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May 2022
11:33am, 23 May 2022
1,263 posts
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Snail
A long story, but I seem to have entered myself into walking a 28 hour (assuming I get to the Checkpoints in time) Ultra!
Am after any good tips that you may have re kit, training, walking through night etc
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May 2022
11:43am, 23 May 2022
55,501 posts
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Derby Tup
28 hours is a decent stint on your feet. Choosing the right shoes and socks is a real priority I think. If you’re not used to wandering around at night with a headtorch then a bit of practice might be a good idea too
Good luck. Coincidentally I have a similar challenge coming up soon 
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May 2022
5:37pm, 23 May 2022
16,570 posts
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Cerrertonia
Planning to change shoes and/or socks at checkpoints can be helpful for a walk of that duration - just to vary the places that are being rubbed.
Sleep deprivation gets much harder to cope with as we age too, might be worth practising that?
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May 2022
5:45pm, 23 May 2022
25,357 posts
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Rosehip
I’d say make sure you have had plenty of sleep in the week beforehand and see if caffeine gels agree with you
Any ultra I do has more walk than run, mixing a bit of a jog in occasionally uses muscles and joints in a different way and is nearly as good as a rest
It’s cold at 3am, especially if you’re walking - make sure you have enough to wear.
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May 2022
6:10pm, 23 May 2022
794 posts
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JenHB
I know when my sister did a through the night walk she found that she wanted savoury snacks whereas her long walks in daylight she wanted sweets...
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May 2022
8:45am, 24 May 2022
58,165 posts
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Velociraptor
Will you be walking solo or as part of a team? And will you have a support crew?
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May 2022
1:40pm, 24 May 2022
657 posts
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EdJ
Lots of good points above. A few suggestions from me:
- Spend a decent bit of time, and some long runs/walks, in the actual kit you will use for the race, including your pack with whatever you will have in it on race day. Not just to get used to the weight, but to understand if anywhere is going to rub, and to practice where you will put your various bits of kits (so you're not rummaging through pockets at 3am trying to find spare batteries)
- Make sure you know how long your head torch battery is going to last, and therefore what you need to so about spares
- If you're a big caffeine consumer, try coming off it a couple of weeks before the race. You'll feel rubbish, but come race day you won't get a 'dip' if you don't get any caffeine, and if you do get some you should get a good boost.
- Practice building some eating into your longer training runs/walks
- Try going out for a run/walk at 9pm/10pm - both to get used to it getting dark, and that feeling of wanting to go to bed about now
- Prime some 'night owl' friends to send you some inspirational messages as it starts getting late and you start getting tired
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May 2022
2:08pm, 24 May 2022
55,508 posts
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Derby Tup
Great points Ed
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May 2022
2:23pm, 24 May 2022
658 posts
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EdJ
I did some of my best training for this sort of race when my kids were at an age that they wanted to taken to evening parties at the other side of the county. I'd drop them off at 8 or 9, then go for a nice long head torch run in the countryside, leaving them with the instructions "I'll be waiting outside in the car at midnight (or whatever the agreed pick up time was). You have a five minute grace period, after which I WILL come and knock on the door, dressed in lycra, sweaty, red faced, and covered in mud and cow sh!t". I never had to follow through on the threat!
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May 2022
10:39pm, 28 May 2022
1,297 posts
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Snail
Thanks for all the tips, some great ideas there.
The event is the Ridgeway86 at the end of August, which needs to be completed in 28 hours and my aim is simply to see how far I can get before missing a cutoff time or run out of steam! An additional challenge is that some of the checkpoints particularly those in the 25-40mile range pose a minimum pace challenge giving the lumpy route.
Back in 2019 I did the Across-Wales-Walk - a 45 miler which was quite a struggle by the end, and just about managed to complete before the 18hr limit but not done too much longer distance since then
After finding I had a place, a few weeks ago, have upped my walking mileage including a number of weekly 18 mile cross-country commute from work to home which usually takes from 6pm to 11pm/12pm and have some longer walks lined up over the coming weeks
Couple of specific kit recommendations, in particular
- head torch ( I have an OK one, for a a few hours but need something more powerful that will last through night) - any recommendations?
- running vest - currently walking with daysack - but although will be walking need to switch to running vest for easier/faster access to drink and kit generally - again any recommendations for this too?
Re support I'm hoping to persuade my son and/or wife to travel from checkpoint to checkpoint as support crew so that will be a big help
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