Chapter Two Training by Wild Women On Top
Your decision to enter Coastrek will give you an opportunity to break down physical and mental barriers and achieve an extraordinary goal. Walking continuously for 30 to 55 kilometres is a great achievement of mental and physical toughness and a goal that is within your reach. However, training to trek 30 to 55 kilometres presents unique challenges. In addition to trekking fitness you will require team work, commitment and understanding of nutrition, hydration and foot care. To prepare for Coastrek, in addition to some longer walks, you need to incorporate interval training and cross training into your training plan. By following our Trek Training guidelines, you ll minimize the time it takes to prepare your body and maximize the results you get in your preparation for Coastrek. You will receive a 12 week Coastrek Training plan directly to your inbox, with workout videos and plans to make your Coastrek Training as smooth as possible. You'll also recieve lots of motivation, inspiration tips, and advice from Wild Women On Top, the experts in Coastrek Training. Please note: All exercise involves some risk, so please consult your doctor before commencing this program.
TRAINING PROGRAM: 30KM BASE PROGRAM AT A GLANCE Plan your fortnight as follows: 2 x 2-3 hour Trek Training sessions, starting with 5kg pack and increasing to 10kg. 2 x 30 minute Interval Training: Stairs, bike or soft sand interval training sessions. 4 x relaxation and injury prevention session such as yoga, swimming or Pilates. 1 Endurance Trek: distances outlined below. COUNTDOWN TO EVENT: Week 18: 5km Week 17: Light walk Week 16: 7km Week 15: Light walk Week 14: 9km Week 13: Light Walk Week 12: 12km Week 11: Light Walk Week 10: 15km Week 9: Light Walk Week 8: 17km Week 7: Light Walk Week 6: 20km Week 5: Light Walk Week 4: 22km Week 3: Light Walk Week 2: 12km Week 1: Light walk then complete rest for 3 days before the event
TRAINING PROGRAM: 50-55KM BASE PROGRAM AT A GLANCE Plan your fortnight as follows: 2 x 2-3 hour Trek Training sessions, starting with 5kg pack and increasing to 10kg. 2 x 30 minute Interval Training: Stairs, bike or soft sand interval training sessions. 4 x relaxation and injury prevention session such as yoga, swimming or Pilates. 1 Endurance Trek: distances outlined below. COUNTDOWN TO EVENT: Week 18: 5km Week 17: Light walk Week 16: 8 km Week 15: Light walk Week 14: 10km Week 13: Light Walk Week 12: 12km Week 11: Light Walk Week 10: 15km Week 9: Light Walk Week 8: 20km Week 7: Light Walk Week 6: 27.5km Week 5: Light Walk Week 4: 35km Week 3: Light Walk Week 2: 15km Week 1: Light walk then complete rest for 3 days before the event
WHAT IS TREK TRAINING? Trek Training is a time efficient outdoor adventure workout, using endurance walking & high intensity interval training on rough bush tracks, stairs, hills & soft sand, with weighted back packs, trekking poles, body weight & natural features to provide resistance, to prepare body & mind for challenging treks. In Trek Training, we use the undulating trails, stairs, hills, soft sand and natural features to provide the setting for high intensity, low impact exercise. By adding weighted back packs to these intervals, we increase the work required by the muscles to move the body, which increases muscle mass. In other words, we force the body to adapt to the challenge of carrying heavy weight up and down stairs and hills or along soft sinking sand, by growing more muscle. Pack weight replaces dumb bells and bar bells. In addition to this, we increase the intensity of walking with ascents, descents and soft sinking surfaces. This forces the heart muscle and the lungs to work harder, improving cardiovascular fitness. It also provides a time efficient fat burning workout, where a significant amount of fat is burned AFTER the workout has finished! Trek Training is a time efficient method of metabolic resistance training with reduced risk of overuse injury. So Coastrekkers, get into Trek Training and you ll get fit in half the time!
GET THE FEEL: ENDURANCE WALKING An endurance walk is a long distance Trek with back pack and trekking poles on a bush, coast, rock and/or soft sand route with uneven and irregular terrain including hills and stairs. The Workout: Grab your buddies and trek with pack and poles on a bush, coast, rock and/or soft sand route with uneven and irregular terrain including hills and stairs. Tips and Variations: Pack weight depends on your goals, strength and fitness. Start with 3kg and increase pack weight by 0.5-1 kg per week. (Note: If you are more than 10kg overweight, DO NOT carry a back pack for endurance walks). Take a 5 minute stretch/drink/snack break every 90 minutes. Aim to trek 3-6kms per hour, depending on pack weight, the gradient and the difficulty of the terrain, so that you are puffing, but can still manage a conversation for most of the time. Ensure you do a dynamic 5 min warm-up, and finish each session with 15 mins of core and stretching. Practice training by torchlight on bush tracks wearing trail runners or boots with at least two friends. Adjust footwear for the terrain, conditions and your strengths: trail runners for bush and fire trails, trail runners with ankle support or boots for torch light and really rough terrain, runners for footpaths. Force yourself out in wild weather apart from being exhilarating it will build your mental toughness. DO NOT trek in electrical storms or high wind near gum trees.
GET THE BUZZ: HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (HIIT) HIIT involves periods of high intensity effort, followed by periods of low intensity effort, to maximize the overall training effect possible in a given time frame. Research proves that HIIT is the most effective and time efficient way to increase fitness. The workout 60 min: 1. Warm up with a walk to stairs, hill, ramp, soft sand or steep rocky track which takes you 1-5 minutes to get to the top. 2. Fast walk to the top so you re really puffing and recover on the way down. 3. Repeat for 45 minutes 4. Do 50% of your sets with your pack & 50% without your pack. 5. Finish with 5 minutes core and stretching exercises. Tips and Variations Use stairs, ramps, soft sand, steep rocky tracks, thigh deep water or hills with a minimum of one minute high intensity intervals. Do some sets taking two steps at a time, jumping up the stairs (without pack), or jogging. Go at sunrise or sunset for a seratonin boost!
RATE OF PERCEIVED EXERTION (RPE) The RPE Scale gives a quantitative identification of the feeling of fatigue. These feelings of fatigue are very highly correlated with heart rate. As you train, estimate your level of intensity based on the following scale. RPE Scale 1: resting 2-3: very, very light exertion (you could go for hours, easy to breath & talk) 3-4: very light exertion 4-5: moderate exertion (breathing heavily, can hold short conversation) 5-6: somewhat hard exertion 6-7: hard exertion 7-8: very hard exertion (getting uncomfortable, short of breath, can speak a bit) 8-9: very, very hard exertion (very difficult to maintain exercise intensity, can barely breathe & speak a single word) 10: Absolute maximum exertion (feels almost impossible to keep going, completely out of breath, unable to talk) During Trek Training, your Training Zone should be from 5, which is moderate exertion, to 8 which is very hard exertion to get maximum results. During interval training, you should get to 8 as you go up, but during endurance walks, you should aim for 6-7 for most of the time.
GEAR FOR TREK TRAINING What to wear: Comfortable shorts or leggings T-shirt preferably made from wicking fabric to keep you comfy! Hat (for day sessions) Quality socks Trail runners (or boots if you need more support) Sunglasses (for day sessions) Small backpack Cooling bandana for hot days What to carry (in 8kg pack) 1-2 litres of water maps (hard copy or on charged phone) rain coat mobile phone snacks whistle sunscreen trekking poles head torch personal first aid yoga mat or towel warm fleece Optional extras: thongs, thermos, tea, cup, pocket knife and compass. For extra intensity with an 8-12 kg pack, put the heavier items close to your spine and use the lighter items to keep them in place. If you haven t packed properly, don t carry extra items because this can cause discomfort or injury!
FOOTWEAR FOR TREK TRAINING In Trek Training, we recommend alternating trail runners & runners so you have cushioning while you strengthen your ankles and the intrinsic muscles in the foot. Ankle support trekking boots can be good at night to prevent sprained ankles in some people. However, for the Coastrek event we recommend trail runners in dry conditions, and boots in wet conditions. If you have weak ankles, train in low cut trail runners to strengthen them, but use high cut trail runners for the event. Bush walking boots are often hard, hot and inflexible but you must choose what works for YOU. Footwear selection is an extremely important issue for Coastrek success. The only way to work out what s best for you is to do your homework and practice in similar conditions on a similar surface to Coastrek prior to the event. Make sure you check out Chapter 5: Blister Sister and Chapter 8: OMG What Do I Wear to learn more about caring for your feet and shopping for shoes.
FAST FITNESS TIPS TO MAKE COASTREK INTERVAL TRAINING MORE FUN Grab your buddies! Find several different sets of stairs, ramps or hills in a similar location and incorporate 15 mins on each set. Dice game: Roll your dice: Nos 1-3 = sets with a pack, Nos 4-6 = sets without a pack. Puff so you can t talk easily on the ascent, while recovering the breathing on the descent. Focus on muscular control to protect the knees on the descent. On soft sand intervals, do some with and some without trekking poles, with and without back pack (no sneaking onto the hard sloping sand). Use poles for variety, upper body workout, injury prevention and balance with packs over 10kg in weight. Select a route with several sets of stairs in close proximity and do 2 sets with pack and 2 sets without a pack at each set of stairs. Find a location where you can go upstairs and down a ramp, or up a headland and along the soft sand for your intervals. Time yourself on your first interval and your last, aiming to improve your time towards the end of your workout. Don t wear your Gore-Tex jacket during Interval training in the rain because you will overheat and sweat so much that you will think the jacket is leaking.
TRAINING GUIDE AND LOGS (GLOG) A great way to plan your 12-24 weeks of training! These GLOG's outline the recommended training plan to guide your team s success in Coastrek. Check them out and lock in your training plan early for the best possible Coastrek experience. Download your GLOG here. TEAM TIMING CALCULATORS Timing Calculators are a great way to plan your event timing so you don t fight! Choose the timing calculator that matches your event, change the start time as needed, and fill in your estimated speed of travel per section. The calculator will show you your estimated finish time. You can use the calculator to work out how fast you need to be walking to complete your event in a certain time or to let your support team know what time you estimate being at checkpoints on the track. Download your Team Timing Calculator here. COASTREK TRAINING PLAN You will receive a 12 week Coastrek Training plan directly to your inbox, with workout videos and plans to make your Coastrek Training as smooth as possible. You'll also recieve lots of motivation, inspiration tips, and advice from Wild Women On Top, the experts in Coastrek Training.