The Practicalities - Dawn’s Way

Hi! Welcome to blog three in the series I’m writing about training and completing a challenge to Walk across Wales within 24 hours, all with a disability. 

In this blog, I will be going over some of the practicalities of training I need to consider for an event like the one I am aiming for.

Where I train is one of those considerations as well as distance and terrain. I live in a pretty flat area, it’s easy enough for me to access distance training but hill training means going a bit further afield. For me, travelling can be a barrier because I’m really limited with public transport with my condition; trains would make me too physically sick to walk for example. But I also can’t always drive if I’m getting signs I might be dizzy and with doing a fair bit of training solo or not wanting others to go too far out of the way to collect me it isn’t always possible to be a passenger either. 

So my approach is to mix it up by planning a few options for routes and then choosing the one I’m going to do based on how I’m feeling beforehand. In a similar way that I mentioned in my last post that the level and type of training is based on symptoms and what I’m able to do on a given training day, I also am adaptable on where I go. 

I’m prepared in knowing routes and logistics I could take, and then reviewing final details once I’m decided on which one I am going with. OS maps app and guide books have been brilliant for helping me in this without it being too exhausting to manage.

This approach has led to training walks from my front door, the Peaks, the Cairngorms (which me and my husband went to on holiday) and Long Mynd. And they are all actually pretty special in their own right and each have their own advantages so there isn’t always that requirement to rely on travel. 

When I can travel, I’ve been to some amazing places with beautiful scenery and conditions and I’m always in awe seeing them. It’s what makes the training enjoyable (because what the point if it’s just going to be miserable!). 

But I’ve also seen some great places closer to home too, it’s always fun discovering new places nearby and there are times I’ve been in as much awe as the ones I’ve travelled to. Which takes the pressure off feeling like I need to travel all the time or feeling limited in what I can do. A mix of distance and hill walking is best for me anyway so it’s an approach that has worked really well.

I’ve found that training from home makes life a lot easier in terms of how much time it takes out of your day too. When you are getting in the bigger miles, it naturally takes much more time out of your weekend and so adding a couple of hours or so to the walking time can make work-life-training-rest balance harder. I will always want to go to other locations and explore but it’s great to know it’s not a limiting factor to keeping fit and healthy as much as I can.

I actually still have some route options left so I’m planning to make use after the event even though I’m not technically training anymore. 

Another consideration is on kit; what’s going to help keep me safe and allow me to manage being out? 

I always aim for as light as possible although I know this can come at a price. I have a mix of existing items, new items and second hand purchases that I’ve been using for training and will take for the event. 

In general I tend to wear trekking leggings (I just find them more comfy than trousers and are more forgiving when I get bloated), a base layer and mid layer (both sweat wicking), a buff and a waterproof coat. In the colder months a fleece as well. I have alopecia so a secondary buff and cap in the spring, summer and autumn are ideal, otherwise I’ll wear a woolly hat. Waterproofs is where I’d recommend to spend the money if picking one to splash out on, although I don’t tend to bother with waterproof trousers as I’d negate their use by sweating so much in them!

Footwear is another one that is a bit of a false economy to buy cheap - you end up replacing so often you spend more altogether and they cause more pain. If you’d have asked me a few months ago, I would have been a firm ‘I’m in camp solid leather boots with ankle support’, however I’ve had to switch up my gear here. 

My boots have been so trusty for many years, so comfortable, supportive and waterproof. But they decided to come to end-of-life only a month or so out from the event. They have been causing so many blisters and even an ankle inversion injury despite the efforts to work around it with things like insoles. That close to the event though is not ideal to be getting new boots however, they take a fair bit of time to wear in and would cause just as many issues wearing new and with the ankle injury it gave me even less time to break them in. 

So I’ve gone for trail running shoes. Something I’ve seen a lot of hikers turn to because they are much lighter. I’ve gone for breathable and using waterproof socks. I’ve had some time in them and they have been good so far so it will be interesting to know how I get on with them. There will be trail runners at the event so terrain shouldn’t be too severe for them and I won’t have a heavy bag because food and water is provided so as long as I watch my footing it should be okay (but my boots will be with the husband as back up!).

I’ve always used one walking pole on longer walks but have moved onto two - it make way more difference than you’d imagine for helping on a walk.

Not always a necessity but something I’ve recently bought because I’m often training solo in remote areas without signal is a satellite device. It allows me to send and receive messages and send out an emergency alert with co-ordinates in signal dead zones so this is my new bit of safety kit that has already come in handy for messaging when I injured my ankle. Hopefully I’ll never need the emergency alert but it’s reassuring to know it is there!

In terms of what else I carry with me, I usually have a standard set of items that stay in my bag; first aid kit, tissues, back up meds, sun lotion, bug spray, supports, whistle and then I’ll add in as much drink, food and snacks and spare layers as I need for where I’m going and the conditions. My bag has an in-built waterproof cover too. 

I’ve been needing to carry more with me on training than I will for the event because I’ve had to cater for myself when training that I won’t have to for Wales.

Which brings me onto the final thing I will cover… food and drink. How I fuel myself has been a bit of a game changer for me really. As someone with chronic fatigue, I need to make sure I keep the energy levels up in order to maintain the training in a healthy way. I’m by no means an expert in this but what has worked for me generally is to go for carb based foods every hour/hour and a half. And that will generally be enough to keep me well fuelled. 

I mix between sports bars, gels (always experiment with these, they can do funny things to you so never leave it until an event), sandwiches and bagels (gluten free for me). 

I will then have ‘treats’ that are generally sugary as a bit of a boost - jelly babies are a classic and I’ll be taking undiluted jelly to Wales. I love gluten free pretzels too so that’s a ‘checkpoint’ treat for me! I don’t always take it but trail mix is also a great option to have with you.

And then right before the big day will be carb loading - lot of pizza, pasta and risotto for me!

This is my last post now before the event, finish or not I will do a follow up post on how it went.

Thanks for reading

Dawn