.

"Walkathon" reminds me of the "Relay for Life" I did as a kid. We walked a track for hours.

Also, you have the option to only complete 13.1 on Day 1. And there are sweep vans going throughout the whole day so if you can't finish, the van will pick you up and drop you off near the end.

I'll be completing my 4th Walk this spring

ETA: based on your location, you're probably doing the DC Walk. There are some hills along the route. Nothing too bad. But then again, I thought the San Francisco Walk was easy (til Day 2). But make sure some of your training walks have hills in there. Plus since you might not be too far from DC, they do "Route Previews" I suggest going to those if you can. I travel for my Walks so I never have done a route preview walk.

http://www.avon39.org/training/

Also, you can email your Walk coach about training and other questions you have. You can also join the "Solo Strutters" team. Talk to your Walk coach about it.

cwlsr

I will keep it short! Recommendation: Contact the organizers and ask how many miles per day does the event cover and the purposed route. From this information you can determine the walking speed and if the terrain is flat or hilly. Once you have the information you can start walking on a treadmill to determine how fit you are and what you will have to do to get up to speed. The best to you on your effort to support a worthy cause.

noexcusesjustresults2014

dawnsnarks wrote: »

My sisters and I are planning to participate in a 39-mile walkathon in early May for breast cancer research/funding in support of our aunt who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Go big or go home, amirite? While we've all been exercising, walking 39 miles in 2 days is more than any of us currently do. Does anyone know of any programs that might work for this? We'd prefer not to keel over in the middle of the fundraiser as that would kind of defeat the whole purpose.
Thanks for any advice you can throw our way!

Be honest, you just want to find people to donate money for this Avon event right?
http://www.avon39.org/washington-dc/

You might not be giving yourself enough credit. My grandfather did a charity walk longer than that last year with zero training and he is twice your age. You may be in good enough shape already!

If I am wrong, just use the plan Avon already gave you:
http://walk.avonfoundation.org/site/DocServer/AvonTrain_39mi_12wk.pdf?docID=5906

lishie_rebooted

noexcusesjustresults2014 wrote: »

dawnsnarks wrote: »

My sisters and I are planning to participate in a 39-mile walkathon in early May for breast cancer research/funding in support of our aunt who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Go big or go home, amirite? While we've all been exercising, walking 39 miles in 2 days is more than any of us currently do. Does anyone know of any programs that might work for this? We'd prefer not to keel over in the middle of the fundraiser as that would kind of defeat the whole purpose.
Thanks for any advice you can throw our way!

Be honest, you just want to find people to donate money for this Avon event right?
http://www.avon39.org/washington-dc/

Based on your previous exercise I think you could probably walk 39 miles this weekend no problem with zero training. My grandfather did a charity walk longer than that last year that he never trained for.

If I am wrong, just use the plan Avon already gave you:
http://walk.avonfoundation.org/site/DocServer/AvonTrain_39mi_12wk.pdf?docID=5906

If that's the true purpose of this post, it's in violation of the Community Guidelines.

14. No Advertising, Self-Promotion, or Fund-Raising

a) You may not post any links or mentions of other services, websites, or businesses from which you or an associate might benefit financially or otherwise. This includes, but is not limited to; posts that contain links to offsite blog posts and social media. You also may not solicit off-Forum contact from which you might benefit, e.g. "message me for more info", “I can get you free samples”, etc.
b) Requests or solicitations for donations are also not allowed. This includes requesting contributions to “pooled fund” competitions, requests for votes in any venue (online contests, etc.), and even requests for charitable contributions. As you can imagine, we have a lot of people who would like to raise money for worthy causes through the site. As much as we'd like to support these causes, if we were to allow requests for donations, the forums would quickly become full of such requests which would take away from the main purpose of the forums - to support one another.
c) Posts or messages to members promoting websites that compete with MyFitnessPal are also prohibited.

Again, OP, Avon has loads of resources. Many are emailed right to you. The rest are on their website.

TavistockToad

dawnsnarks wrote: »

My sisters and I are planning to participate in a 39-mile walkathon in early May for breast cancer research/funding in support of our aunt who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Go big or go home, amirite? While we've all been exercising, walking 39 miles in 2 days is more than any of us currently do. Does anyone know of any programs that might work for this? We'd prefer not to keel over in the middle of the fundraiser as that would kind of defeat the whole purpose.
Thanks for any advice you can throw our way!

Just walk... I did a 30 mile walk for charity a couple of years ago. We did a few walks up to about 15 miles as practice, but then I was already reasonably fit (completed insanity just before the walk for example).

Get some comfy walking boots and wear them in so you don't get blisters.

dawnna76

http://www.walkjogrun.net/

SueInAz

tanowicki wrote: »

You could look up a marathon training plan and instead of running the distances, just walk them. Also, the group organizing it should have some training information to give you.

I did one of those years ago. I didn't train enough and the second day was a bear. Get good shoes.

Great advice. There's lots of other running advice that is perfectly adaptable to this, too. The real difference is that you're going to be walking a lot longer than someone could run that distance and that comes with its own challenges.

Good shoes, socks and clothes that won't chafe are a must.

For the actual event, don't try anything new. That means no new shoes, clothing, foods, supplements, etc. If you haven't used it during your training, don't use it during the event.

Make sure you're adequately fueled and hydrated during your training and the event but also that you don't overdo it. It is just as bad to drink too much water as it is to not drink enough during a distance event.

Blisters happen. There's a great product called Body Glide that you might purchase and keep on hand during your training walks and the event.

lishie_rebooted

SueInAz wrote: »

tanowicki wrote: »

You could look up a marathon training plan and instead of running the distances, just walk them. Also, the group organizing it should have some training information to give you.

I did one of those years ago. I didn't train enough and the second day was a bear. Get good shoes.

Great advice. There's lots of other running advice that is perfectly adaptable to this, too. The real difference is that you're going to be walking a lot longer than someone could run that distance and that comes with its own challenges.

Good shoes, socks and clothes that won't chafe are a must.

For the actual event, don't try anything new. That means no new shoes, clothing, foods, supplements, etc. If you haven't used it during your training, don't use it during the event.

Make sure you're adequately fueled and hydrated during your training and the event but also that you don't overdo it. It is just as bad to drink too much water as it is to not drink enough during a distance event.

Blisters happen. There's a great product called Body Glide that you might purchase and keep on hand during your training walks and the event.

In regards to body glide, what works better in my experience for these walks are using Injinji atheltic toe socks and vaseline-ing my feet.

The Walk provides "Rest Stops" and "Quick Stops" with first aid, food, potty-a-potties, water, Gatorade at them.
A lot of the food provide from the event seems to be donated by companies so it was some new products, to me at least. But it's stuff like trail mix, bananas, oragnes, that bom chicka popcorn (so gross), pbj graham cracker sandwiches, fruit gummies, dried fruit, various bars...

dawnsnarks

Thanks everyone! My sister is coordinating the reservation/registration piece and I volunteered to look into the training piece. That will teach me to read everything first! You guys are the best

dawnsnarks

Be honest, you just want to find people to donate money for this Avon event right?
http://www.avon39.org/washington-dc/

LOL! I hadn't even thought of that but now that you mention it....

lishie_rebooted

dawnsnarks wrote: »

Thanks everyone! My sister is coordinating the reservation/registration piece and I volunteered to look into the training piece. That will teach me to read everything first! You guys are the best

Helpful hint for you guys, if you aren't camping at the Wellness Village and are staying in a hotel, don't stay at the Walk hotel. It's more convenient but most of the Walk hotels are around 200$/night. When I walked DC last spring, I stayed at Hotel Harrington which is about 0.25mi from the Walk hotel (or last years, it might change this year). I saved a bunch of money. I stayed in a hostel when I walked San Fran. The Walk hotel is fairly reasonable for Houston so I'm stay there (and due to lack of other options).

tanowicki

I did the walk in LA when I lived there so stayed at home. It's nice to have your own bed but you do miss the camaraderie of the village.