Preparation For The Walk

Three
Peaks
Challenge

Copyright © 2003 to 2008
G. Mitchell and P. N. Lynskey
www.threepeakschallenge.com

The ThreePeaksChallenge.com Walk is a fund raising walk across the peaks of Pen-y-ghent Whernside and Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales, and other locations in support of the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall Memorial Fund

Wise hints and tips about preparation for your day out on the peaks by top hairy hiker...
The Mountain Goat

Be prepared! Think about your walk, plan your day, and you’ll fully enjoy your three peaks challenge. Here's a few handy preparation hints to make your day in the hills a success ...

Rest Up
The principle of tapering training before events is used by all serious sports people. Good advice is to take things generally easy for the five days preceding the big day. Have a full rest the day before, and certainly no more than a light jog, easy walk, or cycle the day before that. Why? Intense exercise damages your body and depletes reserves. Your heart, for example, could take up to ten days to fully recover from hitting its maximum rate during a heavy training session. Sustained anaerobic efforts can take up to four days. Intense sleep will help

recovery. On top of that, you'll also be causing micro-tears to muscles which take time to heal and depleting your liver and muscle glycogen reserves, which are crucial to fuelling the combustion of fat typically used during mountain activities. You need time to heal and replenish those reserves.

Gee Up
All the above will help you maximise your potential on the day, but don't forget that your head has an equally important role to play. Aim to be optimistic, but not over confident. If you've prepared well and know it, you will carry a quiet self-belief into the day. If you have genuine worries over your ability to perform, think about practical ways of dealing with them rather than allowing them to become metaphorical bogeymen. And don’t get too hyped up before the event, you'll be burning energy you'll need later. And finally ...

Getting Ready For The Big Day
OK, so you've decided to take the Three Peaks Challenge. You’re fit ... you can go twice 'round the park without your calves bursting, and you can beat the dog back home at two-o-clock in the morning! Before bragging that you could do it in your slippers why not take notice of these basic preparations. They may just help you get cruise over the course without crawling back to Horton-In-Ribblesdale on all fours...

Seriously, if you're planning to do well, basic fitness will get you a fair way but you can make things much easier for yourself by optimising

your preparation for the last few days before the event. You've probably put a lot of thought into your kit, so don't let yourself down by neglecting your physical preparation. Here's a few high tech tips to make sure you're firing on all cylinders before you hit the hills...

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation !!
Lastly, don’t forget... getting the preparation right is half the battle. If you know you're well prepared, you know you’re fit enough to do the walk, then why be concerned. See you on those peaks ...

Eat Up
When you’re starting a walk in the morning (6.00 am start remember) your basic fuel is going to come from what you eat the night before. Ideally you want a load of carbohydrate, hence the pasta parties at marathons and other endurance races. (Don't be tempted to eat a lot of slow to digest meat or fat, which could slow digestion). You can

supplement that with a high carbohydrate breakfast, (porridge with a banana is good, and so is cereal). A full fried English breakfast isn't generally recommended, no matter how much you fancy it!

Train Up
One way of keeping glycogen reserves high is to re-fuel soon after a training session. Ideally you want to get a snack into yourself within 30 minutes of finishing training, the so-called glycogen window. At this point your body is screaming for carbohydrate and getting it on board then will maximise refueling efficiency. If you miss the window, it can take much longer, a couple of days even, to regain pre-exercise

levels.You can also maximise re-fuelling by eating a mix of carbohydrate and 30 per-cent protein in that window then eating more after an hour or so.

Drink Up
Whatever you do, don’t neglect hydration. You want to start off as hydrated as possible so keep drinking regularly the day before the event and in the hours leading up to it. Once you start feeling thirsty you’re already becoming de-hydrated. It's no use hydrating like mad during the day if you're starting off with a fluid deficit. Eight pints of lager the night before the walk may seem like a good idea to take in a decent amount of liquid, but you know not to do that don’t you?