Yorkshire three peaks with no training

[Sunflowerlily]

I’m due to do the Yorkshire three peaks for charity with a large group of people from work this friday
im concerned because I’ve done NO TRAINING and generally am nowhere near as active as I used to be.
I have previously done a marathon, half marathons and other challenges but these were all done at least 4 years ago.
most recently I struggle to do a 5km run…
I do go out for walks quite a bit but nothing particularly gruelling.
im fairly slim and have a toddler so fairly active with him.
am I being stupid? Is it hard? Will I manage the theee peaks in 12 hours?

You will struggle if I’m honest, it’s a very difficult walk and you need a base level of fitness which you don’t seem to have at the moment.

Take as little as you can with you as the last thing you need is a heavy rucksack.

Most of it will be psychological with blisters tbh. It's a HARD walk but if you've done marathons in the past you'll know how you manage that.

Take comfortable strong shoes/boots and plenty of snacks. Good that you're doing it with friends, that's half the battle.

And don't expect to move far for 3 days afterwards!

I agree that if you've done stuff like marathons in the past your "historical stamina" could be very helpful. I do hope you've got decent boots you've properly worn in. (Or other suitable footwear.)

One thing you might benefit from is look at the schedule and try to identify points at which you can bail out of the walk if need be.

A friend of mine did this a few weeks ago, after a lot of training. She described the experience as horrendous.

thanks for the feedback.

@MeetMyCat oh god that doesn’t sound great lol. Is your friend generally quite fit ?

I just really can’t imagine what it’s going to be like at all. I’ve done the other three peaks challenge (ben Nevis, scafell pike and snow don) and remember finding it hard but manageable but again, that was years ago.

I’ll go for a long , tough walk this weekend and weigh it up then perhaps. Sounds like I May have to come up with a last minute reason I can’t be there. Less embarassing thst dropping out during the challenge.

You should be fine if you found the national 3 peaks doable!

Yes, my friend is very fit and has been training for the 3 peaks for some time, she did it for charity.

I've done it twice - once in my 20s with zero prep and not exercising regularly, and once in my 30s when i was much fitter but again no prep. Honestly it will be tough but you'll be fine. It wouldn't have occured to me to do any training either time. Go for it!

Yorkshire 3 peaks is much less of a challenge than the National 3 peaks

My DS did it with no training. He’s fairly fit but not overly so and he was in his late 20s. DH does loads of this sort of stuff but is in his early 60s and does need to keep the training up but he is older. I should give it a go

Take extra socks.

Socks may become damp and cause rubbing which leads to blisters.

Refresh feet with talcum powder or no talc baby powder which you can decant into a ziplock bag.

Socks should be wool which helps to keep moisture from the skin.

Energy tablets which can be dissolved in water and come in a small tube.

Acupressure can help energise you in a natural and healthy way. To locate this point, trace your fingers from your belly button to your lower back. On the left and right of your lower back, just above your hips, you will find two points that feel tender on touch. Either massage these points or energize them by hitting lightly with closed fists. This will trigger your adrenaline gland to give you more vitality.

I would say a lot depends on the weather. I haven't done all 3 peaks, but I went up Ingleborough as part of a longer walk and the wind was strong, which made it very hard work - not just on the ascent and at the top but also at at lower levels when we were walking into a headwind. It wasn't helped by driving rain at some points!

I imagine on a nice day, it would be a challenge but a doable one if you have shoes and socks that you are confident won't rub, and have decent underlying fitness. You won't be able to move the next day though, and I imagine stairs will be a challenge for a few days!

If the conditions aren't nice, then I would think twice about it. Bad weather makes it MUCH harder, so without training it's going to be tough.

I recently went up Whernside and there were lots of charity walkers. They mostly seemed ok-ish, but every now and again on the steps on the way down they would all topple over like bowling pins.
So I would recommend walking poles and to keep away from large groups but tbh you sound like you know what you're doing.

Also remember that the Yorkshire 3 peaks is a continuous walk taking in the 3 fells (vs the national one where you get in a car/mini-bus in between them and can have a snooze/recover a bit), so you need to be comfortable that you can cover the 24 miles in one go.

Not sure you should really. DS did it with no training but he is an army PT instructor. His 20 something police officer gf did it too but was found unconscious in the service station toilet on the way home and kept in hospital overnight with hypothermia and heart arrhythmia. He probably encouraged her to do it too fast but do be careful. She was not at all well.

I did it last year, a group of us, no training as such but all fairly active, was an absolutely fantastic day, loved it!

I've done all these peaks and did the Yorkshire 3 peaks in 9.5 hours with no specific training (and brand new boots because i forgot mine).

It was fine. It's not a technically challenging walk - just long and monotonous in parts. My 9 year old has done 2 of the 3.

Just take lots of food, blister plasters and a positive attitude. It will be fine!

Agree the weather makes a big difference! But you won't know that until the day.

you will be fine. Never trained and lumped my fat arse round ok

Loads of people do it with no prep and trainers. It makes me wince that they do, but they do. I did it when I was much more of a walker and it's tough. But if you've done marathon running you'll know how to tap into that keep going mindset. Take some compeed for the blisters.

I did it a few weeks ago. A month before it I did a training walk of half the distance and I think the recovery from that helped prep my legs for the big day. I'm fairly active but mostly I do strength training not cardio so I wasn't sure how I'd manage, but I did it and had a good day. It was very challenging weather (soaked to the skin twice) but the group were good people and we all had plenty of laughs.

Take plenty of food - you really need it. My stomach went from full to absolutely growling empty hunger about 3 times during the day - it was crazy the amount I needed to eat.

I struggled to walk for about 3 days after - take a few painkillers / ibuprofens and you'll be fine.

I have done it twice and the most recent time, only a few months ago, I didn’t do any specific training for it. But I (like you it seems?) enjoy long hikes, distance walking, multi day hikes, challenges etc. And so I do those types of things regularly. A 20+ mile walk is quite unusual for me day to day, but I’ll end up doing one every few months, 15 miles ish is more normal for me and I’ll do that a couple of times a month in just normal life, not training for anything. I was fine doing it, could have walked longer, no blisters and went walking again the next day as the area is so pretty!

I’d say being used to challenge conditions and the long slog in your previous achievements- especially the national 3 peaks - you’ll be absolutely fine. Good shoes. There’s usually an ice cream van at the bottom of the Whernside descent and one at Ribblehead. Eat ice creams.

I tried it in my late 20s and it flared up an ongoing weakness in my hip and knee. I was used to walking up to 12 hilly miles on youthful fitness. It was the long, flat section between Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside that did it for me and I remember vowing afterwards that if I did it again, I'd need to take trainers rather than wearing leather walking boots all the way through, and an MP3 player to break up the boredom. Whernside was a slow, painful slog and I decided that I'd rather head back by road than over Ingleborough- ended up hitching a lift in a campervan.

You need a good baseline of fitness, and comfortable, light gear.

You're making me want to do it again, but I've taken up long distance running since, and would wear trail runners these days.

For me it would depend...in your 20s and 30s you can probably get away with it, also what time of month it is may affect your enjoyment/how easy it feels. If you do it 100% make sure that between now and then that you sleep as well as you can and eat properly - it does make a difference.

I once walked 26 miles on concrete with no training (hell but survived). The boredom is probably the worst part.

You'll be fine! You obviously have a good base level of fitness. I live locally and I've done it with zero prep, as do lots of people. My children's primary school used to offer it as an optional day trip to year 6 students and lots used to do it! My only tip would be that the last slog from Ingleborough seems to last forever, but you'll manage it in well under 12 hours.