MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Hi
Has anyone completed the Caledonian Challenge? Any advice on training for it?
I've been offered a place in a team who aim to complete it in under 15 hours...I happily run 20Km cross country (hilly) in under 2hrs but how much fitter do I need to be? What was your longest run / walk before it?
I would suggest getting used to doing distance. A friend of mine, who is extremely fit and races long distance bike events, had big problems with feet and knees on this event because he wasn't used to long distance walking.
how far do you have to walk ?
I can quite happily spend 5-6hrs a day hiking and cover 12-15 miles. I've never run further than 10miles in my entire life but with a bit of quick training I can run a 40min cross country 10K. Never had a problem spending all day on my feet.
Kev
Its 54 miles in total over the West Highland Way trail - from Ft Bill to just south of Tyndrum.
Its a good old distance and looking at previous results the average walking times are around 20 hours.
I'm pretty impressed that you can do a 40min 10K cross-country with just a bit of quick training and having never run 10miles!
That would put you in the top 16 out of 655 runners in my local 10k trail race.
I've not done that one, but I have done 100k along the south down a few times at a similar pace to what you are aiming for.
Mt advice would be that training should be all about the endurance, mainly of your feet.
To cover that distance in the time you only need to be moving at 6kph so you are not going to need massive cardio fitness, being able to walk up a hill quite fast will be the most you need.
We have found it quicker to maintain a quick walking pace around the 6kph mark, adding in 2 or 3k of jogging every 10k and not to stop and have any breaks longer than 5 minutes. That has worked out quicker than running most of the first 40 or 50k then trudging along at 4kph for the second half, and resting for 15 minutes at each checkpoint.
In training I would say aim to do 2 or 3 sessions, along the course you will be doing, of between 40 and 50k. This will tell you where you are likely to blister, which clothes chaff and which dont, what foods are good for you (lucozade and cake continously for 6 hours will make you ill)
Good Luck
Good advice, thanks Steve-g
chugg, ah ok, that makes my 15miles a bit insignificant!
Ian, well to be honest my best time is just over 41mins, normally it's about 42ish. I'm usually around 20th-something out of say 300-400 runners and normally around the same time as the fastest woman.
Kev