Could I get fit enough for this by September?

[Member869894]

I would like to raise money to remember a dear friend who died of cancer by joining a one day 26 mile walk along hadrians wall.im told it will be a tough steep walk. I'm a fattish 56 year old who averages 10,000 steps a day and am in reasonably good health. Am I taking on too much? Is there time to train to build up to this and what would you suggest I do to get fitter between now and then?

You could but I'd start now. I do a lot of gym stuff and am wrecked after an 8 mile walk. You could just start to walk more to get used. Get into a competition with yourself type of thing

You need to start asap and follow a dedicated programme. My BIL (ex ballet dancer and gymnast, still pretty fit) did a 26 mile walk for charity recently and said it was challenging in unexpected ways.

You'll be absolutely shattered at the end (as would most people) but yes you have plenty of time to get to a place where you can do it.

You could probably do it now, if you had to, with 10000 steps per day.

I run half marathons regularly, but walking the same distance is much more tiring IME because of the longer time on your feet. However, with walking you can keep going tired if you don't push the pace, whereas with running when you're done you're done!

I am 55, reasonably fit and did the moonwalk (similar length but flat) some years back. I now fairly regularly walk 15 plus miles a day. I would find 26 miles on a hilly route hard even with some training and tbh think I might find a flat version. I would google for training plans - you need to build up distance gradually, on the kind of terrain you will be walking, and make sure shoes and kit work over nearly that distance (rubbing and chafing are no-goes).

Yes you can! Good luck

Yes you can do it. I wonder whether it is worth following a marathon training plan (should be lots online) but walking it rather than running it? May be overkill though?

Yes, you could, but you'd need to start working towards it now. It will be a long time spent on your feet, and that's what you'll need to get used to (and get your feet used to it as well as your joints and muscles).

But it's absolutely doable - and having a goal in mind will probably be very motivating.

Work yourself out a plan for building up the miles gradually, but also do some work to strengthen your legs and your back - bodyweight exercises will be fine.

Get some decent shoes and socks, and good luck!

You can do it

Is it guided ? If not , walk sections to learn the way ahead of the day - it saves loads of time

Is it supported - can people bring you food and water along the way to save carrying weight ?

Try and do longer walks one day a week , Half day to start, then all day

try and do some uphill walking or running - running ( gentle jogging ) is great training for longer walks - couch to 5 k

We tend to walk for say 55 mins and then have a rest - taking it steady will help - think about finishing not speed

But to get your head right , 9 hrs at 3 mph , 13 hrs at 2 mph - so long time on feet

Think about possible crap weather - good waterproofs , possibly boots rather than shoes , footwear needs to be broken in

I’m a pretty decent distance road runner and find long distance hikes enjoyable but knackering.
you’ll be fine and have plenty of time to train but I’d take it pretty seriously, and I’d get walking on trials rather than roads/parks asap as they really are very different

I reckon so! I would like at the mileage build up on a typical marathon training plan which will have one long "run" a week and shorter sessions inbetween. That should help to give you a structure to building your miles up without doing too much too soon. And walk everywhere you can and as much as you can inbetween.
You also need to think about hydration and fuelling and practice this so you know what keeps you going and what you can eat without feeling sick! I prefer to snack little and often when I'm walking for a long time rather than sitting down to eat a big picnic lunch in one go - I'd eat things like flapjack bars a couple of bites at a time, sandwich thins a quarter at a time, a bag of crisps i'd eat a quarter / third at a time, a couple of cocktail sausages, handful of jelly babies etc. every 20-30minutes.